Bell Media will sell 45 radio stations at the time of the layoffs

TORONTO –

Bell Media is suspending several television news shows and cutting other programming after its parent company announced mass layoffs and the sale of 45 of its 103 regional radio stations.

In an internal memo sent to Bell Media employees Thursday, he said news stations such as CTV and BNN Bloomberg will have an immediate impact.

Radio stations for sale in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

The memo, signed by Dave Daigle, vice president of local television, radio and Bell Media Studios, and Bell Media vice president of news, Richard Gray, says weekday newscasts will end on all CTV stations except Toronto. It will also drop the 6pm and 11pm weekend newscasts on all CTV and CTV2 stations except Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.

Daigle and Gray said “multi-skilled journalists” will replace the news reporter and technical teams covering CTV National News in Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, while other correspondent changes will be made in Ottawa.

A day earlier, Bell Media's parent company BCE Inc. announced that it will cut nine percent of the workforce.

In an open letter signed by the company's CEO, Mirko Bibic, 4,800 jobs “at all levels of the company” will be cut. Less than 10 percent of the total cuts are at Bell Media.

Some employees were notified or were to be notified of the layoffs on Thursday, and the balance will be told in the spring. Bibich said the company uses vacancies and natural attrition to keep layoffs to a minimum.

Unifor said 800 members it represents have been laid off in the Bell cuts, with about 100 left in the media and telecommunications sectors.

“While our members are being laid off, executives and shareholders are doing well, including, once again, 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 CTV News' evening programs The Debate, This Hour and Top 3, which will be replaced by a four-hour weekday newscast starting at 6 p.m.

BNN Bloomberg is “optimizing” daytime programming on weekdays to reduce the number of separate broadcasts.

Daigle and Gray also said W5 will transition from a stand-alone documentary series to a “multi-platform investigative reporting unit” that will air on CTV National News, CTVNews.ca and other news platforms.

The job cuts are the second-largest layoffs at the media and telecommunications giant since last spring, when six percent of Bell Media's jobs were eliminated and nine radio stations were closed or sold.

In a separate internal memo, Bell Media President Sean Cohan said the company plans to sell 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 effectively sold half of our radio portfolio. It's a significant divestment and it's no longer a viable business,” Bell chief legal and regulatory officer Robert Malcolmson told The Canadian Press.

“We continue to run a viable business, but it's a business headed in the wrong direction.”

While the sale represents Bell's latest struggles, the new ownership could be beneficial for the beleaguered stations, said Dwayne Winsek, a professor at Carleton University's School of Journalism and Communication.

He noted that the buyers are mostly “well-established, smaller, regional and local broadcast stations.”

“It could be good. “It might not be so bad,” Winsek said.

“They are more connected to communities. They don't have the punishing demands of Bay Street financial markets like Bell.”

Malcolmson said Bell Media is in the midst of a “digital transformation” for both entertainment and news.

But whether prioritizing digital growth will be viable for the company in terms of profitability remains to be seen.

“We are investing in it; We'll see,” said Malcolmson. “Without some form of regulatory support, it's difficult.”

He accused the federal government of taking too long to help media companies and the CRTC of being too slow to respond to an “immediate crisis.”

That extends to two pieces of legislation designed to help Canada's struggling media sector: Bill C-18, also known as the Online News Act, which aims to force tech giants to compensate Canadian news outlets for their content, and Bill C-11, which renews The Broadcasting Act requires digital platforms such as Netflix, YouTube and TikTok to contribute and promote Canadian content.

Ottawa remains at loggerheads with Facebook's parent company Meta over C-18, as the company continues to block news links on its platforms. In addition, the federal government has capped the amount of money media outlets receive from Google's $100 million annual payments to $30 million, with the rest going to print and digital news outlets.

“In practice, he can't do anything. It's challenging, to say the least,” Malcolmson said.

“We have been advocating reform for years. It's not coming fast enough, and it's not going to provide significant help when it arrives.”

Thursday's job losses at Bell Media are directly related to the direction of regulatory Bill C-11, Malcolmson said.

The CRTC held a hearing late last year asking whether streaming services should be asked to make initial contributions to the Canadian content system to help level the playing field with local companies. The Commission hopes to introduce the new rules by the end of 2024.

But Bell's chief said the company needs immediate help, which could come from a fund he proposed subsidizing streamers for local or national news.

“Hopefully they'll do it, but we can't wait two years for it to happen, so you're going to see actions like this today,” he said.

Bell has battled other regulatory rulings in the past year, which it says will complicate the situation for its broadcast division.

That includes an application to the Federal Court of Appeal in October to overturn a CRTC decision that extended its broadcast licenses for another three years. He said the decision was made without a public hearing and could lead to the regulator's earlier assessment of requests to waive requirements for local news and Canadian television stations last June.

Bell Media's ad revenue is down $140 million in 2023 from last year, and the company's news division is losing more than $40 million in annual operating costs, Bibich said in his letter.

On Thursday, Bell said it may further cut network investments on its telecom side because it is at odds with the CRTC over what it calls a “predetermined” regulatory direction.

Asked about the company's image amid ongoing layoffs, Malcolmson noted that Bell's executive team has shrunk in recent years and executive pay has stagnated.

“We owe it to our shareholders and our employees to make sure we run the business wisely,” he said.

List of Bell Media radio stations (new owner)

CHOR, Summerland, BC (Vista Radio)

CJAT, Trail, BC (Vista Radio)

CKKC, Nelson, BC (Vista Radio)

CKGR, Golden, BC (Vista Radio)

CKXR, Salmon Arm, BC (Vista Radio)

CKCR, Revelstoke, BC (Vista Radio)

CJMG, Penticton, BC (Vista Radio)

CKOR, Penticton, BC (Vista Radio)

CJOR, Osoyoos, BC (Vista Radio)

CICF, Vernon, BC (Vista Radio)

CHSU, Kelowna, BC (Vista Radio)

CILK, Kelowna, BC (Vista Radio)

CKFR, Kelowna, BC (Vista Radio)

CKNL, Fort St. John, BC (Vista Radio)

CHRX, Fort St. John, BC (Vista Radio)

CJDC, Dawson Creek, BC (Vista Radio)

CKRX, Fort Nelson, BC (Vista Radio)

CFTK, Terrace, BC (Vista Radio)

CJFW, Terrace, BC (Vista Radio)

CHTK, Prince Rupert, BC (Vista Radio)

CKTK, Kitimat, BC (Vista Radio)

CKLH, Hamilton, Ont. (white oak)

CHRE, St. Catharines, Ont. (white oak)

CHTZ, St. Catharines, Ont. (white oak)

CKTB, St. Catharines, Ont. (white oak)

CKLY, Lindsay, Ont. (Radio Durham)

CKPT, Peterborough, Ont. (Radio Durham)

CKQM, Peterborough, Ont. (Radio Durham)

CFJR, Brockville, Ont. (My broadcasting corporation)

CJPT, Brockville, Ont. (My broadcasting corporation)

CFLY, Kingston, Ont. (My broadcasting corporation)

CKLC, Kingston, Ont. (My broadcasting corporation)

CJOS, Owen Sound, Ont. (ZoomerMedia)

CHRD, Drummondville, Sq. (Arsenal Media)

CJDM, Drummondville, Que. (Arsenal Media)

CFEI, St. Hyacinth, Que. (Arsenal Media)

CFZZ, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, av. (Arsenal Media)

CIKI, Rimouski, Que. (Arsenal Media)

CJOI, Rimouski, Que. (Arsenal Media)

CFVM, Amqui, Que. (Arsenal Media)

CIKX, Grand Falls, NB (marine broadcasting)

CJCJ, Woodstock, NB (marine broadcasting)

CCBC, Bathurst, NB (marine broadcasting)

CKTO, Truro, NS (Marine Broadcasting)

CKTY, Truro, NS (marine broadcast)

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on February 8, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX: BCE)