Bell Media signed off six of its AMs across Canada this morning as part of a companywide restructuring that will include 1300 jobs eliminated and the sale of three other stations.
Bell ceased programming this morning on News/Talk 1290 CJBK London ON, Sports “TSN 1260” CFRN Edmonton AB, Business “BNN Bloomberg Radio” 1410 CFTE Vancouver BC, and the Comedy trio of “Funny 1040” CKST Vancouver, “Funny 1060” CKMX Calgary AB, and “Funny 1290” CFRW Winnipeg MB.
Bell will also sell Comedy “Funny 820” CHAM and Business “BNN Bloomberg 1150” CKOC Hamilton ON as well as Oldies “AM 580” CKWW Windsor ON to buyers to be announced.
Bell, whose radio division operates under the iHeartRadio name under license from iHeartMedia, stated that employees will be informed of the job cuts throughout the remainder of this week.
The cuts will see 1300 job positions eliminated of which 30 percent are currently unfilled making up three percent of its workforce. Management positions will be cut by six percent.
Bell President and CEO Mirko Bibic said in a memo that the company expects to lose more than $250 million in legacy phone revenues per year and its news operations have $40 million in annual operating losses. EVP Robert Malcolmson told the Canadian Press that the company cannot afford to continue operating its various news brands, local TV stations, and radio stations independently of one another.
The stations that will be shut off began running a loop at 11am eastern time today announcing the end of regular programming. Listeners of CFRN noted the station went to break never to return.
TSN 1260 as of 9am.
Unbelievable. #tsn1260#tsn pic.twitter.com/ciRtqK9H8b
— General Manager (@gmfantasyhockey) June 14, 2023
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com