Bell Media is ending multiple television newscasts and making other programming cuts after its parent company announced widespread layoffs and the sale of 45 of its 103 regional radio stations.
In an internal memo to Bell Media employees on Thursday, it said news stations such as CTV and BNN Bloomberg would be affected immediately.The memo, signed by Dave Daigle, vice-president of local TV, radio and Bell Media Studios, and Richard Gray, vice-president of news at Bell Media, said weekday noon newscasts at all CTV stations except Toronto would end. It is also scrapping its 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts on weekends at all CTV and CTV2 stations except Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.
Some employees have already been notified or were to be informed Thursday of being laid off, while the balance will be told by the spring. Bibic said the company will use vacancies and natural attrition to minimize layoffs as much as possible. Bell is also ending evening programs The Debate, This Hour and Top 3 Tonight on CTV News Channel, which will be replaced by a four-hour news broadcast on weeknights beginning at 6 p.m.
In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Corus Entertainment confirmed the company has also made changes this week across several stations, albeit small changes. They said the company has no plans to reduce its current program offerings. While the sales signal Bell's recent struggles, new ownership could be beneficial for the divested stations, said Dwayne Winseck, a professor at Carleton University's School of Journalism and Communication.
"We're investing in it; we'll see," said Malcolmson. "Without some form of regulatory supports, it's tough." "They are not going bankrupt. They’re still making billions of dollars," Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said on Parliament Hill on Thursday. But the Bell executive said the company needs immediate relief, which could come from a fund it has proposed that would see streamers subsidize local or national news.
Bell Media's advertising revenues declined by $140 million in 2023 compared with the year before, and the company's news division is seeing more than $40 million in annual operating losses, Bibic stated in his letter. Is it cheaper to rent or buy a house with a monthly mortgage in Canada? Prices analyzed in 26 markets