Changes coming to Global Okanagan amid company layoffs

Changes are imminent for Global Okanagan as Corus Entertainment made job cuts last week after posting a third-quarter net loss to shareholders of more than $760 million.

“As part of our efficiency review process across Corus, we have made some difficult but necessary changes to create a more sustainable future for the company. As a result, certain roles have been impacted across our news and audio business,” a Corus spokesperson told NowMedia.

“In the news division, we have reimagined our broadcast schedule in Kelowna, Kingston and Peterborough, with a focus on supper hour and late-night weekday news programming.”

While it is not exact how many jobs have been affected locally by the recent round of layoffs, the company’s union said 55 Unifor members from four media locals across the country were impacted.

“Every time an announcement like this comes in the media sector, it’s both heartbreaking and boils my blood,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne.

The statement from Corus added that Global’s local online teams will also be affected as they switch to a new model to “better support local breaking news.”

“The workforce of media companies has been eroded to the point of evisceration,” said Payne.

“News coverage is distributed from a main trough and companies are slashing and burning bodies as a result. It’s a courtesy nod to the local coverage, rather than investing in local news.”

Global Okanagan, better known by its previous name CHBC, has been a staple in Okanagan households for decades.

The station came on the air in September of 1957 as CHBC-TV and at the time there were only 500 homes in the area with television receivers, by the same time next year, that number had grown to more than 10,000 homes.

Over the years, the station would see lots of change, especially in 2010 when it was acquired by Shaw and rebranded as Global Okanagan.