CBC English Announces Cost-Cutting Measures
Richard Stursberg, vice-president of CBC English Services, started the town hall meeting on a bitter-sweet note saying “all the work we’ve been doing is actually working.”
“Things are working very well for us. Radio’s share is at an all-time high. Television is doing very well… cbc.ca’s growth is accelerating,” he said.
Nevertheless “we are going to take 400 jobs out of English Services, that’s approximately 10 per cent,” of the workforce he said. Most departments at the CBC, with the exception of CBC.ca, are seeing cuts of some sort.
Stursberg explained the strategy behind the cuts is to try to maintain our success and to avoid “making the future hostage to the present difficulties,” he said.
Specifically some the cuts are:
-On CBC Radio Inside Track, Outfront, The Point, In the Key of Charles and the weekend edition of The Signal are to be cancelled;
-There will be attempts to consolidate parts of Radio 3;
-Smaller regional stations will see cuts that vary;
-The daytime Living programs will be cancelled;
-The one-off TV shows like ‘Test the Nation’ won’t be produced;
-The Border, Being Erica, Little Mosque on the Prairie will have fewer episodes;
-Digital Extensions of some shows will be reduced;
-About 80 jobs will be cut from news, the specific cuts are not finalized;
-The Fifth Estate and Marketplace will face budget reductions;
-Media sales and marketing will see about 22 jobs cut;
-Closure of one-person bureaus in La Ronge, SK, and Thompson, MB;
-Reduced staffing in: Windsor, Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Quebec City, Moncton, Saint John, Sydney, Corner Brook, Labrador, Gander and Grand Falls, NL;
-Reduction or elimination of some sports programming;
-Communications, management, and a number of other department will also see some cuts.
“This is a really horrid situation.” Stursberg said. “It’s a very big cut… I don’t think we can underestimate the severity of what is happening.”
The question and answer period after the announcements sometimes became heated as Stursberg took off his jacket and defended a number of questions about further cuts to the Fifth Estate and Marketplace.
Others implored CBC employees to maintain solidarity, the situation forces us to ask “what are we all prepared to do?” one employee asked.
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2 pm EASTERN TIME – for the many of us not in that time zone!
Time from coast to coast for the town hall.
NST-15:30, AST-15:00, EST-14:00, CST 13:00, MST-12:00. PST-11:00.
I wonder if there will be conference call and web streaming snafu’s with the announcement like yesterday.
Here’s the error message I still receive from trying to watch yesterdays web presentation followed by the link.
Any help from you web, new media folks would be appreciated. Already removed latest version WMP re-intsalled it with no better results. What do you do if you have a Mac or Linux OS? Tried the file in QT with no better results.
Using a PC clone with XP, 2.4 MHz, with 1GB of ram
“Windows Media Player cannot play the file because the specified protocol is not supported. If you typed a URL in the Open URL dialog box, try using a different transport protocol (for example, “http:” or “rtsp:”).”
https://io.cbc.ca/ekLibFiles/Library_Assets—Biblioth%C3%A8que_de_ressources/Rich_Media—Rich_Media/News_corp—Nouv_inst/MiseAuPointEN.asx
To the person who asked about IT cuts, All departments except the cbc.ca will get some cuts according to the presentation, IT should be no different. Especially since the new traffic, programming project is supposedly done. As soon as we get rid of the Journalists, IT folks can start broadcasting.
The Key of Charles being cancelled is the best news I’ve heard all day.
And The Point…what a pointless show. Can’t say I’ll miss it.
[...] Other info here. [...]
all regional noon hour shows are now hour sorry to burst your bubble but cbc manitoba already has a 1 hour noon show m-f with marilyn maki
I feel like many of the cuts in my region are in the smallest of locations… while news and current affairs in the capital city may go basically untouched. It seems there are other regions with similar stories. The CBC is proud that it’s not closing any stations. But shrinking back into the major centres is continuing the march backwards that’s been going on since 1980.
IT has proportionate job cuts to the rest of the organization, apparently.
IT has proportionate job cuts to the rest of the organization, apparently. The reason you didn’t hear about it in that presentation is that IT isn’t part of English (or French) Services. I doubt there’ll be an equivalent one for IT folk, osmosis will have to do.
Why aren’t more folks irked about the senior managers still getting some bonuses?
They should forego the bonuses and have the same 1.5% we’re all getting.
I do have to say that I’m more impressed with Mr Lacroix than the last guy we had has a president. Robert Rabinovitch was more like Bush, locking us out and sending mangers to be indoctrinated at the Niagara Institute.
Hubert Lacroix hopefully is our Obama.
Here’s the subtext:
Harper and Co.: “Quit criticizing the Conservative/reform government and big business or else!!
The CBC: continues to ignore the commands of Harper and Co. by providing high quality journalism and cutting edge programming. Harper and Co. decide to cut…
Kev. I really doubt that there will be any advance warning of IT redundancies. Usual process seems to be walking us out of the building.
OK, here’s an idea …
Why don’t we cut ALL funding to the CBC and go to “listener supported radio” like CKUA did? That way, if you like the programming you can pay for it. The rest of us would not be forced to support radio and television that has become increasingly irrelevant..
Perhaps, if you are confident in the quality of your programming, this would be the right thing to do?
[...] cbc, Fewer Episodes One of the budget-cutting devices the CBC has announced is that they’re cutting the episode orders of many of their shows: The Border, Being Erica, Little Mosque on the Prairie and This Hour Has 22 Minutes will have fewer [...]
“Harper and Co. decide to cut…”
Hmm, I didn’t see a factual account of the cbc budget being cut. This has to do with revenue shortfalls, not the BILLION dollar budget being cut. These cuts are called REALITY. This had to happen which is why the cbc president needs to do this.
Blame Harper, that is the mantra of the cbc.
[...] jobs, equal to about 10 per cent of the workforce. Stursberg’s presentation to employees was described as “bittersweet”: Aall the work we’ve been doing is actually working. Things are working very well for us. [...]
This will be temporary.
The next election will see the defeat of a government that shows no respect or appreciation for our talented journalists and broadcasters.
Every householder knows that when times are tough economically, we cut the frills and spend on the necessities. The CBC is a necessity. It has been for years.
The frills can be found in many areas such as: expense accounts for Senators, politicians and other Government officials. We could reduce some of our military spending too.
How about governments using the current technology to let us have a say in things!
[...] Maffin has the basic details here for CBC and for [...]
And Quebec city loses most local production.
And Radio Canada International forced to drop Ukrainian and Chinese under Russian and Chinese criticism to Harper government.
I’d prefer that we keep our defence spending right along with restoring CBC funding to a better level than currently insisted upon by the present government. We need both CBC and the Forces, for reasons not as dissimilar as you might think.
Why cancel “Out Front”, a 15-minutes show built on material sent by the audience? And seriously, they should get rid of “Q” instead of “The Point”
Ernest Hemingway, Peter Jennings, Brian Nelson–to wit all of the world’s greatest geniuses of journalistic license are stricken by the attempt of government to control public knowledge.
Journalism is a triumphant means wherein there are no limitations; the fact that communication is muted is the epitomy of totalitarianism within public thought.
If Canada’s heritage is debased to a dollar, then a solution might be found within monetary compensations of certain political parties whose interests are not in the public domaine, but rather within their unlimited scopes/
Canadians write freely, think freely, and deserve the right to maintain these rights entrenched in our Bill of Rights.
When money dictates freedom of speech, the epitomy of democracy is destroyed.
I hope that the tenets of Canadian democracy are withheld within the statutes and not diminished or usurpted by the unwillingness of government to support the dedicated, talented and honourable journalists of Canada.
Don’t we need more stuff like Out Front, listener generated content with short compelling stories?
Please tell me why radio gets so many cuts when it’s television that is the big loser?
Radio is much cheaper programming, It’s where the CBC/Radio Can have no competition. It’s the field where Canada excells.
Radio needs more money not less.
Mary
Clueless: I’m a huge fan of Out Front, but it isn’t exactly cheap user generated content. Amateur contributors get paid, get sentrecording equipment, and get taught how to make radio by the best in the business. That’s hugely valuable, but it costs more than just interviewing some artist in a studio.
Mary : English and French Television bore 70% ish of all cuts. Radio was cut substantially less.
Also if Television was cut further, there would have to be more cuts to Radio, because television generates revenue and ad sales subsidize the other types of programming that don’t.
Radio is not that much cheaper than Television staff wise and Radio generates no revenue.
Re: “the announcements sometimes became heated.
I would like to see a dialogue open up re the post-meeting confrontation between Stursberg and Gillian Finlay and Neil Docherty. Both the latter voiced their opinions clearly and politely, but apparently disagreeing with Richard means a verbal slugfest after the cameras have gone home – simply unfair. Earlier in the so-called “town hall” ( a term I have always associated with encouraged dialogue) Alex Shprintsen (National) also voiced doubts only to be continually interrupted by Richard with ‘is there a question here?’and ‘I’m going to cut you off, there are others who have questions’; interestingly when later a fellow who shall remain nameless from digital archives went off on a possibly sincere yet obviously misguided encomium to our fearless leaders (picturing Richard and his cohorts as building dykes to protect us from the deep waters around us a la our neighbours in Manitoba) Richard allowed the sermon to proceed uninterrupted ad nauseum.
I would like to see a dialogue open up re the post-meeting confrontation between Stursberg and Gillian Finlay and Neil Docherty. Both the latter voiced their opinions clearly and politely, but apparently disagreeing with Richard means a verbal slugfest after the cameras have gone home – simply unfair. Earlier in the so-called “town hall” ( a term I have always associated with encouraged dialogue) Alex Shprintsen (National) also voiced doubts only to be continually interrupted by Richard with ‘is there a question here?’and ‘I’m going to cut you off, there are others who have questions’; interestingly laterwhen a person who shall remain nameless went off on a possibly sincere yet obviously misguided encomium to our fearless leaders (picturing Richard and his cohorts as building dykes to protect us from the deep waters around us a la our neighbours in Manitoba) Richard allowed the sermon to proceed uninterrupted ad nauseum.
Have to say I agree with “a taxpayer,” sad to say. I still like a lot on Radio 1, when it’s not trying (badly) to be hip. Radio 2 should go, or become listener supported. TV should go (which will never happen) or else move to a real public broadcasting model like PBS’s.
Sadly, many managers and executives at CBC will keep their jobs. If they were all fired tomorrow, the lowly staff, such as producers and reporters, would consistently still put quality programming to the air. That can’t be said if it was the other way around.
there are more cuts coming april 17
the cut begain sometime in the middle of may and should end by september or as i like to call it end of summer BTW 11 positions In Manitoba Are Affected.
The Q&A after RS’s presentation pretty well summed up everything that is wrong with the CBC.
The sense of entitlement, proudly portrayed by the producers and journalists from the National and the Fifth Estate, was disgusting. RS was spot on when he asked why they thought that they were more important than anyone else in the Corporation (to which they had no answer).
The person from Marketplace that tried to place the blame on the sales department was laughable. I certainly hope Marketplace spends more time on the factual side of their program than she did researching her comments.
One person actually asked if there were plans to run ads on CBC.ca. Amazing!
The bottom line is that these cuts, brought on by a dogmatic Prime Minister and an inexperienced, inept Minister of Culture are not CBC Management’s choice or idea.
Childish finger pointing and whining only serve to confirm what a lot of Canadians already believe about the CBC.
amen, george…. in my experience cbc managers are there to make work harder by throwing in half-baked, last-minute, must-be-done-by-last-week, not-thought-out, make-work-projects on top of normal work (since they often don’t understand what we actually do) to impress their managers’ managers.
That person who went on the “misguided” rant was John Corcelli — and he often goes on a similar pinko rant about the utopian magic corporation he wishes this was, at every single event. Seriously, job-sharing, unpaid leave, bringing in our home computers to do work on so the company can sell all the dells in the building for a grand total of $75, and even voluntary pay cuts will do nothing to prevent future cuts and cancellations. Business doesn’t work that way, even government supported business. It’s not a family — it’s a company,
“That person who went on the “misguided” rant was John Corcelli — and he often goes on a similar pinko rant about the utopian magic corporation he wishes this was, at every single event. Seriously, job-sharing, unpaid leave, bringing in our home computers to do work on so the company can sell all the dells in the building for a grand total of $75, and even voluntary pay cuts will do nothing to prevent future cuts and cancellations. Business doesn’t work that way, even government supported business. It’s not a family — it’s a company,”
Tee thing I can never figure out is that if it is soooooooo awful at the CBC why not go someplace else. I am sure the world is brimming with opportunities for all of the talented people, without whom the very walls on Front Street would crumble. Surely working with such awful people must weigh heavy on your soul?
That way all that would be left is the “half baked” management and misguided “pinkos”.
Then that would be the end of what must be a tegrible burden for so many talnted people.
How come more folks aren’t more filled with indignation about the managers still having access to their bonuses and the bloated management structure has escaped mainly unscathed?
Not only the managers miss the swing of the cut back axe, some show do alsi.
One show that will remain nameless has a host not based in Toronto who spends a lot of time in Toronto editing their stories. Don’t see how them spend months out of the season in a hotel, flying back home for the week-end and on per diem, although I doubt a host gets what us regulars folks get, is a good use of money.
Couldn’t the reporter edit their stories locally or perhaps file their scripts and VO’s from where they are based?
It’s hard to see colleagues lose jobs when some departments have money to hemorrhage.
We’re back to death by a thousand cuts.
Jack, right now there are thousands of unionized employees willing to consider things like unpaid leave and pay cuts to keep their coworkers employed during these hard times. It isn’t just autoworkers, either – the New York Times and USA Today are taking furloughs and temporary pay cuts to keep things afloat. Are they all idiots?
CBC is facing laying off something like 9 per cent of its employees. Supposing we all took a 9 per cent pay cut this year – how many jobs would be saved? All of them? Maybe not, and a lot of people couldn’t afford a hit like that, but you’re flat out wrong when you say it wouldn’t make any difference.
Obviously many people would scoff at taking a pay cut, particularly the “it’s a company” people. That’s fine. But does talking about any kind of employee sacrifice make you a pinko?
Or perhaps you have a plan to save your colleagues’ jobs by bitching about management?
By the way, you likely heard Hurbert say CBC has 553 senior managers. In other words, firing every single one of them (and take on all their work yourself) barely solve this year’s shortfall.
Hmm, an entire corporation run by the employees sounds appealing… who’s the pinko now?
dream on, turnip. “an entire corporation run by employees”. Again, in what universe would this happen to the cbc?
ps. I don’t say such plans are idiotic or that NY Times workers are idiots, but I just don’t see that happening at the mother corp. but, then again, i’ve been burned by unions…. they’re generally not anymore concerned about average joe employee’s best interests than hr is. With job sharing and furloughs, would a single executive lose a job or a bonus? Would it prevent another round of layoffs in 6 months? What about people who can’t afford it?
See, this is why sarcasm doesn’t work on the internet. Hell, I don’t want a corporation run by employees – managers handle lots of boring yet stressful crap I wish to avoid at all costs.
Just saying, so far we’ve blamed managers, blamed the union, and blamed each other… but I’m not seeing any suggestions that would save millions.
But you raise great points about how it would be implemented. I’ll be watching what happens in the print world closely to see how they get answered. There might be something applicable out there somewhere.