WISH-TV Channel 8 fired its top newsroom executive last week amid an exit of more than 20 staffers who quit or were fired after they declined to sign a contract addendum featuring revised noncompete language.
Al Carl, vice president of news and news director for the station, confirmed his departure in an email sent to Rick Gevers, an Indianapolis-based talent agent for TV anchors, reporters and weather forecasters.
Carl’s email was published as part of a weekly industry email published by Rick Gevers & Associates at rickgevers.com.
“I have been informed that my role at WISH-TV/Circle City Broadcasting has been cut,” Carl wrote as part of a seven-paragraph note.
IBJ’s attempts to reach Carl, who was hired by the Indianapolis station in 2016, and representatives of WISH’s parent company, Circle City Broadcasting LLC, have been unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, Circle City Broadcasting announced two personnel moves on Tuesday in a press release. Erika Facey, a six-year station employee, is now news director at WISH-TV. Adam Krent, who was hired by the station in 1996, will serve as assistant news director.
It’s unknown if Carl signed the contract addendum presented by Circle City Broadcasting. Employees were given a deadline of Sept. 3 to sign.
According to documents reviewed by IBJ, existing contracts include an agreement that employees will not work for competing radio and television stations for one year after concluding their tenure at the station.
It’s common for television stations to require a noncompete agreement for staff members who appear on air or who work in sales, said Gevers, a former news director who founded Rick Gevers & Associates in 1995.
The contract addendum prevents employees from working for an expanded list of companies—including news websites, podcasts and social media channels—for one year after leaving WISH-TV.
“That was an unusual request from management,” Gevers said.
IBJ communicated with 14 WISH-TV employees who quit or were fired last week. Most declined to be interviewed for this report. Since Sept. 3, WISH has deleted website profiles of five anchors and reporters: Kody Fisher, Felicia Michelle, Brittany Noble, Reyna Revelle and Kyla Russell.
Gevers said it’s somewhat rare for noncompete agreements to be required of “behind-the-scenes” employees. People no longer employed by the station worked in roles such as news producer, photographer, assignments manager, digital content producer, graphic designer, digital sales manager and promotions specialist.
Before the cuts, WISH-TV maintained a staff of more than 100 people, a former employee told IBJ on condition of anonymity.
Kat Webber and Guillermo Lithgow, two former employees who gave interviews to IBJ, said they believe Circle City Broadcasting was motivated to present the noncompete addendum because of litigation involving a former station meteorologist.
After a monthslong back-and-forth, a Marion County court late last week ruled that a previous WISH noncompete clause was unenforceable after Ashley Brown sued the company amid a new job search.
Brown, who worked at WISH from 2017 to early 2025, filed the lawsuit against Circle City Broadcasting in July, claiming that the noncompete language in her contract was overly broad.
The contract, signed in 2022, stated that, for one year after her employment ends for any reason, Brown could not accept employment “involving the rendering of any services, (including electronic media) whether or not for compensation, live or recorded, over the facilities of any radio or commercial television station” within the Indianapolis market.
Brown argued that the inability to offer “any services” extended beyond her role as a meteorologist and instead prevented her from accepting employment from any competitor, regardless of the job.
In August, the trial court denied Circle City Broadcasting’s request for arbitration, which the broadcasting company quickly appealed. The Marion County court delayed its ruling in Brown’s lawsuit until Sept. 5, when the appeals court was expected to make its ruling. The appeals court denied the company’s request for arbitration on Sept. 4, at which point the trial court made its ruling in Brown’s favor.
“Restricting work that ‘involves’ the rendering of live or recorded media goes well beyond restricting the performance of the same time of work Ms. Brown was previously doing at CCB,” the court’s ruling reads. “For example, working in a research, writing or production role would be employment involving the rendering of media even if Ms. Brown was not the face of that media.”
Indiana Lawyer reporter Maura Johnson contributed.
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