News Toronto & GTA
Citytv guts newscasts
By SHARON LEM, TORONTO SUN
Last Updated: 19th January 2010, 10:13pm
Citytv is severely gutting its local news programing, laying off many seasoned on-air journalists and camera operators.
In Toronto, Anne Mroczkowski — a long-time co-anchor — was among the casualties of the latest media downsizing.
Citytv will no longer produce local newscasts in Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton, and Toronto’s will be severely diminished, after the company announced programming cuts and the elimination of about 60 jobs Tuesday.
Citytv, owned by Rogers Communications Inc., announced it is restructuring television operations, cutting newscasts and jobs in cities across the country effective immediately.
On-air Toronto journalists Pam Seatle, Laura DiBattista, Merella Fernandez and Michael Serapio were among the cuts.
Michael Robins, a senior producer of Citytv for more than 25 years, and Bob Lawlor, who was in charge of Breakfast Television and CityLine, were also let go.
Mroczkowski has been a fixture on Citytv’s newscasts for more than 30 years, DiBattista joined the station in 1983 and Seatle started in the newsroom as a volunteer in 1989.
‘Decimated newsroom’
“They’ve decimated the newsroom. This is the absolute destruction of the local key people who put out the daily news,” said one employee, who requested anonymity. “I’m just stunned at some of the people getting fired.”
Rogers spokesman Koreen Ott said 60 of 1,000 employees across Canada were laid off.
Rumours of the cuts were widely reported on Twitter postings and blogs early in the day, but the company remained tight-lipped until it released a sparse press release Tuesday afternoon.
The company said the restructuring is due to “shifting viewer patterns coupled with the overall state of the economy.”
“Today’s changes, although difficult, are necessary to align our operations with the economic and regulatory realities of our industry,” Leslie Sole, CEO of Rogers Media Television, said in the statement.
“We are improving our core business by tightening our operations and concentrating on the strengths of our top performing local programs.”
The cuts reflect continued restructuring in Canada’s conventional television broadcast industry, which has been squeezed by a slump in advertising and viewership shifts to specialty channels that have made it more difficult to make money.
CanWest Global Communications has been cutting jobs at its TV stations and put its conventional TV business under bankruptcy protection from creditors. Meanwhile, CTV has cut jobs and streamlined its conventional broadcasting business to improve its finances. Rogers Communications purchased Citytv in 2007.
— With files from Canadian Press
Citytv guts newscasts | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun
there's no noon weekday news, no 5pm weekday news, and no weekend news.
Citytv guts newscasts
By SHARON LEM, TORONTO SUN
Last Updated: 19th January 2010, 10:13pm
Citytv is severely gutting its local news programing, laying off many seasoned on-air journalists and camera operators.
In Toronto, Anne Mroczkowski — a long-time co-anchor — was among the casualties of the latest media downsizing.
Citytv will no longer produce local newscasts in Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton, and Toronto’s will be severely diminished, after the company announced programming cuts and the elimination of about 60 jobs Tuesday.
Citytv, owned by Rogers Communications Inc., announced it is restructuring television operations, cutting newscasts and jobs in cities across the country effective immediately.
On-air Toronto journalists Pam Seatle, Laura DiBattista, Merella Fernandez and Michael Serapio were among the cuts.
Michael Robins, a senior producer of Citytv for more than 25 years, and Bob Lawlor, who was in charge of Breakfast Television and CityLine, were also let go.
Mroczkowski has been a fixture on Citytv’s newscasts for more than 30 years, DiBattista joined the station in 1983 and Seatle started in the newsroom as a volunteer in 1989.
‘Decimated newsroom’
“They’ve decimated the newsroom. This is the absolute destruction of the local key people who put out the daily news,” said one employee, who requested anonymity. “I’m just stunned at some of the people getting fired.”
Rogers spokesman Koreen Ott said 60 of 1,000 employees across Canada were laid off.
Rumours of the cuts were widely reported on Twitter postings and blogs early in the day, but the company remained tight-lipped until it released a sparse press release Tuesday afternoon.
The company said the restructuring is due to “shifting viewer patterns coupled with the overall state of the economy.”
“Today’s changes, although difficult, are necessary to align our operations with the economic and regulatory realities of our industry,” Leslie Sole, CEO of Rogers Media Television, said in the statement.
“We are improving our core business by tightening our operations and concentrating on the strengths of our top performing local programs.”
The cuts reflect continued restructuring in Canada’s conventional television broadcast industry, which has been squeezed by a slump in advertising and viewership shifts to specialty channels that have made it more difficult to make money.
CanWest Global Communications has been cutting jobs at its TV stations and put its conventional TV business under bankruptcy protection from creditors. Meanwhile, CTV has cut jobs and streamlined its conventional broadcasting business to improve its finances. Rogers Communications purchased Citytv in 2007.
— With files from Canadian Press
Citytv guts newscasts | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun
there's no noon weekday news, no 5pm weekday news, and no weekend news.
