TCM Host Dave Karger Says He’s ‘Beyond Heartbroken’ Over Layoffs, Predicts ‘Bumps’ Ahead: ‘It’s Been a Tough Week’

Sharon Knolle
·3 min read
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As TCM viewers and classic movie lovers mourned and hoped for the best following this week’s massive layoffs at the network, TCM host Dave Karger and other colleagues spoke out for the first time to express heartache and frustration over the losses in leadership.

“My goal (and I know the other hosts agree) is to try to be a stabilizing and familiar presence in the months ahead,” Karger tweeted Friday, noting the feeling of uncertainty following Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav‘s move to fire 25-year veteran Pola Changnon and others.

Karger wrote that he is “beyond heartbroken.”

“A note to our passionate TCM viewers: It’s been a tough week to say the least and I’m beyond heartbroken that we are losing so many brilliant colleagues who are also dear friends. I’ve seen all of your support online and it means so much to all of us,” he wrote, adding that “there will be some bumps, but we will all be on the road together.”

Eddie Muller, who hosts “Noir Alley” on TCM, had a more pessimistic take on the future of the channel, lamenting the loss of senior writer producer Christian Hammann.

“[She] is almost singularly responsible for visualizing my persona on @NoirAlley,” Muller tweeted on Thursday. “Her promos are genius. Her firing today is heartbreaking to me. Going forward will definitely not be ‘seamless.'”

Fellow TCM host Ben Mankiewicz simply shared thanks for the fans: “Today was a lesson in the value of patience and the value of listening,” he wrote. “Props to every single party who pulled up a (figurative) chair and heard what others were saying. I’m impressed – as always – with the depth and understanding of @TCM fans.”

There might also be a “thank you” in there for Zaslav, whose chat with directors Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson left the film heavyweights “encouraged” that the channel would not be axed completely.

Alicia Malone, who has been a host on the channel since 2018, does not have a Twitter or Instagram account, while Jacqueline Stewart, who became the host of “Silent Sunday Nights” in 2019, has not tweeted in over a year.

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