Rogers shutters Alberta Omni Studios

[jon]

Rogers Closes OMNI TV Edmonton and Calgary Studios

Omni television has shuttered its Edmonton and Calgary studios as part of a shift to national newscasts. The studios closed Sept. 15 as part of a national reorganization, with about 20 employees remaining in each city to produce news segments, liaise with communities, and help facilitate independent productions. “We’re launching national newscasts in Cantonese, Mandarin and Punjabi,” said Madeline Ziniak, national vice-president of the broadcaster. The new national broadcast will still feature a daily story from both Calgary and Edmonton in each of its three newscasts, Ziniak said. Fourteen employees were offered jobs within the Rogers Media organization: six are moving to the organization’s headquarters in Toronto, while most of the others will shift to Citytv Edmonton or Calgary. Six others were laid off. Ziniak said lower-than-expected viewership of local newscasts factored in the decision, but plans for national newscasts have been in the works for some time.

ref. - http://mediamag.ca/blog/2011/09/24/roge ... y-studios/

[groundwave]

So they've "closed" the physical local station, but 20 or so employees "remain"? Perhaps they'll be working out of their apartments and fielding reports to T.O. via a video/phone service like Skype. Classy.

[TRENT310]

They didn't have someone around to turn off the analog TX on September 1 either. It continued operation until around noon. That could have been a remote / schedule-able task.