Bell cutting 1,300 positions, shuttering six radio stations
CTV
BCE Inc. is cutting 1,300 positions, around three per cent of its workforce, and closing or selling nine radio stations as the company plans to 'significantly adapt' how it delivers the news.
BCE Inc. is cutting 1,300 positions, around three per cent of its workforce, and closing or selling nine radio stations as the company plans to "significantly adapt" how it delivers the news.
The company says the job cuts are in response to unfavourable public policy and regulatory conditions that it can no longer outwait.
The plan entails "moving to a single newsroom approach across brands, allowing for greater collaboration and efficiency," said Richard Gray, vice-president of news at Bell Media, in an internal memo distributed to staff Wednesday morning and provided to The Canadian Press.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Bell executive vice-president and chief legal and regulatory officer Robert Malcolmson said the company's media branch "can't afford" to continue operating with its various brands -- such as CTV National News, BNN, CP24, its local TV news stations and radio channels -- operating independently of one another.
The eliminated positions include a six per cent cut at Bell Media, which is part of BCE Inc.'s Bell Canada division. Bell Media's holdings include the CTV television network, specialty TV channels, radio stations and production studios.
"It's a consolidation of news gathering, news delivery," Malcolmson said.
"We are combining the news production function in a horizontal way so that you have one common platform that is serving news to the relevant outlet from one management team."