TORONTO (CelebrityAccess) — Canadian entertainment conglomerate Bell Media announced plans for widespread cuts that will see a major reduction to its workforce, representing approximately 4,800 jobs across the country.
According to the Toronto Star, Bell announced the layoff plan to the company’s staff via a companywide internal memo on Thursday, citing challenges to ad revenue and losses in the company’s new division.
“Restructuring decisions are incredibly tough for all of us because it affects the people we work with and care about,” Bell’s CEO Mirko Bibic in the memo obtained by The Star.
Along with the layoffs, Bell Media is reconfiguring its content lineup, ending the majority of its news broadcasts at noon and on the weekends. Some of CTV’s evening programming is also on the chopping block with The Debate, This Hour and Top 3 Tonight all slated to end, the Star reported.
Additionally, Bell Media plans to sell off at least 45 radio stations and to close at least 100 of its Source electronics stores around Canada.
Bell Media said that the cuts could save the company as much as $250 million a year.
The news of the staff reductions and closures follow similar moves at the CBC and Radio-Canada, where approximately 600 workers lost their jobs at the end of 2023.
