TORONTO – Approximately 200 jobs will be lost as CanWest Global announced today it will build four new broadcast centres in each of Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto, consolidating all production for its local news (for both Global Television and E!/CHCH) across the country to these four locations.
The construction will take about 18 months, according to an internal memo from CanWest’s Television president Kathy Dore obtained by Cartt.ca that outlined the impending changes. “Our goal is to update our operations for the HD world and produce higher quality local news, while increasing our efficiency by streamlining the way we produce news,” wrote Dore.
News crews will remain in their local markets but that content will be shifted so that it is assembled for playback then transmitted at one of the new broadcast centres, which will feature digital news room systems, virtual sets, and broadband technology.
“As part of this new approach, news will no longer be switched out of our local stations,” added Dore. “This means that as our new Broadcast Centres get up and running, we will be making reductions to our local production and technical support positions at many stations. At the same time, we will be creating a number of new production positions in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Toronto to accommodate the technological requirements of the new system. Every effort will be made to consider staff impacted at other local stations for the new positions being created at the Broadcast Centres.”
According to the CanWest press release, the number of new positions created will be in the 50 range.
In a more direct firing line, it seems are CanWest’s news operations in Quebec and the Maritimes. Dore singled out those two markets specifically saying the stations’ costs structures “are out of balance.”
“As a result, we have made the difficult decision to change our approach to local news at these stations. That will result in further staff reductions in our Quebec and Maritimes operations.” The memo did not go into specifics as to how the approach will be changed or what viewers will start seeing as a result of the cutbacks.
“Once the new system is fully implemented and changes are made in Quebec and the Maritimes, our overall staffing levels will be reduced by approximately 200 positions across the country,” added Dore’s memo.
“(T)he conventional TV broadcast model is challenged and all broadcasters are dealing with the same issues that we are facing. This plan will enable us to continue to provide high quality local news in all of our markets, while building a state-of–the-art infrastructure for the future. As I indicated earlier, because this plan will result in staff reductions in some markets, we are putting a specific process in place to ensure that impacted staff are considered for the new positions being created,” she added.
"Global’s decision to drastically cut back its workforce is yet another sign that big broadcasters are deserting the very communities they purport to serve, while attracting large national advertisers for those very same markets," said Peter Murdoch, vice-president media for the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, in a press release. CEP represents approximately 1,000 members at the network’s stations.
"Rather than put the savings made from this restructuring back into the local communities in terms of upgraded local programming and news, the cash goes to the Bay St. bankers. It’s outrageous. And in some cities, audiences will actually see a reduction in newsgatherers."
Murdoch said the union is considering all of its options – including filing complaints to the CRTC.
