CTV cuts 118 jobs at A Channel

CTV Television Inc. announced that it is restructuring at a number of its “A” branded stations, which will include cancellation of some morning programs and evening newscasts as well as more than one hundred layoffs.

According to a CTV news release, “A” Morning, a local morning show aired in Victoria, London and Barrie, has been cancelled in all three cities, effective immediately.

As well, in Ottawa, the evening and late night newscasts have been cancelled.

The company has cut 118 jobs at stations in these four cities, which amounts to 28 per cent of staff at A Channel.

Paul Sparkes, executive vice-president, corporate affairs at CTVglobemedia said:

“These are extremely difficult and challenging decisions to make given it’s not about the quality of our ‘A’ programming or that we have achieved double-digit audience growth. We simply can’t monetize our success. We are doing everything we can to hang on to conventional television, but as we continue to stress, the conventional model is now broken. In the long term, the only real solution is fee-for-carriage.”

This announcement comes on the heels of CTV’s recent announcement that it will shut down two A Channel stations in southern Ontario.

CBC reports that 34 of the 118 jobs lost are from Ottawa in the area of news production.