Rogers Ends Six News Radio Stations, 230 Jobs
Stations and livelihoods razed to raise profits a smidge higher
Earlier this week, Rogers Sports & Media announced six radio stations were to be closed immediately. 1130 NewsRadio and Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver, 660 NewsRadio and 960 AM in Calgary, NewsRadio 95.7 in Halifax and 570 NewsRadio in Kitchener.
Rogers employees were notified the morning these stations were set to be taken off air. According to Broadcast Dialogue, most of the layoffs will happen in "corporate and support roles across sales, marketing, and programming, in addition to primarily production and some on-air roles on the television side." That said, 80 employees connected to the radio stations have been laid off.
The impacts of these closures are significant, especially regarding the sports coverage and broadcasts. Sportsnet 650 was Vancouver's last sports station. Vancouver Canucks games will move to another station. Meanwhile, Calgary Flames broadcasts will not be done by Sportsnet anymore.
Even someone like me, who isn't into sports as a hobby, can recognize the severe loss in culture and journalism in the destruction of these stations. It's especially galling considering that just one day earlier Rogers announced it was now the sole owner of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, parent company of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Marlies, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC and Toronto Argonauts. The announcement came after they revealed they reached a deal to buy out the remaining shares of Kilmer Sports Inc. for $4.35 billion.
In the typical callous, amoral approach that large media corporations in Canada operate their layoffs, some employees learned about the closures outside of official notice. Speaking to CBC News, News 1130 traffic reporter Alexander Carrigan said he learned about the closure by listening to the station while driving to work.
Scott Martin
These moves are, unfortunately, routine in the industry. Radio, especially, is notorious for their regular layoffs. There is certainly reasons for this. The industry has not been the titan of the media landscape that it once was, for obvious reasons. However, the choice to shutter these stations and conduct mass layoffs is a choice Rogers is making to maximize profits for themselves. As a Canadian Press article in Global News reports, first quarter shareholder profits rose to $438 million in 2026, compared to $280 million in 2025. While Rogers stated advertising revenue was "lower for the quarter," how much lower was not clear. Meanwhile, their overall revenue increased $500 million in that time.
In covering the Canadian news media industry, moments like this become disturbingly routine. But it's important to remember that these impacts are choices made by the top brass of private corporations to increase profits. As noted, Rogers made more revenue and shareholders profits than this time last year. At the same time, they are now the sole owners of the most profitable sports teams in the country. Investments are for large, established and profitable enterprises. Investing in local news and communities? The returns are intangible. You can't add community satisfaction, information distributed to the populace and cultural benefits to the quarterly earnings reports.
Radio, especially, is going through difficult times. But it's not an inevitability. Campus and community radio stations are mainstays of towns and cities across the country. The ability to turn on a device and receive real-time, local information is still valuable. While podcasts and portable music have superceded radio in many ways, these stations are able to do that and much more. But that's not what corporations are interested in. They want higher profits per quarter... and the workers that make that happen are the first on the chopping block.
