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 radio stations being sold are in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
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.
Daigle and Gray said “multi-skilled journalists” would replace news correspondent and technician teams reporting to CTV National News in Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, while other correspondent changes would be made in Ottawa.
Earlier in the day, Bell Media’s parent company BCE Inc. announced it was cutting nine per cent of its workforce.
The company, in an open letter signed by chief executive Mirko Bibic, said 4,800 jobs “at all levels of the company” would be cut. Fewer than 10 per cent of the total job cuts are at Bell Media specifically.
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.
Unifor said 800 members it represents were laid off in the Bell cuts, around 100 of which from the media sector and the balance from the telecom sector.
“Executives and shareholders are doing just fine while our members are being thrown out of work, including once again in the media,” said Unifor national president Lana Payne.
“Our union does not accept the use of government policy changes as a smokescreen to justify the company’s actions.”
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.
At BNN Bloomberg, weekday daytime programming is “being streamlined” to reduce the number of separate broadcasts.
Daigle and Gray also said W5 will shift from a standalone documentary series to a “multi-platform investigative reporting unit” featured on CTV National News, CTVNews.ca and other news platforms.
The job cuts mark the second major layoff at the media and telecommunications giant since last spring, when six per cent of Bell Media jobs were eliminated and nine radio stations were either shuttered or sold.
In a separate internal memo, Bell Media president Sean Cohan said the company intends to divest 45 radio stations to seven buyers: Vista Radio, Whiteoaks, Durham Radio, My Broadcasting Corp., ZoomerMedia, Arsenal Media and Maritime Broadcasting. The sales are subject to CRTC approval and other closing conditions.
“We’ve effectively sold off half of our radio portfolio. That’s a significant divestiture and it’s because it’s not a viable business anymore,” said Bell chief legal and regulatory officer Robert Malcolmson in an interview with The Canadian Press.
“We will continue to operate ones that are viable, but this is a business that is going in the wrong direction.”
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.
He pointed out the buyers are mostly “well-established, smaller, regional and local broadcasting stations.”
“This might be OK. It could be not a bad thing,” said Winseck.
“They’re more connected to the communities. They don’t have the punishing demand of the financial markets of Bay Street that Bell has.”
Malcolmson said Bell Media is in the midst of a “digital transformation” for both entertainment and news.
But whether or not prioritizing digital growth is viable for the company in terms of generating profit remains to be determined.
“We’re investing in it; we’ll see,” said Malcolmson. “Without some form of regulatory supports, it’s tough.”
He blamed the federal government for taking too long to provide relief for media companies as well as the CRTC for being too slow to react to a “crisis that is immediate.”
That extends to two pieces of legislation intended to help Canada’s struggling media sector: Bill C-18, also known as the Online News Act, meant to force tech giants to compensate Canadian news outlets for their content, and Bill C-11, which updates the Broadcasting Act to require digital platforms such as Netflix, YouTube and TikTok to contribute and promote Canadian content.
Ottawa remains in a standoff with Facebook parent company Meta over C-18, with the company continuing to block news links on its platforms. Meanwhile, the federal government capped the amount of money broadcast media can get from Google’s $100 million annual payments at $30 million, with the remainder to go to print and digital news outlets.
“In practice, it’s not going to do anything. It’s underwhelming to say the least,” said Malcolmson.
The federal government argues it has done a lot to help the news industry and accused the company of breaking its promise to invest in news after being granted more than $40 million in annual regulatory relief.
“They are not going bankrupt. They’re still making billions of dollars,” Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said on Parliament Hill on Thursday.
“They’re still a very profitable company and they still have the capacity and the means to hold their end of the bargain, which is to deliver news reports.”
Thursday’s job losses at Bell Media are also directly tied to regulator direction on Bill C-11, Malcolmson said.
The CRTC held a hearing late last year exploring whether streaming services should be asked to make an initial contribution to the Canadian content system to help level the playing field with local companies. The commission hopes to implement new rules in late 2024.
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.
“We hope they do that but we can’t wait two years for that to happen, so then you see actions like this today,” he said.
Bell has fought other regulatory decisions over the past year that it says makes things harder for its struggling broadcast division.
That includes an October application to the Federal Court of Appeal seeking to overturn a CRTC decision that renewed its broadcast licences for three more years. It argued that decision was made without a public hearing and could result in the regulator prejudging its requests last June to waive local news and Canadian programming requirements for its television stations.
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.
On Thursday, Bell said it could also further scale back network investments on its telecom side as it remains at odds with the CRTC over what it calls “predetermined” regulatory direction.
Asked about the company’s image in light of continued cuts, Malcolmson noted the size of Bell’s executive team has been reduced in recent years and executive salaries remain frozen.
“We have a duty both to our shareholders and to our employees to make sure we manage the business in a rational way,” he said.
List of divested Bell Media radio stations (New owner)
OTTAWA – Here are some notable quotes from Liberal members of Parliament as they headed into a caucus meeting Wednesday where they are set to debate Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership.
Comments made after the caucus meeting:
“The Liberal party is strong and united.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
———
“Justin Trudeau is reflecting and he’s standing strong and we’re standing strong as a Liberal party.”
“We as a party recognize that the real threat here is Pierre Poilievre and that’s what we’re fighting for.”
“Trudeau has made very clear that he feels he’s the right choice but he appreciates all of what is being said because he’s reflecting on what is being done across Canada. I respect his decision, whatever that may be.”
Charles Sousa, MP for Mississauga—Lakeshore
———
“We had some open and frank discussions. People are relentlessly focused on serving Canadians and win the next election. This was really a rallying call to win the next election.”
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, MP for Saint Maurice—Champlain
———
“I don’t know how many people spoke, well over 50 I’m sure. They came at this from all angles and now (we’ve) got to go back and process this.
“We’re on a good path.
“It was very respectful. You know, caucus has always had the ability to get into some tough conversations. We did it again today and it went extremely well. Where we land? Who knows? You know we have to go and really process this stuff. But one thing that is absolutely, you know, fundamental is that we are united in the fact that we cannot let that creature from the Conservative party run the country. He would ruin things that people greatly value.”
Ken Hardie, MP for Fleetwood—Port Kells
———
Comments from before the caucus meeting:
“There’s a — what would you call it? Some palace drama going on right now. And that takes us away from the number 1 job, which is focusing on Canadians and focusing on the important policies but also on showing the really clear contrast between our government, our party and Pierre Poilievre.”
Randy Boissonnault, Employment Minister, MP for Edmonton Centre
———
“We’re going to go in there and we’re going to have an excellent discussion and we are going to emerge united.”
Treasury Board President and Transport Minister Anita Anand, MP for Oakville
———
“I think caucus is nervous because of the polling that has been constantly going down in favour of Liberals, and there’s a lot of people who do want to run again. I’m not running again, although I already told the prime minister that. But there are people there that want to run again and they’re nervous because of what polls are saying.”
“He has to start listening.”
Ken McDonald, MP for Avalon
———
“We’re going to have a good caucus meeting. MPs should be free to air their perspectives, I’m sure they will, and we’ll come out of it united.”
Peter Fragiskatos, MP for London North Centre
———
“I have to read the room. There’s all sorts of wheels within wheels turning right now. I’m just going to go in there, I’m going to make my mind a blank and just soak it all in.”
“I’m not going to say anything about (the prime minister) until I have my say in there.”
Ken Hardie, MP for Fleetwood—Port Kells
———
“I wish there was a mechanism for it, yes,” he said, responding to whether he wanted a secret ballot vote in caucus to determine Trudeau’s leadership.
Sean Casey, MP for Charlottetown
———
“The prime minister will always be on my posters and he is welcome in Winnipeg North any time.”
Kevin Lamoureux, MP for Winnipeg North
———
“Absolutely I support the prime minister.”
Yvonne Jones, MP for Labrador
———
“When you look divided, you look weak.”
Judy Sgro, MP for Humber River—Black Creek
———
“I think Pierre Poilievre is absolutely beatable, he’s ripe for the picking with the right vision, the right leadership and the right direction for our party. The Liberal party is an institution in this country. It’s bigger than one person, one leader, and it’s incumbent on us as elected officials to make sure we put the best foot forward.”
Wayne Long, MP for Saint John—Rothesay
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
FREDERICTON – Chief Allan Polchies says he is excited about New Brunswick’s new Liberal provincial government.
Polchies, of St. Mary’s First Nation, says he looks forward to meaningful dialogue with premier-designate Susan Holt after years of tense relations with the outgoing Progressive Conservatives under Blaine Higgs.
He is one of six Wolastoqey Nation chiefs who have filed a land claim for a significant part of the province, arguing treaty rights have not been respected by corporations and governments, both of which have exploited the land for hundreds of years.
The December 2021 court challenge has been a sore point between Indigenous Peoples and the Higgs’s government.
Eight Mi’kmaw communities are also asserting Aboriginal title to land in the province, and they say they hope to work with Holt and her team on “advancing issues that are important to our communities.”
Holt’s campaign didn’t give details on the Liberal government’s position on the Indigenous claims, but she has said she wants to rebuild trust between the province and First Nations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
OTTAWA – Abousfian Abdelrazik told a court today about the roller-coaster of emotions he experienced during the tense days of early 2009 when he awaited the green light to return to Canada from Sudan.
The Sudanese-born Abdelrazik settled in Montreal as a refugee and became a Canadian citizen in 1995.
During a 2003 visit to his native country to see his ailing mother, he was arrested, imprisoned and questioned about suspected terrorist connections.
Abdelrazik says he was tortured during two periods of detention by the Sudanese intelligence agency.
He is suing the federal government, claiming officials arranged for his arbitrary imprisonment, encouraged his detention by Sudanese authorities and actively obstructed his repatriation to Canada for several years.
In March 2009, he made arrangements to fly home to Canada and asked Ottawa to issue him an emergency passport, but his hopes were dashed — at least temporarily — when the request was turned down.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
