August 11, 2015
WINNIPEG — It’s hard to tell if anyone is left on Jack Blick Avenue these days as Corus Entertainment let another round of employees go on Tuesday.
The now shell of a building, which houses radio stations 680 CJOB, 99.1 Fresh Radio and 97.5 BIG FM, laid off at least three more staffers.
Sources say Jolene Dawn, one half of the BIG FM morning show, was let go along with drive-time host Adam K. An employee in the station’s promotions department was also let go. Veteran announcer Jay Richardson will assume other duties at the station.
Power 97 rebranded to BIG FM on January 30 to counter declining ratings, moving to a classic rock format in an effort to increase its share.
In late July, Corus also cut ties with staff at 680 CJOB, including popular sports host and producer Jim Toth. Talk host Charles Adler recently retired from the station and had his last show on August 7.
In January, the company terminated several of its on-air hosts from all three stations. Last August, another set of local cuts were made affecting multiple Corus brands.
A spokesperson for Corus didn’t return a request for comment on this latest round of staff cuts.
Jolene Dawn, who worked on the station’s morning show, was laid off Tuesday, and her co-host Jay Richardson will be shuffled off the show. Drive-time host Adam Kolisnyk, a.k.a. Adam K., was also laid off.
In an email, Corus spokesperson Magda Krpan wrote, “we do not comment on personnel matters but we can confirm that Jolene and Adam are no longer with the station. Jay will continue on with Corus Radio Winnipeg.”
It’s been a volatile year at local Corus stations.
Power 97 rebranded to BIG 97.5 Jan. 30, 2015 amid slumping ratings, and tweaked its format from rock to classic rock.
The format change came days after Corus let multiple staff members go, including morning guy T.J. Connors.
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I had a feeling this would happen, I listened to the station a few times and the music was good but the only person on the station that felt live and local was Robin LaRose and he was broadcasting from Vancouver. I wonder if corus is regretting not turning big into country
Anything is better than hearing the previous Morning DJ tj Connors ramble on.
nice local programming – Robin LaRose from Vancouver. I thought Corus was all about local local local as a first priority. Doug Murphy – new Corus CEO is hopelessly lost. He’s driving Corus into the ground – has anyone checked their share price lately? If he thinks he improving shareholder value – he’d better take another look. Hope John Cassiday sold his shares the day he left the building.
Ya know,…maybe if Big FM’s Brand Manager spent as much time promoting his stations on social media as he does promoting his new sneakers and various trips to other cities to see professional sports teams, just MAYBE BIG FM could succeed.
Being a Brand Director can’t be treated like “a side gig”. When you’re in charge of two stations, that are tanking, you can’t pack it in early every day. You need to have one of those stations on ALL THE TIME to try and figure out the weaknesses so you can report back to the out of town consultants who end up calling the shots. Especially when the stations are on auto for like, what, 20 hours a day?
If that sounds unreasonable…maybe CORUS should rehire one of the dozen or so people they fired in the past year….I bet one of them would be willing to do the job.
Lol too funny IN IT and sorta sad at the same time. I believe I have worked with said “Brand Manager”. BUT he’s a super nice guy 😉
Looks like CJOB Winnipeg finally cut ties with the conspiracy channel (aka Coast to Coast). Station really in the dumps with two spare mopes doing the morning show for Shadoe Davis, who apparently has suffered a stroke and is still recovering. Hal Anderson is very strong but most of his shows are starting to sound the same. Weekends and mornings are now especially bad at CJOB. Not much help on the way, apparently.