– It GRUNES in the offices of TVA Nouvelles….
– Staff feel it’s TVA Sports’ fault if Quebecor fired members of their team.
– And above all, CUT YOUR MEANS to make GOOD news on TV.
– Some employees, upset that colleagues have been fired, believe TVA Sports’ problems are being blamed on their own problems.
– Since Pierre-Karl Péladeau parked the TVA helicopter in the garage, the channel’s ratings, like LCN’s, have fallen drastically.
“We stowed the helicopter to pay Jean-Charles Lajoie’s salary,” says one employee sarcastically.
We’re asking more and more questions internally. TVA Nouvelles has always been profitable, and we’re seeing Quebecor “eat up” the money to keep a station that’s lost hundreds of millions since it opened. It’s like we have to pay for their failure. That’s not “FAIR,” writes another employee.
– The TVA helicopter, which will be grounded after 18 years of service, is the last straw.
– The exclusive images captured live by the device were the hallmark of TVA Nouvelles.
– The daily newspaper “Le Soleil” tells the story of this helicopter, worthy of the major American news channels.
“In March 2005, TVA announced with great fanfare the purchase of its first-ever helicopter, a Robinson R-44 Newscopter, at a cost of $1,058,000, imitating the major American broadcasters.” TVA was proud of it at the time, Serge Fortin. Philippe Lapointe, then TVA’s senior vice president of programming, still thinks it’s a good investment.
“It was a big deal. Serge Fortin and I went to the local CBS station in Boston to see one and came back convinced we needed one. My bosses, Pierre Karl Péladeau and Raynald Brière, weren’t too difficult to convince,”
“Suddenly we could be there live anywhere. It eliminated the need for news cameramen listening to police radio frequencies before going to the crime scene.
– Every time we saw a helicopter in the sky, we wondered if it was TVA’s.
– It was an EXCEPTIONAL marketing tool to promote the brand.
– Unlike TVA Sports which is always LAST in NEWS and SCOOPS…
– TVA Nouvelles was always FIRST..
“The truth is that it was a really amazing tool. It wasn’t sensationalism. When there is news and something happens, you have to be there. Think Mégantic or the day care center in Laval. I’m very proud of the information we did back then at TVA.
– TVA Sports stirs up more and more trouble in the QUEBECOR EMPIRE.
– The weight of the red station is too heavy to bear on the company’s shoulders.
– So HEAVY… we’re nailing a helicopter to the ground that gave TVA its pedigree.
After that, there are questions to be asked about all the money Quebecor swallowed from TVA Sports. TVA Group shares are now worth five times less than when TVA Sports was founded. Okay, not everything can be attributed to the sports broadcaster’s losses. But when a specialty station loses 10, 20, 30, up to 39 million a year for a decade, the hole is deep. (Alexander Pratt, the press)
– A HOLE…which not only BURIED a helicopter…but also caused the loss of jobs for workers in a PROFITABLE area of TVA GROUP.
– FINANCIAL NONSENSE…
– A HUMAN NONSENSE….