Toronto: Canada’s public broadcaster will no longer bid for professional sporting rights and will slash more than 650 jobs in the next two years as it tightens its belt following a slump in ad sales and previous cuts to its funding from the federal government. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said Thursday it would cut C$130 million ($119 million) from its budget immediately and halt planned regional expansion, but still look for ways to cover events of national importance such as the Olympics, to which it remains committed.
“As the media landscape changes, CBC/Radio-Canada will also need to re-imagine itself,” the broadcaster’s chief executive, Hubert Lacroix, said in a statement.