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Headline, Industry News
Rogers Communications announces unspecified number of layoffs in media division
Wednesday December 03rd 2008TORONTO — Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.B) announced Tuesday it will lay off an unspecified number of employees in its media division as it copes with a decline in advertising revenue.
Rogers spokesman Suneel Khanna said the layoffs will impact every company under the Rogers Media umbrella, including its television, publishing and digital operations as well as employees of the Toronto Blue Jays, which Rogers owns.
A source said the cuts could affect about 100 jobs, a third of which are at the Blue Jays baseball team operations. Citytv operations in Toronto are also affected.
Rogers paid $375 million in cash last year to buy Citytv operations in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg – stations that CTVglobemedia was ordered to sell by the CRTC for its approval of the $1.7 billion purchase of broadcaster CHUM Ltd.
“What started off as the U.S. financial crisis has now morphed into something much stronger and, as a result, advertising budgets have all but frozen,” Khanna said.
“It’s in response to that that we’ve implemented the cost-controlling measures that we have.”
The job cuts news came hours after company founder and CEO Ted Rogers died in his Toronto home at the age of 75. He had long suffered from heart ailments.
But one industry analyst said the cuts have nothing to do with Rogers’ death.
“You don’t have to look very far to find other media companies who are laying off or to hear disaster stories in advertising-driven businesses,” said the analyst, who asked not to be identified.
Analysts say the telecommunications and media giant, with 24,000 employees, is in relatively good financial shape, but will likely take a more conservative turn without Rogers at the helm.
Like all media and communications companies, Rogers faces a more difficult economy, with little growth and a squeeze on advertising revenues that could affect its TV stations, magazines and radio operations.
But the analyst said Rogers’ media division is one small part of an otherwise healthy company.
“Media is really the tail wagging the dog here. It’s less than 10 per cent of the operating cash flow of the company, so it’s really immaterial,” he said, adding that Rogers has “the best asset class in the business” and an enviable balance sheet.
“No one is going to be immune from this economic slowdown we’re going through, and it’s going to be brutal in a lot of cases, but relative to pretty much anybody else in the business, Rogers holds a pretty good hand of cards,” the analyst added.
Last month, CTV announced it’s cutting about 105 positions, many of which affect the broadcaster’s “music and youth” channels MuchMusic, MuchMoreMusic and MTV Canada, although the CTV news division would also lose some employees.
Parent company CTVglobemedia has about 6,500 employees across all of its divisions, which include The Globe and Mail newspaper and CHUM Radio, one of Canada’s largest radio broadcasters.
Broadcast rival Canwest Global Communications Corp. (TSX:CGS) recently cut 560 jobs, or about five per cent of its workforce, including 210 at Global Television and its other TV operations.
Conventional TV broadcasters have been squeezed by the loss of advertising revenue linked to the slumping economy, rising competition from specialty channels and competition for advertisers from Internet services.
The industry has also been hurt by a federal regulatory decision rejecting the request of broadcasters such as CTV, CBC and Global to let them charge cable and satellite distributors for carrying their channels.
The CRTC said conventional networks had failed to prove they have enough economic need for the higher revenues, which would have been worth about $300 million a year to the big broadcasters.
Source: The Canadian Press
Headline, Industry News
Rogers Communications announces unspecified number of layoffs in media division
Wednesday December 03rd 2008TORONTO — Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.B) announced Tuesday it will lay off an unspecified number of employees in its media division as it copes with a decline in advertising revenue.
Rogers spokesman Suneel Khanna said the layoffs will impact every company under the Rogers Media umbrella, including its television, publishing and digital operations as well as employees of the Toronto Blue Jays, which Rogers owns.
A source said the cuts could affect about 100 jobs, a third of which are at the Blue Jays baseball team operations. Citytv operations in Toronto are also affected.
Rogers paid $375 million in cash last year to buy Citytv operations in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg – stations that CTVglobemedia was ordered to sell by the CRTC for its approval of the $1.7 billion purchase of broadcaster CHUM Ltd.
“What started off as the U.S. financial crisis has now morphed into something much stronger and, as a result, advertising budgets have all but frozen,” Khanna said.
“It’s in response to that that we’ve implemented the cost-controlling measures that we have.”
The job cuts news came hours after company founder and CEO Ted Rogers died in his Toronto home at the age of 75. He had long suffered from heart ailments.
But one industry analyst said the cuts have nothing to do with Rogers’ death.
“You don’t have to look very far to find other media companies who are laying off or to hear disaster stories in advertising-driven businesses,” said the analyst, who asked not to be identified.
Analysts say the telecommunications and media giant, with 24,000 employees, is in relatively good financial shape, but will likely take a more conservative turn without Rogers at the helm.
Like all media and communications companies, Rogers faces a more difficult economy, with little growth and a squeeze on advertising revenues that could affect its TV stations, magazines and radio operations.
But the analyst said Rogers’ media division is one small part of an otherwise healthy company.
“Media is really the tail wagging the dog here. It’s less than 10 per cent of the operating cash flow of the company, so it’s really immaterial,” he said, adding that Rogers has “the best asset class in the business” and an enviable balance sheet.
“No one is going to be immune from this economic slowdown we’re going through, and it’s going to be brutal in a lot of cases, but relative to pretty much anybody else in the business, Rogers holds a pretty good hand of cards,” the analyst added.
Last month, CTV announced it’s cutting about 105 positions, many of which affect the broadcaster’s “music and youth” channels MuchMusic, MuchMoreMusic and MTV Canada, although the CTV news division would also lose some employees.
Parent company CTVglobemedia has about 6,500 employees across all of its divisions, which include The Globe and Mail newspaper and CHUM Radio, one of Canada’s largest radio broadcasters.
Broadcast rival Canwest Global Communications Corp. (TSX:CGS) recently cut 560 jobs, or about five per cent of its workforce, including 210 at Global Television and its other TV operations.
Conventional TV broadcasters have been squeezed by the loss of advertising revenue linked to the slumping economy, rising competition from specialty channels and competition for advertisers from Internet services.
The industry has also been hurt by a federal regulatory decision rejecting the request of broadcasters such as CTV, CBC and Global to let them charge cable and satellite distributors for carrying their channels.
The CRTC said conventional networks had failed to prove they have enough economic need for the higher revenues, which would have been worth about $300 million a year to the big broadcasters.
Source: The Canadian Press
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Headline, Industry News
Rogers Communications announces unspecified number of layoffs in media division
Wednesday December 03rd 2008TORONTO — Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.B) announced Tuesday it will lay off an unspecified number of employees in its media division as it copes with a decline in advertising revenue.
Rogers spokesman Suneel Khanna said the layoffs will impact every company under the Rogers Media umbrella, including its television, publishing and digital operations as well as employees of the Toronto Blue Jays, which Rogers owns.
A source said the cuts could affect about 100 jobs, a third of which are at the Blue Jays baseball team operations. Citytv operations in Toronto are also affected.
Rogers paid $375 million in cash last year to buy Citytv operations in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg – stations that CTVglobemedia was ordered to sell by the CRTC for its approval of the $1.7 billion purchase of broadcaster CHUM Ltd.
“What started off as the U.S. financial crisis has now morphed into something much stronger and, as a result, advertising budgets have all but frozen,” Khanna said.
“It’s in response to that that we’ve implemented the cost-controlling measures that we have.”
The job cuts news came hours after company founder and CEO Ted Rogers died in his Toronto home at the age of 75. He had long suffered from heart ailments.
But one industry analyst said the cuts have nothing to do with Rogers’ death.
“You don’t have to look very far to find other media companies who are laying off or to hear disaster stories in advertising-driven businesses,” said the analyst, who asked not to be identified.
Analysts say the telecommunications and media giant, with 24,000 employees, is in relatively good financial shape, but will likely take a more conservative turn without Rogers at the helm.
Like all media and communications companies, Rogers faces a more difficult economy, with little growth and a squeeze on advertising revenues that could affect its TV stations, magazines and radio operations.
But the analyst said Rogers’ media division is one small part of an otherwise healthy company.
“Media is really the tail wagging the dog here. It’s less than 10 per cent of the operating cash flow of the company, so it’s really immaterial,” he said, adding that Rogers has “the best asset class in the business” and an enviable balance sheet.
“No one is going to be immune from this economic slowdown we’re going through, and it’s going to be brutal in a lot of cases, but relative to pretty much anybody else in the business, Rogers holds a pretty good hand of cards,” the analyst added.
Last month, CTV announced it’s cutting about 105 positions, many of which affect the broadcaster’s “music and youth” channels MuchMusic, MuchMoreMusic and MTV Canada, although the CTV news division would also lose some employees.
Parent company CTVglobemedia has about 6,500 employees across all of its divisions, which include The Globe and Mail newspaper and CHUM Radio, one of Canada’s largest radio broadcasters.
Broadcast rival Canwest Global Communications Corp. (TSX:CGS) recently cut 560 jobs, or about five per cent of its workforce, including 210 at Global Television and its other TV operations.
Conventional TV broadcasters have been squeezed by the loss of advertising revenue linked to the slumping economy, rising competition from specialty channels and competition for advertisers from Internet services.
The industry has also been hurt by a federal regulatory decision rejecting the request of broadcasters such as CTV, CBC and Global to let them charge cable and satellite distributors for carrying their channels.
The CRTC said conventional networks had failed to prove they have enough economic need for the higher revenues, which would have been worth about $300 million a year to the big broadcasters.
Source: The Canadian Press
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