Bell blames advertising, challenging regulatory environment, for its 1,300 layoffs and closed radio stations

Approximately 1,300 BCE Inc. employees will be left without a job, six radio stations closed and three sold due to “a challenging regulatory environment,” the company announced Wednesday. In an open letter published on its website, Bell president and CEO Mirko Bibic said the company is on track to lose more than $250 million in legacy phone revenues per year and it will incur $40 million in annual operating losses for its news division. Radio station profits have been cut in half since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and as a result six radio stations will be permanently closed: London’s NewsTalk 1290, Winnipeg’s Funny 1290, Calgary’s Funny 1060, Edmonton’s TSN 1260 Radio, and Vancouver’s BNN Bloomberg Radio 1410 and Funny 1040. Bell is also selling two radio stations in Hamilton and one in Windsor to an undisclosed third party, pending CRTC approval. “Over our 143-year history, one of the things that has set Bell apart is our ability to reinvent ourselves when faced with challenge, technological evolution and change. Our industry, like other highly competitive industries, is unforgiving to those who don’t adapt,” the CEO wrote. “To succeed in today’s challenging economic, regulatory and competitive environment and be ready for what comes next, we need to accelerate our shift away from how telecom and media companies have operated in the past.” Management will see a six per cent reduction in positions and there will be 20 per cent fewer executive roles compared to 2020. Thirty per cent of the cuts will be in vacant positions. Bibic said the layoffs are consistent with what other media and technology companies have announced in recent months. Bibic said it is committed to giving affected employees a fair and reasonable severance package, career transition services, and continued access to its health benefits, Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP), mental health and virtual health care programs. The company said the restructuring is mainly due to a poor advertising market and blamed the CRTC for being slow to adapt to the new economic realities. “We and our industry continue to be greatly impacted by a number of challenges including operating losses across all news divisions, the current economic downturn, inflation, a prolonged advertising slump with no signs of immediate recovery, and a more challenging regulatory environment that has not adapted to new realities facing media,” Richard Gray, vice-president of news wrote in an internal memo to employees. Gray told employees that the company will move to “a single newsroom approach across brands.” Part of the strategy includes the immediate departure of CTV National News executive producer Rosa Hwang. David Hughes, Ramneek Gill, Sophia Skopelitis and Jonathan Kay will take on expanded roles “as the company moves from a vertical to horizontal management structure.” Bell’s Washington, D.C., bureau “will be scaled back to focus more fully on important news from the USA and the impacts on Canada,” Gray wrote, adding that CTV’s foreign bureaus in London, U.K., and Los Angeles will close their doors. Bell plans to expand its Canadian news content. For the first time ever, the company will have national news reporters in every province. Bell is immediately sending videographers to St. John’s, N.L., and Regina, Sask. Its national news team will be expanded to Fredericton, N.B., and Charlottetown, P.E.I., later this year. – Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Phalen Tynes-MacDonald at pcreed@thewirereport.ca

Bell blames advertising, challenging regulatory environment, for its 1,300 layoffs and closed radio stations

Broadcast | June 14, 2023

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Bell blames advertising, challenging regulatory environment, for its 1,300 layoffs and closed radio stations

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