TORONTO – The days of "hard news" gathering appear to be over in some CHUM Television regions.
The company announced Wednesday a cross-country overhaul of its news operations which will see the broadcaster move away from so-called hard news reporting (think car crashes and daily political coverage) on the local level to softer news shows coupled with a national, centrally-produced newscast.
Company CEO Jay Switzer (who said "it’s been a long day," three times in the opening minute of today’s conference call with financial analysts) said in a follow-up interview with Cartt.ca that these moves are not something foisted onto the company by its announced buyer, Bell Globemedia. "Any time you have a situation with some downsizing, it’s unfortunate," he said. "This is a process that has been under way for eight or nine months and it really started in the field. We have station management supervisors that really want their stations to make a difference and we challenged them to come up with solutions, locally, as to how to best contribute and to put their resources where they can win, where they have an advantage and where they have viewers.
"They worked at it for six or seven months, we did more research and together all the local managers, station managers, general managers and regional vice-presidents across our local stations worked tirelessly on this project," Switzer continued. "Yes, there’s some downsizing and restructuring, but it’s really more about reorganizing our assets and expanding in some areas where we can make a difference."
The move means the loss of 281 jobs affecting all of CHUM’s conventional broadcast TV outlets.
It’s just about costs, either. "This is not a cost-reduction exercise," said Switzer. "This is about CHUM Television being more relevant to the markets they serve."
CHUM’s "new approach" will mean that "the stations significantly increase focus on service to local viewers, with in-depth coverage of local community stories, events and information. In a number of markets, this will mean a move away from traditional newscasts resulting in a significant reduction in staffing and operating costs," says the press release.
Citytv stations in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg will move from traditional one-hour evening newscasts normally chock-a-block with the day’s local news to a new daily half-hour magazine show to be called In Your City, "with in-depth coverage of community stories coupled with a new daily half-hour national and international news package currently being planned," adds the release.
However, the popular Breakfast Television, will be enhanced in each market, expanded to four hours each morning in Calgary and Edmonton.
Citytv Vancouver will be discontinuing its traditional newscasts as well and adding resources to its Breakfast Television, including more local traffic conditions and increased live coverage at events across the city every morning. Live updates and general information will continue throughout the day at regular intervals.
At A-Channel Victoria, though, the morning show will be discontinued in order to concentrate on the growing strength of the two-hour block of A-Channel News and Vancouver Island Report, providing enhanced coverage of local events and information from up-island.
"The emphasis on local community information, stories and updates will be supported by robust local station-branded websites featuring additional content, viewer response and editorial contributions, details of upcoming community events, as well as continuous updates on the important information that keeps communities running – from local events, traffic and weather to school bus schedules," adds the press release.
"This is an evolution of CHUM’s commitment to satisfying the local needs of today’s viewers in current and consistently relevant ways," said Peter Palframan, senior-vice president operations, CHUM Television. "Any decision that results in a reduction of staff is always difficult. However, our local experience, together with the extensive research and analysis we have conducted on our operational review over the last nine months, has shown we can be a more meaningful community partner and increase our competitive position by building on our strengths in each market."
Citytv Toronto will continue its successful 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. "CityNews" broadcasts, while A-Channel News Barrie at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. will return to a strong focus on Barrie, Simcoe County, Muskoka and Haliburton news and information. Programming remains unchanged at A-Channels in London and Ottawa, except that the daily noon news show in Ottawa will be discontinued.
"With these changes, all CHUM’s conventional stations will remain fully compliant with their CRTC conditions of licence," the release added. A total of 133 full time and 62 part-time positions, primarily in the news and operations departments have been cut.
The affected newscasts are gone immediately and the new programming initiatives will begin in early September. In Winnipeg, however, "In Your City" will only be weekly and won’t start until January, 2007.
Some of the $14.7 million in 2007 and 2008 savings will be spent on new technology and centralizing of operations. Production of local programming in its Citytv stations in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg, together with A-Channel stations in Ottawa and London, and the consolidation of master control and traffic operations for CKX Brandon and Citytv Winnipeg, will be in Calgary. These technology changes will result in a reduction of 58 full time and 28 part-time positions in the news, operations and traffic departments.
"You’re seeing additional news material popping up in Vancouver. There will be some new hourly inserts and framing of the screens," Switzer added. "You’ll see the expansion of the morning breakfast television programs, particularly in Calgary and Edmonton where we’re expanding by an hour. Winnipeg’s expanding by half an hour."
"While its difficult to talk about total staff being reduced, the people that are left are reorganized into units that can really serve the local market in a creative way and we’re excited with what’s possible."
– Greg O’Brien
