KLRT, KARK-TV cut jobs, consolidate

Two Little Rock television stations - KLRT, Channel 16 and KARK-TV, Channel 4 - laid off employees this week as the stations consolidate.

Mike Vaughn, general manager of KARK-TV, would not say how many employees were let go or which departments they were from.

“It’s just a reduction in force,” he said. “The main anchor teams are still in place.”

Mission Broadcasting Inc. of Brecksville, Ohio, controlled by Irving, Texas-based Nexstar Broadcasting Inc., recently purchased KLRT and KASN, Channel 38, a CW affiliate in Little Rock. KARK is owned by Nexstar.

The layoffs come as KLRT moves into the Victory Building on Capitol Avenue where KARK operates.

Vaughn stressed that the two stations are not combining their news coverage.

“What people are accustomed to seeing is not changing,” he said.

The stations will air their first newscasts from the Victory Building on Saturday. KLRT will also produce its new morning show on Monday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., Vaughn said.

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