Scripps owned WKBW (Buffalo) parted ways with its General Manager Michael Nurse. They also sent two top sales people to the curb.

In a statement released late Tuesday, Scripps confirmed the departures of Nurse, Cuccia and Colvin-Collins and added “we can’t comment on the personnel issue.”

Nurse was the GM of the station when Scripps bought the station from Granite Broadcasting.

Under Granite the station went from first to worst in the ratings and that is where it has remained.

While Nurse was the GM when Granite owned the station, he was not the one to fly it into the ground. Then WKBW General Manager Bill Ransom was the guy that helped crater the once powerful station. When Ransom finally retired, Nurse got the GM job and was kept on by Scripps.

The fact that Scripps sacked the GM and two sales people all at the same time has many inside the station wondering why? “The rumor-mill is on tilt right now,” says a station employee to FTVLive.

Nurse is not commenting.

Scripps senior director of revenue strategy (whatever the hell that is?) Michael Barbetta will serve as WKBW’s interim station manager.

At one point, WKBW was the highest rated local station in the country. But Granite drove it so far into the ground that Scripps has not been able to budge the ratings needle since taking over.

H/T Buffalo News