WRTV staff laid off following Circle City Broadcasting acquisition

Circle City Broadcasting laid off a significant portion of WRTV staff after completing its acquisition of the Indianapolis ABC affiliate from E.W. Scripps Co.

The cuts came the same day the local media company finalized the purchase, expanding its holdings to three television stations in the Indianapolis market, the company said in a statement.

Scripps completes sale of WRTV to Circle City Broadcasting for $83M

Several on-air staffers, including meteorologists Kyle Mounce and Todd Klaassen, anchor Nicole Griffin and community reporter Nico Pennisi, confirmed on social media that March 31 was their final day. Some employees described widespread job losses, though the company has not released official staffing figures.

“Despite the quick ending for us all this place gave me so much,” Klaassen said in a Facebook post.

“While I’m smiling — it’s what I always do (nickname: Smiley) — I’m also hurting,” he said. “I gave everything to my job: long nights, early mornings, holidays, covering too many tornado warnings (sorry if I interrupted your programming), and time away from my family.”

Circle City said it offered positions to some WRTV employees and provided severance packages to others based on contract terms or tenure. Employees not immediately retained may apply for open roles through a standard hiring process, the company said.

“We were able to offer immediate positions to several WRTV employees whose skills and experience we had the opportunity to properly evaluate,” the company said in its statement.

The acquisition, valued at $83 million, was announced in October and approved by the Federal Communications Commission in February through a waiver of local ownership rules. The waiver allowed Circle City to own WRTV alongside WISH and WNDY in the same market.

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The move prompted concerns among viewers about reduced competition and local news coverage. Social media responses to the deal and subsequent layoffs included criticism of consolidation in the market.

Circle City competes with Nexstar Media Group in Indianapolis, where Nexstar owns WXIN and WTTV. 

The WRTV layoffs follow prior staffing disputes at Circle City, including controversy over expanded noncompete agreements that led to employee departures.