By the end of August, Corus Entertainment intends to have cut at least 25% of its workforce from what it had at the start of the 2023 fiscal year.
Corus, which reported a third quarter loss of $769.9 million Canadian with revenue down to $331.8 million from $397.3 million in Q3 2023. The company reported radio revenues down 9.9 percent year-over-year to $23.6 million, while its television revenue saw a massive 17 percent drop from $371.2 million to $308.2 million.
With 500 cuts made earlier this year across the company, it now intends to cut 300 more positions by the end of August. And those cuts started today in Kingston ON where the company eliminated all local radio on-air positions on Classic Hits “Big 96.3” CFMK-FM and Hot AC “104.3 Fresh Radio” CKWS-FM.
Among the talent exiting are cluster Promotions Director and CKWS-FM morning host Monica Lapajne & co-host Jesse Reynolds, 104.3 afternoon host Carrie ‘Care’ Humphries, CFMK morning host Ryan ‘Sideshow’ Lemmon, midday host Bill Welcyhka, and afternoon host Derek Bolduc. The company cut CFMK-FM/CKWS-FM Program Director Bob Willette in the earlier round of cuts.
In a statement shared to the Kingston Whig-Standard, a Corus spokesperson commented, “On the audio side, BIG 96.3 and Fresh 104.3 will remain in Kingston, and the stations will utilize voice tracking to continue to produce local content made for and reflecting Kingston. In the news division, we have reimagined our broadcast schedule in Kingston, Peterborough, and Kelowna with a focus on supper hour and late-night news programming. Additionally, our local online team will now operate under a new model to better support local breaking news.”
During the Corus earnings call on Monday, co-CEO John Gossling said, “We’re making tough decisions to shutter areas of the business we can no longer sustain and pause longer term development activities while we implement efficiency initiatives.”
Co-CEO Troy Reeb added that the company would “redouble our efforts to reduce legacy costs, not just in news, but in all areas of the business.”