Quebec’s TVA Group slams “unfair competition” as it cuts 547 jobs & ceases in-house production

Pierre Karl Péladeau. Source: Quebecor

Canada’s TVA Group has announced a major restructure, including the eliminate of 547 jobs and the closure of its in-house production unit, as it grapples with mounting financial challenges and claims “unfair competition” and “anti-competitive practices” from local rivals CBC & Bell Media.

The Quebecor-owned, Montreal-based company operates French-language network TVA, as well as a portfolio of pay-TV channels. It said that these cuts, which amount to more than one third of its workforce, are necessary to reduce its operating costs and streamline its workforce in order “to secure its future at a time of crisis for the global media industry.”

The decision was announced on the same day that the TVA Group posted its Q3 financial results, which saw a year-to-date loss of $13m (US$9.46m) for its broadcasting segment, a far higher sum than the $1.6m ($US1.16m) lost in the same period last year.

As a result, the TVA Group is implementing a “three-pronged reorganisation plan” including the cessation of in-house production of entertainment content by its TVA Productions subsidiary; a restructuring of its news division and the “optimisation” of its real estate assets.

One-third of workforce cut

These measures will result in the elimination of 547 positions, amounting to 31% of the 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 lay-offs, and are being offered human resources support to find new roles within Quebecor.

With TVA Productions closing, current in-house shows Le Tricheur, La Poule aux œufs d’or and VLOG will now be outsourced to external independent producers. Only morning shows Salut Bonjour and Salut Bonjour Week-end, the newscasts, the TVA and LCN public affairs programs, and some TVA Sports programs, are to remain produced by in-house teams.

TVA Group said that its production division will begin discussions with its partners to “encourage” them to hire employees impacted as production activities are phased out.

Meanwhile, TVA Group and Quebecor news outlets, including TVA, LCN, Le Journal de Montréal, Le Journal de Québec, QUB radio, 24 heures, TVA Sports, TVA Publications magazines, and other digital brands, will be reorganised. Teams from various outlets will be consolidated in fewer offices to reduce real estate holdings outside Montréal and Québec City and lower the operating costs.

The TVA Group said that its mounting losses and need to restructure come during a time of “unprecedented changes” in the media landscape, “driven by the proliferation of on-demand digital broadcasting platforms,” naming global and local competitors such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, Crave, Tou.tv EXTRA, Peacock, Roku and Hulu.

The company also blamed the” tectonic shift in advertising spending to the web giants,” such as Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X,” adding that: “These are not short-term changes but a long-term trend that is reshaping the broadcasting ecosystem.”

Competition criticisms

The TVA Group saved particular criticism for the “unfair competition” from CBC/Radio-Canada, which it said “behaves like a private broadcaster by competing for ratings and advertising dollars,” and the “anti-competitive practices” of Bell TV, which it said “for years has stubbornly refused to pay fair market value for TVA Group’s specialty channels, particularly TVA Sports.”

These compounded the issues of “shrinking audiences, declining subscriptions, falling advertising revenues, fierce competition and aggressive bidding for entertainment content and sports rights,” said the company, which added: “The foreign platforms are also impacting news media by using the journalistic content they produce without paying a fair price for it.”

Pierre Karl Péladeau, president and CEO of TVA Group and president and CEO of Quebecor commented: “The deficit TVA Group is currently running is simply no longer sustainable. We have a responsibility to correct the situation.

“TVA has historically been an important vehicle for Québec culture, language and news. We have a duty to preserve it and ensure its sustainability. The necessary measures we are taking today will change the way we do business in order to withstand the market pressures and face the competition.”