Channel 4 slashes 25 percent of its workforce

A person close to the situation told the Deseret News that the laid-off KTVX ABC 4 employees ran the teleprompters and in-studio cameras. The workers laid off included two assignment editors, the special-projects producer, and an employee who coordinated the cooking segments. A handful worked in promotions, sales and marketing and accounting.

No on-air workers or news photographers were let go. Most of the on-air workers negotiate contracts that provide them with income if they are laid off, the source said. For severance, the employees will get one to nine months pay, depending on their position and how long they had been with the company. No health-insurance benefits will be offered beyond the federally mandated COBRA.

Matt Jaquint, the station's general manager, said he could not comment and referred questions to a San Francisco public relations firm. The firm did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment this afternoon.

ABC 4 formerly was owned by Clear Channel but was sold in April to private equity firm Providence Equity Partners, along with Clear Channel's other television stations, for $1.2 billion.

E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com

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