Romeo Cantu falls victim to KGBT-TV layoffs

McALLEN — Minutes after reporting on thousands of U.S. workers losing their jobs, Romeo Cantu got the axe.

The weatherman for KGBT-TV Channel 4 ended a six-year-run on Rio Grande Valley airwaves Tuesday morning without a final farewell, becoming the station's third on-air personality to fall victim to declining advertising revenues and corporate cost-cutting this recession.

KGBT-TV, the Valley's CBS affiliate, quietly laid off 10 staffers Tuesday and finalized plans to cut the noon newscast starting Monday. It was the third round of cuts for the station which in 2008 saw then-reporter Janine Reyes and longtime weatherman and Valley fixture Larry James join the swelling ranks of the unemployed.

"‘It's part of what is going on around the country, and we're having to cut you just like them,'" Cantu recalled being told when he was let go minutes after finishing a 9 a.m. news segment. "The only thing I really regret is I didn't get the opportunity to say goodbye to the Valley."

The nine other staffers laid off were behind-the-scenes camera operators and other technical and news staffers, Cantu said.

With consumers spending less, retailers are swiftly scaling back advertising dollars - a move that is ravaging the media industry. Barrington Broadcasting Group LLC, KGBT-TV's parent company, announced last year it was cutting its workforce by 8 percent.

In November, the company, which owns 23 television stations across the country, reported it had lost $35.2 million through September 2008. The company had a net loss of $20.9 million through the same period in 2007.

Ben Tucker, KGBT-TV's president and chief executive officer, said that while the layoffs were regrettable, they were necessary given what he called the worst economy for the broadcast industry in his 35 years in the business.

Cutting the noon newscast was necessary to free up limited resources to focus on the evening and morning broadcasts, he said. He declined to name the staffers who were cut and refused to describe the nature of their work.

"We don't think it will affect our overall product," Tucker said. "We had to start to be proactive and make adjustments."

Cantu, a 22-year TV news veteran, disputed his former boss, saying that product will certainly be affected by the loss of staff.

"Ultimately the people who will suffer the most from all of this is the Valleyites," he said.

Beginning at the station in 2003, Cantu anchored the morning show and reported the weather with a friendly smile and tremendous energy, despite the early hours. Last year, he garnered a Texas Associated Press Broadcasters award for general assignment reporting. He also won an award from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

"When you can make someone feel any story that you write and talk about, then you've done your job," he said.

Cantu was working toward a meteorology degree when he got the axe, a costly endeavor he said he will continue despite the job loss.

He is the second weatherman to leave KGBT-TV in the past year. James, a 43-year veteran broadcaster, left the station in late April during the first round of job cuts, saying that he was retiring.

In November, the station axed Janine Reyes, who is now reporting for KVEO-TV Channel 23, the local NBC affiliate. When reached by phone at her new job, Reyes declined to comment about her former employer but did offer condolences to her former coworker, who is facing a terrible journalism job market.

"I had a lot of colleagues over there and I do wish them the best," she said. "I'm very happy over here, but I do feel for them."

____

Sean Gaffney covers business, the economy and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4434.