Meredith Corp cuts pay for 60% of employees amid COVID-19

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

https://nypost.com/2020/04/20/peopl...ose-pay-cuts-and-furloughs-on-3000-employees/


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-meredith-idUSKBN2222OJ

The Owners of KMOV-TV, KPHO-TV, KVVU, WGCL and WFSB faces furloughs and pay cuts.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - People Magazine owner Meredith Corp, will temporarily cut pay for 60% of its employees and paused its dividend as advertising revenue takes a hit during the coronavirus outbreak, the company announced on Monday.

The Des Moines, Iowa-based company also rescinded its financial guidance for the year.

Meredith joins a number of large news media companies including Gannett Co Inc and McClatchy Co looking to slash costs through pay cuts, furloughs and layoffs as advertisers drastically cut spending.

 

[landtuna]

Wouldn't KTVK be included in that list?

 

[formeraa]

Wouldn't KTVK be included in that list?

Absolutely...KTVK/KPHO are definitely owned by Meredith.

 

[KeithE4]

Absolutely...KTVK/KPHO are definitely owned by Meredith.

As we're seeing right now, they can run a good news department even with far fewer anchors and weather-guessers. That is especially true of the bloated Good Morning Arizona, and do it while keeping the same hours (4:30-10 AM). And they're hardly the only broadcaster in the country that should do the same.

Another thing that duopoly stations should be doing is turning off their expensive second transmitter, and start thinning the ATSC 1.0 herd. Meredith could combine KTVK and KPHO onto one transmitter, and other than the loss of a handful of rerun subchannels, nobody would know the difference. Scripps will be doing this with KNXV and KASW sometime in the next few months when the latter is converted to ATSC 3.0. Fox should have done the same thing a decade ago, and dumped the Channel 10 transmitter that covers about half the valley well (they always simulcasted Fox 10 on KUTP).

Not only is ad income down, but carriage fees have to be cratering with so many people going back to antennas. Ad dollars may return, but carriage fees may not.