WLFI meteorologist Chad Evans faces layoff in Allen Media’s long-distance approach to weather
Parent company announced plan to ‘hub’ local forecasts through The Weather Channel. WLFI's Chad Evans confirms he’ll lose his job in the change. Last day still up in the air.
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WLFI’S CHAD EVANS FACES LAYOFF IN ALLEN MEDIA’S LOCAL METEOROLOGIST PURGE
Chad Evans, the chief meteorologist at WLFI-TV18, will be among the meteorologists out in Allen Media Group’s plan to produce local weathercasts for dozens of stations from The Weather Channel studios in Atlanta.
“Yes, I learned last week that I am impacted by the layoffs,” Evans told Based in Lafayette Monday.
Evans said his final day in WLFI’s West Lafayette studios hadn’t been set, as of Monday.
“Even though my time is going to be up, I will work until the last day,” Evans said. “I owe it to the community. I care about them, and I'm never going to slack for anything.”
Allen Media, which owns stations in more than 20 mid-sized to small markets across the country, announced Saturday that it was consolidating its weather coverage, confirming industry trade rumors that had been swirling in recent weeks.
The release from Allen did not specify layoffs or which stations would be affected, but it laid out what it called an “innovative partnership based at The Weather Channel’s Atlanta headquarters brings together world-class meteorological expertise, cutting-edge technology and the most advanced forecasting tools to deliver superior weather content to local television station audiences.”
Allen Media owns The Weather Channel.
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“The offering will feature a newly assembled team leveraging cutting-edge forecasting tools, proprietary immersive mixed reality, and award-winning visual storytelling,” according to Allen Media’s release over the weekend. “The team will be led by Meteorologist Carl Parker – a storm and climate specialist and 20-year veteran of The Weather Channel – and will also include some of the AMB local market meteorologists who will transition to Atlanta to be part of the next-level local weather initiative.”
Allen Media touted that “by utilizing The Weather Channel’s advanced technology, local stations will provide quicker, more efficient updates while enhancing the viewer experience. This initiative will improve both content delivery and operational efficiency, ensuring timely and reliable weather news for communities nationwide 24/7.”
Tom O’Brien, president of Weather Group/The Weather Channel, said in a release: “We are 100% committed to delivering next-level weather news to our local television stations 24/7.”
Allen Media said some of the company’s meteorologists would be brought to the Atlanta studios for the new approach to local weather.
In recent days, the move already has resulted in layoffs for on-air meteorologists, some of which started rolling out last week in places such as Terre Haute, Indiana; Eau Claire, Wisconsin; and Flint, Michigan.
WLFI management did not immediately respond to messages for comment Monday. It wasn’t clear whether others on the WLFI staff would be affected by the moves.
Touches of the plan already been apparent. Parker was introduced during a Jan. 12 WLFI broadcast as the station’s “chief meteorologist,” a designation that typically labeled Evans’ appearances on nightly shows. WLFI broadcasts Saturday and Sunday featured Todd Borek of The Weather Channel.
Evans is on his second stint with WLFI. He spent six years with the CBS affiliate before leaving to be chief meteorologist at CBS/Fox 44 in Evansville in 2015. Evans returned to WLFI in summer 2018, telling the J&C at the time: “Greater Lafayette and the entire WLFI viewing area is truly family to us in our eyes.”
Evans has supplemented his local forecasts with a daily weather blog and his tree of the week features, in addition to wall-to-wall coverage of storms. As of this weekend, TV18 continued to run promos featuring Evans, the station’s winter weather coverage and Greater Lafayette’s only local forecast on TV. (Star City Broadcasting, which runs news on several network affiliates in Lafayette, broadcasts its weather from anchors in remote studios.)
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Weather coverage — especially during severe weather — is part meteorology and part local relationships. This is a tremendous disservice to our community.
I wonder if Chad could get a Substack following and make it even somewhat financially viable...