KLAS Las Vegas Cuts 17
Landmark Communications-owned CBS affiliate is on the block.
By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/18/2008 10:14:00 AM
KLAS Las Vegas laid off 17 staffers and offered another four people positions elsewhere in the company.
Around 10% of the CBS affiliate’s staff was affected.
KLAS is owned by Landmark Communications and is for sale.
The station said it offered a “generous severance package and a variety of support services, including employment counseling,” to the affected parties. The 17 included a majority of support positions and as many as four on-air personalities. General manager Emily Neilson said KLAS will stick with its full slate of newscasts.
The layoffs were previously reported in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
A KLAS statement cited “current economic conditions” as the reason for the dismissals.
Las Vegas has been hit particularly hard by the subprime-mortgage crisis, and station executives there do not see a near-term improvement in the glum local economy.
Neilson said in a statement: “We regret the impact this decision will have on our employees and their families. But in this sharply different economy, we must change how we operate to ensure that we remain a leading news organization delivering quality journalism on television and online and delivering efficient, effective service to our advertisers.”
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