CBC Ottawa affected by job cuts

CBC Ottawa will soon see some changes in both staffing and programming as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation announced cuts Thursday at its regional radio and television stations.

Programming changes mean that the Ottawa-based noon radio show Ontario Today will be reduced from two hours to one and that the television show Living in Ottawa has wrapped up its final season.

CBC president Hubert Lacroix said the cuts are being made in an effort to make up the public broadcaster's shortfall of $171 million.

Of the 800 job cuts that have been announced nationally, five radio positions will be eliminated in Ottawa and the five employees who worked on Living in Ottawa won't have their contracts renewed.

Living is a region-based show that has been cut across the country after a three-year run.

The new format for the noon to 1 p.m. version of Ontario Today, employees were told, will be crafted over the next four weeks.

They were also told that the Radio 2 live concert show, Canada Live, will now have the number of concerts it records and broadcasts cut in half.

Ottawa's regional shows, Ottawa Morning, All in a Day, In Town and Out, and CBC News: Ottawa at Six will remain unaffected, along with the local radio news broadcasts.

Five jobs have been marked for the chopping block in Ottawa, but managers told employees at CBC Ottawa Thursday that the number of jobs being axed could be reduced, depending on how many employees take advantage of retirement incentives.

CBC Ottawa will also see some positions eliminated at the network level, but those numbers have yet to be announced.