Bell to cut 34 TV, 16 radio jobs in Ottawa

BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Media will cut 19 full-time and 15 part-time television positions in Ottawa in mid-June and 16 from Ottawa radio stations. Staff at CTV Ottawa, or CJOH, were informed last week that the television positions include camera operators, video editors and TV-production staff, The Ottawa Citizen reported. The positions are unionized with the Communications, Energy and Paper Workers (CEP) Union of Canada. The company also informed employees on Feb. 9 that 16 on-air staff would be laid off from Ottawa radio stations CFRA, Majic 100, Bob-FM and Team 1200. The Citizen reported Feb. 9 that the radio job cuts are due to a Bell corporate restructuring plan. Richard Gray, vice-president and general manager for CTV Two and Bell Media's Ottawa radio stations, told Cartt.ca that the cuts at CJOH are due to a decision to move a more efficient control system called OverDrive Automated Production Control, manufactured by Ross Video Ltd. Gray told Cartt the OverDrive system has been in place at CTV 2, formerly A Channel, since 2006. He said a fire in the winter of 2010 forced CTV Ottawa to move into the same building and presented an opportunity to consolidate the TV production. The Ottawa Citizen reported that the cuts at Bell Media's radio stations will be effective Jun. 18 and that no on-air positions will be affected. Employees at CTV 2 will not be affected by the layoffs, the Citizen reported. CTV Ottawa now employs 99 full-time employees, the Citizen reported. CEP national spokesman Dave Lewington told The Wire Report that Bell Media is trying to boost its profits by combining positions such as those of camera-operators and editors. He said similar changes took place a couple of years ago in Barrie, Ont., and at CTV Two, or CHRO, in Ottawa.

Bell to cut 34 TV, 16 radio jobs in Ottawa

Brief | February 21, 2012

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Bell to cut 34 TV, 16 radio jobs in Ottawa

Brief | February 21, 2012

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