One of Quebec’s media giants announced Thursday that it is laying off roughly one-third of its workforce as of February.
TVA, owned by Quebecor, said it will slash 547 jobs, including 300 positions in in-house production, 98 operations positions and 149 positions in other departments.
TVA said a complete reorganization of its resources is necessary because of the rapidly shifting media landscape, the popularity of streaming services and losses in web advertising revenue. The broadcaster says it lost $13 million this year, compared with $1.6 million last year.
The media giant said it will refocus its mission exclusively on broadcasting — effectively ending in-house production of entertainment content, centralizing its news division and reducing its real estate.
“The traditional television business model has been disrupted on all sides: shrinking audiences, declining subscriptions, falling advertising revenues, fierce competition and aggressive bidding for entertainment content and sports rights,” it said in a news release.
It also said those problems are compounded by CBC/Radio-Canada unfairly competing with private broadcasters for advertising revenue.
TVA had already cut 140 professional and managerial positions in February 2023 and had cancelled some of its programing, but today said those measures weren’t enough to stay afloat.
“The deficit TVA Group is currently running is simply no longer sustainable,” said Pierre Karl Péladeau, acting president and CEO of TVA Group and president and CEO of Quebecor in a news release.
“We have a responsibility to correct the situation. TVA has historically been an important vehicle for Quebec culture, language and news. We have a duty to preserve it and ensure its sustainability.”
