Rogers shutters six radio stations, 80 jobs cut

Rogers Sports and Media is shutting down six radio stations across Canada, a move that will result in the loss of 80 jobs. The affected stations include Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver and Sportsnet 960 in Calgary, along with news radio stations in Vancouver, Halifax, and Kitchener, and another station in Calgary. The company attributes the decision to the ongoing challenges in the media industry, specifically declining advertising revenue and shifting audience habits.

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The media business continues to face headwinds driven by declining advertising revenue and changing audience habits. These changes are part of our plan to focus our investment in areas that will drive growth long-term.

"The media business continues to face headwinds driven by declining advertising revenue and changing audience habits," said Rogers spokesperson Zac Carreiro in a statement. "These changes are part of our plan to focus our investment in areas that will drive growth long-term." Carreiro emphasized that the decision to close the six stations was "difficult but necessary" after a thorough review.

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After a thorough review of our radio stations, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to close six radio stations in four markets due to declining audience and revenue trends.

Despite these closures, Rogers stated it will continue to operate 44 radio stations in nearly 30 communities and plans to "invest in local news in the impacted markets." While the Vancouver Canucks broadcasts will continue on a Rogers radio property in the city, the company will no longer produce Calgary Flames broadcasts for radio. Audience figures for the affected sports radio stations were notably low, with Calgary's station averaging just 1,200 listeners and Vancouver's averaging 2,100 between October and May.

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For people who are interested in sports, almost everybody has an opinion about sports and many of them have podcasts now, too.

Christopher Waddell, former director of Carleton University’s School of Journalism and Communication, noted that the closures reflect a broader evolution in audio content consumption. He explained that many listeners, particularly sports fans, have migrated to podcasts, which offer a platform for widespread opinions and content. Furthermore, sports radio stations now face competition not only from new media but also from the sports leagues themselves, which increasingly produce their own content, including podcasts and online reporting. This shift has significantly impacted traditional sports radio's listenership and advertising revenue.

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The audience may be declining and when audiences decline it gets more difficult to get advertising, obviously.