WTSP has dropped its local news sharing agreement with two other Tampa stations ABC affiliate WFTS and FOX Owned station WTVT.
Initial reports were that the CBS affiliate had laid off four staffers in the move, but according to Florida News Center, WTSP general manager Elliott Wiser explained there were three photographers and one reporter who were working as part of the sharing agreement. The three photogs were encouraged to apply for the same positions at WTSP and Wiser said freelance reporter Dave Heller will still be used.
There’s no word whether the three photographers and Heller will still be used by the other two stations.
Wiser, who came to WTSP in June, also told FNC that the original sharing agreement had expired in 2012, but the three stations had continued to participate until this month because Wiser said it was “just not working” for the station.