Media General outlet WFLA Tampa, Fla., is reportedly eliminating 10 positions as the company continues to combine functions between the station and daily paper The Tampa Tribune.
The St. Petersburg Times’ TampaBay.com first reported on the layoffs, saying that on-air talent Mace Michaels and Claudia DeCampo were among the casualties and three positions were eliminated through buyouts. Five more posts will be removed by the end of the year. The Tribune is also undergoing substantial staff reductions.
A call to WFLA general manager Michael Pumo’s office was met with an abrupt “No, thank you,” and a hang-up from an assistant.
WFLA is a strong NBC affiliate, ranking second in Tampa-St. Petersburg in terms of revenue, according to BIA Financial Network. It had the market’s top-rated evening and 11 p.m. news in the May sweeps.
It’s been a rough week for station staffs, as the likes of WOIO/WUAB Cleveland, KTLA Los Angeles and KNTV San Jose-Oakland-San Francisco all trimmed down in recent days.
Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.
