by jon » Sun Dec 13, 2015 11:45 am
A careful read of this article indicates that it is not Channel Zero, but Local News subsidiary Channel 11 L.P., that is declaring bankruptcy.
CHCH TV suspends newscasts amid bankruptcy and restructuring moves
Hamilton Spectator
By Natalie Paddon
Nightly newscasts on CHCH TV are being cut back starting next week as part of a massive restructuring of local news at the station.
The 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. broadcasts will now air only Monday to Friday and the 11 p.m. news will be slashed to 30 minutes from an hour, Chris Fuoco, vice-president of sales and marketing at Channel Zero, CHCH's parent company, said Friday night.
A handful of other programs including the Noon News, Morning Live First Edition, the daytime rolling news program News Now, Square Off and Sportsline are also being taken off the air, he said.
Staff learned Friday afternoon the entity that created local news for CHCH TV – Channel 11 L.P. – had filed for bankruptcy. Newscasts were cancelled for Friday and the remainder of the weekend.
All 129 full-time employees and 38 part-time employers were let go, Fuoco said.
Moving forward, positions have been offered to 58 full-time employees and 23 part-time employees, he said.
Fuoco said the offers made were for comparable positions and wages.
The offers of employment have come from a privately held numbered company that does not have Channel Zero as its parent company, Fuoco said.
"It has a management contract with CHCH to provide news."
Fuoco says employees have not been given a deadline to accept the positions, but they're being asked to make a decision on an "expedited basis."
But newsroom staffers said they were told they had until Sunday night to accept.
"We need to understand what our staffing contingent looks like on Monday," Fuoco said. "Our goal is to be back with news on the air with news by Monday."
Scott Urquhart was off Friday, but came in after getting calls from the station.
The 60-year-old who had worked there for 35 years was one of the ones not offered employment.
He said he left with his belongings in his arms.
"I've come to expect that's the way it is these days," he said. "There's no golden parachute. It's pretty hard: 'Get your marching papers and goodbye.'"
"There was a lot of shock," he added. "People weren't really showing a lot of hurt or sadness. There were a few tears, for sure, but most people seemed pretty resigned."
Most staff left with only their belongings and were escorted out by security guards. They were told not to clean out their desks because they would be allowed in later to do that.
Channel Zero chair and CEO Romen Podzyhun went on the air Friday at 4 p.m. to tell viewers local news would return on Monday. Fuoco said the company wanted to speak directly to viewers about the changes they can expect.
"This new reality put us in an untenable situation and as a result, in order to ensure the continued broadcast of CHCH, we've made some significant changes to our programming schedule," Podzyhun said on air. "Decisions like these are hardest because they impact the personal lives of so many colleagues we care deeply about deeply."
A press release issued by Channel Zero said Morning Live – the station's morning show – will return Tuesday.
With the changes, CHCH is expected to reduce its local programming to 17.5 hours a week from 80 hours, Fuoco said. With CHCH's licence with the CRTC, it must have seven hours, he added.
Employees began asking questions Friday morning after money was unexpectedly deposited in some of their bank accounts.
Fuoco said the deposits included wages earned, expenses as well as accrued vacations.
"We made sure that any full-time employee received at least $4,000."
Part-time employees received at least $1,000.
MNP Ltd. is the trustee that will be taking over the process, Fuoco said. The creditor's meeting is scheduled for Dec. 21, he noted.
Unifor national representative Liz Marzari, who represents CHCH, condemned the way the company went about the situation.
Marzari said staff were locked out of their payroll system and the company did not respond to calls from Unifor all day despite rumours swirling.
"We were sitting at the bargaining table with them yesterday," she said. "To me, that's unconscionable."
The union is holding a strategy meeting Saturday and will do what it can to support the employees, she said.
The station was bought by Channel Zero in Toronto in 2009. It was on the verge of going off the air then when CanWest Global collapsed.
Greg O'Brien, the Westdale-based editor and publisher of online industry magazine Cartt.ca, described the news as unfortunate, but not surprising given the growing challenges facing TV news networks.
"They're great for local news, but man, it's expensive to do," he said of the station.
As he understands it, local advertising is still strong, but the national advertising dollars — the real bread and butter — just isn't there.
For example, CHCH must keep its over-the-air transmitters running at all times to maintain their must-carry status on cable, O'Brien said.
That can cost between $15,000 and $30,000 a month in hydro power alone. Plus the costs of news trucks and staff that generate local news, he noted.
CHCH was one of just two independent news stations left in Canada. The other, CHEK TV, is in Victoria. It has been owned by its employees since it flirted with closure in 2009.
WHAT IT MEANS
Staff
129 full-time and 38 part-time positions cut
58 full-time and 23 part-time offers sent out
Programming
Morning Live First Edition being cut, Morning Live will run from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.
No noon news
No Square Off
No Sportsline
6 p.m. news will only run Monday through Friday
11 p.m. newscast is being cut from to 30 minutes from one hour
Hours
Hours of local programming cut to 17.5 a week from 80.