Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications said last week it is cutting 120 jobs at its 15-station television group. Many will be at stations Emmis purchased from Lee Enterprises last year "and involve the natural integration and the strategic reallocation of resources from Lee management to Emmis management," the company said.
The Emmis-Lee merger had received good reviews from several integrated Lee staffers several months after the takeover, partly because jobs had remained stable. Some former Lee execs, however, had expressed fear that aggressive budgets and the soft advertising year might lead to layoffs.
Emmis said the cuts were determined by station management and were geared more toward reorganizing to advance stations' positions within their markets than toward economic savings. Some stations, Emmis said, might be adding personnel.
