Bell Media parentco BCE (Bell Canada Enterprises) will cut 9% of its workforce, totalling an estimated 4,800 jobs, and sell 45 radio stations in its latest cost-saving measures.
The cuts, announced Thursday (Feb. 8), are the largest workforce restructure at Bell in nearly 30 years, according to the company’s year-end financial report, and will impact several teams across the organization, including news and around 750 contractors.
Less than 10% of the cuts will impact the Bell Media team, according to Playback.
In a memo to staff, BCE president and CEO Mirko Bibic said that, despite initiatives enacted last June to innovate and sustain its business, “we continue to face a difficult economy and government and regulatory decisions that undermine investment in our networks, fail to support our media business in a time of crisis and fail to level the playing field with global tech giants.”
Bibic cited a decision from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to give third party resellers access to its high-speed fibre network, which led Bell to reduce its capital expenditures in high-speed fibre internet by $1 billion in 2024-25, as a point of particular concern for the company.
He also noted that Bell Media’s advertising revenues declined by $140 million year-over-year (roughly 8%), and its news operations are at a $40 million annual operating loss, “despite having the most-watched network of local TV stations.”
Bell has listed seven buyers for 45 of its 103 regional radio stations. A total of 21 B.C. radio stations will be sold to Vista Radio; seven Quebec stations will go to Arsenal Media; and five Atlantic Canada stations to Maritime Broadcasting System Limited.
The other four buyers are splitting 12 Ontario stations: four to My Broadcasting Corporation; four to Whiteoaks Communications Group Limited; three to Durham Radio; and one to ZoomerMedia. All transactions are still subject to regulatory approval.
“Once these transactions close, it is our intention to keep the divested stations on the iHeartRadio Canada platform,” wrote Bell Media president Sean Cohan in a separate memo to staff. “This allows these stations to thrive with a range of new owners and Bell Media to focus on its core stations and continue the transformation of our industry-leading radio operation to an innovative audio business.”
The announcement marks the second major workforce reduction from Bell in less than a year, with the telecom cutting 1,300 jobs last June, and closing six radio stations.
In its year-end financial results, BCE reported total operating revenues of $24.7 billion for fiscal 2023, with a more than 20% decrease in net earnings. Bell Media saw a 4.2% decrease in operating revenue in 2023, coming to $3.1 billion compared to $3.3 billion in 2022.
While the loss was largely driven by reduced advertising revenues, it was offset by a 19% year-over-year increase in digital revenues, thanks to growth at direct-to-consumer business Crave, and increased bookings through the strategic audience management TV media sales tool. Crave subscriptions came to roughly 3.1 million by the end of 2023.
This article originally appeared in Playback.
