Hubbard's KSAX Scraps News

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Hubbard Broadcasting's KSAX Alexandria (Minn.) has eliminated its news department, reports the AP, laying off 17 employees. The station is an ABC affiliate operating in central Minnesota.

Hubbard owns KSTP-KSTC in the Twin Cities, around 130 miles away.

It is rare for stations to get rid of news altogether. WYOU Wilkes-Barre-Scranton did so in 2009. A year later, KOHD Bend replaced newscasts with shorter news "updates", amidst heavy newsroom layoffs.

KSAX station manager Ed Smith told the AP the decision "came down to economics."

Michael Malone
Michael Malone

Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.