TORONTO – The first casualties of CBC’s long-rumoured programming cutbacks have been identified.
The public broadcaster announced Tuesday that it will drop two of its daytime shows. Lifestyles program ‘Steven and Chris’ will go “on hiatus” until next season effective April 15, while ‘Fashion File’, which has run for 19 years, will wrap up production at the end of this month, and not return next season.
CBC’s executive director of network programming, Kirstine Layfield, said in the release that the decisions were made “as a result of our current financial situation”, and both shows will air in repeats as part of a revamped afternoon schedule.
"We remain committed to factual programming and building a strong afternoon schedule, but like every other media organization right now, we’re facing big challenges as a result of a significant drop in advertising revenues," Layfield said in the announcement. "We’re not able at present to make the kind of expenditures we ordinarily would. However, we will manage our way through this difficult period.”
