Layoffs at Niagara radio station

At least five people have been let go from a St. Catharines local Bell Media radio station as part of nationwide layoffs that have impacted at least 50 jobs.

While a Bell Media spokesman would not discuss specifics, Postmedia has learned that jobs were cut from the operations of 97.7 HTZ FM based on Yates Street, including show host and music director Paulie Morris, who has been with the station for decades.

“The reductions in St. Catharines were part of a restructuring of local radio and TV at Bell Media stations across the country. I’m not going to get into the specific numbers, but I can say that like other Canadian broadcasters, we are confronting rapid change in the media marketplace including new broadcast technologies and viewing options and fast- growing international competition,” said Bell Media spokesperson Matthew Garrow.

“As the media marketplace evolves, local radio and TV stations are facing significant declines in advertising, their only source of revenue. We need to reorganize and reduce costs to manage the impact. At the same time, we do not expect any changes in local programming.”

The union representing employees at many Bell Media radio stations, although not in St. Catharines, blasted both the company and the CRTC for the layoffs.

“This latest round of layoffs isn’t just Bell Media’s penny- pinching, this one has been directly caused by the CRTC,” said Unifor media council chair Jake Moore in a news release. “We warned the CRTC that tough licensing conditions would be required if big media companies were granted five- year licences for local news. They didn’t listen.”

I’m not going to get into the specific numbers, but I can say that like other Canadian broadcasters, we are confronting rapid change in the media marketplace including new broadcast technologies and viewing options and fast- growing international competition.” Bell Media spokesperson Matthew Garrow.

The layoffs will have deleterious impacts on the CTV network — which is owned by Bell Media — sports broadcasting in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary and Montreal, the union said.

“The federal broadcasting regulator the Canadian Radio- Television and Telecommunications Commission granted the major TV networks five- year licence renewals on May 15, 2017. Then chair Jean Pierre Blais rejected any licence conditions of “local presence” that might have guarded against cutting on- air staff,” the union release said.

“These huge media companies were allowed by the CRTC to grow big and eat up smaller companies with the expectation that they would maintain a high level of local news coverage.”

Bell Media also owns CKTB 610 AM, based out of the same Yates Street building as HTZ FM. glafleche@ postmedia. com twitter. com/ grantrants