The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Corus lays off more staff

brian451 · July 15, 2026 3:12 pm

Noticing cuts at various Corus stations. Energy lost afternoon host Red. Fresh London has no weekday shows listed. Power 97 afternoon host Ed is out.
Heard of a possible format change in London as well at Fresh.

RadioActive · July 15, 2026 3:23 pm

brian451 wrote:
Noticing cuts at various Corus stations. Energy lost afternoon host Red. Fresh London has no weekday shows listed. Power 97 afternoon host Ed is out.
Heard of a possible format change in London as well at Fresh.

There has to come a time when there's no one left to cut. What happens if they fire the guy who fires everybody?

brian451 · July 15, 2026 3:35 pm

Personally they should sell the stations. It is getting embarrassing with all the cuts

paterson1 · July 15, 2026 4:08 pm

Is Quebecor still interested in Corus at all? Maybe they don't want the radio stations since the Quebec company doesn't currently own any radio stations other than QUB an online service. Still have to give Corus credit since their television network Global seems the same quality as it has always been. Their news and programming hasn't suffered that I can see. Global Toronto news doesn't have the technical glitches of CTV Toronto and Global National still has their own reporting from overseas on stories of interest to Canadians.

brian451 · July 15, 2026 4:45 pm

I have heard Quebecor only wanted the TV, They were going to buy Corus but flip the radio side to someone else. Most likely Stingray.
Last I had heard they would flip to Stingray, who in turn would have to sell a radio station in each of Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Ottawa.
The stations that would be sold were going to be The Breeze in Edmonton and Vancouver (if the licence condition could be removed, otherwise it would be Z). Amp Calgary, New Country 93.5 Toronto and Live 88.5 Ottawa.
Last I heard from someone I talked to at Stingray, the plan was actually going to be they would sell 88.5 and when the new owners took over they would move Live to 106.9 replacing Jump. 88.5 would be an open station for new owners to do whatever they wanted. Apparently there have been a lot of stumbling blocks to try to sell the radio division which held up the sale.

RadioActive · July 15, 2026 5:10 pm

But doesn't Dufferin Communications (aka The Evanovs) own 88.5 in this neck of the woods?

Either way, Stingray is one of the few current owners I like. Boom 97.3 is one of the best produced radio stations I've heard in years. Regardless of what they're playing, they just always sound good.

brian451 · July 15, 2026 5:13 pm

RadioActive wrote:
But doesn't Dufferin Communications (aka The Evanovs) own 88.5 in this neck of the woods?

Either way, Stingray is one of the few current owners I like. Boom 97.3 is one of the best produced radio stations I've heard in years. Regardless of what they're playing, they just always sound good.

I was redering to 88.5 in Ottawa which is Live 88.5 and for the country station Stingray owns at 93.5 in Toronto

RadioActive · July 15, 2026 5:18 pm

Sorry, when I hear 88.5, my thoughts instantly go to the one here. That's why I didn't get your reference.

Either way, something needs to shake-up this market, which has become somewhat staid and the same old-same old. Maybe Stingray could be the one to do it.

paterson1 · July 15, 2026 5:37 pm

I would think at this stage Corus should just sell the stations on a case by case basis or in smaller groups rather than all of them together. Obviously there hasn't been much interest from buyers in the radio as one group. The radio division has apparently been for sale for a long time. Corus could actually end up doing better selling radio in smaller chunks rather than all 36 at once or to one company like Stingray.

Pattison owns no stations in eastern Canada and seem to be comfortable with running operations in small, medium and large markets. The first radio station the company bought was in 1965, and they still own it. They operate 51 stations in Western Canada and privately held, so no answering to shareholders.

RadioActive · July 15, 2026 9:39 pm

Here's Broadcast Dialogue's take on who lost their jobs at Corus - including some at Global News.

Corus undertakes new round of layoffs

ED1 · July 15, 2026 9:45 pm

The Western Standard publication is reporting that the news production departments at Global Calgary and Global Edmonton are being let go, and work is being transferred to Toronto:

https://www.westernstandard.news/news/exclusive-corus-shutting-down-news-production-in-calgary-edmonton-transferring-to-toronto/75058

That's shocking. Global Edmonton is #1 in t heir market, and Global Calgary has long been a strong competitor against CTV. Both stations air more hours of news than Global Toronto.

RadioActive · July 15, 2026 9:48 pm

ED1 wrote:
The Western Standard publication is reporting that the news production departments at Global Calgary and Global Edmonton are being let go, and work is being transferred to Toronto:

https://www.westernstandard.news/news/exclusive-corus-shutting-down-news-production-in-calgary-edmonton-transferring-to-toronto/75058

That's shocking. Global Edmonton is #1 in t heir market, and Global Calgary has long been a strong competitor against CTV. Both stations air more hours of news than Global Toronto.

If that's true, this has become a fire sale - and they might as well put up signs screaming, "Everything must go!"

What a terrible month it's been for broadcasting in this country.

paterson1 · July 15, 2026 10:05 pm

I wonder if Corus has a new owner in the wings. Often the outgoing company will do the dirty work before the announcement of any new owners is made public.

Radiowiz · July 16, 2026 2:11 am

RadioActive wrote:
ED1 wrote:
The Western Standard publication is reporting that the news production departments at Global Calgary and Global Edmonton are being let go, and work is being transferred to Toronto:

https://www.westernstandard.news/news/exclusive-corus-shutting-down-news-production-in-calgary-edmonton-transferring-to-toronto/75058

That's shocking. Global Edmonton is #1 in t heir market, and Global Calgary has long been a strong competitor against CTV. Both stations air more hours of news than Global Toronto.
If that's true, this has become a fire sale - and they might as well put up signs screaming, "Everything must go!"

What a terrible month it's been for broadcasting in this country.

It's a little more complicated than that.
What does this mean for the future of Global National?
Is there enough staff remaining to effectively produce the program?
Don't they need the staff of those two places to make it an effective program?

Glen Warren · July 16, 2026 4:23 am

Radiowiz wrote:
....
It's a little more complicated than that.
What does this mean for the future of Global National?
Is there enough staff remaining to effectively produce the program?
Don't they need the staff of those two places to make it an effective program?

Global National continues to be produced from BC for all Editorial, Production, and Technical.
Glo National reporters / cameras are still based in the respective markets and file stories into National.
The national show has always had a heavy reliance on technical and operations resources from both Toronto and Ottawa. Primarily due to time zone considerations.

The Edmonton and Calgary shows will soon be handled from Toronto in terms of control room and technical operations. Both Calgary and Edmonton have been produced under the Shaw / Corus "MMC" platform for some time.

More details today.....

ED1 · July 16, 2026 10:31 am

Glen Warren wrote:
Radiowiz wrote:
....
It's a little more complicated than that.
What does this mean for the future of Global National?
Is there enough staff remaining to effectively produce the program?
Don't they need the staff of those two places to make it an effective program?
Global National continues to be produced from BC for all Editorial, Production, and Technical.
Glo National reporters / cameras are still based in the respective markets and file stories into National.
The national show has always had a heavy reliance on technical and operations resources from both Toronto and Ottawa. Primarily due to time zone considerations.

The Edmonton and Calgary shows will soon be handled from Toronto in terms of control room and technical operations. Both Calgary and Edmonton have been produced under the Shaw / Corus "MMC" platform for some time.

More details today.....

Calgary and Edmonton were their own MMC hubs for each other. Global Edmonton handled the weeknight 11 o'clock and weekend morning shows for both, while Calgary handled the noon and weekend evening shows. Each station put together their own morning, 5, and 6 o'clock newscasts. Calgary went completely MMC while Edmonton has kept their morning show live, and their 5 and 6 were MMC.

If everything goes to Toronto, it will be interesting to see if Global decides to keep their current news schedules intact for both stations, or if each station will lose some shows/anchors.

There is also an MMC hub in Regina handling Global Regina, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg. Wondering if they are also affected.

Last edited by ED1 (July 16, 2026 10:34 am)

RadioActive · July 16, 2026 10:36 am

For those unfamiliar with the term, "MMC" stands for Multi-Market Content.

This must have been in the works for a while. This job opening (now expired for applicants) went online in June. Among the duties listed:

"Produce, line-up and write news broadcasts for various markets working with teams in various regions of Canada...Shifts will be varied and will include Saturdays, Sundays, afternoons and evenings, and there may be some shifts during the week."

Producer/Editor - Global News in Toronto

Last edited by RadioActive (July 16, 2026 10:41 am)

DX · July 16, 2026 10:38 am

ED1 wrote:
Glen Warren wrote:
Radiowiz wrote:
....
It's a little more complicated than that.
What does this mean for the future of Global National?
Is there enough staff remaining to effectively produce the program?
Don't they need the staff of those two places to make it an effective program?
Global National continues to be produced from BC for all Editorial, Production, and Technical.
Glo National reporters / cameras are still based in the respective markets and file stories into National.
The national show has always had a heavy reliance on technical and operations resources from both Toronto and Ottawa. Primarily due to time zone considerations.

The Edmonton and Calgary shows will soon be handled from Toronto in terms of control room and technical operations. Both Calgary and Edmonton have been produced under the Shaw / Corus "MMC" platform for some time.

More details today.....

Calgary and Edmonton were their own MMC hubs for each other. Global Edmonton handled the weeknight 11 o'clock and weekend morning shows for both, while Calgary handled the noon and weekend evening shows. Each station put together their own morning, 5, and 6 o'clock newscasts. Calgary went completely MMC while Edmonton has kept their morning show live, and their 5 and 6 were MMC.

If everything goes to Toronto, it will be interesting to see if Global decides to keep their current news schedules intact for both stations, or if each station will lose some shows/anchors.

There is also an MMC hub in Regina handling Global Regina, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg. Wondering if they are also affected.

Peterborough has also been a mini-hub for what's left of the newscasts and rerolls for Peterborough (CHEX-TV) and Kingston (CKWS-TV).

Media Nerd · July 16, 2026 11:23 am

Remind me, does Peterborough and Kingston have their own local news still? Or are they broadcasting TO news.

I love this line from the article:

“While some roles have been impacted as we centralize production, we are adding additional roles to continue providing news programming in these markets."

No you’re not.

Aytononline · July 16, 2026 11:26 am

When they first started talking about MMC, the argument was " why should we have local anchors reading the same script in each market. Why not have 1 person do a pre recorded intro for the stories and send it to each station." Then with a green screen you can make any studio look local.

RadioAaron · July 16, 2026 11:30 am

Media Nerd wrote:
Remind me, does Peterborough and Kingston have their own local news still? Or are they broadcasting TO news.

I love this line from the article:

“While some roles have been impacted as we centralize production, we are adding additional roles to continue providing news programming in these markets."

No you’re not.

They have their own. Kingston’s is anchored in Peterborough during the week and Toronto on the weekend.

Media Nerd · July 16, 2026 11:35 am

RadioAaron wrote:
Media Nerd wrote:
Remind me, does Peterborough and Kingston have their own local news still? Or are they broadcasting TO news.

I love this line from the article:

“While some roles have been impacted as we centralize production, we are adding additional roles to continue providing news programming in these markets."

No you’re not.
They have their own. Kingston’s is anchored in Peterborough during the week and Toronto on the weekend.

Can these local stations still afford to broadcast local news in those markets? Not rated markets so revenue will be from local ads. Is that enough to remain on air.

RadioActive · July 16, 2026 12:43 pm

Here's the company's official announcement, through Broadcast Dialogue. There's one statement that stood out for me.

“These changes are designed to improve efficiency, support long-term sustainability, and allow us to continue supporting high-quality journalism and audio programming for our audiences,” a spokesperson said.

Yes, because getting rid of staff is certainly the best way to support "high quality journalism." And does that "audio programming" refer to their radio properties, meaning more cutbacks are coming?

Stay tuned.

Although by offering less, they're not giving you much reason to.

Corus confirms centralization of TV production for Calgary, Edmonton

ED1 · July 16, 2026 5:24 pm

CBC is now reporting on what's happened at Corus, and specifically at Global Edmonton and Calgary

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/corus-layoffs-at-global-news-9.7272684

jughead jones · July 17, 2026 11:06 pm

CBC is garbage.

RadioActive · July 19, 2026 12:07 pm

RadioActive wrote:
Here's the company's official announcement, through Broadcast Dialogue. There's one statement that stood out for me.

“These changes are designed to improve efficiency, support long-term sustainability, and allow us to continue supporting high-quality journalism and audio programming for our audiences,” a spokesperson said.

Yes, because getting rid of staff is certainly the best way to support "high quality journalism." And does that "audio programming" refer to their radio properties, meaning more cutbacks are coming?

Stay tuned.

Although by offering less, they're not giving you much reason to.

Corus confirms centralization of TV production for Calgary, Edmonton

Corus has now offered a further "clarification" of its plans for TV news out west. Make of this what you will.

Corus clarifies local news production, newsrooms ‘not shutting down’ in Calgary, Edmonton

Media Nerd · July 19, 2026 12:40 pm

“………while reducing overlap and maximizing the use of our resources,”

It’s an organization that is positioning itself for new ownership, with the goal of reducing overlap to improve return on capital.
There’s no growth in Corus.

Shorty Wave · July 20, 2026 7:15 am

I feel bad for Corus, they were once a prosperous company and decent to work for. A lot of my friends have been laid off in all this and a few of them are facing tough times, it’s sad.

Aytononline · July 20, 2026 8:15 am

https://blog.fagstein.com/ is reporting that Global will have a single morning show that will include Toronto, Peterborough, Kingston, Montreal and Halifax local stations.
I don't see how they will get more ad revenue or ratings with the new show, but good for them for trying.

Shorty Wave · July 20, 2026 8:19 am

Aytononline wrote:
https://blog.fagstein.com/ is reporting that Global will have a single morning show that will include Toronto, Peterborough, Kingston, Montreal and Halifax local stations.
I don't see how they will get more ad revenue or ratings with the new show, but good for them for trying.

Again, sad.