Mike Seidel has been axed from The Weather Channel with more than a dozen others due to downsizing that has hit the cable network and its parent company, Allen Media Group. Word of the cuts coincides with the network’s 42nd birthday which is celebrated on Thursday.
In March 2018, the cable network was acquired by media mogul Byron Allen through his Entertainment Studios to acquire the network from its previous owners, The Blackstone Group, Bain Capital and Comcast/NBCUniversal. While the terms of the deal weren’t made public, the Hollywood Reporter pegs the deal to be around $300 million. The deal does not include The Weather Channel’s digital properties, such as their websites, weather.com and wunderground.com, or their mobile app; those remained the property of IBM at the time and now are held by a private equity firm.
“Allen Media Group is making strategic changes to better position the company for growth that will result in expense and workforce reductions across all divisions of the company,” a spokesperson told reporters about this week’s job cuts. “Allen Media Group’s brands continue to perform well and in many areas our revenue growth has greatly outpaced the market. We are aligning these changes to drive future business opportunities and support our growth strategies in our rapidly evolving industry.”
Beyond the Weather Channel, the downsizing is impacting other networks and TV stations it owns. The New York Post is reporting about 300 employees representing about 12% of the company’s workforce of 2,500 is being impacted. The company owns 12 cable networks and 27 ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX affiliates in 21 markets.
Seidel had been with the Weather Channel since 1992.
