Fios 1 Shuts Down News Operation

/
image.jpg

FTVLive told you that Fios 1 was going to shutdown their news operation and yesterday was the day.

The company stopped airing news yesterday and put a lot of good people out of work. That included popular meteorologist Joe Rao, a Putnam resident who penned a heartfelt tribute on Facebook in announcing his final day at Fios1 News.

"'WE’LL MEET AGAIN' -- Well . . . a sad day for me career-wise, as today is the final day for FiOS1 News," Rao wrote. "And with it, what might very well be my final day as a broadcast meteorologist. "Call it a 'forced-retirement.' "

“Certainly, I did not want to end my career in this manner. And since the announcement last summer that this day would eventually come, I wasn’t too worried,” he said. "I had been working continuously since 1978, first on radio and then in 1995 on television.

Rao said that he’s been advised by some to potentially get back to his roots and return to the radio booth, an option Rao dismissed, noting that “today, a weather forecast on most stations is delivered in 30 seconds or less,” in an effort to maximize commercial time.

Moving forward, Rao said he plans to evaluate his options, possibly teaching classes at a local college while continuing his “Joe & Joe Weather Show” with Joe Cioffi.

Reporter Tom Murphy also lost his job, but he decided to go out smiling and posted his own personal blooper reel to this social media.