CBC announces cuts

[Doug Drown]

The CBC announced yesterday that it is running a $171 million deficit, hence plans to eliminate 800 jobs nationally. 80 jobs will be cut from CBC News (including a considerable number of regional journalists), sports coverage will be reduced and in some cases eliminated, weekday noontime radio programs will be reduced from two hours to one, and staff positions will be cut in (among other places) Quebec City, Moncton, Saint John, and at several stations in Newfoundland.  

There is also discussion of "selling off some assets," whatever that means.  I wonder whether some of the local stations may be sold off to other broadcasters, though that's not specifically mentioned.  

All of this has been met with angry reaction from viewers, listeners, and some MLAs, so who knows how much will actually happen once the dust settles.  The cuts, BTW, are across the board: both anglophone CBC and Radio-Canada.

-Doug