Wgn Layoffs: On-air names revealed as station cuts nine and anchor schedule is upended
Wgn Layoffs intensified Monday when WGN-TV cut nine on-air personnel, a move that included high-profile reporters and anchors and immediately reshaped the station’s anchor lineup. The reductions come as the station’s owner readies a major merger and faces mounting debt concerns, and they have prompted strong reactions inside and outside the newsroom.
Wgn Layoffs: who was let go
Two characterizations of the staffing change appear in coverage this week: one describes nine on-air personnel being cut, while another frames the event as the sudden layoff of eight newsroom journalists plus a contract meteorologist whose contract was not renewed. The named on-air figures affected are:
- Dean Richards — entertainment critic and reporter
- Chris Boden — sports anchor
- Ray Cortopassi — news anchor
- Sean Lewis — news anchor
- Judy Wang — general assignment reporter and anchor
- Julian Crews — reporter
- Bronagh Tumulty — reporter
- Mike Janssen — meteorologist (contract not renewed)
- Paul Lisnek — political analyst
Coverage notes that more layoffs are possible as the station evaluates further cuts.
Anchor schedule shaken
The cuts immediately affected the anchor schedule. The reshuffle in place this week includes Patrick Elwood anchoring solo at noon and Lourdes Duarte anchoring solo at 4 p. m. Ben Bradley will join Duarte at 5 p. m., with Micah Materre joining Bradley at 6 p. m. Materre is also listed to anchor solo from 9: 00 to 10: 30 p. m. The station’s popular morning-news crew is expected to remain intact. One veteran TV reporter said they had never seen this many cuts at once from a Chicago station. In one notable moment, Ray Cortopassi was laid off in the middle of his shift, leaving Micah Materre to work solo on the anchor desk that Monday night.
Veteran talent and career timelines
Several of the people let go had long tenures and citywide profiles. Dean Richards has a multi-decade association with the station, joining as a staff announcer in 1991 and becoming a regular contributor in 1998. Julian Crews has covered the city and state since 1996. Chris Boden’s career spans more than 30 years across multiple Chicago TV and radio stations. Judy Wang began at the now-defunct local channel CLTV in 1995 before joining the station in 2009. The coverage highlights that some of these talents were nationally known from the station’s earlier years as a superstation.
Why management says cuts were necessary
The layoffs are presented as an effort to cut costs tied to an anticipated increase in debt related to a proposed acquisition. The station’s parent company is pursuing a $6. 2 billion acquisition that, if completed, would combine two major broadcast groups and create an entity reaching roughly 80% of U. S. TV households. That transaction requires a change to the current Federal Communications Commission ownership cap of 39% and is under regulatory review. A Nexstar spokesperson said the company does not comment on personnel issues but is taking steps to compete effectively in a period of unprecedented change. The ownership group already carries debt from a prior $4. 1 billion purchase completed in 2019.
Industry reaction and what comes next
Industry observers described the cuts as severe and tied them to the pending merger. One veteran journalist called the sequence of layoffs "a massacre, " emphasizing that money and the merger were driving the decisions rather than talent. A media executive and former editor said the depth of the cuts likely presages reorganization after a potential merger and suggested the timing followed recent federal comments supportive of the proposed transaction. The executive described the move as positioning the company to economize for a combined future entity and labeled the staffing reductions a "significant cut in local journalists, " noting the downturn reflects a longer trend of contraction in journalism; the remainder of that commentary is unclear in the provided context.
Despite the cuts, the station is described as still very profitable even as viewing habits shift. Ratings context in coverage highlights that the station performs very well in the morning, dominates a rival local station’s 9 p. m. slot, and is competitive in the 10 p. m. hour; its morning show is widely emulated. Observers say the station’s profitability and ratings complicate the narrative, but that the broader debt and merger calculus appears to be the immediate driver.
Recent coverage makes clear the staffing change is part of a larger cost-management push tied to corporate strategy and debt obligations; details may evolve as regulatory review and corporate decisions progress.
