Former Parent Company of KATC-TV Planning Layoffs

(KMDL-FM) The world of broadcast news in South Louisiana has been a bit of a developing story over the past few years. We've had well-known talents take their talents on to more lucrative positions. We've had well-known talents literally change channels. And now we're hearing that a major player in local television markets across the country is reportedly planning to reduce the size of its workforce.

As far as the "moving parts" that are the Lafayette and Acadiana television scene, perhaps the biggest news of the past few years came when longtime KATC Television anchors Jim Hummel and Marcel Fontenot moved a couple of hundred feet down Eraste Landry Road to take on similar duties at rival KADN.

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Dave Baker and Darla Montgomery Are Back on Television - Here's Where They Are

Perhaps the other big news stories out of the world of television in Lafayette were the "retirements" of longtime favorites Dave Baker, who stepped down from KATC at the end of 2023, and Darla Montgomery, a fixture on both KATC and KLFY, who "retired" from her position with TV 10 in the spring of 2025.

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But as those of us in the industry know, there is no such thing as "getting out of the business"; no matter how hard you try, it just sucks you back into it. The same could be said for both Baker and Montgomery.

Darla has just revealed that she will be returning to local television this time at KADN. Meanwhile, Dave Baker is working on the other side of the Atchaflaya Basin as part of the WBRZ weather team.

Two Lafayette TV Stations Now Share the Same Owner

And while the anchor-shuffle has been interesting, the biggest news story about television has been the news that KATC and KADN are now part of the same broadcast family. Those properties were acquired by Gray Media last year. Gray Media also owns television stations in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Alexandria, Lake Charles, Monroe, and Shreveport.

**Correction/Clarification: We have received information from sources close to the proposed Gray Media/Scripps media acquisition story that the deal to acquire KATC has not been finalized pending regulatory approval by the FCC. And there have been changes in the proposed acquisition of KADN. So, those changes in ownership are still technically pending.

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Which brings us to the "soon-to-be-pending-FCC-approval" former owner of KATC, the E.W.Scripps Company. According to reports that broadcast conglomerate that operates stations in more than 60 markets across the country will soon announce layoffs. We should expect to hear more about the plans when the company hosts its February 26th earnings call to report on its current financial situation.

As of now, the speculation is that there will be layoffs at E.W.Scripps. The scope of those layoffs has yet to be determined. For our brothers and sisters in broadcasting, we wish you the best.