San Diego's KGTV-TV ABC 10News has terminated roughly 20 employees - including prominent anchors, reporters, photographers, producers, and a receptionist - in a round of layoffs orchestrated by its parent company, E.W. Scripps Company. The cuts, first reported by Times of San Diego on March 16, 2025, have stripped the station of decades of collective broadcast experience, leaving viewers across San Diego County without some of their most familiar newsroom faces.
Leon Clark, Vice President and General Manager of KGTV, addressed the layoffs in a statement to SanDiegoVille, saying, "While I can’t confirm specific numbers or names, I can tell you that there are impacted positions at KGTV. These are not easy decisions, but the changes are essential as KGTV and our parent company, Scripps, respond to evolving viewer habits and the continuing disruptions with the broadcasting industry."
Clark underscored the station’s resilience, adding, "The 10News team remains committed to listening to and reporting on the stories where we live and work. We still have a large team of reporters that are integrated into communities across the San Diego area, delivering the news and information that matter to our viewers."
The layoffs span both on-air talent and behind-the-scenes roles. Among the notable departures reported are veteran anchor Rachel Bianco, a fixture since May 2009; Wale Aliyu, an evening anchor since October 2022 who co-anchored with Kimberly Hunt; and Jim Avila, a Team 10 investigator since November 2023 with a career dating back to 1973, including stints as a senior White House correspondent during Barack Obama’s second term.
Sports anchor Steve Smith, with 25 years of spotlighting underdog athletes, and Lindsey Peña, a reporter since April 2017 covering Native American and LGBTQ+ communities, were also let go. Morning meteorologist Vanessa Paz, a Chula Vista native since January 2020; Madison Weil, a reporter since May 2022 focusing on homeless, refugee, and international communities; and weekend anchor Aaron Dickens, noted for his LGBTQ+ community ties, round out the known on-air losses. Off-camera, videographers and editors Mike Howder, Sara Wemy, Paul Anderegg, Sean Dooley, Lyle McCartee, Maria-Camilla Murcia, Jessica Howard, and Steve Martinez were cut, alongside producers Rose Arslan, Enedina Cisneros, and Deyja Charles, and receptionist Gina Welker.
Scripps provided broader context for the layoffs, which Clark shared: "Over the last two years, prompted by research and changing consumer viewing habits – Scripps has been transforming how our local news is produced and delivered, with two goals: to enhance the economic durability of our business and to improve the quality of our journalism. Through these efforts, our aim is to cover our communities more deeply and to do this in a sustainable way to ensure we can continue providing our audiences with essential services well into the future."
The company, which operates 61 stations across 41 markets and ranked ninth among U.S. TV operators with $1.38 billion in 2023 revenue, has trimmed staff at about a dozen stations nationwide, with estimates suggesting hundreds of jobs lost company-wide. Local managers have been directed to leave vacancies unfilled, signaling a leaner operational model.
The layoffs come amid financial maneuvering at Scripps, which delayed its Q4 and full-year 2024 earnings report in February 2025 due to refinancing negotiations for its term loan and revolving credit facility. The company paid down $115 million in debt during Q3 2024, targeting $300 million by year-end, reflecting efforts to stabilize amid a volatile media landscape.
For San Diego, a city of around 1.5 million where KGTV has historically competed with NBC 7, CBS 8, and Fox 5, the cuts could reshape local news coverage. Talents like Aliyu, who reported on the 2024 floods, Peña, with her community focus, and Avila, with national investigative chops, were key to 10News' identity, while Smith's sports stories connected with fans countywide.
Nationally, the media sector is grappling with similar upheaval. Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. reported 14,909 jobs cut across broadcast, TV, film, news, and streaming in 2024, down from 21,417 in 2023. Scripps itself shed 200 jobs at Scripps News in 2023, while recent cuts at Forbes, Vox, ABC News, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Disney’s ABC News Group, Tegna, Nexstar, and Gray Television highlight an industry in flux.
In San Diego, where tourism, military bases, and border dynamics drive news demand, KGTV’s reduced capacity - once over 100 staff - may test its ability to cover everything from Padres games to regional crises.