13 WREX sister station says its keeping local meteorologists; Rockford future unclear

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A sister station of 13 WREX announced on air this week that it would keep its local meteorologists, halting a plan to consolidate weather forecasts at the Atlanta headquarters of The Weather Channel.

The future for Rockford’s meteorologists, however, is still unclear.

KWWL-TV in Waterloo, Iowa, whose vice president and general manager Aaron Scoby is also the VP and GM at 13 WREX, announced Tuesday night that its parent company Allen Media Group was changing course on the plan. That followed similar announcements at other stations owned by Allen Media Group around the country.

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Scoby has not responded to messages seeking clarity on 13 WREX.

The reversal comes less than a week after Allen Media Group announced its plans to produce local weather news for multiple markets in Atlanta, bringing some station’s meteorologists to Atlanta while others would be laid off.

“People from all counties that we cover were devastated by this announcement, as we were,” KWWL’s Chief Meteorologist Mark Schnackenberg said on air Tuesday. “The other day we received word from our parent company that they heard you loud and clear. The communication we received that was their decision has been put on hold for further review.”

Schnackenberg told viewers that its weather team will remain on its staff, for now.

“All or some of us is still to be determined,” he said. “But we are incredibly grateful for the community support we’ve received.”

Other stations owned by Allen Media Group have similarly made announcements that they’ll stay on air. That includes WSIL Channel 3 in Harrisburg, Illinois, WTVA Channel 9 in Tupelo, Missippi, and WAAY-TV in Huntsville, Alabama, among many others. Some announcements came as soon as last week.

“That isn’t to say that as owners of The Weather Channel if collaboration makes sense, say to fill in on a weekend newscast, maybe fill in during vacation, we’ll be cooperative,” Mike Wright, WAAY-TV’s general manager, said on air Jan. 23. “But that’s to be discussed down the road.”

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Allen Media Group operates 27 television stations in 21 markets across the country.

Broadcast news publication The Desk reported that Allen Media Group was reversing course across the country, but it wasn’t clear what would happen with meteorologists who had already been laid off.

No announcement has been made for the future of Alex Kirchner, Claudia Olech and John Jurgens at 13 WREX.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas