CBC President Hubert Lacroix sat down with Allison Saunders this morning to discuss the impact of the layoffs. Below is a transcript of the interview.

Saunders: It’s been a tough couple of weeks, can you give me a sense of where we’re at?

Lacroix: It’s been really tough at CBC/Radio Canada. We all realize that, me the first.

First off, let’s talk about the redundancy notices. They have been given out… the famous pink slips. I was listening George Stroumboulopoulos who was interviewing our minister on his show a couple weeks ago, and I think he was interviewing him on the day where notices went out. Interesting coincidence.

So 250 notices went out. About 170 in English and 60 in the French network and about 20 across the other corporate components. That’s going to start the bumping process under the collective agreements. We figure it’ll take the whole summer to go through the bumping process and by the end of September we’ll have seen all the departures.

Saunders: In March there was talk about doing everything we could to reduce the number of involuntary departures. What have we managed to accomplish on that front?

Lacroix: Well, we were happy, in some ways, if you could say we were happy about introducing voluntary retirement incentive programs, but we did that. And through the leadership of Katya Laviolette and her team and people in culture there was about 300 people or so that we were able to see the requests met.

Add to that our year-end numbers, March 31 2009, which were a bit better than expected by a couple million bucks. That allowed us to reduce some of the cuts that we had planned, particularly in the regions, so we saved a few jobs there.

We continue to work with the unions, and with the work that we’re doing in reducing our expenses, because I really believe that every job counts, and as I’ve told the world since I walked in here, my first “p” of my three priorities is people, and we are trying to look at every single job and keep it inside our company instead of trying to eliminate it.

Saunders: Obviously it’s been an emotional time for all of our employees. Can you give me sense of how you are feeling about all of this?

Lacroix: I’ve been tough, I know that. You were saying a few seconds ago that this weekend you had to say goodbye to five or six people that you had been working with for 10 years at CBC-Radio canada. A lot of that. A lot of that is happening on each one floors that I walk around on.

So yes, it is difficult. It’s difficult for the people that leave, because I think it’s a great place to work at CBC/Radio Canada. We are a great institution.

It’s difficult for the people that stay on, because they see their friends leave and they also are concerned about the kind of work and stuff they have to do to compensate for these departures.

But that’s where we are right now. The people that stay here, we have all sorts of support that we’ll put in place for them. Whether it’s career counselling or programs of that kind.

I’m looking forward to stop being a number number-cruncher and spreadsheet person because I’ve been doing this non-stop for six months now. So I’m looking to September or maybe end of summer to start visiting the centres again.

I look forward to sitting down with our people, and listening to how they’re dealing with this and wether they have some things to say to me. But in the meantime, as I’ve been finishing my notes with, we have to hang tough. We will survive this and you’ll see CBC Radio Canada will be very strong when we finish this exercise.

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	Executives, Layoffs	Posted at 5:31 pm (08 Jun 2009)

Michel Saint-Cyr, President of the CBC’s Real Estate Division has resigned.

The move comes as the CBC is trying to sell assets to finance the majority of a $171 million shortfall. CBC President Hubert Lacroix said on Friday that Saint-Cyr “created some one quarter billion dollars in value on a 10-year horizon…” by “monetizing” under-used assets.

Others, such as the President of the Canadian Media Guild, Lise Lareau are less charitable. “The impact of the Real Estate grip on CBC decision-making and the mantra of “monetizing” the public broadcaster’s space cannot be underestimated,” Lareau wrote on her blog.

“Desks were measured with a view to squashing as many people as possible into some newly leased space,” she added.

Lareau also said the real estate division precipitated the layoffs of 80 set and costume designers in Toronto, and that the success of the division served to mask the CBC’s financial crisis. “Here we are eight years after the creation of the Real Estate Power, with a $171M shortfall that Real Estate can’t fix, 800 layoffs on the horizon, and an unleased partly empty building in Toronto,” she wrote.

The impact of the resignation on financing CBC’s shortfall is unclear.

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	Executives, Real Estate	Posted at 10:55 am (27 Apr 2009)

CBC Vice-President of Enlgish Services Richard Stursberg was on Maritime Noon Friday talking about the CBC’s financial situation and it’s viability in the face of the layoffs. 

I didn’t have time to tune in myself, but if anyone did, leave a comment below with what he said.

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	Executives, Layoffs, The Media Landscape	Posted at 11:31 am (03 Apr 2009)

Over the last few weeks the CBC has received a ton of criticism and attention in the media, culminating with Heritage Minister James Moore’s comments from last week that the CBC should “stop chasing revenues and eyeballs.”

On Saturday, Kirstine Layfield, the executive director of programming for CBC Television, responded to some of the criticism.

People say the CBC is chasing eyeballs. Personally, I have never met an eyeball. I have met Canadians from across our great country who have eyes — and ears and hearts and minds. They have a thirst to understand their world from a Canadian perspective and a desire to hear their own stories and music. This is the audience of the CBC.

Layfield also addressed some of funding issues, ratings, and competition with the privates. Her full comment is here. It’s worth a read.

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	Executives, Media Coverage	Posted at 10:45 am (23 Mar 2009)

The announcement that the CBC will freeze executives salaries and cut executive bonuses in half has not gone over well with CBC staffers.

“This means that the compensation for each of our eighty or so top managers will on average be reduced by 10 to 20 per cent next year,” CBC President Hubert Lacroix wrote on Wednesday.

Lise Lareau, president of the Canadian Media Guild, told the Globe the clawback “rang the wrong way” to many people. Most CBC staffers don’t receive performance and incentive bonuses, “What’s a bonus?” a commentator on this blog asked. ”You remember that time there was half a sandwich left in that boardroom and you got to it first? That was your 2008 bonus,” another replied. 

The reaction was covered in a story by the Canadian Press last night.

CBC spokesman Marco Dube explained that cutting the bonuses and freezing salaries will save the about $1 million this year. Based on those figures, even if the bonuses were eliminated entirely the savings wouldn’t likely amount to more that a couple million dollars a year, which would help, but it’s a long way from addressing a revenue shortfall that stands between $150 and $200 million.

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	Executives, Media Coverage	Posted at 8:18 am (20 Mar 2009)

In a note to staff last night CBC President Hubert Lacroix said the board of directors has approved a plan to sell “enough assets to finance our way through this without deeper cuts.”

Lacroix said he would provide an high-level update to staff on Wednesday March 25th, with specific announcements within 24 hours after that.

Nevertheless Lacroix did share a few specifics:

* No ads on radio;
* No more American programming on English TV;
* Executive salaries are frozen, bonus payouts are cut in half;
* New voluntary retirement incentives, aka a package.

Lacroix added that he will not comment on speculative stories that appear in media until the 25th and 26th in order to inform staff of any changes first.

The big question is what assets could the CBC sell to raise what’s expected to be around $200 million? Local stations don’t appear to be an option, there’s no appetite for that right now. Real Estate might have some assets, but I don’t know of any worth $200 million.

The president’s full memo is available to CBC staff here.

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	Board of Directors, Executives	Posted at 9:05 am (19 Mar 2009)

After a two-day meeting the CBC’s board of directors approved a budget that includes deep cuts in an attempt to grapple with a $200 million shortfall.

There were no further details about the size of the cutbacks. 

CBC President Hubert Lacroix said last month that the current shortfall could be as high as $145 million. Add to that another $60 million in annual funding from the federal government that was not in this year’s budget, and the shortfall ends up being over $200 million. That shortfall is more than 10 per cent of the entire CBC budget, and would represent significant cutbacks. 

Heritage Minister James Moore gave an interview to CBC Radio yesterday. He the CBC has some “difficult decisions to make in the near future.”

He also said when Canadians “turn on the CBC they expect to see Canadian drama, Canadian arts, Canadian kids programming, Canadian news and Canadian content, not American game shows.”

Moore also said he doesn’t favour adding commercials to CBC Radio. 

For an article from cbc.ca see here.

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	Executives, Layoffs, Parliament	Posted at 7:40 am (18 Mar 2009)

The CBC board is meeting in Toronto today and tomorrow to figure out a strategy to deal with the CBC’s revenue shortfall.

I haven’t seen a single update on what’s being discussed at the meetings but there are some interesting clues out there. First off the CBC is likely looking down the barrel of a massive shortfall. Dealing with it will likely involve a combination of cuts and trying to find additional revenue.

Last week Denise Donlon, executive director of CBC Radio, made some abstract reference to monetizing CBC Radio at Canadian Music Week. This follows indications from Heritage Minister James Moore that he might be open to considering ads on CBC Radio. But even if CBC Radio opens the door to advertising in some form, it likely won’t be enough to cover the shortfall.

So expect more cuts on the way.

What will be cut? I don’t know. But it might be useful to look at some of the shows that have been axed so far: Air Farce, Sunday, Steven and Chris, Fashion File. Not that it means anything but it’s worth noting that all of those shows were CBC in-house productions.

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	Executives, Layoffs	Posted at 6:15 pm (16 Mar 2009)

CBC’s senior management team is holding a third-quarter update on the state of CBC finances tomorrow. The update is expected to address how the CBC plans to deal with a large drop in revenue.

According to an email from CBC President Hubert Lacroix, ad revenues were 17 per cent lower than forecast for fiscal 2008. The note says: “we are now projecting a shortfall in advertising revenue that will be in the $55-$65 million dollar range.”

And it gets worse.

Lacroix added “The more pressing issue is our budget for 2009-2010. The combination of a severe slump in our commercial revenues, coupled with rising costs of production, is a menacing test that will demand some tough choices on our part.”

According to the note some of the choices may affect jobs, services and programs but “Nothing has yet been determined,” Lacroix wrote.

The update will be held in the Glenn Gould Studio, in Toronto, Tuesday, Feb. 24, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. ET. Employees that can’t make it in person can tune in on the in-house channel or dial in. For more information on that click here.

Lacroix ended the note by addressing Greg Weston’s story in The Sun from yesterday.

Lacroix said Weston “horrendously distorted the facts and suggested we’ve been looking to Government for “hand-outs,” which is precisely what we HAVE NOT been asking for.”

A CBC press release added Weston did not check any of his facts with the CBC before publishing the article. Having read the article this morning I was surprised that it made it past the editing desk, giving the single source and inaccuracies.

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	CBC Television, Executives, Financial, The Media Landscape	Posted at 2:36 pm (23 Feb 2009)

In a letter to the Ottawa Citizen, former CBC President Tony Manera, said he objected to ads on CBC Radio.

The possibility of advertising on CBC radio is not a new idea. It has been considered and rejected in the past, for valid reasons.

The traditional distinctiveness of CBC radio would be further eroded by the presence of commercials. That insidious process, unfortunately, has been underway for some time. In a well intentioned, but poorly executed effort to broaden the traditional base of CBC radio listeners, many of its most loyal supporters, upon whom the CBC’s survival as a public broadcaster depends, have become disenchanted, discouraged, disengaged and pretty darn unhappy…

One of the most irritating features, on both CBC radio and television, is the incessant running of “promos” and “trailers” telling us what’s coming up next, or later, or tomorrow, or next week.

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	CBC Radio 1, CBC Radio 2, Executives, People	Posted at 4:24 pm (11 Feb 2009)

Jonathan Dube, director of CBC’s digital media, will leave the CBC Monday to return to ABCNews.com after a three-year stint here.

Dube joined CBC in 2005 as Editorial Director for CBC.ca, responsible for overseeing editorial content and staff. Last year, he took on the role of integrating CBC News across all digital media platforms.

“Under his leadership, the site has more than doubled its traffic,” said Todd Spencer, executive director of news content for CBC News, “[Making it] the top rated Canadian news site in both unique visits and quality of news coverage.”

Since joining CBC’s online team, Dube launched commenting on all news and sports stories and the incorporation of user-generated content into the site, expanded the news site to include new sections on technology, consumer life, diversions, visitor feedback and revamped money and health sections. As a result, the amount of daily content published on the site has more than doubled, and the length of user visits has significantly increased.

At ABCNews.com, he will help steer strategic planning, business strategy, editorial content and production. He has also worked MSNBC.com.

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	CBC.ca web site, Executives	Posted at 2:56 pm (19 Aug 2008)

This morning, the Globe and Mail published a profile of CBC’s executive in charge of all English-media, Richard Stursberg.

Stursberg has come under much fire recently for his movement toward favouring TV programs which draw audience share (and, of course, advertiser revenue), as opposed to those which are more cultural and/or Canadian in nature. (Witness the bumping of Marketplace for two American game shows.)

At least from a ratings point of view, early indications are that CBC Television’s share is moving up — just past Global TV in prime-time now.

The full article is definitely worth a read. Here are some highlights from the Globe sidebar:

On CBC choosing not to renew the rights to the Hockey Night in Canada theme song:
Was the jingle a nice jingle? Yeah, certainly it was. Were we disappointed to have it taken away? Sure. But on the other hand, it’s something that’s not going to make any difference to Hockey Night in Canada. People come to Hockey Night in Canada because they’re coming for the hockey. They’re not coming to listen to the jingle.

On selling the U.S. and international rights to more than 1,000 hours of television product, including The Border, and 1,000 more hours of television shows produced in-house, to ContentFilm PLC of Britain:
The way it works is, the signing authorities are delegated by the board to the president and the president to me. It fell way below my signing authority in terms of the value of it. We don’t have any particular requirement in any of our policies to take any of that stuff to public tender.

On why the investigative consumer-report show Marketplace is being pushed aside in the fall season to make way for the resolutely American game show, Jeopardy!
The only reason we put American shows on in the first instance is to generate revenue. … For every extra dollar of margin we can generate out of a show like Jeopardy!, it just means an extra dollar we can put into Canadian programming. It’s not as though the money is going anywhere else.

Your thoughts are welcome about the article itself or topics raised in the article. Personal attacks will not be approved for publication. Remember, folks. You’re welcome to attack the idea or decision, not the person.

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	Executives	Posted at 10:53 am (28 Jun 2008)

Radio-Canada Television’s general manager, Mario Clément, is leaving the Corporation.

In a brief news release, Radio-Canada said the “decision was reached by mutual agreement between Mr. Clément and Radio-Canada management.”

Mario Clément joined Radio-Canada as General Manager of Programs in May 2003. He later became General Manager of Télévision de Radio-Canada in November 2006. Mario is “a passionate devotee to the cause of public television,” Radio-Canada said.

Clément’s departure will not result in changes to the TV schedule, the structure and content of the 2008–2009 season have been decided for several weeks now.

The head of French services, Sylvain Lafrance, I will assume Mr. Clément’s duties until a new General Manager is appointed.

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	Executives, Radio-Canada	Posted at 2:19 pm (05 Jun 2008)

Former CBC producer and journalist Sue Phillips is now the network director of the international broadcaster Al Jazeera.

Phillips, 54, currently lives in west London with her son Charles, 19, and her daughter Melissa, 23. She moves to Doha to take up her now role this month.

Former CBC News head Tony Burman and host Avi Lewis both have positions with Al Jazeera.

(CBC Radio Vancouver’s Don Pennington has moved to Doha as well, following a surprise retirement party, although no announcement has been made about his plans there.)

Phillips joined the London bureau of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a bilingual receptionist and became fascinated with the CBC French network and broadcasting. Within six months a researcher’s job came up and she went on to work in radio with CBC for another eight years.

In her Al Jazeera role, she has set up the entire broadcast centre for Al Jazeera in its London bureau, managing departments from news to programming, to operation and technical, as well as all the administration and finance. In Doha, she will be more concerned with development and the integration of Al Jazeera English and Arabic.

When asked about her most embarassing career blunder, she says:

When I was a television producer in Washington for The Journal on CBC, a very important senator, whose name I probably shouldn’t mention, came in for an interview and one minute away from going live I noticed he had a rather sweaty patch on his bald head. I thought a quick dab of concealer would do the trick, but I tripped over the edge of his chair and left a third of a pot of powder all over his head. It was mortifying.

The Independent newspaper has a lengthy interview with her.

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	Executives	Posted at 12:00 pm (02 Jun 2008)