A year after Canada’s broadcast regulator demanded that English-language TV stations devote more time to local news, some networks are now doing just that.
Bell Media recently announced it’s adding 5 p.m. newscasts to all its local CTV stations, and Rogers is expanding its local newscast format “CityNews” to Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Montreal.
While industry observers are happy to see more emphasis on local again after years of cutbacks, they also wonder how it will be successful in an age when the news industry as a whole is in bad shape, with newspapers closing and advertising revenue shrinking and shifting to digital.
“It’s a good thing, I just don’t understand how it makes money,” said Richard Stursberg, a former CBC executive who heads the writers’ group Pen Canada.
“What we know for sure is that all the conventional news at television networks … are underwater. They’re all losing money … and within that, their local news is losing money. That’s the most recent numbers from the CRTC. So how this works for them, financially, I don’t really understand.”
Ian Morrison, spokesman for the watchdog group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, said he’s taking the announcements about local news expansion with a grain of salt.
Canadian Press – July 31, 2017.
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