Very incorrect. The higher your total income, assuming the same deductions, the higher rate of tax you pay. A person making say $300,000 in a given tax year will pay a lot more in taxes that year than someone making a tenth of that. Therefore, if your normal rate of pay is $30K per year and they give you two full years of severance you wind up with whatever you have already earned plus $60K more. Assuming you cannot lay it off or defer it you will pay a ton more in taxes that tax year.
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TEGNA cleans house at KING - Bounds/Renner/Enersen/Byron Out
- Thread starter KMan
- Start date
Very incorrect. The higher your total income, assuming the same deductions, the higher rate of tax you pay. A person making say $300,000 in a given tax year will pay a lot more in taxes that year than someone making a tenth of that. Therefore, if your normal rate of pay is $30K per year and they give you two full years of severance you wind up with whatever you have already earned plus $60K more. Assuming you cannot lay it off or defer it you will pay a ton more in taxes that tax year.
They're giving people two weeks pay for every year worked. Getting two years severance would require working at this one station for 52 years. I imagine most people will get less than a year's worth of pay as severance. Unless their contract requires more.
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As noted before ...
Jean Enersen started in 1969
Jeff Renner started in 1977 (though Bob Jordan canned him in circa 1990 and he was rehired a year later)
Linda Byron started in 1990 (? - I feel like she's been there longer)
Dennis Bounds started in 1991
The smallest package will go to Bounds ... Enersen will get nearly two years of pay (though she was on a reduced semi-retired contract). Bounds is 63ish... how much longer was he going to work, anyways?
All four of these people are at least in the early 60s and can certainly take cash and sit on the beach until it comes time to start social security.
Depends on what their contract says and if the union is involved. Management can typically request payment spread over a couple years rather than a bulk sum.
Just a couple of corrections, Jean Enersen started in July 1968 (according to her KING 5 bio) and I know that Linda Byron started in the 80's (1988?). Certainly, we are going to miss their experience and commitment to local news in Seattle.
As for the poster who mentioned Allan Schauffler, he is definitely available at this point and does have chemistry with Lori (but I have heard he does NOT have chemistry with Joyce Taylor and was moved off mornings because of that). Another option is to have Mark move to evenings, which would leave a huge gap in the mornings. From what I've heard, Joyce needs a good co-anchor who really has chemistry.
The tax implications are still the same. I know. I've lived through several of them.
Yes, they can but seldom do (at least in business in general - radio may be different). When a big layoff has been financially justified it is usually because the biz can take a massive write off of those severance packages and reduce their current tax liability, but only if they are paid out in the current tax period. Deferring the payments out over several years would not provide the biz the same immediate benefit.
Yeah, Linda Byron's KING5 current KING 5 Bio doesn't state what year she started, and news reports have said 26 years of experience... I think she may have come on in 1987, if I recall from a past bio. She's a tremendous investigative journalist.
We've discussed Schauffler's morning career with Joyce Taylor before. The guy has excelled in every single role he's been in at KING (weekends with Lori, weeknights with Lori, hosting UpFront, weekends with Mimi Jung, reporting, etc) except as morning co-anchor. I think, generally, he's got the wrong demeanor for that kind of broadcast, and more specifically, Joyce is harder to pair up with than most other anchors.
Ray Heacox is running the show at KING and he's an old Belo guy. He's been around the block, and has to be worried that Pat Costello, formerly of KING and now at KOMO specifically is getting ready to start running "the team you can trust" type promotions for the KOMO news team (while Eric, Mary and Molly don't have the tenure that Dan and Kathy had, all three of them have been around for a long time, and Steve Pool is now the longest serving weatherman in the market).
Scooping up a guy like Schauffler to sit alongside Matsukawa (I believe, strongly, that Lori and Allen are very good with most other co-anchors, but best with each other), and sliding either Rich Marriott or Jim Guy (or picking up someone with market experience that is on the beach like Meeghan Black or Todd Johnson) into the chief met slot will at least keep familiar faces on what has been the most stable news team in the market for well over twenty years.
When you offer buyouts, you're not going to know in advance who is going to take them, so this certainly is going to be a bit of a scramble for KING.
I doubt there is any scrambling involved. Here's how it works: The goal is to drive a younger audience by shifting resources into a younger look on TV, moving expensive legacy talent salaries into focusing on digital. So you look at your talent, age, tenure, focus group trending. You contact their agents and say; we're prepared to offer an early retirement plan, but the in-market non-compete extends to ten years. Of course if they don't take the deal, there is a possibility their contracts won't be renewed on the next cycle, and then they'll be SOL. TEGNA make their retirement calculations for these scenarios based on and acceptance rate of 100%, 50%, 25%, 10%, or worth case, none.
I wouldn't be so sure they'll bring in an Allen Schaufler to take over for Dennis. My bet is new, fresh faces from the smaller market talent pool. Allen has been gone long enough that his stock in the market is down considerably, if not out.
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When you're offered a buy out, and the buy out gives full credit for time worked, and that time is more than ten years, or as much as 40 years, you take it as quickly as you can. That's a good deal. These days, companies are trying to cap buy-outs, sometimes with a max of two months of full pay.
So I assume that the non-competes are in play with these buy-outs. Does anyone have a definitive answer on this? My logical guess is there are indeed non-competes with these.
If you are over 55 with 15 years, like Rich Marriott or Lori Matsukawa, or Glenn Farley, the writing is on the wall. What is the likelihood you get a new contract? Even if you weren't quite ready, how can you pass up a deal like that? Isn't Lori's husband in management on the NWCN side? Do you suppose he got the same offer? I know the article said that behind the scenes folks got similar offers.....
The next question is who will replace these pro's.
My best guess is Mark Wright will move to main evening anchor. Weather? Not sure. Jim Guy is a total pro, and likely is the front runner. Reporter positions are usually filled by young up and comers, so Byrons position will not get much attention. Jean, while legendary, did not have a position that needs to be filled at this time.
My best guess is Mark Wright will move to main evening anchor. Weather? Not sure. Jim Guy is a total pro, and likely is the front runner. Reporter positions are usually filled by young up and comers, so Byrons position will not get much attention. Jean, while legendary, did not have a position that needs to be filled at this time.
A couple of things that I've heard. First, only one person in each "slot" was allowed to take the buyout. It was Dennis or Lori, Jeff or Rich, Linda or Glenn, etc. I don't know exactly how this was executed, but I do know that only one of the evening anchors could leave and only one of the senior meteorolgists could leave. Jean is in a category by herself. While it would have been nice to let her work 2 more years (to get to 50), it was probably time for Jean to retire and enjoy her remaining years while she is in good health.
I thought Lori's husband was a Methodist minister or did I get that wrong?
Mark Wright has been announced as the new evening anchor. He's very good, and has impressive since he first showed up along side Leslie Miller on Q13 about 14 years ago. I think he's better than both Eric Johnson and Steve Raible on the competition. We'll see how works alongside Lori, though.
Jim Guy as the Chief Meteorologist? I don't know. For a guy with a ton of experience, including some big market chief met positions, I think his delivery is really herky jerky. I didn't think he was a great hire when he showed up to replace Chris Warren on weekends, and I'm not sure he's the one you want as the face of the weather dept. They may look around a little harder ... Don't think Mary Lee is "it" and while I adore Rich Marriott, it seems like after a quarter century in the mornings, you should just leave well enough alone.
Yes, Wright was the "right" choice. Jim Guy certainly has the weather chops, but I agree may not be the answer. Though I would not be surprised if he gets the gig.
Wright and Lori could make a good team, time will tell. I think the real rising star at KING is Amanda Grace. I wouldn't be surprised to see her move up in importance at King5.
Wright and Lori could make a good team, time will tell. I think the real rising star at KING is Amanda Grace. I wouldn't be surprised to see her move up in importance at King5.
OK, Mark Wright is a great choice (perhaps the obvious choice) for evening anchor. Now the burning question is: who will replace him in the mornings -- given the "difficult" Joyce Taylor issue? How about two female anchors in the morning? Mimi Jung and/or Sula Kim with Joyce?
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Yeah, that would likely work. Don't forget we are talking about KONG, not KING, except for early mornings and Today cut-ins.
I had assumed we were talking 4:30am to 7am on KING and 7am to 9am on KONG. Correct?
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