by Rob Gibson
August 18, 2024
Global News parent company Corus Entertainment’s ongoing changes to stave off bankruptcy have finally landed in the Okanagan.
CHBC Global Okanagan is also undergoing big changes after more than 65 years as a TV station based in Kelowna.
“It’s certainly a sad moment,” said former CHBC anchor Gord Vizzutti, who worked at the station from 1988 to 1996. “CHBC Global Okanagan was an institution here for so many years, to go from 100 employees to just a small news bureau is disappointing.”
Former broadcaster and now Kelowna city councillor Mohini Singh goes one step further.
Read More HERE
Perhaps Corus should consider shutting down their pay channels, instead of local radio & tv!
As a regular viewer of “Romper Room” from 1960-62 on CHBC, Miss Betty would “Freak Me out” with that Magic Mirror, I almost missed the Ruff & Ready cartoon. Therapy helps..
Are there any local viewers who can explain why the Global Okanagan newscast lost viewers and failed? It had an audience in Kelowna, Penticton, and Vernon, in addition to other communities, so there must be some explanation. There was no other local television competition for local news Was everyone watching the CBC news from Vancouver during the same time period as the Global Okanagan telecast?
How about the local newscasts in Terrace, Prince George, Dawson Creek, and Kamloops? Have they been losing viewers as well?
I can explain? Global Okanagan has been laying off their highest priced and mostly popular “star” personalities for years and not replacing them with bonafide and equally interesting replacements.
Rick Webber, Mike Roberts, Doris Jansen Bregolosse, and Pat Kennedy, once carried the bacon for Global Okanagan and its predecessor, CHBC News for many years and the audience stayed loyal, mostly because of those four?
When all four left the airwaves, and they have had no real Sports Director after Pat Kennedy, their newer replacements, while okay and “professional,” were also boring as sh*t. Viewers today want “interesting” personalities and presenters and not boring ?
You can thank the constant payroll cutbacks of Corus and its predecessor, the Shaw Family, for destroying this heritage, regional television station that we once called the Okanagan’s very own.
Here’s the thing: Corus isn’t losing money, at all, in its television division. The reason for the cutbacks is b/c they are effing buffoons who don’t know what they are doing. That’s nobodies fault except theirs !