In this interview with Levon Sevunts, producer for RCI’s The Link, we get a little more insight into the impact of these cuts at Radio Canada International.

One notable quote from the audio interview: Sevunts states rather bluntly, “RCI is getting out of radio altogether.”

RCI’s last day of broadcasting will be June 26th, 2012.

(Source: The Link)

RCI will bear the brunt of the 10 per cent funding cut to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation announced in the last federal budget. RCI is going off the air. The international service will no longer be heard on shortwave or satellite broadcasts. A budget cut of more than 80% at RCI will mean only limited service will be offered on the Internet in five languages: English, French, Spanish, Mandarin and Arabic. Russian and Portuguese services will be dropped. A total of 650 jobs will be lost at the CBC over the next three years and there will be changes in programming. To generate additional revenue, CBC plans to introduce advertising on its CBC Radio 2 and Espace Musique channels. CBC TV will also shut down 620 analog transmitters and cut its in-house documentary unit. Marc Montgomery discusses the changes with The Link’s producer, Levon Sevunts.