personnel

In a stunning move, CBS News is shutting down its radio division, getting out of the medium where its storied history began nearly 100 years ago.

CBS News Radio will stop offering its service to its 700 affiliate stations on May 22.

“While this was a necessary decision, it was not an easy one,” the company said in a memo obtained by The Times. “A shift in radio station programming strategies, coupled with challenging economic realities, has made it impossible to continue the service.”

CBS sold its own radio stations in 2017, but continued to offer hourly network newscasts to affiliate stations, including “World News Roundup,” which has been on the air since 1938. Legendary CBS News journalist Edward R. Murrow delivered his first report on the program.

The news of the shutdown comes as dozens of CBS News employees are learning Friday if they have a future at the struggling news division.

A morning email from CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and editor-in-chief Bari Weiss that was obtained by The Times said staff affected by a new round of job reductions will be notified by the end of the day. About 6% of the 1,000 CBS News employees will be affected.

The cuts had been hinted at earlier this year by Weiss, when she said her business goal for the division is to expand its reach on digital platforms. Weiss and Cibrowski raised the same issue in their note informing employees of the cuts.

“It’s no secret that the news business is changing radically, and that we need to change along with it,” they wrote. “New audiences are burgeoning in new places and we are pressing forward with ambitious plans to grow and invest so that we can be there for them.”

CBS News has been dealing with a decline in revenue for its TV programs, as viewers have gravitated toward streaming platforms and social media.

The network’s daily programs “CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil” and “CBS Mornings,” both run well behind their competition in the ratings. It does have two strong weekend franchises in “60 Minutes” and “CBS Sunday Morning.”

CBS News is expected to be under the same corporate ownership as CNN once parent company Paramount closes its $111 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. The two divisions are likely to share news gathering costs, which could lead to the closure of bureaus and a reduction of personnel.

CBS News lost about 100 employees in October as part of a massive round of cuts enacted at Paramount after the company was acquired by Skydance Media.

Weiss had joined CBS News earlier that month and was not directly involved in the staff reductions. She is said to be more personally involved in the cuts occurring Friday.

Nexstar Media Group is slashing personnel from its TV stations, including several on-air veterans at Los Angeles outlet KTLA.

Glen Walker and Lu Parker, anchors of KTLA’s late morning and midday newscasts, are out along with meteorologist Mark Kriski, according to people briefed on the moves not authorized to speak publicly.

Kriski had been with KTLA since 1991, while Walker has been at the station’s anchor desk since 2010. Parker joined KTLA in 2005.

A representative for Nexstar said the company does not comment on personnel issues, adding it is “taking steps necessary to compete effectively in this period of unprecedented change.”

The layoffs are part of a company-wide cost reduction across Nexstar’s stations. The Irving, Texas-based media giant, which recently agreed to a $6.2-billion merger with station group Tegna, is looking for savings as traditional TV viewing declines and puts pressure on ad revenue as consumers continue to move to video-streaming platforms.

Television station groups have been lobbying the government to lift restrictions that limit them to 39% coverage of U.S households. They say lifting the cap will enable them to better compete with technology companies that have no such restrictions.

Nexstar is the largest TV station ownership group in the U.S. It also operates the cable network NewsNation, which has been slow to make significant inroads against established channels CNN, Fox News and MSNBC since it launched in 2020.

Nexstar has been chipping away at the staff of its Chicago station WGN, which produces 12 hours of local news daily. A total of 21 people have been cut in recent weeks, including nine reporters and anchors on Monday.

Known locally as “Chicago’s Very Own,” WGN has long been a source of civic pride in the city. Insiders at the station say they have been deluged with emails and texts expressing dismay over Nexstar’s moves, which eliminated a number of staffers with decades of experience and institutional knowledge.

Among those let go is Dean Richards, WGN’s longtime entertainment reporter and critic who has been a fixture at Hollywood press junkets.

At New York’s WPIX, Nexstar eliminated at least three on-air positions, including weekend anchor and reporter John Muller and afternoon anchor Arrianee LeBeau, who covered transit for the morning newscast.

SAG-AFTRA, which represents employees at KTLA and WGN, issued a statement blasting the cuts.

“By laying off journalists across the country, Nexstar is eroding the resources and talent that local communities rely on for trusted news,” SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin said. “These actions highlight the risks of media consolidation and underscore the urgent need for regulators and the company to prioritize the public interest and the professionals who serve it.

KTLA, WGN and WPIX have been part of Nexstar since 2019, when the company completed its acquisition of Tribune Broadcasting.