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Four of New York City’s familiar TV news faces have been shown the door as corporate owner Nexstar trims staff at PIX11.
The cuts included early-morning anchor Craig Treadway, weekend morning anchor John Muller, evening anchor Kori Chambers and afternoon anchor Arrianee LeBeau, the news site Newscaststudio reported.
The layoffs are part of a broader restructuring at Nexstar Media Group stations in New York and Los Angeles.
The trade outlet reported that WPIX parted ways with the four anchors as part of a cost-cutting round, while other newsroom, production and sales roles were also said to be affected. The exact number of eliminated positions was not immediately clear.
Treadway, a longtime fixture at PIX11, reflected on his more than 25 years at the station in a farewell message he shared earlier this month.
“I would’ve loved to say goodbye to my colleagues in person. I had other plans. Life had different ones — ones not of my choosing,” he wrote in a Feb. 9 LinkedIn post.
Muller, who anchored weekend mornings and reported for the station, was a visible presence on PIX11’s broadcasts.
Chambers anchored the station’s weekday 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, holding one of the most prominent roles in the newsroom.
LeBeau, a weekday afternoon anchor, also covered transit for the morning newscast.
Nexstar declined to comment on individual personnel matters but said in a statement reported by multiple outlets that it is “taking steps necessary to compete effectively” amid “unprecedented change” in the broadcast industry.
The job losses at PIX11 come as Nexstar continues to streamline operations across its portfolio of major-market stations, raising fresh questions about the future direction of one of New York’s most recognizable local news brands.
Even as Nexstar trims newsroom staff at stations like WPIX and WGN, the company has been aggressively lobbying federal regulators to approve its proposed $6 billion acquisition of Tegna.
The deal would significantly expand Nexstar’s footprint and requires sign-off from the Federal Communications Commission because current rules bar a single broadcaster from reaching more than 39% of US TV households.
Nexstar has argued that consolidation is necessary to compete with streaming giants like Netflix and YouTube, which are not subject to the FCC’s ownership cap and have siphoned advertising revenue from traditional broadcasters.
Critics, however, point to prior Nexstar acquisitions that resulted in newsroom consolidations and job cuts, raising questions about whether further expansion would bolster — or further shrink — local news operations.
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