Less than a week after losing almost its entire news staff to mass layoffs, WRTV announced a new team of on-air personnel that will helm the station’s morning broadcast starting next month.
Circle City Broadcasting introduced “AM LIVE,” a 4-7 a.m. newscast airing weekdays, as its first change to programming since closing an $83 million deal to purchase WRTV from the E.W. Scripps Co. March 31. The morning broadcast, which begins airing May 4, will feature a team partially lifted from WISH-TV, Circle City’s CW affiliate.
“We’re proud to bring more LIVE, local news to Central Indiana viewers and continue investing in talented journalism,” Circle City Broadcasting President and CEO DuJuan McCoy said in the release. “Expanding our morning coverage is only the beginning of many more improvements on our newly acquired station.”
Former WTHR reporter Karen Campbell, WISH “Live.Style.Live!” host Marlee Thomas, WISH meteorologist Tara Hastings and Indianapolis newcomer Alan Selph will staff “AM LIVE,” per a WRTV article posted April 6. Content from WISH reporters has supplemented WRTV’s scheduled programming since the layoffs, and Hastings has anchored at least one WRTV broadcast.
Campbell returns to Indianapolis local news after a six-year stint at NBC affiliate WTHR, which ended in April 2025 according to her LinkedIn profile. Both Hastings and Thomas are still listed on WISH’s staff page, though unclear whether they will retain their current roles with the station with the new broadcast.
Selph’s LinkedIn lists a December 2023 to January 2025 stint at WREG in Memphis as his most recent job, though his byline appeared on a WISH-TV story April 2. Selph is not listed on the staff page of WISH’s website.
The morning team joins longtime WRTV investigative reporter Kara Kenney as confirmed hires under the station’s new ownership. Kenney announced she accepted Circle City’s offer to stay with WRTV April 3.
Circle City Broadcasting is still hiring after WRTV mass layoffs
Despite letting go of what’s reported to be most of around 60 WRTV staffers, Circle City Broadcasting appears to be looking to hire a crop of new employees. The company is advertising more than 20 open positions for reporters, producers, photographers and other broadcast news personnel on WISH’s website.
Lydia Williams, WRTV’s former executive producer, told IndyStar those who didn’t receive an offer to stay were guaranteed an interview for any open positions Circle City Broadcasting might have for the new-look WRTV. Circle City Broadcasting human resources told employees one-by-one whether they would be let go or receive an offer to stay on staff while the newsroom was airing its evening broadcasts March 31, Williams said.
It’s unclear exactly how many of the around 60 WRTV employees lost their jobs March 31, though reports and comments from former staffers indicate that most of the newsroom did not receive offers to stay on under the new Circle City ownership. At least 11 announced they were laid off on social media, according to IndyStar reporting.
In separate Facebook posts, meteorologist Kyle Mounce wrote that the staff had been “shown the door,” and meteorologist Todd Klaassen wrote that “essentially the entire staff has been let go.”
Circle City’s McCoy has lauded the WRTV acquisition as a conduit for more local news in Indianapolis. He noted the transition would take “several months to complete” in a statement April 1.
The purchase brings Circle City’s roster of local stations up to three: WRTV, WISH and a MyNetworkTV affiliate MyINDY-TV 23. Federal Communications Commission regulations for local ownership usually prevent multiple stations from falling under the same umbrella, but a Feb. 27 waiver from the agency allowed Circle City’s purchase. The FCC agreed with Circle City that the move “will advance the public interest,” the waiver reads.
Contact IndyStar Pop Culture Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@indystar.com. Follow her on X @hmb_1013.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: After mass layoffs, WRTV has new morning show. Here’s who is on it
Reporting by Heather Bushman, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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