OTTAWA, March 26 (UPI) -- Faced with budget shortfalls, the publicly funded Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is cutting 800 jobs and relying more on rerun programming, executives said.
Richard Stursberg, CBC vice president of English Services, said in Ottawa that more cuts may be made if too few workers accept voluntary incentive packages, Sun Media reported.
The English division is cutting 396 jobs while the French division will lose 336 and 70 corporate jobs are being phased out, the corporation said.
The broadcaster said production of television programming will be scaled back, although the mandate of airing 80 percent of Canadian programming would be upheld. However, the U.S. game shows "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" will remain part of the prime-time schedule, the report said.
In further cost-cutting measures, the CBC said it was selling $125 million in assets, reducing corporate salaries by 5 percent and senior executives' bonuses will be trimmed by 20 percent, the Toronto Star said.
