Thunder bombed in the world of English-speaking media as we learned that CJAD Newsroom would be shut down by its owner, Bell Media.
The talk radio station is an institution in Montreal. At Bell, we’re very stingy with the details. Additional changes have been made to reflect Bell Media’s streamlined operating structure […]. This includes a limited number of employee reductions, many of which are changes in broadcasting roles on the air due to programming decisions by Bell Media’s broadcasting brands, ”company spokeswoman Vanessa Damhama said.
On the television side, Bell Media is also cutting CTV News. At least two Unifor members lost their jobs on Monday. “The multi-tasking photographer and the engineer we represent have been fired,” said union spokesperson Olivier Carrier.
Between chapters, it is understood that CJAD’s evening newscast production will now be handled by CTV News’s broadcast managers. “This is also what we were told,” says Mr. Carrier, “but the employer does not confirm it to us.”
He says CTV employees are worried about the extra workload that this will create.
Other Bell Media staff members were also fired on Monday. “Heads were falling out this morning. It started at 8:30 in the morning, and at 9:00 in the morning, my seizures were cut off,” one of them says.
This fired employee saw that coming. “Everyone knows it internally. We read financial reports like everyone else.
In the third quarter of 2020, which ended in November, Bell Media’s revenue declined 16%. Earlier this month, several Bell Media executives who worked in Toronto were fired, including Mike Cosentino, head of content and programming, and Tracy Pearce, head of distribution and pay TV.
