Starting today, March 1st, local newscasts at Estrella TV’s Channel 62 are no longer produced and anchored in Los Angeles. Instead, they have been outsourced to Mexico’s Multimedios, according to multiple sources.
About two dozen staffers were laid off. Many of them had worked at the station for decades, sources tell Media Moves.
Most of the personnel who lost their jobs are photographers, producers, editors and other production staff. At least two on-air talent got pink slipped.
Among those laid off, whose names were confirmed by multiple sources: cameramen Marcos Navarro, Rafael Taboada and Julio Cesar Alas; anchor and reporter Victor Cordero and weather anchor Sanelly Quintero.
Four reporters, two of them MMJs, will continue to produce stories for the now Mexico-produced L.A. newscasts.
Staffers were first notified of the company’s plan to ship off local news production and cut jobs about 10 days ago at a meeting led by Ivan Stoilkovich, EVP of Television Content for Estrella Media. Some of the layoffs were executed last week, with others taking place yesterday, the last day of local newscast production.
A company spokesperson would not provide an official statement about the outsourcing of the local newscasts or the layoffs, but told Media Moves that Estrella Media was leveraging Multimedios to supplement its news operations, the company was committed to local news and reporting, and that most of the local reporters and anchors in L.A. have been retained.
Estrella TV began producing and airing local newscasts in L.A. 20 years ago, under the company’s prior owner and founder, Lenard Liberman, CEO of LBI Media.
The company also shut down local operations of its Dallas news hub and outsourced its newscasts to Mexico in November 2021. According to sources, more than 40 people lost their jobs.
Liberman exited the company following bankruptcy restructuring. First lien lender HPS Investment Partners, LLC, which sponsored the reorganization plan, acquired 100% ownership of LBI Media in 2019 and rebranded the parent company to Estrella Media in 2020.
With Univision now part of Television and now this decision from Estrella, it would be very hard in the U.S. to get unbiased news from México. It doesn’t matter that other Latinos are from other parts of Latin America. This is not good.
So true. Definitely very bad news for the industry.
You mention this Carlis, as if we ever had some sort of unbiased news in our U.S. Spanish media.
We have never had. Period.
One, because that has never been the intention, all the opposite. The idea of oppression is key for the Latino audience.
Two, because is frankly shameful the lack of political gravitas of the Hispanic journalism in the U.S.
they had the chance to join a union years ago.
We had a Union at KWHY channel 22 and they did the same thing…
in the case of KWHY at least the Union fought and won to get a cash settlement from Meruelo. Employees are always afraid of joining a union thinking the company will fire them…. At the end Estrella fired them all with no mercy. Is not a secret why latinx companies don’t need union busting efforts: the same employees do the company’s busting work for them and for free.
Where does it say these are “latinx companies”? Please try again…
Villafane, thanks for the summary. I can add, respectfully, that bankers don’t know dip about television. The reson they are sinking is: LL left the building. They get an F in sales. An F in “restructuring”.
*reason
My comment boiled in misinterpretation. HPS, not the aim of my note, has been sensible with employees, past and present. Restructuring took many forms throughout the years at LBI, but, to reiterate, the subject of my grading – purely qualitative – is not HPS.
Eso si. A mi me despidieron.
The best decision the company made is give to Mirtala Salinas the pink slip…
Veronica I worked in every single Spanish station here in LA. Including with you at KMEX what I have seen is that all non-union stations there is always Patron y Peon feeling with the workers are always afraid of making waves. One time at KWHY as we were leaving a producer fell on the property.it was witnessed by me and another employee we told her to file and notify the company of a on site accident. The producer refused.(did not want to cause waves)
Long story short the producer blew out a knee came back to work and was laid off two weeks later.