At 3 p.m. on March 31, the staff at Indianapolis ABC affiliate WRTV was prepping for the 5, 6, and 7 p.m. broadcasts. By the end of the night, most of them were unemployed.
Circle City Broadcasting — which already owned two other Indianapolis stations — completed its $83 million acquisition of WRTV that afternoon. The Federal Communications Commission had waived longstanding anti-monopoly regulations in February to greenlight the deal. Three months later, the new owner called around 60 employees into a conference room and fired them one by one, in alphabetical order, while the evening news was still airing.
Lydia Williams, a 13-year WRTV executive producer, told the Indianapolis Star the newsroom learned about the sale closing at 3:30 p.m. via a corporate email. By 4:15 p.m., they were summoned to meet Circle City’s HR team. The 5 p.m. broadcast went live as scheduled — with some reporters knowing it was their last show.
“We all banded together, and we kept the ship rowing in the right direction,” Williams said. “People are watching. People need us.”
The Alphabetical Firing Line
Circle City CEO DuJuan McCoy wasn’t present at the station during the layoffs. HR reps told employees that some would receive offers to stay on, others would get severance packages, and those let go would be “guaranteed an interview” for any future openings. Then they started calling people in — A through Z.
The process took three hours. Williams, near the end of the alphabet, spent that time packing her desk and consoling colleagues.
By 7 p.m., the WRTV signal had already been taken over by WISH-TV — Circle City’s CW affiliate. The next day, WISH meteorologists and reporters appeared on WRTV broadcasts with WRTV logos. The station looked identical to its former competitor.
Circle City now owns three Indianapolis stations: WISH, WNDY-TV 23, and WRTV. The FCC waived monopoly rules to make it happen.
“More Local News” — Eventually
When Circle City first announced the acquisition last October, Williams said the newsroom mood was “general panic.” But McCoy visited the station shortly after and told the staff he was excited to bring WRTV into the fold. Williams said it was implied there would be “a lot more hires.”
“We were very excited to start the new WRTV,” she said.
Three months later, the entire staff was gone.
In a statement issued April 1 — the day after the mass firing — Circle City promised it “remains committed to family, community, and delivering high-quality local news programming.” McCoy said the transition will eventually lead to more local news, though he noted the process will take “several months” to complete.
In the immediate future, WRTV is running WISH-TV content with WRTV branding. Meteorologist Tara Hastings from WISH anchored WRTV’s noon broadcast on April 1, featuring stories from WISH reporters who identified themselves as reporting for WRTV.
The consolidation is seamless — because it’s the same company running both stations now.
The FCC Made This Possible
The Federal Communications Commission has maintained rules against local media monopolies for decades. The idea: prevent one company from controlling too much of a community’s information flow.
In February, the FCC waived those rules to greenlight Circle City’s $83 million purchase of WRTV. The company already owned two Indianapolis stations. Now it owns three.
The justification for waiving anti-monopoly protections isn’t detailed in the Yahoo News article, but the outcome is clear: Circle City can now operate multiple Indianapolis stations with a single newsroom staff, running identical content across different channel numbers and network affiliations.
Williams — a Carmel native who spent nearly 13 years at WRTV — said many of her former colleagues stayed at the station for years because they loved serving their community.
“There are many people in that newsroom who have the same story,” she said.
Those people no longer work there.
What “Local News” Means Now
Several WRTV reporters confirmed on social media that they were let go, though the exact number of employees terminated remains unclear. Meteorologist Kyle Mounce wrote that the staff had been “shown the door.” Meteorologist Todd Klaassen wrote that “essentially the entire staff has been let go.”
It’s unclear whether Kara Kenney — the station’s highly decorated investigative reporter — received an offer to stay on. She wrote in a social media post that she would miss working for Scripps but is “excited for the road ahead.”
The new WRTV will look like WISH-TV with different branding. Circle City can run the same reporters, the same stories, the same meteorologists across multiple stations — cutting costs while maintaining the appearance of competition.
The FCC waived the rules meant to prevent exactly this.
McCoy says more local news is coming. Eventually. In several months.
Meanwhile, 60 people who spent years covering Indianapolis — some of them while being fired — are looking for work.
The evening news aired on schedule.