BLOOMINGTON - Two Central Illinois television stations merged operations Monday. Granite Broadcasting Corp. now operates WEEK and WHOI from the WEEK studios in East Peoria after reaching a shared services agreement with WHOI parent Barrington Broadcasting Group.

The deal is a result of the economic downturn, on top of pre-existing pressures on media companies to make money, said Mark DeSantis, president and general manager of WEEK, WHOI and WAOE.

"These deals are borne of necessity," DeSantis said. "Through efficiencies of operations, we can keep a station like WHOI on the air."

The reduction of some staff positions was one cost-saving method behind the agreement. An exact count of laid-off employees was unavailable, though DeSantis said WEEK retained 16 employees from WHOI, including many of the same news anchors.

Barrington still owns WHOI, but New York-based Granite provides the advertising, sales, promotion, administrative services and selected programming to the ABC affiliate through the shared services agreement. Barrington, based in suburban Hoffman Estates, is responsible for syndicated programming deals, while WEEK will work with the company on news and other local programming, DeSantis said.

Viewers will not notice any changes on WEEK, the local NBC affiliate, DeSantis said. The main change for WHOI viewers is the schedule for local and world news, he said.

WHOI will scale back to one early evening local news broadcast at 5:30 p.m., instead of at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. when WEEK's news also is on television. ABC World News Tonight will follow at 6 p.m. instead of its 5:30 p.m. time slot, DeSantis said.

The changes prevent direct competition between the stations, DeSantis said.

"There's a new alternative to both local and national news on WHOI," DeSantis said. "We see that as a benefit for viewers."

In a similar agreement between the two parent companies, Barrington will operate Granite's Syracuse, NY., station, WTVH.

The WEEK studios also operate WAOE, the My Network affiliate for Central Illinois, in a similar arrangement.

Granite filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in 2006 and emerged from bankruptcy the following year.