.
by Glenn Taylor
Northern News Services
INUVIK (OCT 10/96) - The depth of cuts to Inuvik's CBC Western Arctic will be known next month, when CBC North management meets to tackle the deepest round of cuts it has ever faced.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation announced last month it must cut $414 million from its budget by April of 1998 to meet federal funding reductions.
This represents a 28 per cent cut from 1994-95 funding levels.
CBC North has already cut 10 per cent from its budget since 1994-95, but it still has 18 per cent more to go by 1998.
"The cuts are huge, there's no getting away from that," said Craig Yeo, CBC North communications manager. Inuvik will undoubtedly have to bear some of that burden.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary on the air last year, CBC Western Arctic has weathered considerable cuts. Four positions have been cut from Inuvik since 1994, including an area manager, an operations manager and two transmitter technicians.
More cuts came this February when Inuvik's morning show was axed to make way for a Western NWT-wide morning show from Yellowknife.
A reporter's position vacated this summer has also not been filled, while management determines where the cuts should land.
Inuvik's cuts won't be known until next month's meeting. But a national press release offers some insight into where the cuts could come.
"The top programming priorities are to maintain morning shows in all locations, to integrate local news and information throughout the schedules and to maintain regional reflection on the national network," the release states.
Conspicuously absent from the list is any mention of afternoon or aboriginal programming. Yeo said CBC may be favoring replacing regional afternoon programming with a single national feed.
Yeo said CBC North has had some success protecting its budget in the past by arguing the North needs a strong CBC.
That argument may no longer carry as much weight with headquarters, however, said Yeo. A new directive states audience size will play a larger factor in determining where the money is spent, said Yeo.
Yeo refused to reveal CBC Western Arctic's annual budget: "We don't want competitors to know what we spend in those markets," he said.
The Inuvik operation currently employs 12 full-time and four part-time positions. Full-time jobs include a news editor, a morning contributor, two afternoon show positions -- producer and host, one noon show host, Gwich'in and Inuvialuktun language hosts, a technician-announcer, a studio technician, a receptionist, a program support clerk and an announcer-operator.
Yeo said employees will know in December which positions and programs will be cut, following the meeting. Decisions have to be made quickly, to have the cuts in place in time for the April budget. Employees are entitled to three months termination notice under union laws.