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Rocky Mountain News

By Mike Pearson

The broadcasting duopoly between Denver stations CW2 and Fox 31 has resulted in the layoffs of several on-air talents.

Veteran CW2 anchor Ernie Bjorkman learned on Tuesday that he would not be on the air beyond Dec. 31. The station's news director, Carl Bilek, also was let go, effective immediately.

In addition, Tuesday was the final day for CW2 anchor/reporters Vida Urbonas and Mat Garcia, as well as reporter Ginger Delgado and sports anchor Lisa Holbrook.

Dennis Leonard, vice president and general manager of Fox31, who will oversee the joint operation, said he expects slightly more than 30 layoffs because of the consolidation of the two stations.

The moves comes as the station prepares to move from Greenwood Village to the Lincoln Street and Speer Boulevard studios of Fox 31. A merger of resources, or "duopoly," between the two stations is expected to be completed by March 31.

In the short term, viewers will not see changes in programming at the two stations, which have competing newscasts.

"It's certain that we will continue to compete from 5-9 a.m. Monday-Friday," Leonard said. "KWGN will have the 11 a.m.- noon hour to themselves Monday-Friday, and we're still debating internally what should happen with the 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. (newscasts)."

Leonard said the stations likely will share one news desk and photojournalists, yet remain distinct brands.

"There's a distinct advantage to having two brands under one roof," he said. "We're able to share talent. When we get this completed we'll have the largest news-gathering resource in the state of Colorado for television.

"We (still) have to build out a new studio for KWGN inside our building, and we'll be converting to high-definition broadcast at the same time."

Duopolies are nothing new, Leonard said. "There are a lot of markets where duopolies and local marketing agreements exist," said Leonard. "As the economy continues to be wildly unpredictable, these economic models make a lot more sense than they did even a couple of years ago."

Understandably, he said, the changes have been hard on the staffs of both stations.

"Anytime you have this much change and uncertainty at the top, it creates a nervous business environment," he said.

Bjorkman, for one, seemed ready to roll with the change.

"It just so happens that I'm about to graduate vet tech school," he said. "So after the first of the year I'll be working with animals rather than people."

Originally published by Mike Pearson, Rocky Mountain News.

(c) 2008 Rocky Mountain News. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.