TORONTO – SUN TV’s daily entertainment news program, Inside Jam, has been cancelled.
The seven-month old half hour show, which was a very late entry into an enormous sea of such shows, will be turned into a once a week hour long program, to air on weekends. The station says a new daily program will be announced in May.
According to the Canadian Media Guild, which has organized the Quebecor Media owned station (which was formerly Toronto 1) and is currently negotiating the first collective agreement for the broadcaster, 13 people were let go last week.
The channel’s other daily show, sports chat fest The Grill Room, appears to be staying, despite the recent loss of host Jeremy John.
In a press release issued by the union entitled: "Toronto’s Sun TV adrift and sinking," the CMG added: "If (Quebecor Media) has a plan for breaking into the English-language TV market, no one seems to know what it is. The broadcaster has announced it will be introducing a new nightly show in May. Canoe Live will run content from Quebecor’s other media properties, the Toronto Sun, 24 Hours, and canoe.ca," says the release.
"The broadcast licence granted to the station by the CRTC calls for editorial independence between the Sun and Sun TV; it is not clear how that will be fulfilled if the station’s only current affairs show relies on the newspaper’s editorial employees."
The Grill Room, for example, relies heavily on those working in the Toronto Sun’s sports department.
The CMG also added it "is considering filing a complaint with the Canada Industrial Relations Board about the disgraceful treatment of employees," added the release.
