Bell Canada signage is pictured in Ottawa on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)
WINNIPEG — The laugh track has come to an end at Funny 1290.
The Bell Media-owned radio station is among six the company has shuttered as of Wednesday.
The cuts come as parent company BCE Inc. has eliminated 1,300 positions, or three percent of its workforce, in a move to trim its operations and consolidate newsgathering.
Among the other radio station closures are Calgary’s Funny 1060, Edmonton’s TSN 1260 Radio, Vancouver’s BNN Bloomberg Radio 1410 and Funny 1040, along with London’s NewsTalk 1290. Bell Media is also selling Hamilton’s AM Radio 1150 and AM 820, as well as Windsor’s AM 580, to an undisclosed third party, subject to CRTC approval.
Funny 1290 launched in February 2021 to underwhelming ratings and was somewhat of a placeholder for the 1290 AM frequency. Prior to broadcasting a comedy format, the station had been home to TSN 1290. Listeners were still able to get their sports fix, albeit in pieces, as the station was the broadcast partner of the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice. During Ice broadcasts, the station branded itself as CFRW 1290 (its call letters) and featured play-by-play and colour commentary by Brian Munz and Kevin Olszewski, respectively, both of whom were previously employed by TSN 1290.
— With files from The Canadian Press
