News Center Maine is laying off members of its marketing department in mid-January as part of a restructuring by its parent company.
The layoffs come as Tegna, the Virginia-based media company that owns News Center Maine, attempts to centralize its distinct marketing departments into a single team, spokesperson Anne Bentley said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
Bentley declined to state how many employees will be affected but said the change only affects the marketing team.
“This structure will include regional marketing leaders who will oversee multiple stations and markets,” she said. “There is a transition period for marketing employees through mid-January.”
The layoffs will impact marketing employees at all Tegna stations, Bentley said. Tegna owns 64 news brands in 51 markets, according to its website. It owns two other stations in New England: WTIC and WCCT, both based in Hartford, Connecticut.
“We’re very thankful for the hard work and dedication of our marketing teams and the positive impact they’ve made in serving our communities,” Lynn Beall, Tegna’s chief operating officer, said in a statement to employees.
CEO Mike Steib told employees in a statement that the larger reorganization will strengthen the company’s overall marketing abilities and “allow us to reinvest in critical areas like product development, paid marketing, and beyond.”
The Maine Department of Labor was not notified of the layoff, spokesperson Jessica Picard said, noting that companies with 100 or more full-time employees must give workers 60 days notice if the company closes a facility with 50 or more workers, discontinues an operating unit of 50 or more workers, lays off 50-499 workers and the layoffs make up 33% of the workforce at one site or terminate 500 or more workers at a single facility.
Voicemails left with the station’s marketing department were not returned Wednesday afternoon.
Mark Parent, News Center’s longtime marketing director, posted on social media that he is among those being laid off, and that his final day at the station will be Jan. 17.
“TEGNA has decided to centralize marketing for all of their TV stations and are eliminating the local marketing departments,” Parent wrote. “Yep, I’m out of a job.”
Reached by phone Wednesday evening, Parent declined to speak about his termination and directed questions about the layoffs to the station’s general manager, Micah Malloy.
Malloy did not return voicemails and messages on social media asking for details about the layoffs, including how many people at the station would be affected.
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