This Shows How Bad of Financial Shape Tegna is In (Patreon)

Yesterday, FTVLive told you that Tegna was furloughing their employees at the same time the employees were finding out themselves.  

Tegna has told their staff that between the end of April and the end of June they will need to take a week off without pay. 

Tegna managers are being told that they will be taking a pay cut for the next few months. 

The idea that this is happening so soon after coronavirus pandemic reached the United States is telling about Tegna's financial position. 

We're basically a month into the economy slowing down and Tegna is already furloughing staff. You would think that a company would have enough cash in reserves to make it further than this?

Also, the fact that after the 2008 recession, Tegna had the furlough clause built into the contracts of talent, shows that this is a tool they had plans on using again. 

Back during the recession, Tegna again called for furloughs of their employees. The problem was that those employees working under a contract could not be furloughed unless they did so voluntarily. 

As contracts starting coming up, Tegna included language that would give the company the power to furlough staff under contracts. 

When the coronavirus dies down, Tegna is expected to reap millions and millions of dollars on political spending. It will make up for the big hole made by the pandemic, but don't look for Tegna to put a week's payback into employees' paychecks. 

While the company, like all media companies, is losing out on ad money, they are still getting their retrans money and lots of it. 

Calling for furloughs this early in the game tells me that Tegna is not on very stable ground, financially.