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 B次元官网网址渟ignificantly adaptB次元官网网址� 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 B次元官网网址渕oving to a single newsroom approach across brands, allowing for greater collaboration and efficiency,B次元官网网址� 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 companyB次元官网网址檚 media branch B次元官网网址渃anB次元官网网址檛 affordB次元官网网址� to continue operating with its various brands B次元官网网址� such as CTV National B次元官网网址, BNN, CP24, its local TV news stations and radio channels B次元官网网址� operating independently of one another.

The eliminated positions include a six per cent cut at Bell Media, which is part of BCE Inc.B次元官网网址檚 Bell Canada division. Bell MediaB次元官网网址檚 holdings include the CTV television network, specialty TV channels, radio stations and production studios.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a consolidation of news gathering, news delivery,B次元官网网址� Malcolmson said.

B次元官网网址淲e 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.B次元官网网址�

Employees were also informed that WinnipegB次元官网网址檚 Funny 1290, CalgaryB次元官网网址檚 Funny 1060, EdmontonB次元官网网址檚 TSN 1260 Radio, VancouverB次元官网网址檚 BNN Bloomberg Radio 1410 and Funny 1040, along with LondonB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址Talk 1290 would shutter.

Bell Media is also selling HamiltonB次元官网网址檚 AM Radio 1150 and AM 820, as well as WindsorB次元官网网址檚 AM 580, to an undisclosed third party, subject to CRTC approval.

Management positions are being slashed by six per cent, according to the company. There will also be 20 per cent fewer executive roles in the company compared with 2020.

In a separate internal memo sent on Wednesday, Bell Media president Wade Oosterman said staff affected by cuts would be informed this week. Around 30 per cent of the positions being eliminated are current vacancies that wonB次元官网网址檛 be filled.

He told employees the company is coping with B次元官网网址渢he ongoing migration of advertising revenue to foreign digital platformsB次元官网网址� such as Facebook and Google, and a shift from cable, satellite and Fibre TV subscribers to digital streaming platforms.

B次元官网网址淲e are also faced with strong economic and inflationary pressures, a pullback in advertisersB次元官网网址� budgets, and a challenging regulatory environment that has been too slow to adjust,B次元官网网址� said Oosterman in his memo to staff.

Media headwinds

In an open letter published online Wednesday, Bell Canada president and CEO Mirko Bibic said Bell Canada expects to lose more than $250 million in legacy phone revenues per year, while its news operations incur $40 million in annual operating losses. He said Bell radio stations have seen profit cut in half since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

B次元官网网址淭he job reductions are consistent with but smaller than similar reductions announced by other leading technology and media companies across North America in recent months,B次元官网网址� said Bibic.

In 2021, Bell Media laid off 210 employees in the Toronto area.

In the U.S., the media industry has announced more than 17,000 cuts so far this year, the highest year-to-date on record, according to the May 2023 Challenger Report, which tracks layoffs. The second-highest year-to-date for the sector occurred in 2020, when 16,750 cuts were announced through May.

As part of BellB次元官网网址檚 shift to a more streamlined newsroom across its brands, Gray said CTV National B次元官网网址 executive producer Rosa Hwang is no longer with the company, effective immediately.

David Hughes, Ramneek Gill, Sophia Skopelitis and Jonathan Kay will take on expanded roles within the news division as the company moves from a B次元官网网址渧erticalB次元官网网址� to B次元官网网址渉orizontalB次元官网网址� management structure.

CTVB次元官网网址檚 foreign bureaus in London, U.K, and Los Angeles are set to close, with all positions based in those locations eliminated, while its Washington bureau B次元官网网址渨ill be scaled back to focus more fully on important news from the USA and the impacts on Canada,B次元官网网址� said Gray.

Meanwhile, CTVB次元官网网址檚 National B次元官网网址 team is adding videographers to four new provinces, including immediately in St. JohnB次元官网网址檚, N.L. and Regina, Sask., with others to come later this year in Fredericton, N.B. and Charlottetown, PEI.

Policy concerns

Malcolmson said regulatory challenges affecting both the telecommunications side and media arm simply left the company in an B次元官网网址渦nenviable place,B次元官网网址� with no choice but to make widespread cuts.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e obviously trying to do this in the most humane, least impactful way possible,B次元官网网址� he said.

B次元官网网址淭his thing affects all layers of the company and isnB次元官网网址檛 targeted at any one band of employees.B次元官网网址�

Malcolmson did not rule out further layoffs in the foreseeable future, saying the company will take a wait-and-see approach to the regulatory environment.

He took aim at B次元官网网址渞elentless regulatory interventionB次元官网网址� by the CRTC, under OttawaB次元官网网址檚 direction, that has prioritized measures to bring down the cost of telecommunication services.

Noting that the cost of wireless service has declined around 25 per cent and the cost of broadband high-speed internet has gone up by less than one per cent over the last three years, despite CanadaB次元官网网址檚 overall high inflation, Malcolmson said B次元官网网址渕aybe itB次元官网网址檚 time to declare victoryB次元官网网址� for Ottawa.

B次元官网网址淚 think the governmentB次元官网网址檚 sort of populist focus on pricing isnB次元官网网址檛 necessarily in line with current reality and the government has created an intensely competitive industry structure that they should allow to play out,B次元官网网址� he said.

Malcolmson also lamented the process around two pieces of legislation designed to help CanadaB次元官网网址檚 struggling media sector. While Bill C-18 would require companies like Google and Meta to pay Canadian outlets for news content that appear on their platforms, he said it could be for naught if the companies follow through on threats to simply restrict or block news links on their sites.

The other, Bill C-11, aims to force platforms such as Netflix, YouTube and TikTok to contribute a percentage of their Canadian revenue to Canadian production, but Malcolmson said itB次元官网网址檚 not going to solve the B次元官网网址渇undamental problemB次元官网网址� that popular American content is being B次元官网网址渨ithheldB次元官网网址� by major streaming platforms from appearing on Canadian TV.

Malcolmson said Bell has been waiting for regulatory reform for years and the company decided not to hold back cuts pending the outcome of regulatory consultations on those bills any further.

B次元官网网址淭he time for waiting for reform is over. Those reforms may never come so we have a responsibility to our shareholders and to our employees to make sure the business can be positioned for future growth and that means we have to make our cost structure make sense,B次元官网网址� he said.

B次元官网网址淲e have to ensure that our business is able to operate in a viable way, and we canB次元官网网址檛 wait two years and another, for example, $80 million of losses in news to see what the government might do.

B次元官网网址淎t some point, we have to say to ourselves, B次元官网网址業s it worth funding this?B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

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