Raycom’s Cleveland Duopoly Lays Off Six

Raycom Media’s WOIO/WUAB Cleveland duopoly laid off four full-time employees in master control and two part-timers in the studio, production director Jim Stunek confirmed.

Stunek said the staffers were eliminated based on seniority -- recent hires were the ones let go. He cited automation as the reason for the terminations.

“With the digital transition, we are slowly redoing the way things are done,” he added. “At certain times of the day, we just don’t need as many people.”

Bill Applegate is the general manager of the stations, which are CBS and MyNetworkTV affiliates.

Blog Ohio Media Watch said 13 positions were eliminated, but Stunek said the report was untrue.

Michael Malone

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.