WGN TV cut nine on-air personnel Monday in its latest round of layoffs, including entertainment critic and reporter Dean Richards and sports anchor Chris Boden, the Sun-Times has learned. Sources say more staff could be laid off Tuesday.Others let go were news anchors Ray Cortopassi, Sean Lewis and Judy Wang, reporters Julian Crews and Bronagh Tumulty, meteorologist Mike Janssen and political analyst Paul Lisnek. Sources say Cortopassi was laid off in the middle of his shift, leaving Micah Materre to work solo on the anchor desk Monday night.The layoffs follow a recent round of behind-the-scenes cuts that included copywriters, circumstances that have touched local network affiliates but rarely have hit “Chicago’s Very Own.” One veteran TV reporter had never seen this many cuts at once from a Chicago station. They come as WGN parent company Nexstar is working to merge with Tegna in a deal that’s under regulatory review.A Nexstar spokesperson said in a statement to the Sun-Times: “Nexstar does not comment on personnel issues, but the company is taking steps necessary to compete effectively in this period of unprecedented change.”Some of the talents let go are nationally known from WGN's days as a superstation, when its programming beamed via cable and satellite across the country. Richards joined WGN in 1991 as a staff announcer and became a regular contributor in 1998. Crews has covered the city and state since 1996. Boden has covered sports for more than 30 years at a half-dozen Chicago TV and radio stations. Wang began at the defunct CLTV in 1995 before joining WGN in 2009.The layoffs are an apparent effort to cut costs in anticipation of the excessive debt Nexstar will incur from money borrowed to buy Tegna. In August, Nexstar announced it would acquire Tegna for $6.2 billion, creating a broadcast behemoth that would cover about 80% of U.S. TV households. The deal requires the Federal Communications Commission to lift its 39% ownership capWGN is still very profitable, despite changes in viewing habits, but the cuts have to come from somewhere, through no fault of the employees affected. Nexstar already has been carrying the debt from its $4.1 billion purchase of Tribune Media in 2019.Ratings-wise, WGN News performs great in the morning, dominates Fox 32 at 9 p.m. and is competitive at 10. Its popular morning-news show is emulated by other stations in the country. ...read more read less