TV in Greater Victoria continues to evolve, with CHEK emerging triumphant
Employee-owned and -controlled, station has fourth-highest viewership in the province, behind only Vancouver stations CBC, Global BC and CTV Vancouver.
The TV landscape in Victoria has dramatically shifted in recent weeks, with changes to CHEK and CTV 2 coming at opposite ends of the spectrum.
Bell Media cut 1,300 positions nationwide in June, as it bowed to rising financial pressure. Those cuts resulted in termination letters to a reported 16 people at Bell-owned CTV 2 Vancouver Island, reducing the station’s staff to seven and on-screen footprint to a single 30-minute local newscast anchored at 4:30 p.m. from Vancouver.
Meanwhile, the employee-owned CHEK continued its surge in the market by hiring former Global BC anchor Paul Haysom for its 6 p.m. news broadcast. Haysom — who will anchor CHEK News at 6 for the first time Tuesday night — replaces former anchor Joe Perkins, who was hired away from CTV 2 in 2019 and has moved into a new role as CHEK’s news director.
CHEK also recently hired reporter/videographer Jordan Cunningham and digital editor Adam Chan, both of whom were among the layoffs at CTV 2. CHEK also promoted reporter April Lawrence to executive producer.
“There’s a ton of changes happening to the city right now, some good, some sad,” Perkins said. “As sad as it was for CTV 2 to make those cuts, it did open up a couple of opportunities for our shop.”
https://www.timescol...umphant-7230679
Stuart Adamson, the news director and manager of operations for CTV 2, was contacted via email but declined to comment for this story. But in a statement released when the cuts at CTV 2 were announced, he suggested Greater Victoria’s “workforce, demographics, viewing habits and varying industries” were well-suited to a 4:30 p.m. newscast.
Edited by Victoria Watcher, 04 July 2023 - 04:51 AM.