A sweeping wave of budget cuts coupled with evolving information technology in the U.S. broadcasting industry has led to a tearful goodbye for two beloved TV news personalities who have become household names during their time at a local station in Indiana.
Patrece Dayton, a news anchor in Terre Haute, and chief meteorologist Kevin Orpurt appeared together on the air for the last time.
Their farewell statement came as their positions at WTHI News covering Wabash Valley were eliminated as a result of local weather forecasters being replaced with coverage beamed to local stations by The Weather Channel feed.
“Kevin and I have come into your homes for decades, nearly 37 years for me,” said Dayton, to which Orpurt added, "And more than 40 for me."
Dayton explained:
"For those of you who don’t know, both of our positions are being eliminated here at WTHI-TV."
"The television business in general is changing nationwide and budget cuts are happening everywhere.”
Orpurt said that they had hoped to "go out on our own terms...to celebrate...but that's not the case."
"But we do want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts," Orpurt continued, and expressed the outpouring of love and support in the form of messages and social media posts have been "very overwhelming," "uplifting," and "kind."
After the duo asked viewers to extend well wishes to their remaining colleagues at the station, Dayton grabbed Orpurt's hand and said, "All right, here we go," before she got choked up. "Hey, we made it this far."
"Yeah, we did," assured Orpurt as he held onto her hand. After regaining composure, Dayton addressed viewers and said:
"For the final time, goodnight and sleep well."
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People were saddened over the departure of the revered duo.
Allen Media Group, which owns several local news stations, announced there would be a series of layoffs affecting around 100 meteorologists across more than two dozen states after it partnered with The Weather Channel to provide weather information to all of its local news markets.
Tom O’Brien, President of Weather Group/The Weather Channel, stated in a news release:
“Allen Media Group is leveraging the full resources and expertise of The Weather Channel to make our local weather news the very best."
“We are one hundred percent committed to delivering next-level weather news to our local television stations 24/7.”
The Weather Channel was acquired by Byron Allen‘s Entertainment Studios in 2018 for about $300 million.
"The acquisition of the Weather Channel is strategic, as we begin our process of investing billions of dollars over the next five years to acquire some of the best media assets around the world," said Allen.
The Weather Channel headquarters in Atlanta will be producing forecasts for each news station from a team led by meteorologist Carl Parker.
Local meteorologists affected by the layoff will either be eliminated or reassigned to a regional team in Atlanta, according to the news release.
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