p2pnet news view | Radio:- The clip on the right is from Steve Russell’s  Toronto Star pic of late pianist Glenn Gould. And it says it all.

It sits outside the CBC Building on Front St, Toronto, from where, yesterday evening, ‘It looks as though the CBC will be cutting 800 jobs,’ said anchor-in-chief Peter Mansbridge.

Or words to that effect.

Mansbridge isn’t in any danger, but the  Canadian Broadcasting Corp plans to cut up to 800 jobs to help make up for a $171 million shortfall in 2009-10, says the CBC.

The Canadian Media Guild, which represents most CBC employees, “lashed out at the federal government for the cuts,” says the story, quoting union president Lise Lareau as declaring:

“I blame the loss of 800 jobs squarely on the Conservative government.

“This was an entirely avoidable layoff. The Harper government forced the CBC to make these choices over a relatively small amount of money.”

CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix said the public broadcaster also needs to sell $125 million worth of assets, but didn’t say which assets would go on the block.

The CBC says it’s projecting 393 layoffs in its English services and 336 in French services, with an additional 70 jobs going at the corporate level.

Layoffs could start in May and, “The full number of layoffs could be reduced if some employees opt for retirement,” says the CBC.

Lacroix said some key areas would remain unchanged.

• Radio One and Radio 2 will remain free of ads.
• CBC TV will maintain its commitment to 80 per cent Canadian content in primetime.
• The CBC will continue to invest in new media platforms.
• Regional stations will not be closed.

But, he warned, the CBC would be forced to make “many difficult choices” regarding programming.

Richard Stursberg, executive vice-president of English services, said the CBC’s English service will cut $85 million, about $14.4 million from radio and $70.3 million from television and, “This will result in layoffs and could also lead to more repeat programming.”

Toronto Star – Reruns on tap as CBC cuts, March 26, 2009
CBC – CBC to cut up to 800 jobs, sell assets, March 25, 2009

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 8:45 am and is filed under Radio. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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