CBC

Friday, April 11, 2014

Friday, April 11, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday, April 11, 2014

CBC to cut 657 jobs, will no longer compete for professional sports rights

Funding shortfalls and revenue losses have forced CBC/Radio-Canada to cut $130 million from its budget this year, a move that will eliminate 657 jobs over the next two years and take the network out of competing for the rights to broadcast professional sports, the public broadcaster says.

“Very tough and controversial choices needed to be made and were made,” CBC president and CEO Hubert T. Lacroix said at a townhall meeting with staff Thursday.

Lacroix said CBC could no longer compete against private broadcasters that have specialty sports channels and multiple media platforms. The result will mean “substantially reducing” the size of the sports department and covering fewer sporting events, including amateur sports. And the CBC will only consider broadcasting events that allow the network to break even, he said.

But the CBC will still compete for sporting events of national significance, like the Olympics.

Among the cuts, English Services will slash $82 million from its budget and eliminate 334 full-time jobs.

Lacroix said the broadcaster looked for solutions to shield Canadian programming in prime time and its commitment to the regions and digital from cuts.

“We were not able to protect these priorities as much as we would have liked to. And Canadians will now notice,” he said.

In news, the network will cut $13.3 million from its budget, resulting in 115 job losses.

Radio will also reduce some of its live music performances and some local musical performance shows will be cancelled or consolidated into regional shows.

Losing the rights to broadcast Hockey Night in Canada to Rogers was a significant loss, but only one of the factors leading to Thursday’s announced changes.

CBC has been coping with a loss of $115 million in federal government funding over three years that was announced in the 2012 federal budget. (Source: CBC News)

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Republished in iPolitics, Regina Leader Post, Thunder Bay Chronicle, The Gull Lake Advance (Saskatchewan)

 

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Tuesday, March 11, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, March 11, 2014

George Stroumboulopoulos to host Hockey Night in Canada next season

George Stroumboulopoulos said it will be a “dream” to anchor next season’s Hockey Night in Canada.

Rogers Communications introduced Stroumboulopoulos at a press conference on Tuesday as one of the new faces of Hockey Night when the telecom and media firm takes control of Canada’s NHL broadcasting rights.

The multiple Gemini award-winning talk show host of CBC’s George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight will join Hockey Night’s Ron MacLean and Don Cherry, along with Sportsnet’s Daren Millard and Jeff Marek as the “cornerstones” of the new hockey coverage, Rogers said in a release.

Stroumboulopoulos said that a big role in the hockey media world was a long-standing dream of his and Marek’s since they started their careers in promotions at the Fan 590 radio station.

“It took 20 years to get to this place,” Stroumboulopoulos said. “What a dream.”

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

The hiring of the fast-talking Stroumboulopoulos as the new face of Hockey Night is the first major personnelchange made by Rogers after acquiring the NHL Canadian broadcasting rights in a blockbuster 12-year, $5.2-billion deal in November.

Scott Moore, president of Sportsnet and NHL properties for Rogers, introduced the “top line” of his hockey broadcasting scene during a live telecast from the CBC studios. While the CBC may have been “where the tradition of broadcasting hockey began,” Moore said, he’s hoping to bring a “fresh face” to the game.

Hockey fans can look forward to big games being broadcast on different channels such as Citytv and on additional days, including Sunday, Moore said. More announcements to come will include new technology for mobile devices.

“You do have to be aware that people are watching hockey differently. They’re watching it with two, three or more screens.”

Moore also faced a sharp question about the absence of women on a broadcast team he called “the face of hockey on Rogers.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

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Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Wednesday, November 27, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday, November 27, 2013

What the new Rogers-NHL deal means for the CBC

National broadcaster to earn no revenue from hockey

The CBC is in trouble. It is losing all of its hockey revenue – but keeping about 320 hours a year of hockey, including Hockey Night in Canada – under the NHL’s new Canadian broadcast rights deal.

Rogers is making big moves to control ever more Canadian media and the announcement on Tuesday that they’re essentially taking over hockey rights across Canada is an enormous move.

Losing hockey is a big deal for the CBC. They’ll keep Hockey Night in Canada for four years on a sub-contract from Rogers, but they don’t own the content anymore. They will not even get the advertising revenue from the broadcasts. They also will not pay for the rights to the games. All that falls to Rogers.

CBC President and CEO Hubert Lacroix acknowledged that the next season of Hockey Night in Canada will be very different.

“Starting next year, Rogers will assume all editorial control (all editorial decisions with respect to the content, on-air talent and the creative direction of HNIC – we have the right to be consulted and there is a commitment to excellence) under the new agreement,” he wrote to CBC staff in an internal memo.

“While this deal will result in job losses, the staffing impact would have been much greater had we lost hockey entirely, as CBC is still producing hockey. Preserving HNIC also allows CBC to maintain a capacity to execute a sports strategy and fulfil lits existing contractual obligations (i.e. Olympics, Pan-Am, FIFA),” he continued.

Lacroix was unclear on which jobs, and how many, would be cut as a result of this deal.

Later, in a press conference with Rogers, Lacroix tried to remain positive but had little to add.

“Rogers takes on all of the revenues from all of the properties. We have no costs that come with that. We don’t pay any broadcasting rights,” he said. “Our friends at Rogers pick up all of the revenue.”

Asked what CBC gains from the deal, he said the CBC has maintained the right “to promote some of our programs through the iconic Hockey Night in Canada.”

That was it. Rogers refused to comment on any specifics of Don Cherry’s future. (Source: Canada.com)

Monday April 9, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Monday April 9, 2012

CBC cuts 650 jobs, wants ads on radio

The austerity axe chopped deep into the CBC’s budget Wednesday, and will result in “a very different public broadcaster,” CBC president Hubert Lacroix said.

Viewers can expect less original programming, more reruns and – for the first time – ads on CBC radio as the broad-caster copes with a $115-mil-lion cut in federal funding. The agency will also sell some buildings, tinker with employee pensions and cut jobs in the coming three years as it adjusts to a smaller budget.

“It’s not a fun day,” Lacroix said.

Across Canada, 650 full-time CBC jobs will be eliminated. This includes 475 this fiscal year, a further 150 jobs in the 2013-2014 fiscal year and the remaining in 2014-2015. Those 650 jobs – split equally between French and English services – amounts to about nine per cent of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s work-force. That includes 150 management jobs.

Budget cuts will start this year with a $27.8-million reduction in government spending on the CBC’s operations, and increase to $69.6 million in 2013-14 and finally reaches the $115-million savings mark by 2014-15. The CBC will also no longer receive its $60-million top-up from the federal government for programming. Taking into account budget trimming already done this year and severance pack-ages, Lacroix said, the CBC is staring into a budgetary hole of $225 million.

“We are talking about financial pressures totalling $200 million today,” he said. “Plus an additional 25 million for severance of about 650 [jobs].” CBC television’s senior correspondent in Ottawa, Terry Milewski, was stoic in his response to the deep cuts.

“We’ve been through this a few times before, and we’ve survived,” he said. (Source: Globe & Mail) 

 

Saturday June 7, 2008

June 7, 2008

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday June 7, 2008

R.I.P. Hockey Night in Canada theme song

The Hockey Night in Canada theme song, considered by many as this country’s “second anthem,” has been silenced after talks between its creator and the CBC broke down late Friday afternoon.

Kevin Kemp, a lawyer representing composer Dolores Claman, said the broadcaster stopped the process: “We asked for a meeting to continue negotiations,” he said. “They weren’t prepared to agree to that.”

Just a few hours later, the CBC put out a statement saying that the broadcaster was “saddened” that it couldn’t reach a deal, and formally announcing a competition for a new theme song. The winner will receive $100,000.

The Hockey Night in Canada theme was written by Ms. Claman in 1968, and went on to become one of the most recognized tunes in the world. The future of the song has hung in the balance since 2004, when Ms. Claman and her agent sued the CBC, charging that they had used it in ways that were not covered by their contract.

Months of talks between the CBC and Ms. Claman’s representative, Toronto agent John Ciccone, ultimately proved fruitless. This week, CBC producer Scott Moore announced that the broadcaster would hold a competition to choose a new song if an agreement could not be reached with Ms. Claman.

At 4.59 p.m. Friday, one minute before an announced deadline of 5 p.m., Mr. Moore told Ms. Claman’s agent that they were not prepared to amend their previous offer for the continued rights to the song, and would go ahead with the proposed competition to find a replacement. (Source: Globe & Mail)

…And here’s the tune in all its glory…