LOS ANGELES, CA — The Nexstar Media Group is laying off KTLA anchors and a meteorologist in a move that alters Southern California’s news landscape, according to multiple media outlets.
Longtime anchors Glen Walker and Lu Parker, as well as meteorologist Mark Kriski, were let go from KTLA Los Angeles as a result of budget cuts, according to the LA Times. Weathercaster Kacey Montoya and reporter Ellina Abovian were also let go, DEADLINE reported.
Parker began with KTLA in 2015, according ot Variety. Walker had worked at KTLA since 2010, while Kriski had been a KTLA Morning News fixture since the station’s launch in 1991. Kristi is an eight-time local Emmy winner and the face of SoCal weather news for more than a generation.
According to Deadline, Parker and Walker co-hosted the KTLA 5 News on the hour from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again at 3 p.m. They’ve both won several Emmy awards for their work. Montoya earned local Emmy awards since joining the station in 2013 on the KTLA Weekend Morning News.
The layoffs occur as KTLA’s parent company seeks a merger with Tegna.
SAG-AFTRA, representing employees at KTLA and WGN, released a statement to Variety, calling the layoffs “evidence of dangerous media consolidation in the Nexstar $6.2 billion merger with Tegna. This consolidation makes the decision to cut local newsroom jobs particularly troubling.”
Not everyone is troubled by the merger and dramatic consolodation of local news network ownership and newsroom cutbacks.
President Donald Trump gave the merher his support on Truth Social: “We need more competition against THE ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks. Letting Good Deals get done like Nexstar – Tegna will help knock out the Fake News because there will be more competition, and at a higher and more sophisticated level. Those that are opposed don’t fully understand how good the concept of this Deal is for them, but they will in the future. GET THAT DEAL DONE! PRESIDENT DJT.”
Like the layoffs, the merger will dramatically shake up how the nation gets its local news. After the merger, the company would have 265 stations or 80% of U.S. TV households, exceeding the longtime 39 percent cap on ownership of stations kept in place for decades, DEADLINE reported.
KTLA became part of Nexstar following the 2019 acquisition of Tribune Broadcasting, according to the Times.
In a statement to Variety Nexstar officials said: “Nexstar does not comment on personnel issues, but the company is taking steps necessary to compete effectively in this period of unprecedented change.”