WSMV just laid off Snowbird.
Nashville's NBC affiliate has seen a number of changes to its roster over the past few years, as the once-leader in the market has tumbled in the ratings. But today's cuts claimed the most high-profile victim yet: Steven Good, who has played Snowbird for 24 years.
Several others also lost their jobs, including Brian Hallett, Ken Hicks (who has been with Channel 4 since the 1980s), Talia Naquin (an executive producer), Kacy Hegerty (a midday host), Dave Walker (master control operator) and Kellie Noshfar. Sources confirmed those layoffs and said there were likely others.
The layoffs come just over a week after WSMV announced the hire of Dale Woods as its new general manager and vice president. Woods moved from the NBC affiliate in Des Moines, Iowa, to replace recently retired GM Doreen Wade.
It remains to be seen what the station will do about Snowbird, the station's winter mascot. The character was launched as a puppet in 1983 and was branding for the station's coverage of weather-related school closings. Good began playing a life-sized version in 1993. Reached by the Scene, he confirmed the layoff. The station killed the Snowbird Twitter and Facebook presences, too.
"I was told that the position was being eliminated," Good says. The character will remain in some capacity, as it has been one of the station's longest running promotions. Snowbird appears at more than 300 events in a given year, roughly 25 per month, at everything from charity walks to schools to county fairs to chambers of commerce. Good said he had been booked through March. He tells Pith that he enjoyed making a fictional character real.
"That’s what I think I brought to the character is that he wasn’t like a ficus plant. He was interactive and as real as Bill Hall or Lisa Spencer or anyone else," Good says. "My holy trinity was Jim Henson and Fred Rogers and Bob Keeshan. You could reach kids and teach kids and interact with them. I had no problem going to K-second grade kids and reading them silly penguin books. I think that has value. I think that was a good way to get in the door."
Whoever fills in for Snowbird will have some very particular shoes to fill — the costume was custom made for Good's 5-foot-4- inch frame.
A station representative directed Pith to Meredith Broadcasting's corporate offices for comment. We'll add their response when they respond to our inquiry.
