This is another sad day for international broadcasting.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has announced sweeping cuts that will eliminate 650 jobs over the course of 3 years. In a strategic plan called, Same Strategy, Different Path, they specifically outline their cuts of shortwave and satellite transmissions which will also mean the closure of their noted Sackville, New Brunswick transmitter site:
(Source: CBC-Transforming Radio Canada International)
In line with plans to modernize the public broadcaster, as outlined in Strategy 2015, Radio Canada International (RCI) will undergo a transformation that amounts to phasing out its shortwave and satellite services so it can focus on webcasting. This will account for almost $10 million in annual savings for CBC/Radio-Canada by 2013-14. RCI’s transformation is consistent with currently shifting media consumption behaviours, as well as strategies adopted by other public broadcasters.
“From now on RCI will provide multilingual service broadcasting in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Mandarin that strives to help audiences discover and especially understand democratic and cultural life and values in Canada,” says Hubert T. Lacroix, President and CEO.
As well, RCI will provide national and international audiences with online content in five languages (French, English, Spanish, Arabic, and Mandarin) instead of seven. The Russian and Brazilian sections of RCI will be shut down. This allows us to concentrate our efforts on what are among Canada’s largest communities of diverse origins. Following this decision, CBC/Radio-Canada will be closing its shortwave transmission site in Sackville, New Brunswick.
What this will mean
- End of satellite and shortwave transmission
- End of the production of RCI news broadcasts
- Shutdown of Brazilian and Russian sections of RCI
- Almost $10 million in annual savings for CBC/Radio-Canada by 2013-14
What it won’t mean
- Shutdown of RCI