Audacy underwent a round of layoffs on Wednesday that eliminated the jobs of nearly 100 employees, and the staff at WBBM in Chicago and 1080 WTIC in Hartford were majorly affected.
In Chicago, afternoon news anchor Keith Johnson has exited. Johnson anchored alongside Lisa Fielding from 2-7 PM on the venerable news outlet.
Also, five of the eight digital news employees at WBBM saw their positions eliminated. AnnMarie Welser — a Social Media and Community Editor at the all-news station — confirmed she was one of the casualties.
In Hartford, 1080 WTIC news anchors Kevin Gorden and Greg Little departed the station, according to a report from The Laurel.
Additionally, KDKA saw a lineup shuffle amid the layoffs, as afternoon host Rick Dayton departed the station yesterday.
Audacy claimed the layoffs would affect less than 2% of its overall workplace. The company — which is in the process of emerging from a pre-packaged bankruptcy filing earlier this year — said the move was a disappointing but necessary one.
“Audacy is performing well against our 2024 business plan, and we are on track to emerge as a stronger and healthier company, well positioned for a bright future as a differentiated, scaled industry leader with the industry’s strongest balance sheet,” a company spokesperson said.
“As we continue to make large investments and drive enhancements across our business, we are simultaneously implementing some difficult but necessary decisions that will impact less than 2% of our workforce to best position our company for long-term growth.”
