94 layoffs at Rogers Media
Rogers Media President Keith Pelley said in a memo that 94 staff had been laid off from the company. These layoffs follow an earlier round of cuts in May when the company shut down its 24-hours news CityNews Channel and laid off 62 employees.
Rogers Media President Keith Pelley said 94 staff had been laid off from the company. These layoffs, which represent about two per cent of the company, follow an earlier round of cuts in May when the company shut down its 24-hours news CityNews Channel and laid off 62 employees.
“Decisions like these are never easy, but are necessary,” Pelley said in a memo obtained by J-Source. “Today we made changes to our business that will allow us to continue to make investments in our priority brands and strategic growth initiatives, and better position us for the future while helping us effectively manage our costs.”
Rogers is gearing up for the launch of Next Issue Canada, a Netflix-style bundling of digital magazine subscriptions and the expansion of brands like the Shopping Channel and Sportsnet. “While we saw good momentum in Q3, we must remain laser focused on our vision,” Pelley said in the memo.
Related content on J-Source:
- Read the memo from Keith Pelley on the layoffs
- Rogers to launch all-you-can-read subscription digital magazine service
- Demand for local television news coverage still strong despite abrupt closing of CityNews Channel
Tamara Baluja is an award-winning journalist with CBC Vancouver and the 2018 Michener-Deacon fellow for journalism education. She was the associate editor for J-Source from 2013-2014.