(Toronto) BCE’s media division is asking the federal telecommunications regulator to waive its local news requirements for its television stations, arguing that those obligations are based on outdated market realities.
In an application to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Bell Media is asking to eliminate requirements relating to local news expenditures and the number of hours per week that stations are required to broadcast news a local reflection in large and small markets.
The request filed on June 14 came on the same day that Bell announced the elimination of 1,300 positions, as well as the closure or sale of nine radio stations and the disappearance of two offices abroad as part of plans to ” significantly adapt” its way of disseminating information in the face of increasing financial pressure.
Notes accompanying the application point out that Bell Media’s average annual news operating loss totaled $28.4 million between 2016 and 2019, a figure that jumped to 40 million last year as the web giants cornered the Canadian advertising market.
Bell asserts that the CRTC’s implementation of the Online Streaming Act has the potential to relieve media companies through compensation from online streaming giants, but feels it cannot afford to wait for the outcome of the regulator’s consultations over the legislation.
Last week’s layoffs included a 6% reduction in the workforce at Bell Media.