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Ashlee DeMartino out at KTVK/KPHO

I'm certainly sorry to hear that, but unfortunately, I'm not surprised. They have an overabundance of weather-guessers. Ashlee is good, and will land on her feet.

But, given the rumors about Meredith getting out of the TV business earlier this year, I wonder if they're in financial trouble, and more layoffs are coming? Maybe they need to kill a newscast? 8 PM comes to mind immediately. How about dumping some of those diginets, and combine 3 and 5 onto one transmitter. That would save a boatload of money. Then sell the other one to Channel 12 so they can get off of VHF.
 
In her tweet, Ashlee mentions that she had been at 3/5 for FIVE years. I'm guessing this is a decision not to renew her contract, which makes sense given that 3/5 are doing combined newscasts for the foreseeable future (perhaps permanently). Plus, 3/5 still have 6 meteorologists on staff (April, Ian, Royal, Paul, Kim, and Sean), plus a couple others who can do the weather when necessary (Kiley and Tess).

I'm surprised that they aren't laying off anchors. With the combined newscasts, weekday mornings and evenings are pretty crowded around there.
 
Possible targets?

I would think that if Meredith is going to cut staff, one of the biggest targets would be GMAZ (Scott, Olivia, Javi, Yetta, Tess, Heidi). If you remember, the last big cuts (2009) saw the likes of popular GMAZ staffers Dan Davis and Brad Perry let go and shortly after that Olivia Fierro found a new position in Las Vegas.
 
formeraa said:
In her tweet, Ashlee mentions that she had been at 3/5 for FIVE years. I'm guessing this is a decision not to renew her contract, which makes sense given that 3/5 are doing combined newscasts for the foreseeable future (perhaps permanently). Plus, 3/5 still have 6 meteorologists on staff (April, Ian, Royal, Paul, Kim, and Sean), plus a couple others who can do the weather when necessary (Kiley and Tess).

I'm surprised that they aren't laying off anchors. With the combined newscasts, weekday mornings and evenings are pretty crowded around there.
Click to expand...

Royal has mentioned retirement on occasion. Sean isn't getting any younger, either (both are over 60, IIRC). Kylie and Kim are good enough right now to get a network/O&O gig. Send Kris back to Cleveland. If/when any of them leave, I don't see them being replaced.
 
ihEARDtHAT said:
Ashlee DeMartino, meteorologist for AZFamily (KTVK 3-IND and KPHO 5-CBS) has been laid off. You have to wonder if other will be let go soon.
She posted the following tweet:

W/a heavy heart & many many tears, this AM I received a phone call from management at AZ Family, informing me that I no longer am an employee. I am so grateful for my 5 yrs @ 3TV/CBS5.


https://twitter.com/AshleeDeMartino/status/1304850438894702592
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Not a "fan" of Ashlee, but it's never cool for anyone to lose their job. Although I'm not sure that taking it to Twitter is the proper thing to do either. Especially someone who's a public figure, fairly or unfairly.

Be that as it may, it's interesting that (so far) not one of her colleagues in the meteorology dept. tweeted their "best wishes" to her. However, reporter David Caltabiano and weekend anchor Whitney Clark did, which I'm sure Ashlee appreciated.


I wish her well. :cool:
 
The Media Observer said:
Not a "fan" of Ashlee, but it's never cool for anyone to lose their job. Although I'm not sure that taking it to Twitter is the proper thing to do either. Especially someone who's a public figure, fairly or unfairly.

Be that as it may, it's interesting that (so far) not one of her colleagues in the meteorology dept. tweeted their "best wishes" to her. However, reporter David Caltabiano and weekend anchor Whitney Clark did, which I'm sure Ashlee appreciated.


I wish her well. :cool:
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Management letting her know with a phone call isn't going down well with her followers. I'd imagine the bosses aren't pleased about her letting that detail slip in her tweet. They're probably hearing it from viewers right now who would have otherwise accepted terminations as part of the business.
 
CTListener said:
Management letting her know with a phone call isn't going down well with her followers. I'd imagine the bosses aren't pleased about her letting that detail slip in her tweet. They're probably hearing it from viewers right now who would have otherwise accepted terminations as part of the business.
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True, however, I don't buy it that Ashlee merely "let that detail slip" on Twitter. That wasn't a slip, that was intentional in my opinion--- rightly or wrongly.

Mind you, I understand why she did it though.
 
No, Sean graduated from high school in '84, so he's 54-55. And Royal is approx 60...I think he said once he graduated from high school in '78? ?
 
Sorry to hear about this. I think Ashlee was the last Forecaster hired. Or maybe it was Ian? One thing that I noticed is Ashlee was the last Weatherperson to come back to the studio after sending most staff home. And that was one weekend? With the exception of Paul Horton (who was in studio Monday 9/14) all the other Forecasters have been in the station.

If they continue to combine newscasts (and why shouldn't they; they've proven it can work) I also wouldn't be surprised if more on-air talent is let go. I thought Susan Campbell would have been gone the same time Stanley Roberts left. A combination of Tess, Gina and Heidi could easily pick up 3 on Your Side reports.

I'll go back to a previous post on another thread: some of the daily absences have been interesting. You never know who you are going to get on GMAZ. I know some staffers have a lot of vacation time, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were asked to take unpaid days off.
 
brian4 said:
I'll go back to a previous post on another thread: some of the daily absences have been interesting. You never know who you are going to get on GMAZ. I know some staffers have a lot of vacation time, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were asked to take unpaid days off.
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Very true....you never know who is going to be there on GMAZ these days. Whose contract is coming up for renewal soon...that may determine who is the next one to go. Another consideration might be who is making the most money.
 
The Media Observer said:
Be that as it may, it's interesting that (so far) not one of her colleagues in the meteorology dept. tweeted their "best wishes" to her. However, reporter David Caltabiano and weekend anchor Whitney Clark did, which I'm sure Ashlee appreciated.
Click to expand...

I'm sure (I hope) the other Forecasters called Ashlee and/or sent her private messages.

And speaking of weekend anchors, wondering will Clark and Spencer Blake take over weather duties? Or will they bring in a reporter to do the reports?
 
brian4 said:
I'm sure (I hope) the other Forecasters called Ashlee and/or sent her private messages.

And speaking of weekend anchors, wondering will Clark and Spencer Blake take over weather duties? Or will they bring in a reporter to do the reports?
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Interestingly, Ashlee was off the past couple of weekends. Paul did the weather last Saturday evening, while Royal did the weather on Sunday evening. After hearing about Ashlee, I was surprised that Ian wasn't asked to do the weekend evening weather.
 
formeraa said:
Interestingly, Ashlee was off the past couple of weekends. Paul did the weather last Saturday evening, while Royal did the weather on Sunday evening. After hearing about Ashlee, I was surprised that Ian wasn't asked to do the weekend evening weather.
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That's a good solution. Having Ian and April doing GMAZ mornings is kind of redundant. There have been a couple of times where Ian did 4:30 - 6AM and April took the rest of the morning. Give Ian weekend nights. He and Kim Quintero can take turns subbing for April when she's on vacation.
 
formeraa said:
In her tweet, Ashlee mentions that she had been at 3/5 for FIVE years. I'm guessing this is a decision not to renew her contract, which makes sense given that 3/5 are doing combined newscasts for the foreseeable future (perhaps permanently). Plus, 3/5 still have 6 meteorologists on staff (April, Ian, Royal, Paul, Kim, and Sean), plus a couple others who can do the weather when necessary (Kiley and Tess).

I'm surprised that they aren't laying off anchors. With the combined newscasts, weekday mornings and evenings are pretty crowded around there.
Click to expand...

And I note that Kimmie Q. is now being used as an anchor (midday anyway) as well as on-site weather and reporter on weekends. Seems like everyone is being shuffled around (perhaps except the evening/night crew which I don't watch).

I often wonder if the on-camera talent has a "cheat sheet" they use to remember the correct station channel signoff.
 
ihEARDtHAT said:
I would think that if Meredith is going to cut staff, one of the biggest targets would be GMAZ (Scott, Olivia, Javi, Yetta, Tess, Heidi). If you remember, the last big cuts (2009) saw the likes of popular GMAZ staffers Dan Davis and Brad Perry let go and shortly after that Olivia Fierro found a new position in Las Vegas.
Click to expand...

Was very surprised to see Tess on the weekend 3TV morning show.
 
landtuna said:
And I note that Kimmie Q. is now being used as an anchor (midday anyway) as well as on-site weather and reporter on weekends. Seems like everyone is being shuffled around (perhaps except the evening/night crew which I don't watch).

I often wonder if the on-camera talent has a "cheat sheet" they use to remember the correct station channel signoff.
Click to expand...

Kim has anchored the noon show and co-anchored weekend GMAZ from time to time. I wouldn't say "frequently", but from time to time as they need someone. Usually, Heidi anchors the noon show most of the time. And Tess pops up on weekend GMAZ a few times per year :)
 
And Ashlee was a member of the AZFamily team that won a 2020 Rocky Mountain Southwest Emmy. Congrats
 
Are there any worse management people in any industry than in radio? So many times I have been so grateful I turned it down when I had the chance. And I was a radio industry lover until well into my adulthood and had heard enough of these stories.

Sorry if I stepped on some toes with that remark....I assume the brush isn't that broad.
 
Weekend Weather Update

Weekend of September 19 - 20, 2020, April Warnecke did Saturday early evening and night. Sean McLaughlin did Sunday early evening and night.
 
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