Fired KTLA top reporter gives gloomy outlook for local TV stations after ouster

It’s no secret that the local TV news industry is undergoing a massive transformation. 

Ellina Abovian — the longtime KTLA reporter who was fired from the station last month — underscored that realization in an interview with the Los Angeles Times on Monday, telling the paper it’s now up to the journalist to figure out how to “continue to be storytellers, just in a different format.” 

“Local news will always be very important,” Abovian told the paper. “However, the delivery and the way the industry takes form are changing.” 

Abovian was among several prominent on-air talent that were let go last month from the Nexstar Media Group station. 

As streaming continues to take a bigger chunk of viewership away from traditional TV and revenues shrink, companies are having to conduct lay offs and look to consolidation in order to cut costs and stay afloat. 

Nexstar recently finalized its $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna Inc., which now puts the broadcaster in 80 percent of America’s TV households.

The deal was made possible after the Federal Communications Commission issued a waiver lifting the cap that had restricted a single broadcast company from reaching more than 39% of American households. 

Adam Symson, president and chief executive of E.W. Scripps Co told the Times consolidation is necessary in order for the industry to grow.

“I think the business needs a healthy level of consolidation,” said Symson, whose company owns more than 60 stations. “It is not sustainable to expect these businesses to continue to operate with the revenue pressures they have in an environment that pretends like we are only competing against four or five television stations.”

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Scripps rejected an unsolicited acquisition proposal from Sinclair last year, but said it remains open to future opportunities to enhance shareholder value, including any acquisition proposal. 

The company announced a restructuring plan in February that focuses on investing in artificial intelligence to grow revenue and save money, but may also include layoffs, according to CNBC. 

“Everything is on the table, but our goal is to always preserve the journalism and the sales, the two things that make up our customer relationship,” Symson told the outlet. 

The Nexstar-Tegna merger and the FCC’s decision to lift the ownership cap mark a turning point for an industry that has long lobbied for the freedom to consolidate — and survive.

“It is going to be very helpful in terms of paving the way for future transactions,” Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley told Wall Street analysts last month on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, according to Deadline. “And we, specifically, are not standing still.”

As for Abovian, she is for now, leaving TV news behind to focus on her podcast “Breaking Through, The Ellina Abovian Podcast.”