TVA Group lays off 31 per cent of workforce in reorganization

Quebecor Inc.’s TVA Group announced Thursday a series of changes to cut down on operating costs, resulting in the elimination of 547 positions or 31 per cent of the company’s current workforce. The layoffs will include 300 positions in in-house production, 98 positions related to the operations of TVA’s local stations, and 149 positions in other departments. The network said all affected employees received a minimum of 16 weeks notice from the day of the announcement. A transition committee has been established to help those affected, with other initiatives set up to help them continue their careers in other arms of Quebecor. TVA Group reported in its third quarter results a year-to-date loss of nearly $13 million for its broadcasting arm, a deficit CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau said is “simply no longer sustainable.” The network blames its financial hardships on “the globalization of television viewing, driven by the proliferation of on-demand digital broadcasting platforms… and the tectonic shift in advertising spending to the web giants…” It said it plans to address this disruption with a three-pronged reorganization plan that will focus on its role as a broadcaster and restructure its news division, as well as shrink its real estate assets. The network is going to end in-house production of entertainment content by its TVA Productions subsidiary. Staple productions Le Tricheur, La Poule aux œufs d’or and VLOG will be outsourced to external independent producers. According to the announcement, only the morning shows Salut Bonjour and Salut Bonjour Week-end, the newscasts, the TVA and LCN public affairs programs, and some TVA Sports programs will continue to be produced by in-house teams. Quebecor’s news outlets will be restructured across TVA, LCN, Le Journal de Montréal, Le Journal de Québec, QUB radio, 24 heures, TVA Sports, TVA Publications magazines, and its other digital brands. To better collaborate and pool expertise, news crews based in Montréal will be moved into a production hub at 4545 Frontenac Street. A similar hub will be put together for those in Québec City, with the Journal de Québec’s teams moving into TVA’s Québec City offices. The city’s teams will now record the newscasts for all other local stations in Quebec, delivered by a single anchor. Teams of reporters for Quebecor stations in eastern Québec, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières will be maintained, said the network, adding that affiliates in Carleton, Gatineau, Rivière-du-Loup and Rouyn will not be affected. TVA Group emphasized that each outlet will continue making their own editorial decisions and developing their own exclusive content. To reduce the operating costs of real estate holdings outside of Montréal and Québec City, which the company says are currently running a deficit, TVA Group’s Corporate Services and the Quebecor Content, Quebecor Expertise Media and Quebecor Out-of-Home teams will move into Quebecor’s head office building. The group said, with the help of Montréal municipal authorities and the Québec government, it is also considering converting its headquarters at 1600 De Maisonneuve Blvd. East into social housing. “We have a responsibility to correct the situation,” said Péladeau in the release, referring to the company’s current financial position. “TVA has historically been an important vehicle for Québec culture, language and news. We have a duty to preserve it and ensure its sustainability. The necessary measures we are taking today will change the way we do business in order to withstand the market pressures and face the competition. We will refocus our activities, reduce our operating costs and concentrate on the strengths that set us apart and make TVA Québec’s favourite television network. Our goal is to be able to continue offering viewers original Québec content, to continue investing, and to bring all Quebecers reliable coverage of news and major sporting events.” He continued with a call for regulatory relief, saying, “for over ten years, TVA Group has been telling government bodies and regulators that the situation is urgent. Canada’s private media companies must be able to operate in a modernized ecosystem that can adapt to a borderless digital world. More than ever, this demands regulatory relief, flexibility and tax credits that more adequately and equitably reflect the conditions facing broadcasters and producers in the television industry. The fact is that not only has nothing changed, but the situation is now worse than ever. The lack of consideration for our industry, coupled with the mounting challenges it confronts, has forced us to take unprecedented action.”

TVA Group lays off 31 per cent of workforce in reorganization

Brief | 11/04/2023 11:47 am EDT

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