Canada's Bell deepens news industry gloom with 1,300 job cuts
Business
The news operation posts annual operating losses of $40 million
(Reuters) - Canadian media and telecom firm Bell is cutting 1,300 jobs, shuttering six radio stations and selling another three as revenues dry up at its legacy phone and news business, parent company BCE Inc said.
The layoffs will mostly affect management and follow thousands of cuts in the media industry that has been wrestling with dwindling ad dollars, elevated levels of inflation and the ongoing shift from cable TV to streaming.
The company expects Bell Canada's legacy phone revenue to decline by $250 million each year, while the news operation posts annual operating losses of $40 million.
"Our industry is experiencing a major disruption," said senior executive Wade Oosterman in an internal memo seen by Reuters. He also blamed "a challenging regulatory environment that has been too slow to adjust".
The Canadian telecom industry has over recent years come under pressure from the government to bring down phone bills in a concentrated market.
A proposed legislation designed to compel internet giants like Google and Facebook to pay news publishers for content has also run into hurdles this year, with the U.S. firms running tests to limit some users from viewing or sharing news content as a potential response.
"A SHAME"
As part of the restructuring, Bell will close the CTV television network's bureaus in London and Los Angeles, and scale back the Washington outpost.
"I think it is a shame," Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday.
"CTV has some really experienced, hardworking, talented journalists who Canadians have come to rely on, and so that's a real loss for Canada and Canadians."
Affected employees will be informed this week, Bell said, adding that vacant positions were eliminated to minimize the impact on teams.
"Bell had other choices, in anticipation of policy changes, but chose to pull the trigger on these layoffs. If the government doesn't act now, there will be little left of Canadian journalism to save," said Lana Payne, national president of the Unifor trade union.
