TVA Group announced the end of its local news broadcasts in Quebec City on weekends

TVA Group announced Thursday the end of local news broadcasts in Quebec on weekends.

The decision, which will take effect June 2, is tied to TVA's “unstable financial situation,” as well as approval by the CRTC, which agreed Monday to relax the broadcast license, the company said in a press release. Quebec station following a request made last year by Quebecor.

Journalists from the old capital are on duty every weekend to cover news in the region. Their reports will be included in the national TVA Novelles bulletin and broadcast on LCN and digital platforms.

However, the equivalent of two supernumerary positions will be eliminated, while nine positions have been added at Capital-National for the transmission of regional news bulletins, as part of TVA Group's reorganization plan for its communications sector. Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières.

Xavier Brassard-Bedard

Courtesy photo, VAT

“In a context where the media has to find solutions to the financial crisis that is constantly affecting them, we need to constantly reassess our operations to reduce our operating costs while maintaining quality coverage. TVA and LCN therefore chose to give voice to Capital-National's regional issues on a national channel. We have decided to focus our resources on the ground for the benefit of our teams of journalists who do the necessary work to gather stories that affect the population and cover local issues,” declared the Chamber's General Director and Editor-in-Chief. News from TVA, Xavier Brassard-Bédard.

TVA Group said that despite these changes, it “offers more hours of local programming than regulatory requirements and more than Radio-Canada and Nuvo offer, as the CRTC noted in its decision.”

The TVA Nouvelles weekend bulletin is launched by anchor Hadi Hassin at 6pm and 10pm. He also presents information on LCN at 8:30 p.m. During the week, the local TVA Nouvelles Québec bulletin, presented by anchor Julie Couture, is presented Monday through Friday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.