Corus Entertainment 'aggressively' cutting costs, laying off more employees as revenue slumps

As revenueslumps from a "challenging advertising environment," Canadian media company Corus Entertainment which houses brands like Global News and YTVis "aggressively" cutting costs, continuing layoffs and shutting down parts of its business.

In the company's third-quarter earnings call on Monday, co-chief executive officer John Gosslingsaid that by the end of August, Corusexpects it will have reducedits full-time workforce by 25 per cent or nearly 800 jobs compared with September 2022. By the end of May, Corushad cut about 500 employees.

The company will also stop operatingtwo AM radio stations in Vancouver and Edmonton, and Gossling said it has identified more opportunities for savings in the future. "We can and will do much more," he said.

Corusreported$331.8 million in revenue from March to May,a decrease of more than $65 million from the same period last year.

Thatdrop came as television revenue in the quarter fell by 17 per cent compared withlast year to $308.2 million, while radio revenue slipped by 10 per cent to $23.6 million.

The company's financial troubles are following broader trends in the media industry.

In February, Bell Media cut multiple television newscasts. This came after parent company BCEInc. announced it was eliminating4,800 jobsin its largest round of layoffs in nearly three decadesand selling 45 of its 103 regional radio stations.

Meanwhile,Nordstar, the company that owns the Toronto Star and other newspapers, announced in September 2023 that it was cutting 600 jobs and seeking bankruptcy protection for its Metroland division, whichowns more than 70 local newspapers.

At the time, Metrolandsaid the reason for the decision was unsustainable financial losses due to changing advertiser and consumer preferences.

And in April, executives at CBC/Radio-Canada said significant job cuts were no longer needed after a one-year boost in federal budget funding.

Last fall, the public broadcaster announced plans to cut 10 per cent of its workforce or about 800 jobsand slash $40 million from its production budgetafter forecasting $125 million in financial pressures for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

Prior to the funding boost, CBC/Radio-Canadahad already laid off 141 employees and cut 205 vacant positions.

During Monday's earnings call, Corus co-chief executive officer Troy Reeb said local news, particularly in small markets, is challenging.

"There was a time when a local television station could have ... a good hold on the local advertisers in the market,"Reeb said."Now local advertisers can go to literally hundreds of other options."

He said small markets are "where the focus of our restructuring efforts have been and will continue to be."

However, Reebalso said thatCorus's national newsoperations perform "quite well" and areone of the company's drivers of growth, particularly in digital spaces.

Corus expects TV advertising revenue to decline by a similar amount in the fourth quarter, from June to August, Gossling said.

The company has attributed the advertising slump this yearin partto lingering effects from the 2023 Hollywood strikes that delayed production of key programming, along with inflation and challenges from competition.