TORONTO and CALGARY – An internal memo circulated to staff at Shaw Media this week told employees exactly what was to be cut and altered as its portion of the corporate restructuring announced late Monday.
The majority of cuts at the station level involve three areas: the consolidation of graphics production at Global Toronto, which will “eliminate overlap and duplication,” reads the memo. The company is creating a single centre for both broadcast and online graphics in Toronto which will have the capacity to produce more graphics than its current production centres allow, and regularly “create new 3-D and virtual storytelling environments with cutting-edge technology.”
The memo also said there would be a new model deployed with Global Lethbridge. “We are committed to creating a new, more sustainable model for small-market television,” says the memo. “Changes at Global Lethbridge will allow us to produce full newscasts in the edit suite and publish them directly to our on-air servers and websites.” It did not elaborate on what that will mean.
As well, the company noted there will be an opportunity for a select number of long-serving employees to accept voluntary early retirement packages.
“It’s important to note that today’s moves will also result in significant new hiring to support our presentation and frontline newsgathering,” added the memo from Paul Robertson, EVP and president of Shaw Media. “We are committed to news and community service. In a rapidly changing media landscape, our innovation will continue to position us for future success.”
Here are the changes to the company’s executive team in the wake of the restructuring, as taken from the memo.
Greg Treffry has assumed the role of VP, content distribution and business development. In addition to his business development portfolio, he will now be responsible for managing carriage and content distribution across Shaw's portfolio and will join the Media executive team.
Additionally, Andrew Eddy has departed the Media team to take the new role of VP, content and programming under Jay Mehr, EVP and COO of Shaw Communications. Eddy will continue to be based in Toronto.
Carol Darling, vice-president of operations will retire. “We are pleased that she has agreed to stay on for the next four months to help with the transition and development of our technology roadmap as the team moves under the technology & network operations group led by Zoran Stakic,” says the memo. Shawn Kelly, sr. director, media technical operations and Glen Altwasser, sr. director, media technology and technical services will report directly into Zoran, who will sit on the Shaw Media Executive team.
Paul Burns will join the corporate marketing team as VP, digital media, reporting to Shaw Communications CMO Jim Little, where he will be focused on driving Shaw’s self-serve, e-commerce and social media activities. The Shaw Media digital team will now be integrated across content, sales and marketing.
Troy Reeb, SVP, news & station operations will continue to be accountable for Global’s news collection, production and broadcasting operations across Canada.
Barbara Williams, SVP, content, continues to be responsible for the production and acquisition of original and purchased content across Shaw's network and specialty channels. In addition, she will now oversee the digital content team under Sean Fernie.
Errol Da-Re, SVP, sales, will continue to lead the media sales organization, with responsibility over the monetization of content through advertising, cross-platform revenue opportunities and strategic insight.
Michael French, VP, finance, will continue to lead the media finance organization
Amanda Ploughman, VP, marketing, is responsible for leading the marketing activities of Shaw Media.
Dervla Kelly, head of corporate communications and network publicity, continues to manage internal and external communications for Shaw Media.
Dan Markou, VP, HR leads the teams partnering with the consumer, business, media and corporate divisions for all aspects of human resources.
Michael Ferras, VP, regulatory affairs, leads the Shaw Media regulatory efforts.
“In addition to the moves at the executive level, there have been a number of other changes throughout the organization,” reads the Robertson memo. “This type of organizational restructuring is never easy, but we are confident that the new structure will better position us for the future.”
The company will be holding an all-staff town hall meeting on April 30th where the key strategic priorities for Shaw Media will be discussed.
