Nexstar lays off at least 9 at WGN Chicago

Nexstar Media Group has cut at least nine staffers from its local newsroom for WGN, its CW affiliate in Chicago.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the cuts included anchors Ray Cortopassi, Sean Lewis and Judy Wang and reporters Bronagh Tumulty and Julian Grews.

The station’s weather team also lost meteorologist Mike Janssen and the station has parted ways with political analyst Paul Lisnek.

A company spokesperson cited “unprecedented change” as the reason for the departures.

It was not immediately clear if additional layoffs are expected or what behind-the-scenes staffers may have been affected. It was also not clear how much Nexstar stands to save as a result of the cuts.

WGN’s building north of downtown Chicago is also home to the original studio and newsroom for Nexstar’s NewsNation channel, though the company has since invested heavily in facilities in New York and Washington, D.C. 

The WGN layoffs come as Nexstar prepares to get its unprecedented merger with Tegna through regulators.

The company has been laying the groundwork for why the merger should get the green light, which would go against current ownership caps placed on local TV stations, with one of its primary arguments being that consolidation is necessary to allow large groups to invest in local news. 

Advertisement

While cutting nine roles from a large newsroom is still likely to leave a substantial headcount at WGN, the change presumably represents a decrease in payroll for WGN’s local newsroom. It was not clear if some of those funds might be redirected to other parts of the local news operation. 

Nexstar has also been known to consolidate newsroom operations in markets where it owns one station and manages another. These changes have resulted in lost jobs and presumably a lower overall investment in local news. 

The company does not release detailed financials so it’s not possible to determine if there has been an uptick in spending on local news despite staff cuts.

Nexstar acquired WGN as part of its purchase of Tribune Media Group in 2019. Tribune had built WGN into a powerhouse station that was seen, under the superstation model, on cable and satellite providers across the country. It was not uncommon for WGN newscasts to garner higher ratings than big three network programming when looking at figures from the Chicago market only.