Media layoffs continue, this time from digital sports media company CHGO, who laid off five forward-facing personalities and back-end production staff. According to Jeff Agrest of the Chicago Sun-Times, CHGO laid off five hosts and some production personnel as part of parent company ALLCITY Network’s round of cuts.
Agrest says Greg Boysen, Vinnie Duber, Ryan Herrera, Herb Lawrence, and Nicholas Moreano were the on-air talents affected, according to ALLCITY CEO Brandon Spano. According to Agrest’s report, the layoffs are part of a resource shift the company is making as it aims for a wider distribution on its free ad-supported TV channels.
“We created a new content plan for 2025,” Spano said in a statement. “We would like to cover sports in the exact same manner, but the reality is that certain sports command a different scale of audience and advertiser interest at the local level, and we’re moving our resources to better align with that.” Spano also says these cuts were the first ever in the company’s history and that he doesn’t anticipate the company’s other outlets in Denver, Phoenix, Philadelphia, and Dallas to be affected by layoffs.
In his statement, Spano also elaborated on why these cuts were made, saying that certain sports leagues and teams generate more interest than others. “As much as we would like to cover all sports in the exact same manner, the reality is that certain sports command a different scale of audience and advertiser interest at the local level and we’re moving our resources to better align with that, Spano said.
“These decisions were made using the large pool of data that has been accumulated over the last few years. It doesn’t mean that we’re no longer covering all teams in a city, but it does mean that we are reimagining what that looks like while being more conscious of our commitment to it. This means a smarter mix of daily shows, short-form content, and tentpole coverage.”
Those sports, apparently, are hockey and baseball, as CHGO laid off a Blackhawks writer (Boysen,) a Cubs writer (Herrera,) and two White Sox writers (Duber and Lawrence). While we know that ratings indicate football and basketball are the two most popular sports in the country, the Blackhawks have a high-profile talent in Connor Bedard and still couldn’t generate interest. Ultimately though, Spanos is hopeful for the future.
“We believe these changes create long-term sustainability for our employees as we continue to scale and add networks across the country.”
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