With its stock trading at below 4 Canadian cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Thursday’s trading and a recapitalization effort designed to rid the media company of much of its debt, Corus Entertainment has moved ahead with a plan to centralize the production of its local newscasts in two of Canada’s largest markets.
As reported by several media outlets on July 16, Corus’ Global News division is concluding locally produced newscasts at Global stations in Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta.
The decision will impact some of the on-air talent associated with the newscasts, the Calgary Herald reported. “While some roles have been impacted as we centralize production, we are adding additional roles to continue providing news programming in these markets,” a company spokesperson told the newspaper. “As a result of these changes, we have had to say goodbye to some of our Global News personalities — we greatly appreciate their time with us and wish them the best in their future endeavours. At this time, we are not commenting on individual personalities. Changes will be reflected in the coming weeks on air.”
CBC News confirmed the layoffs will impact a local Edmonton anchor, an Edmonton-based editor, a weather anchor and at least three control room roles in Edmonton.
Toronto-based Corus said in a statement that programming changes are being made across Canada “as part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen and sustain our news divisions,” adding, “These changes are designed to improve efficiency, support long-term sustainability, and allow us to continue supporting high-quality journalism for our audiences.”
A Corus spokesperson added that Corus remains “committed to delivering local news” in Alberta. It was not disclosed if the centralized production of the Alberta cities’ newscasts would be from Toronto.
The latest quarterly fiscal report marked another tough three-month period for Corus Entertainment, which unveiled its fiscal Q2 2026 financial results on April 10.
For the three months ending February 28, 2026, television revenue fell by 16%, to $212.43 million CDN, as radio revenue was off by 4% to $17.75 million CDN.
Fueling the TV revenue decline is a 21% year-over-year advertising revenue dip, to $102.33 million CDN. Cross-category declines were seen, with consumer brands, health and beauty, retail, government, and packaged goods all down.
What didn’t help, either, was a 12% decrease in Subscriber revenue, to $98.85 million CDN.
Offsetting those losses was a 8% increase in distribution, production and other revenue, to $11.25 million CDN.
Corus’s net debt to segment profit, which was 6.70 times as of February 28, 2026, is up from 6.01 times at August 31, 2025. This, Corus explained, is a result of the decrease in segment profit and an increase in the amount drawn under the revolving credit facility, offset by lower lease liabilities.
News of Corus’ decision to end local newscast production in Calgary and Edmonton follows a July 7 announcement by Rogers Sports + Media that it would immediately shut down operations at its all-News stations outside of the nation’s largest market while also pulling the plug on two all-Sports AMs serving key Western locales.
CityNews 660 Calgary was among the stations shuttered by Rogers, as was CFAC-AM “SportsNet 960” in the province’s biggest market.
