ABC affiliate WGTU and NBC affil WPBN Traverse City should be under the same roof by August 31, reports Traverse City Business News.
Tucker Broadcasting owns the ABC affiliate and Barrington the NBC. The latter runs both.
Eight people have lost their jobs at the stations, owing mostly to the economy.
Saarela said that between the merger and the economy, eight people lost their jobs at the stations this year.
“We really didn’t lay off people as a result of the merger–we did not retain three people from 29 & 8 [WGTU]-–the GM, business manager and traffic assistant,” said GM Jill Saarela. “In late April, we restructured due to the economy and at that time, five people (four full time and one part time) were let go. This included people from sales, engineering, news and production. We tried to help some of them find new positions with calls and references; those that wanted to continue to work."
