Shouted Down by New Owner, Anchor John DeLuca Re-Signs with WLNE

By Andrew Gauthier 

After receiving a newsroom shout-down from his new boss, WLNE’s marquee anchor John DeLuca has signed a new two-year contract with the ABC-affiliate.

Earlier this month, news hit that Citadel Communications CEO Phil Lombardo laid into DeLuca moments before a newscast after he heard the veteran anchor loudly searching for a misplaced laptop. Reports paraphrase Lombardo’s message to DeLuca as “I could easily have your ass thrown out of here.”

Now, according to GoLocalProv, DeLuca has decided to re-sign with WLNE after sniffing around for another gig. A native of New England, DeLuca joined WLNE in 1999 and currently anchors the station’s 5, 6, and 11 p.m.

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By signing DeLuca, WLNE maintains some on-air consistency. Since being acquired by Citadel, over a dozen staffers have been shown the door including DeLuca’s co-anchor Allison Alexander, who was recently replaced by Karen Meyers.

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