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November 26, 2020 10:06 am  #1


Rogers cullings go deep and wide

Even in modern times these Rogers cullings cut deep...this paragraph from Broadcast Dialogue only touches the surface....read past and it outlines restructuring which basically gives people spared the axe more duties and fancy titles which I'm willing to bet don't come with the pay hikes (if any?) that match the new job descriptions.

Rogers Sports & Media has extended the reach of the Roz & Mocha Show to more markets in the wake of last week’s cross-country layoffs. Originating from Toronto’s KiSS 92.5 (CKIS-FM), the show is now airing on KiSS 100.5 (CHUR-FM) North Bay, KiSS 99.3 (CKGB-FM) Timmins, and KiSS 100.5 (CHAS-FM) Sault Ste. Marie, bumping the local morning shows on those stations. In North Bay, staff cuts included afternoon drive host Cody Belanger as well as newsroom staffers Richard Coffin and Bob Coles.
Former morning show host Kevin Oschefski moves to afternoons. In Timmins, 99.3 KiSS morning host Mark Kinsman and afternoon host Tyler Cropley were released, in addition to program director Amanda Dyer, who had been with the station since 2007, as well as news anchor/reporter Alain Quevillon. In Sault Ste. Marie, Zenga McCurdy is now helming middays across all three stations, while his former morning co-host Casey MacDonald moves to afternoon drive. Former Sudbury-based KiSS network midday host Turner Gentry has been released. Ottawa’s KISS 105.3 (CISS-FM) also underwent layoffs, including PD Anthony DeRossi.
Other station cuts in Ontario impacted K-ROCK (CIKR-FM) Kingston where personalities Sideshow and Eilish Sullivan were among the casualties. In London, commercial/imaging producer Andy Goddard was let go, in addition to creative writer Sarah Drapeau.
 

Last edited by Johnny B (November 26, 2020 10:06 am)

 

November 26, 2020 10:43 am  #2


Re: Rogers cullings go deep and wide

This year's cuts at the "big four" are the final straw for me - I'm done with radio and television.  Forget it.  Both industries, especially in Canada, are completely dead and gone, and as long as Bell, Corus, Rogers and Stingray are in control, nothing will make those industries any better.  I stopped listening to commercial radio and watching commercial TV (and using radio/TV stations' online offerings) earlier this year, when the pandemic hit, and there is no frickin' way I'm tuning in again - there is absolutely no good reason to watch or listen anymore.  Cookie-cutter content, pre-recorded jocks on radio, decreasing local content (aside from advertisements), owners/managers/salespeople completely eliminating any editorial independence/autonomy that news staff had, and just plain putting out a terrible and unlistenable/unwatchable product.  I've even gone so far as to remove the iHeartRadio, Radioplayer and TuneIn apps from my phone - I do not want to have anything to do with radio or TV in North America.

Radio and television are dead. Period.

 

November 26, 2020 11:30 am  #3


Re: Rogers cullings go deep and wide

Johnny B wrote:

Even in modern times these Rogers cullings cut deep...this paragraph from Broadcast Dialogue only touches the surface....read past and it outlines restructuring which basically gives people spared the axe more duties and fancy titles which I'm willing to bet don't come with the pay hikes (if any?) that match the new job descriptions.

Rogers Sports & Media has extended the reach of the Roz & Mocha Show to more markets in the wake of last week’s cross-country layoffs. Originating from Toronto’s KiSS 92.5 (CKIS-FM), the show is now airing on KiSS 100.5 (CHUR-FM) North Bay, KiSS 99.3 (CKGB-FM) Timmins, and KiSS 100.5 (CHAS-FM) Sault Ste. Marie, bumping the local morning shows on those stations. In North Bay, staff cuts included afternoon drive host Cody Belanger as well as newsroom staffers Richard Coffin and Bob Coles.
Former morning show host Kevin Oschefski moves to afternoons. In Timmins, 99.3 KiSS morning host Mark Kinsman and afternoon host Tyler Cropley were released, in addition to program director Amanda Dyer, who had been with the station since 2007, as well as news anchor/reporter Alain Quevillon. In Sault Ste. Marie, Zenga McCurdy is now helming middays across all three stations, while his former morning co-host Casey MacDonald moves to afternoon drive. Former Sudbury-based KiSS network midday host Turner Gentry has been released. Ottawa’s KISS 105.3 (CISS-FM) also underwent layoffs, including PD Anthony DeRossi.
Other station cuts in Ontario impacted K-ROCK (CIKR-FM) Kingston where personalities Sideshow and Eilish Sullivan were among the casualties. In London, commercial/imaging producer Andy Goddard was let go, in addition to creative writer Sarah Drapeau.
 

Could Rogers have at least kept the local news component of their morning shows and integrate it in their national programming? That's what a lot of the networked shows in the UK do. 
 

 

November 27, 2020 3:15 am  #4


Re: Rogers cullings go deep and wide

I hope they have a back up plan in case the network ever goes down or there will be a lot of quiet carriers in place of programming.

 

November 30, 2020 1:51 pm  #5


Re: Rogers cullings go deep and wide

Another layoff is making waves in North Bay, where Rogers has been cutting with a chainsaw, not a scalpel. 

Popular morning radio host laid off

In an era where many don't think anyone pays attention to radio, it may come as a surprise that some do. Two of the comments attached to this story really speak volumes. 

Unreal. [Morning co-host] Mitch will be the next to go then it will be an all Toronto radio station. Thanks Rogers for nothing."

And

"Rogers should be mandated by the CRTC, and as a condition of its national licence to maintain a local presence in radio in smaller centers- even if that is at a loss. Rogers is one of only a few licencees who can deliver telecommunications services to Canadians. - that comes with responsibilities. The remedy for NB's loss lies with the CRTC."

 

November 30, 2020 2:16 pm  #6


Re: Rogers cullings go deep and wide

darcyh wrote:

I hope they have a back up plan in case the network ever goes down or there will be a lot of quiet carriers in place of programming.

Most of these syndicated shows, as will be the case with R&M, aren't truly live. A show producer in Toronto records the local live breaks, packages them, and uploads them to the affiliate stations. Should that process fail, the affiliate station's automation will, depending on how it's setup, either play a break from the previous day or same day the previous week, or just skip the segment altogether, leading to a mostly-music playback.