Announcement • Nov 05
TVA Group Announces Reorganization Plan
TVA Group is announcing major changes to secure its future at a time of crisis for the global media industry. The Corporation will implement a reorganization plan that will refocus its mission exclusively on broadcasting and restructure its news division, combined with increased collaboration with Quebecor's media properties. The goal is to reduce the Corporation's operating costs and streamline its workforce. The changes are designed to safeguard TVA Group's core businesses so that it can continue providing the best local content and trusted, high-quality news coverage throughout Québec. The audiovisual and media landscape throughout the West is undergoing profound and unprecedented changes as a result of the globalization of television viewing, driven by the proliferation of on-demand digital broadcasting platforms (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Crave, Tou.tv EXTRA, Peacock, Roku, Hulu, etc.) and the tectonic shift in advertising spending to the Web giants (Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, X, etc.). These are not short-term changes but a long-term trend that is reshaping the broadcasting ecosystem. The traditional television business model has been disrupted on all sides: shrinking audiences, declining subscriptions, falling advertising revenues, fierce competition and aggressive bidding for entertainment content and sports rights. The foreign platforms are also impacting news media by using the journalistic content they produce without paying a fair price for it. Their dominance is compounded by unfair competition from CBC/Radio-Canada, which behaves like a private broadcaster by competing for ratings and advertising dollars. (See the Appendix for a more detailed picture of the state of the industry.) Added to this are the anti-competitive practices of Bell TV, which for years has stubbornly refused to pay fair market value for TVA Group's specialty channels, particularly TVA Sports. In an attempt to remedy the situation, TVA Group and Quebecor have relentlessly made representations and appeals to regulators and public authorities in recent years. TVA Group has also taken a number of difficult internal steps, including the elimination of 140 professional and managerial positions in February 2023, reductions in content production costs and the cancellation of some programs (see the Appendix for more details). However, these efforts have not been sufficient to bring the Corporation to sustainability. Reorganization plan: Given this situation, in the coming months TVA Group will implement a three-pronged reorganization plan approved by its Board of Directors: Cessation of in-house production of entertainment content, Restructuring of the news division, Optimization real estate assets. As a first step, TVA Group has announced that it will focus on its role as a broadcaster and end in-house production of entertainment content by its TVA Productions subsidiary. The three audience-pleasing entertainment programs currently produced in-house—Le Tricheur, La Poule aux œufs d'or and VLOG—will remain staples of TVA's schedule but will be outsourced to external independent producers. Only the morning shows Salut Bonjour and Salut Bonjour Week-end, the newscasts, the TVA and LCN public affairs programs, and some TVA Sports programs will continue to be produced by in-house teams. TVA Group's production division, which also provided crews to outside producers for some programs, will begin discussions with its partners to encourage them to hire employees affected by the announced measures, according to their needs. Production activities will be phased out as they are transferred to outside suppliers, taking into account current program schedules. The second measure concerns the news outlets of TVA Group and Quebecor: TVA, LCN, Le Journal de Montréal, Le Journal de Québec, QUB radio, 24 heures, TVA Sports, TVA Publications magazines, and the other digital brands. To ensure the quality of its news coverage in a precarious industry, TVA Group will reorganize its news crews based in Montréal, Québec City and its local stations in the rest of Québec. The situation also calls for closer collaboration among all of Quebecor's media properties to capitalize on the strengths of each, reach Quebecers more effectively and compete with the Web giants for advertising dollars. In Montréal, the teams from all of Quebecor's conventional and digital news media will be brought together under one roof at 4545 Frontenac Street to form a media and digital production hub. Each media outlet will continue developing exclusive content and making its own editorial decisions, while having access to content produced and distributed by QMI Agency. In accordance with the conditions of licence set by the CRTC, the TVA and LCN newsrooms will be managed separately and independently of Quebecor's newspapers and other media properties. Bringing staff together will make it possible to provide employees with a state-of-the-art work environment, including newly constructed studios. The centralized location will facilitate coordination and work planning within the teams and promote the pooling of some expertise and news gathering. To create a similar media and digital production hub in Québec City, the Journal de Québec'steams will move into TVA'sQuébec City offices. The building at 4545 Frontenac Street in Montréal will undergo major renovations over the next few months to accommodate all of Quebecor's media teams, including Salut Bonjour, TVA Sports and TVA Publications magazines, by the summer of 2024. TVA Group is currently considering the future use of its headquarters at 1600 De Maisonneuve Blvd. East and some of its local stations' buildings. In view of the housing shortage, management would like to discuss the possibility of converting the Montréal building to social housing with Montréal municipal authorities and the Québec government. Unfortunately, the reorganization will result in the elimination of 547 positions or 31% of TVA Group's current workforce, including 300 positions in in-house production, 98 positions related mainly to the operations of TVA's local stations, and 149 positions in other departments. All affected employees will receive a minimum of 16 weeks notice, from today, of the layoff. To support all employees during this difficult time, TVA Group has established a transition committee, led by Human Resources and assisted by experts from the Employee and Family Assistance Program. The Corporation will also put in place initiatives to enable affected employees who so wish to continue their careers elsewhere in the rest of the Quebecor family, depending on needs. Discussions will also be held with industry organizations and external producers to encourage them to hire affected employees. In the coming weeks, TVA Group will begin negotiations with its employees' union representatives on the renewal of its collective agreements.