TORONTO – The National Congress of Italian Canadians says it wants the CRTC to hold a public hearing about the cuts made by Rogers to its OMNI Television's programming.
“We intervened in this process because the program changes announced by Rogers for its OMNI stations affect the 1.4 million Italian Canadians across Canada,” said Michael Tibollo, president of the Congress, said in a release. On May 30, Rogers Media announced the closure of its 18-month old all-Toronto news station CityNews Channel, as well as some news programming cancellations at OMNI, resulting in the loss of 62 jobs.
At the time, Rogers said OMNI Television's English-language South Asian newscast was cancelled, and production operations in Alberta were shut down.
“Rogers’ OMNI TV stations are the only free, over-the-air TV stations operating in Canada,” Tibollo said, adding that the Congress had supported Rogers when it applied for the OMNI broadcasting licenses, as did other multicultural organizations.
“We supported Rogers because it promised to deliver high-quality, original programming from, about and for our communities,” said Tibollo. “What’s happened to those promises?”
Rogers has not yet responded to the release, which was sent out late Wednesday.
