Hiring freeze, layoffs to come at CTV: memo
Layoffs, a hiring freeze and revisions or delays of new projects are in the cards at Canadian broadcaster CTV, according to a memo staff received Tuesday.
In the note, CTV CEO Ivan Fecan blamed both the global financial downturn and "the ongoing structural issues affecting conventional television" for the new operational plan.
Staff are slated to meet at a town hall with Fecan in Toronto on Wednesday to hear further details.
In the meantime, Fecan's message outlined several cost-cutting measures that were put into place Tuesday.
"Across all TV properties, there will be a hiring freeze," as well as a halt on travel and entertainment spending, he wrote.
"New projects, unspent capital plans will be revised, delayed or halted" and management has called on each department to "identify efficiencies — unfortunately, this will result in some layoffs."
However, organizational changes will not be the same across the board, he said.
"Each situation will be judged by its own circumstances … where there is strong revenue or competitive reasons, we may choose to add, not cut, resources."
The news comes a week after media giant Canwest announced it is cutting five per cent of its workforce, including 210 broadcast and 350 publishing jobs.
Canwest president Leonard Asper partially attributed the decision to the current economic climate and the current pressures facing conventional TV operations.
In July, Statistics Canada reported that revenue for conventional television fell by 5.3 per cent, slipping to $1.267 billion in 2007 versus 2006. By comparison, pay television revenue in Canada rose by 13.5 per cent for the same period, hitting $547 million in 2007.
Both Fecan and Asper also blamed the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's recent rejection of carriage fees to help traditional broadcasters, such as CTV, Canwest's Global television network and CBC-TV.
CTV Inc. owns and operates 27 conventional television stations across the country and has news bureaus across Canada and internationally, including in Washington, London and Beijing.
Its parent company, CTVglobemedia, also owns the Globe and Mail newspaper, 34 CHUM radio stations across the country, as well as TSN, Much Music, Bravo and more than two dozen other specialty TV channels.
New CD Releases, November 18th: Beyonce, Nickelback, David Cook, Il Divo, Dido and Sammy Hagar.
Beyonce "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" (Columbia)
The R&B/pop superstar bounces back into the spotlight with the release of an ambitious double album. The first disc in the set reportedly will be titled "I am ... ," while the second CD will carry the name "Sasha Fierce."
In a statement, Beyonce said "I Am ..." features songs about who she is underneath all the makeup, the lights and the exciting star drama.
She goes on to say that "Sasha Fierce" represents her alter ego, who is fun, sensual, aggressive, outspoken and glamorous--a side of her that comes out when she is working and on the stage.
"I am ... Sasha Fierce" is Beyonce's third studio album, following 2006's mega-smash "B'Day." The former Destiny's Child star is expected to conduct a lengthy world tour next year in support of the new set.
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Nickelback "Dark Horse" (Roadrunner)
The Canadian rockers are back with their sixth studio album, which follows 2005's "All the Right Reasons." The new set features the single "Gotta Be Somebody."
"Dark Horse" was co-produced by the band and Mutt Lange, the legendary studio wiz who has helped score hits for Def Leppard, AC/DC and many others. The group recorded earlier this year in vocalist/guitarist Chad Kroeger's converted barn studio in Vancouver, British Columbia.
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David Cook "David Cook" (RCA)
One week after the release of the self-titled debut record by his main competitor--2008 "American Idol" runner-up, David Archuleta--"AI" champ David Cook drops his own eponymous debut.
"David Cook" was produced by Grammy-winner Rob Cavallo (Kid Rock, Green Day) and features 13 tracks, nine of which Cook co-wrote with such veteran songwriters as Chris Cornell and Brian Howes. The record's first single, "Light On," was co-written by Cook and Cornell.
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Il Divo "The Promise" (Sony)
The international superstar vocalists return to set the mood with another batch of romantic pop/opera songs. "The Promise" follows 2006's worldwide best-seller "Siempre"
The vocal quartet, formed by "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell and featuring singers Carlos Marin, Urs Buhler, David Miller and Sebastien Izambard, has sold more than 22 million albums since first breaking onto the scene with its 2004 self-titled release.
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Dido "Safe Trip Home" (Arista)
The British vocalist gives fans her third album, and her first since 2003's "Life for Rent." "Safe Trip Home" features collaborations with such stars as Brian Eno, Mick Fleetwood and Citizen Cope.
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More new releases:
Above & Beyond, "Anjunabeats Vol. 6" (Ultra)
Ricardo Arjona, "Quinto Piso" (Warner Bros.)
Belle & Sebastian, "The BBC Sessions" (Matador)
Zac Brown, "The Foundation" (Atlantic)
Miley Cyrus, "Breakout Platinum Edition" (Hollywood)
The Doors, "Live at The Matrix" (Rhino)
Sammy Hagar, "Cosmic Universal Fashion" (Roadrunner)
Randy Houser, "Anything Goes" (Universal)
Ricky Martin, "17" (Epic)
Mudvayne, "The New Game" (Epic)
Laura Pausini, "Primavera Anticipada" (Warner Bros.)
The Priests, "The Priests" (RCA)
Blake Shelton, "Startin' Fires" (Reprise)
Rod Stewart, "The Definitive Rod Stewart" (Rhino)
Instrumental Interplay At Heart Of Rush DVD
For its new DVD, "Snakes & Arrows Live," Rush took a somewhat different approach than on its last two video releases, 2003's "Rush in Rio" and 2005's "R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour."
"With this one we wanted to focus on the playing," singer/bassist/keyboardist Geddy Lee tells Billboard.com. "So a lot of the camera work features the interaction between Neil (Peart), Alex (Lifeson) and myself, a lot of the details that you don't normally cover in a DVD performance. So for fans of the music who love to see what everybody's fingers are doing and how we interact back and forth with each other, that became the overriding focus on this one."
"Snakes & Arrows Live" was shot with 21 High Definition cameras during a two-night stand in October 2007 at the Ahoy Rotterdam Arena in the Netherlands -- the same shows that produced the "Snakes & Arrows Live" album that came out in April. The two releases were separated, Lee says, because Rush wanted to have something out for its 2008 North American tour and also because "we needed more time to spend on the DVD to make it more special."
Besides the 24-song concert, the "Snakes & Arrows Live" DVD also includes four "authorized bootleg" songs from Atlanta in 2008, alternate versions of the songs "Far Cry" and "The Way the Wind Blows," a performance of "Red Sector A" from the 2004 R30 Tour and the "What's That Smell?" filmed comedic skit that opened the second half of the Snakes & Arrows Tour shows.
Mostly, though, Lee says the DVD confirms to him that "we were playing really well and that everything in the show kind of revolves around that and there was great energy coming from us. That's what I was seeing on the screen."
Lee says "Snakes & Arrows Live" will have to hold Rush fans over for a while. The trio is currently "on a break" and "a little burnt out right now," though he has every confidence there will be another Rush album in the future.
"I think we're gonna stay quiet for awhile and then start writing -- when we're going to start writing I can't say just yet," Lee notes. "It may be in the fall, maybe the spring, maybe the following spring. But eventually we'll start writing some songs and recording them, and hopefully that will be followed up by another tour down the road a couple years from now."
Bruce Springsteen's "Working on a Dream" Set for January 27 Release on Columbia Records
Bruce Springsteen's new album "Working on a Dream" has been set for a January 27 release on Columbia Records. "Working on a Dream" was recorded with the E Street Band and features twelve new Springsteen compositions plus two bonus tracks. It is the fourth collaboration between Springsteen and Brendan O'Brien, who produced and mixed the album.
"Working on a Dream" Song Titles:
1. Outlaw Pete
2. My Lucky Day
3. Working on a Dream
4. Queen of the Supermarket
5. What Love Can Do
6. This Life
7. Good Eye
8. Tomorrow Never Knows
9. Life Itself
10. Kingdom of Days
11. Surprise, Surprise
12. The Last Carnival
Bonus tracks:
The Wrestler
A Night with the Jersey Devil
Bruce Springsteen said, "Towards the end of recording 'Magic,' excited by the return to pop production sounds, I continued writing. When my friend producer Brendan O'Brien heard the new songs, he said, 'Let's keep going.' Over the course of the next year, that's just what we did, recording with the E Street Band during the breaks on last year's tour. I hope 'Working on a Dream' has caught the energy of the band fresh off the road from some of the most exciting shows we've ever done. All the songs were written quickly, we usually used one of our first few takes, and we all had a blast making this one from beginning to end."
"Working on a Dream" is Bruce Springsteen's twenty-fourth album and was recorded and mixed at Southern Tracks in Atlanta, GA with additional recording in New York City, Los Angeles, and New Jersey.