What prompted the women to sue now?

After Charter purchased NY1 in 2016, the five anchorwomen saw their work opportunities erode, according to Douglas Wigdor, the lawyer representing the women.

“In the media world, you can’t fight sexism without also fighting ageism,” Mr. Wigdor said in an interview yesterday . “Men get gray, they put on weight, they become somewhat disheveled in appearance, but nonetheless are still out there anchoring and are sort of statesmen.”

Women, he added, “tend to get pushed off the air because of the belief that viewers don’t want to see older women, they want to see more attractive women.”

The allegations against NY1 were jarring, he said, because the station prided itself on having “people presenting news who looked like New Yorkers — and New Yorkers include older women.”

More than half of the station’s on-air talent are women, Ms. Huff said in a statement. More than half of the talent are older than 40, and a quarter are women over 40, she said.

Why the suit might matter to you

New Yorkers watch the local news because its anchors and reporters know our city. Local elections? A water main break? A missing dog? You don’t turn to Anderson, Wolf or Gayle. You turn to Pat and Jamie. Or Errol, Cheryl, Roger and Ruschell.

[Read about The Times’s “The Truth is Local” campaign.]

When newsrooms change who is on air, the results are immediately visible.