TQS gutting news division

Well, you couldn’t say this one was unexpected. TQS is gutting its news departments across Quebec, laying off dozens of workers. (Radio-Canada incorrectly refers to this as “decimating”, when it’s clearly more than 10% of staff).

Regional news will be hardest hit, with just about every newscast outside of Montreal being cut to nothing. The entire news department is being eliminated, with 110% the only locally-produced show left. Here, some newscasts (like the morning Caféine) will be cancelled, and others reduced in length.

The changes are happening over the summer. By fall, TQS will be practically unrecognizable, and will no doubt find ways to suck even more than it already does.

The drastic cuts to local programming will require CRTC approval. But considering the alternative (bankruptcy and the loss of an entire network), a compromise will probably be worked out.

Jean-Michel Vanasse, by the way, will be among the victims.

UPDATE (April 24): The Canoe blog asks whether the loss of TQS’s news department is a big deal, since they don’t do any real journalism anyway. The Canoe blog. Sun Media’s Canoe blog. Yeah.

8 thoughts on “TQS gutting news division

  1. heri

    from an outsider’s point of view, this is self-suicide. journalists and reporters were the only one providing original content for TQS.

    I guess their next plans is to broadcast more cheap american series and videos of cats and silly jokes.

    Reply
  2. Frank

    Oddly I tuned in to see Mongrain’s Le Grand Journal but instead they’re airing the tired Douglas-DeVito-Turner movie..Diamonds something or other.

    Reply
  3. Joe

    First Global gets downsized and now TQS..

    These local newscasts are where the information is so much more pertinent..than the national newscasts

    Remstar sucks and this will go down as a huge blunder in Local News coverage

    Reply
  4. Brian

    This has happened because all media is owned by 5 people across the world. So ANY TV OR RADIO station is biased and tainted in its reporting. TQS doesn’t want to play the game by BIG MEDIA OWNER Rules ( dummy down the masses and hide the important stuff) so they have to go. Why stay and spew the same line towing garbage as everybody else. We have enough repetative robots even here in Quebec.

    Reply
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