The Los Angeles Fox-owned television station KTTV-TV did a massive round of layoffs late Friday. Sources who have asked not to be identified say the station let go at least 99 staffers.

It’s still unclear if the layoffs affected any on-air staff. Station departments with artists who design graphics, and other visual elements for KTTV-TV newscasts, appear to have been the hardest hit.

One source believes the layoffs appear divided almost evenly among technical engineers and newsroom staff.  For some, the layoffs aren’t immediate; their last day will be September 10.

Sources also say the helicopter division has been affected. Kevin Takumi, who reported from the ‘Sky Fox HD,’ was among the crew eliminated in this round of cuts. Helicopter coverage is a enormously expensive for television stations; generally averaging between $600-to-$800 per hour of flight time.

Layoffs of this size are unusual, even at large television stations. Late last year Fox-owned KCOP-TV dropped its evening newscast after shrinking it from an hour to a half-hour program.

KTTV-TV’s parent company is News Corporation.  Recently the media giant reported its operating profit for the first quarter of 2009 was down 47 percent from this time last year.  The company also publishes newspapers which have become a drag on overall company profits.

In April sports anchor Rick Garcia left KTTV-TV only to appear days later on KCAL-TV as a news anchor.

–posted at 1:58 p.m. by C. Fiegener

Filed under Headline

Saturday, June 27, 2009

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