(UPDATE: Sept. 24 @ 1:05 pm) – Stingray Group president Steve Jones has provided more information about a mass layoff at Radio NL in Kamloops.
According to Jones, the news team will continue to provide the “most local newscasts.”
However, the radio station’s programming will see a big change.
“Instead of programming news/talk around the clock, the station will now include a mix of music, news, sports, and community information,” said Jones in an email to NowMedia.
“As a result of this difficult decision, some positions were impacted in news and programming.”
Jones explained that the switch up is meant to ensure the radio station’s long-term viability.
He said that over the past year, numerous AM radio stations have closed across Canada and those in smaller markets have been particularly “challenged.”
Although this is quite the shakeup for the radio station and news team, Jones said Stingray still “believes in AM radio and the role that Radio NL will continue to play an important voice in Kamloops.”
(Original story: Sept. 24 @ 12:33 pm) – Kamloops has lost another news source as it appears broadcasting on Radio NL will be coming to an end.
On Tuesday morning, radio show host Brett Mineer made a post on X saying the entire newsroom had been “terminated.”
The radio station launched in 1970 and has been owned by the Stingray Group since 2018.
NowMedia has reached out to both the Radio NL team and Stingray Group for more information and comment on the reported closure.
Premier David Eby called the closure “just bad news for local journalism.”
The announcement of Radio NL closing comes nearly a year after Kamloops This Week, a branch of Aberdeen Publishing, published its final issue after 35 years of business.
Radio NL served Kamloops, the Shuswap, Logan Lake, Blue River and Avola.
This story will be updated when more information becomes available.
Thumbnail photo credit: 123rf
