KTRV Boise’s newsroom is a casualty of the Block Communications station parting ways over affiliation agreements with Fox.
The station has eliminated its newsroom today. It is cutting staff this week.
Reports the Idaho Statesman:“A network affiliate requires a different business model than does an independent station,” said Bill Lamb, vice president of Block Communications.
The station’s new business model does not include news, according to Rick Joseph, president and general manager of KTRV.
KTRV will “compete aggressively for any network affiliations that come available, and we may even restore the news at some point in the future,” Lamb said.
GM Ricky Joseph issued a statement that read, in part:
“We have some exceptional people here who put forth a terrific and honorable effort every day, but the new
business model we find ourselves having to adopt does not include news.”
Block Communications VP Bill Lamb added:
“We are still absolutely committed to competing in Boise. We are staying in the Boise market, we will compete aggressively for any network affiliations that come available, and we may even restore the news at some point in the future. This is what we must do today to remain competitive for tomorrow.”
In May, Fox announced it had found another partner in Boise.
In June, KTRV announced it was going independent, and said it was adding six bodies to the newsroom to help produce an expanded lineup of newscasts.
“We’ll be a full-fledged independent in the purest sense of the term,” Joseph told me in June. “It’s a return to the grass roots at the very beginning, before Fox.”
Few stations have made a good go of it after splitting with their network and going independent.
Block said it will help laid off employees find jobs at other stations in the group.
