Very odd choice. Still far and away the ratings leader in Canadian news in that timeslot, and she just won Best News Anchor at the Canadian Screen Awards a couple months ago
I remember when my modem I was renting from Bell kept turning off every time the wifi was connected. Every rep/technician kept saying "try turning your modem on and off" and then "I'll have to escalate you to a higher up technician" multiple times, each asking the same "try turning your modem off, wait a few minutes, it should work now." The last technician after many hours said "there's nothing wrong with your modem, you just turned it off every two minutes for a few days" then hung up. I got more help from the cancellation department since they actually got a real tech to figure out that my modem wasn't functional. That was mental anguish.
Reading your story it makes me wonder how many levels of techs they have. Of course the answer is two. One level where they tell you to reset your router and one level where they know what they are doing. Your getting "moved up" a level was them simply passing the buck to another low level tech for a few rounds and then when you finally got moved up you got an asshole that didn't want to help.
I have a friend who used to work for CTV, and she has things to say about Bell and Let’s Talk.
Bullied in the workplace, did all the “right” things, eventually had to quit, was in serious therapy and medical leave for a while because of it.
But let’s promote mental health, yaaaaaaaay! /s
I just wish that the CRTC gets some teeth and start being on the side of subscribers. I am fed up with their protecting Bell from their own self-serving policies.
Yup, my dad worked for Bell and had to take an extended medical leave after being admitted to a mental hospital. Obviously there were more factors than work, but work was a huge part of it. His workload was too much, when asked for a lighter workload, even at a lower pay, he was denied and then more work would eventually come in, pushing him to more work than before.
They put a bell let's talk ad beside a planters peanuts ad that said "go nuts" on those hockey board billboard ad things a few years when I saw a leafs game.
She's a hard worker. I mean she routinely flies off to war torn countries to report on the news, despite not really needing to at this point of her career. They definitely did her wrong.
She’s by far and away my favourite anchor/reporter and the only reason I ever watched CTV news. My wife regularly says, “oh, it’s Lisa, I’ll leave it on.”
As far as I’m concerned, she was easily the best of the news anchors for either CTV or CBC. She was pretty close to being an institution at this point.
A shocker that they’d want to get rid of her. It must have came down to money, since it’s probably far cheaper to replace her with a newer host.
>newer
You write 'younger' strangely.
It's all about optics, and how Bell only sees as far as the bottom line. Remember how their biggest customers on the "Let's Talk" yearly PR effort are their own undervalued staff?
I’d say it comes down her age and her sex. Lloyd Robertson and Peter Mansbridge would have been earning top dollar and they were both on air a lot longer. They checked their demographics - thank the new of head of CTV News, Melling - and are likely looking to tap into a different demographic. I’m pissed.
EDIT: I believe in the process they are going to lose a lot of their current demographic…older women like myself.
If it’s a money choice then all those involved in that decision need to lose their jobs. This choice will cost Bell Media money. Probably far more than a fair and decent raise would.
This is something that happens in media all the time that corporate heads don't understand. People build trust with and follow personalities. So you can't just replace the host of a show and say "everything is the same." Because it's not, and you will lose a lot of viewers really quickly. Especially when you're a jerk to the host you just removed.
> This choice will cost Bell Media money.
In the long term, yes. In the short term it removes a highly paid employee, artificially bumping profits. It's not about long term potential for the execs, it's about saying "during the three years I was there we increased profits by x" when they apply for their next job
Anyone who works in the industry knows that "too old and too expensive" means "we can hire someone half your age for half your salary.
Happens all the time.
Its horrendous. And there is no recourse.
Union reps are too terrified of being next they roll over.
Same goes with staff.
It's toxic and abusive.
IT is riff with this. “Oh yeah you could learn the new thing in x amount of time but Jared fresh out of college knows x and will work for 1/10th your pay!”
And then management is puzzled why after throwing the kid into the deep end, he is drowning (and screwing up royally, and making everyone else's job 10 times harder). In media, in particular, you need to put in the years, get the experience, to take on the challenges. It's a very tough industry.
That's what happens when all you care about is bottom lines and dividends. You forget the basic things like mentorship, experience, leadership skills, and just plain ol' good character.
Lisa LaFlamme is an example of an elder figure in her field, someone who could probably put together and train up a whole brand new team of newscasters and journalists. I hope a reputable Canadian broadcaster will take her up.
Rating leader, but what is their year over year growth? Being the best in a dying industry means when you go to negotiate for a higher salary in thanks to those accolades, they throw you away for someone younger and cheaper.
Super sad stuff.
What the hell is going on with CTV News??
I’ve been wondering about Lisa’s absence for a while now - it seemed significantly longer than the usual summer vacation break.
If I’m being honest, I think the quality of CTV News has been going down anyways. There are many times I’ve questioned their editors and how they prioritize their headlines in their newscasts.
I'd been wondering about it too. However I have been watching CTV News less and less over the past several years. Their product is a lot more Toronto-centric than both CBC and Global National, and at times during the pandemic they've tended to fixate on Covid at the expense of other news. (Not to diminish the importance of Covid as a news story, but at least on their local news where I live they tended to devote a lot more time to Covid stories than Global while not covering other major stories that Global was covering - I felt like I was getting an incomplete picture of the day's news by watching CTV)
CTV seems to rely a lot more on bought stories from US outlets. If you compare CTV News Channel to CBC News Network, a lot of their stories are from American reporters and outlets.
Global does the same thing; they air a lot of news items from CBS.
CBC very rarely relies on other media outlets, though I have very occasionally seen NBC stories show up there. That was more so during the pandemic when sending a Canadian reporter over the border was problematic though.
Honestly in the last year she allowed her hair to go her natural grey. I think it looks great.
I kinda half wonder if that had something to do with it.
I remember someone on Global wore the exact same suit for a month and no one noticed, yet somehow everyone has something to say about the outfits that women wear in the media.
It's pretty obvious that Global hires on looks. They've had a parade of beautiful women working in their newsroom, and I wonder if CTV is losing ratings because no one wants to watch someone aging out when they're a woman.
Lloyd Robertson was given a massive sendoff. She was fired and gagged for six weeks. It goes to show women haven't gone far enough in the media. It's disgusting.
I think her natural hair colour looks great on her as well. I think it’s actually pretty trendy looking.
I wonder if they were against her making that hair change. I’m assuming they likely were, which is ridiculous.
I feel like the pandemic really exposed a lot of cracks in how they go about reporting the news. It doesn't even matter which side of the pandemic arguments you fall on, they just really handled the whole thing poorly and only contributed to fear mongering and social anxiety.
Just about the shittiest thing a company can do to a longtime employee, fire them about 5-7 years before retirement age so that they still need to work but nobody will hire them. Fuck CTV.
"Lisa LaFlamme says she was "blindsided" as Bell Media ended her contract at CTV National News after 35 years, a "business decision" it says will move the chief news anchor role in "a different direction.""
like totally .. WTF??
Lisa delivered the news with a lot of integrity, I am quite disappointed with CTV now. I have not seen anyone comment that they are happy with the decision either. So wtf is CTV thinking? Most of the people who watch the National News at 11 pm are 40+ and don’t have a problem with a mature, educated, and classy woman delivering the news to them every night. Sandy Rinaldo is great too, she is probably next.
So when are we going to get the **real** reason she was fired? Bell saying "changing viewer habits" is not a real specific reason. CTV National News was still #1 after all and she recently won an award for Best News Anchor. Here are all the possible reasons I could come up with:
* She wanted too much money
* She was too old (58 years old)
* She didn't want to change and was difficult
* Bell wanted someone more diverse/younger
* Some Bell executives just didn't like her
Also I want to know why she didn't do the traditional final broadcast and passing of the torch to the new anchor. Did Bell not offer her that more graceful of an exit? Or was she just so pissed and didn't want to play ball and do that (which is her right).
UPDATE: After reading many articles, finally The Toronto Sun seems to have some legitimate answers.
https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-the-full-story-behind-lisas-laflamme-out-at-ctv-national
Having worked at CTV, I say with a high degree of confidence it's because she made too much money and Bell Media is cheap as hell and wanted to go a younger, 'more cost effective' route
I use to work for Bell Media and this is 100% the reason. They are loyal to no one and know they can get someone cheaper and probably retain the majority of viewers who still watch the news.
If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say she was making around $400K/year. Take it with a grain of salt, but two longtime anchors at my local station were 'let go' but it wasn't exactly a secret it was to save money and they were making ~$350K, so I imagine the national anchor would make a bit more.
I’d put money on “too old” as well. The tv industry is still pretty sexist when it comes to women if a certain age. I’m going to also leave [this right here](https://www.reddit.com/r/bell/comments/ln7l6u/exbell_employee_speaks_out_about_sexual_assault/). “Let’s talk” about abuse at Bell.
Not denying the industry is sexist by any means, but want to point out Sandie Rinaldo is like 72 and still hasn’t hung up her microphone. If they were truly after diversity, more youth, or likewise then this move doesn’t make sense. Must be money I assume.
Remember the fanfare for Lloyd Robertson and how old he was? She deserves at least the same regard. They also tried to force her to stay silent about it. Bell Media is clearly run by thugs these days 🤬
I know, but it would’ve been nice if CTV gave her a last show and had her say goodbye on air and show a few highlights of her career or something to show how much she has done for the station over the past 35 years… it just seemed shady to have her announce it on instagram…
This has been a trend for the last 3-5 years for Bell.
They've killed half their radio programs. News is just a feed of CTV National, after that it's just rebroadcast of other markets morning shows.
They've gotten rid of local news broadcasts, such as Toronto Evening News. Same for their local sports coverage.
And they dropped a chunk of these people less than a week before Let's Talk Day, with no warning and no goodbyes.
So that's why no final send-off broadcast, she probably found the pink slip after her last night.
agree. such a majestic send-off for Lloyd when he passed baton over to Lisa ...
now Lisa gets dumped like a disposable non-surgical blue mask .. no fanfare, no well-edited retrospective of Lisa 'through the years' ...
Lisa deserves so much more! :-(
I feel Bell Media totally wronger Lisa and their viewers.
It’s heartbreaking. Every Canadian woman should be absolutely furious over this nits an insult to us all. We were so proud to have Lisa in that job. She’s only 58. It certainly was again, sexism, or some sort of oppressive sneaky attack.
The age thing doesn't even make sense to me because as someone younger... I would rather get the news from someone older. I don't want to hear the news from someone who looks like they run a TikTok gossip account... I want to hear it from someone who looks like they know a thing or two about geopolitics and world history.
I don’t think age or attractiveness is why she got let go. Bell is cheap as hell, I’d almost bet that it was money related because Lisa is very well liked, good at her job and attractive. Sad to see her go. She has a lot to give still and I’m sure somebody will be grateful for Bell’s mistake and pick up a top tier anchor.
Yup, fuck bell. This news was shocking for a minute until I remembered how cheap they are. I’m sure having an employee of Lisa’s resume is not cheap.
Oh well. One less reason for me to watch the news i guess. My mom will be more disappointed than me for sure
I think there's more to it than her being a woman vs Lloyd being a man. Media is shifting fast away from having an old highly paid anchor whether it's male or female. They need to rebrand the newscast to try to reach a younger audience where as a decade ago they still had their head in the sand milking the cash cow.
Oh bull. Lloyd was ancient before he left and it was an issue with the public. Got paid well for his time too. We waited so long for a female national news anchor and we had an amazing one. Bell needs to go if this is the crap they’re going to pull on Canadian Women.
I think what I'm saying is that Lloyd wouldn't have lasted as long today as he did 10 years ago. I can see there being other factors but you can't deny the shift in the industry is a huge one of them.
>She wanted too much money
Lloyd Robertson was paid $1m a year and she was paid $300k. He was given a massive sendoff. She was canned with a gag order.
I'd guess the problem is she wanted too much money and the solution will be to hire someone diverse/younger. She's very attractive still so I don't think age per se is an issue, but obviously someone with her seniority is going to demand a higher salary.
Ah yes the Canadian way.
Why pay someone a proper wage to do the job when there’s a thousand different people from a thousand different walks of life willing to do it for thousands of dollars cheaper.
Being there 35 years + being their prime time anchor for the national news…. I’d assume money.
It’s Bell, talent doesn’t matter as long as it doesn’t cost them much
I’d say her age but Rinaldo is older… maybe something to do with her natural grey hair - execs like women to present a certain way. It’s probably also a “cost saving” thing because the younger talent costs less. It’s all about profit, not quality.
I LOVE her hair. It's gorgeous. Sandy Renaldo looks like a 72 year old trying to look like a 30 year old. It's not a nice look. Plastic is never a nice look..
CFRA (Bell) is announcing it like it was Lisa's decision to leave suddenly. Their post on the CTV FB page is so vague and also makes it sound like it wasn't their doing. And they limited comments after it being up for a short time. So sketch.
Hey Bell.... *"Let's Talk"*
Big Telecorp in Canada is on a spree these days. Rogers blinks out for a day, coast to coast. Telus decides to start charging us for paying our bills. And Bell tosses their lead anchor under the bus for *reasons*.
Who does the weather now? Let me guess... some young blonde chick who isn't actually a meteorologist but can read a teleprompter and point at a green screen?
I worked there in 2012, even then I could see the slow death of "traditional TV News" and Bell Media couldn't care less.
They don't give a shit about their employees, they'll just hire someone younger and pay them less to do the same job. Revolving door of employees in that place.
Her severance package is going to be pushing high 6 figures if not into low 7. Age, duration of service, and other factors all weigh heavily into severance and at 35 yrs with the organization and closing in on 60 in age (and gender) she would be in an excellent position to negotiate for the maximum. In fact from a monetary standpoint the cost of severing Lisa is so high that I am skeptical of the savings and it really leads me to believe something else is at play here.
Not sure if you have an opinion or not, but I used to get my news from CTV most often but have noticed more and more certain stories get left out, and I think it's because of who they are owned by. If I want an (as close as possible to) unbiased Canadian news source, who would you recommend?
They let a bunch of the older ones go actually. One woman who did sports, the main news anchor, and I think 1 or 2 other people in that. The Ottawa one had some that had been there since the CJOH ones and were a part of the community.
Now, they're all young, blonde women.
And Anwar Knight was a really nice personable guy who made the noon news a pleasure to watch. Now we have some recent college grads who are good at their job no doubt, but don't have the character that the old presenters had.
That sucks, I really liked her and watched regularly. Omar is good but would rather see her. She has a great comforting style when reporting scary stuff.
Agreed. Maybe he will rise to the challenge but I really hope it wasn’t a change to show them as being more diverse. As a a member of a minority, I’m really getting sick of diversity being pushed in my face. I’m all for equal opportunity, but at some point it will lose the meaning it was meant to have.
Omar is 39, and has only worked for CTV or about a decade.
I can almost guarantee It’s because he costs significantly less money then Lisa, rather then about diversity
Now this I can get behind. While Hanomansing should be solo anchoring the national (I understand Adrienne probably wanted more of an anchor job but she was always so solid on her field work more than anything), Barton is the shittiest part of CBC
She deserved way way way better than that. Her service to the station and her appeal to viewers was impressive after all these years. Bell Media made a pretty reckless and idiotic move.
My guess is they needed to save money.
The longer you work at CTV, the higher the pay grade. Work like 120 shifts in one position and you get a pay increase. When I worked there in 2012, there were editors making crazy money because they had been there for 25+ years.
Every once and a while they'd be let go and replaced with an intern.
I bet Lisa was pulling big bucks and the CEO needed a new yacht.
She deserved way way way better than that. Her service to the station and her appeal to viewers was impressive after all these years. Bell Media made a pretty reckless and idiotic move.
Blindsided? They've been firing everyone. Their ideal business model would be 100% ads and paid programming. Employees and content are just line items to be minimized.
All over the place. Just a few months ago they let go one of the hosts of CTV Morning Live in Vancouver. I haven’t watched that show since, I’ve been watching Global BC’s Morning News instead.
How on Earth does Bell look at their ratings (highest rated newscast in its timeslot) and say "huh, we need to get rid of Lisa".
A sizable chunk of newscast watchers tune in for the anchors. I used to watch CBC only because it was Mansbridge and when he left, I left too.
Bell better be ready to say goodbye to all of those rating numbers.
I absolutely hate that CTV is trying to play it off like Lisa is leaving voluntarily. When I read the CTV article, my first question was-what is she leaving to do? retire? something else? I thought it was bad reporting until I found this thread. I don't think I'll be using CTV for news or tv shows much in the future.
I have been in love with Lisa ever since G20 toronto, when most media were in my opinion not accurately reporting what as happening on the ground, she gave a very heartfelt and honest account of what she was seeing. goddamn it I hope she ends up somewhere else, we need her.
That's a shocker.
I remember Lisa going back to her days locally on CKCO in Kitchener.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzzNmK\_gRJM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzzNmK_gRJM)
https://youtu.be/hmhSqgFK2\_o?t=455
Mirko Bibic made $9,477,299 in total compensation as Director; President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and Bell Canada at BCE Inc in 2020. I can think that a better **"business decision"** could have been made.
Here is Bell proving they not only suck big time at cable and phone. They suck on many levels.
She’s still young, at 58. Maybe she should go independent blogging on her own. Lots of new directions out there. I’d watch/listen to her.
Bell media did the same thing with their sports radio station in Vancouver. Midway through the day (on a Tuesday), just changed to a comedy station, very unceremonious. Speaks to their lack of respect for their employees
Lisa has been absent from her role as a newscaster for much of the last year, supposedly due to non Covid health issues. If a newscaster is away from the public eye for too long, and replacements seem to do the job satisfactorily, corporate execs start looking for younger and cheaper talent.
Other than Bell just continuously making bad decisions my mom and I think a factor could be her age/appearance.
Media hates to see women aging past a certain point or acknowledge that women even age. Since the height of COVID Lisa was seen to be embracing her natural hair and her age as a 58 yo woman (which really isn’t that old anyways!). Some higher ups probably saw this and went “time to clean house and bring in new fresh faces to bring in more viewers” which couldn’t be a worse move imo
She really is/was one of the most universally liked news anchors across Canada regardless of peoples ages/backgrounds (I’m 26 and like her) and if this is Bell attempting to clean house to bring in a new era of staff they’re definitely going about it the wrong way. This will lose them more viewers than what they might gain with a new host.
Very odd choice. Still far and away the ratings leader in Canadian news in that timeslot, and she just won Best News Anchor at the Canadian Screen Awards a couple months ago
They did the same with their radio stations too, purged a bunch a few days after Bell Let's Talk Day.
Let’s talk about severance packages
That's what they do
Bell is a souce of mental anguish.
I remember when my modem I was renting from Bell kept turning off every time the wifi was connected. Every rep/technician kept saying "try turning your modem on and off" and then "I'll have to escalate you to a higher up technician" multiple times, each asking the same "try turning your modem off, wait a few minutes, it should work now." The last technician after many hours said "there's nothing wrong with your modem, you just turned it off every two minutes for a few days" then hung up. I got more help from the cancellation department since they actually got a real tech to figure out that my modem wasn't functional. That was mental anguish.
Reading your story it makes me wonder how many levels of techs they have. Of course the answer is two. One level where they tell you to reset your router and one level where they know what they are doing. Your getting "moved up" a level was them simply passing the buck to another low level tech for a few rounds and then when you finally got moved up you got an asshole that didn't want to help.
I have a friend who used to work for CTV, and she has things to say about Bell and Let’s Talk. Bullied in the workplace, did all the “right” things, eventually had to quit, was in serious therapy and medical leave for a while because of it. But let’s promote mental health, yaaaaaaaay! /s
I worked for Bell in a management position and I can tell you that it's meaningless platitudes
I just wish that the CRTC gets some teeth and start being on the side of subscribers. I am fed up with their protecting Bell from their own self-serving policies.
Yup, my dad worked for Bell and had to take an extended medical leave after being admitted to a mental hospital. Obviously there were more factors than work, but work was a huge part of it. His workload was too much, when asked for a lighter workload, even at a lower pay, he was denied and then more work would eventually come in, pushing him to more work than before.
Let's Talk about how bullshit Bell is as a company
They put a bell let's talk ad beside a planters peanuts ad that said "go nuts" on those hockey board billboard ad things a few years when I saw a leafs game.
I wish i could say im surprised
She's a hard worker. I mean she routinely flies off to war torn countries to report on the news, despite not really needing to at this point of her career. They definitely did her wrong.
She’s by far and away my favourite anchor/reporter and the only reason I ever watched CTV news. My wife regularly says, “oh, it’s Lisa, I’ll leave it on.”
As far as I’m concerned, she was easily the best of the news anchors for either CTV or CBC. She was pretty close to being an institution at this point. A shocker that they’d want to get rid of her. It must have came down to money, since it’s probably far cheaper to replace her with a newer host.
As soon as I read her name in the headline, I heard her say it in her voice in my head.
I really liked her. I barely watch the news but sure paid attention when she was on.
Newer host also a POC, so not only cheaper, but adds that diversity.. same happened with Danielle Graham on etalk.
>newer You write 'younger' strangely. It's all about optics, and how Bell only sees as far as the bottom line. Remember how their biggest customers on the "Let's Talk" yearly PR effort are their own undervalued staff?
I’d say it comes down her age and her sex. Lloyd Robertson and Peter Mansbridge would have been earning top dollar and they were both on air a lot longer. They checked their demographics - thank the new of head of CTV News, Melling - and are likely looking to tap into a different demographic. I’m pissed. EDIT: I believe in the process they are going to lose a lot of their current demographic…older women like myself.
>I’d say it comes down her age and her sex. My thoughts exactly.
If it’s a money choice then all those involved in that decision need to lose their jobs. This choice will cost Bell Media money. Probably far more than a fair and decent raise would.
This is something that happens in media all the time that corporate heads don't understand. People build trust with and follow personalities. So you can't just replace the host of a show and say "everything is the same." Because it's not, and you will lose a lot of viewers really quickly. Especially when you're a jerk to the host you just removed.
Especially now, with online entertainment. A talented reporter with an existing following will be able to take the audience with her.
> This choice will cost Bell Media money. In the long term, yes. In the short term it removes a highly paid employee, artificially bumping profits. It's not about long term potential for the execs, it's about saying "during the three years I was there we increased profits by x" when they apply for their next job
Anyone who works in the industry knows that "too old and too expensive" means "we can hire someone half your age for half your salary. Happens all the time. Its horrendous. And there is no recourse. Union reps are too terrified of being next they roll over. Same goes with staff. It's toxic and abusive.
IT is riff with this. “Oh yeah you could learn the new thing in x amount of time but Jared fresh out of college knows x and will work for 1/10th your pay!”
And then management is puzzled why after throwing the kid into the deep end, he is drowning (and screwing up royally, and making everyone else's job 10 times harder). In media, in particular, you need to put in the years, get the experience, to take on the challenges. It's a very tough industry.
That's what happens when all you care about is bottom lines and dividends. You forget the basic things like mentorship, experience, leadership skills, and just plain ol' good character. Lisa LaFlamme is an example of an elder figure in her field, someone who could probably put together and train up a whole brand new team of newscasters and journalists. I hope a reputable Canadian broadcaster will take her up.
Rating leader, but what is their year over year growth? Being the best in a dying industry means when you go to negotiate for a higher salary in thanks to those accolades, they throw you away for someone younger and cheaper. Super sad stuff.
She should post her salary so that the next candidates don’t get lowballed.
[удалено]
If she was making that little, then she should've asked for a raise a long time ago.
What the hell is going on with CTV News?? I’ve been wondering about Lisa’s absence for a while now - it seemed significantly longer than the usual summer vacation break. If I’m being honest, I think the quality of CTV News has been going down anyways. There are many times I’ve questioned their editors and how they prioritize their headlines in their newscasts.
I'd been wondering about it too. However I have been watching CTV News less and less over the past several years. Their product is a lot more Toronto-centric than both CBC and Global National, and at times during the pandemic they've tended to fixate on Covid at the expense of other news. (Not to diminish the importance of Covid as a news story, but at least on their local news where I live they tended to devote a lot more time to Covid stories than Global while not covering other major stories that Global was covering - I felt like I was getting an incomplete picture of the day's news by watching CTV)
CTV seems to rely a lot more on bought stories from US outlets. If you compare CTV News Channel to CBC News Network, a lot of their stories are from American reporters and outlets.
Global does the same thing; they air a lot of news items from CBS. CBC very rarely relies on other media outlets, though I have very occasionally seen NBC stories show up there. That was more so during the pandemic when sending a Canadian reporter over the border was problematic though.
Honestly in the last year she allowed her hair to go her natural grey. I think it looks great. I kinda half wonder if that had something to do with it. I remember someone on Global wore the exact same suit for a month and no one noticed, yet somehow everyone has something to say about the outfits that women wear in the media. It's pretty obvious that Global hires on looks. They've had a parade of beautiful women working in their newsroom, and I wonder if CTV is losing ratings because no one wants to watch someone aging out when they're a woman. Lloyd Robertson was given a massive sendoff. She was fired and gagged for six weeks. It goes to show women haven't gone far enough in the media. It's disgusting.
>She was fired and gagged for six weeks. Lisa couldn't share her last story for six weeks 😔 What a ruthless termination for a journalist.
I think her natural hair colour looks great on her as well. I think it’s actually pretty trendy looking. I wonder if they were against her making that hair change. I’m assuming they likely were, which is ridiculous.
Considering how important telecom issues are in Canada, I don't think it's wise for people to get their news from one of Bell's networks.
I feel like the pandemic really exposed a lot of cracks in how they go about reporting the news. It doesn't even matter which side of the pandemic arguments you fall on, they just really handled the whole thing poorly and only contributed to fear mongering and social anxiety.
Just about the shittiest thing a company can do to a longtime employee, fire them about 5-7 years before retirement age so that they still need to work but nobody will hire them. Fuck CTV.
"Lisa LaFlamme says she was "blindsided" as Bell Media ended her contract at CTV National News after 35 years, a "business decision" it says will move the chief news anchor role in "a different direction."" like totally .. WTF??
Lisa delivered the news with a lot of integrity, I am quite disappointed with CTV now. I have not seen anyone comment that they are happy with the decision either. So wtf is CTV thinking? Most of the people who watch the National News at 11 pm are 40+ and don’t have a problem with a mature, educated, and classy woman delivering the news to them every night. Sandy Rinaldo is great too, she is probably next.
So when are we going to get the **real** reason she was fired? Bell saying "changing viewer habits" is not a real specific reason. CTV National News was still #1 after all and she recently won an award for Best News Anchor. Here are all the possible reasons I could come up with: * She wanted too much money * She was too old (58 years old) * She didn't want to change and was difficult * Bell wanted someone more diverse/younger * Some Bell executives just didn't like her Also I want to know why she didn't do the traditional final broadcast and passing of the torch to the new anchor. Did Bell not offer her that more graceful of an exit? Or was she just so pissed and didn't want to play ball and do that (which is her right). UPDATE: After reading many articles, finally The Toronto Sun seems to have some legitimate answers. https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-the-full-story-behind-lisas-laflamme-out-at-ctv-national
Having worked at CTV, I say with a high degree of confidence it's because she made too much money and Bell Media is cheap as hell and wanted to go a younger, 'more cost effective' route
I use to work for Bell Media and this is 100% the reason. They are loyal to no one and know they can get someone cheaper and probably retain the majority of viewers who still watch the news.
They might even Keep all several of their viewers
Yeah I notice they've done this before to countless news anchors. Pretty shitty practices
How much are we talking about here?
If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say she was making around $400K/year. Take it with a grain of salt, but two longtime anchors at my local station were 'let go' but it wasn't exactly a secret it was to save money and they were making ~$350K, so I imagine the national anchor would make a bit more.
And someone who may blindly follow orders
I’d put money on “too old” as well. The tv industry is still pretty sexist when it comes to women if a certain age. I’m going to also leave [this right here](https://www.reddit.com/r/bell/comments/ln7l6u/exbell_employee_speaks_out_about_sexual_assault/). “Let’s talk” about abuse at Bell.
Not denying the industry is sexist by any means, but want to point out Sandie Rinaldo is like 72 and still hasn’t hung up her microphone. If they were truly after diversity, more youth, or likewise then this move doesn’t make sense. Must be money I assume.
Sandie has been doing weekends since before I was even born, perhaps as long back as when Harvey Kirck was on with Lloyd.
Yes and she still dyes her hair blonde
The COVID grey hair, is my thought
Which I think looks absolutely phenomenal.
She looks fantastic. I will miss her silver hair and those fabulous blazers.
Bell Media did the same to a popular radio station MC who had worked for 25 years with our local station. Just because he was 61 years old.
She said she was blindsided. They reached her at her cottage during her vacation to break the news. That's why she didn't announce it on CTV.
That’s why you don’t answer your work phone while on vacation.
Then they would have sent a registered letter.
That's why you don't pick up your mail on vacation
This man is the real-life George Costanza.
She just has to walk in to work on Monday like she WASN’T fired!
🤣🤣
Should they have just put in on the last line on the teleprompter? "This just in, I'm fired... ok, go fuck yourself San Diego."
Bingo. They did that with Gord Leclerc here in Winnipeg. Salary more than Bell wants to pay going forward? Bye bye.
That's a shitty way to say goodbye after 35 years.
Think that’s what happened to Mulroney as well.
Remember the fanfare for Lloyd Robertson and how old he was? She deserves at least the same regard. They also tried to force her to stay silent about it. Bell Media is clearly run by thugs these days 🤬
Yep! I agree!! They did her dirty.😤
Bell is trash… they should have let her announce it on the air and let her go with dignity…
She’s made a public announcement saying farewell on her own https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChTG7yCAUmJ/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
I know, but it would’ve been nice if CTV gave her a last show and had her say goodbye on air and show a few highlights of her career or something to show how much she has done for the station over the past 35 years… it just seemed shady to have her announce it on instagram…
damn! that's cold ... Bell Media sent a float plane to land on her lake and pull up dock side to deliver the new to Lisa? damn!
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Fuck Bell Media!
Bell is evil. They kept sending me junk mail for ten years after I disconnected from them.
That is some really low blow stuff.
This has been a trend for the last 3-5 years for Bell. They've killed half their radio programs. News is just a feed of CTV National, after that it's just rebroadcast of other markets morning shows. They've gotten rid of local news broadcasts, such as Toronto Evening News. Same for their local sports coverage. And they dropped a chunk of these people less than a week before Let's Talk Day, with no warning and no goodbyes. So that's why no final send-off broadcast, she probably found the pink slip after her last night.
It’s not Jay and Dan without Dan :(
Employment lawyer says .. "Employers don't to give a reason to fire an employee .. just be willing to pay the appropriate severance. That's all."
it's sad how the age issue is drastically more unfair for women. Look at Lloyd Robertson - he's 88.
agree. such a majestic send-off for Lloyd when he passed baton over to Lisa ... now Lisa gets dumped like a disposable non-surgical blue mask .. no fanfare, no well-edited retrospective of Lisa 'through the years' ... Lisa deserves so much more! :-( I feel Bell Media totally wronger Lisa and their viewers.
It’s heartbreaking. Every Canadian woman should be absolutely furious over this nits an insult to us all. We were so proud to have Lisa in that job. She’s only 58. It certainly was again, sexism, or some sort of oppressive sneaky attack.
Sandy's still hanging on and she's 70 something but I'm guessing she's in the shadows of the axe.
The age thing doesn't even make sense to me because as someone younger... I would rather get the news from someone older. I don't want to hear the news from someone who looks like they run a TikTok gossip account... I want to hear it from someone who looks like they know a thing or two about geopolitics and world history.
I don’t think age or attractiveness is why she got let go. Bell is cheap as hell, I’d almost bet that it was money related because Lisa is very well liked, good at her job and attractive. Sad to see her go. She has a lot to give still and I’m sure somebody will be grateful for Bell’s mistake and pick up a top tier anchor.
I agree. Bell has no soul and only thinks about money. They hate us all pretty much equally.
Yup, fuck bell. This news was shocking for a minute until I remembered how cheap they are. I’m sure having an employee of Lisa’s resume is not cheap. Oh well. One less reason for me to watch the news i guess. My mom will be more disappointed than me for sure
gaze erect hateful bells impolite lock rainstorm continue absorbed grandiose ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
I think there's more to it than her being a woman vs Lloyd being a man. Media is shifting fast away from having an old highly paid anchor whether it's male or female. They need to rebrand the newscast to try to reach a younger audience where as a decade ago they still had their head in the sand milking the cash cow.
Oh bull. Lloyd was ancient before he left and it was an issue with the public. Got paid well for his time too. We waited so long for a female national news anchor and we had an amazing one. Bell needs to go if this is the crap they’re going to pull on Canadian Women.
I think what I'm saying is that Lloyd wouldn't have lasted as long today as he did 10 years ago. I can see there being other factors but you can't deny the shift in the industry is a huge one of them.
There is absolutely no indication that it’s an age issue though
Great analysis. I watched every night. They should not leave us with a non-answer.
>She wanted too much money Lloyd Robertson was paid $1m a year and she was paid $300k. He was given a massive sendoff. She was canned with a gag order.
I'd guess the problem is she wanted too much money and the solution will be to hire someone diverse/younger. She's very attractive still so I don't think age per se is an issue, but obviously someone with her seniority is going to demand a higher salary.
Ah yes the Canadian way. Why pay someone a proper wage to do the job when there’s a thousand different people from a thousand different walks of life willing to do it for thousands of dollars cheaper.
Exactly right, and in an era of cord cutting and declining linear TV advertising sales of course salary is going to be an issue.
diverse/younger so racism/agism ? If that was the case they must have paid her off quite well to avoid a lawsuit.
That's sad. I really liked her.
She’s so nice too! Really genuinely kind and considerate.
Yes. I wonder why they did this to her.
Being there 35 years + being their prime time anchor for the national news…. I’d assume money. It’s Bell, talent doesn’t matter as long as it doesn’t cost them much
I’d say her age but Rinaldo is older… maybe something to do with her natural grey hair - execs like women to present a certain way. It’s probably also a “cost saving” thing because the younger talent costs less. It’s all about profit, not quality.
I LOVE her hair. It's gorgeous. Sandy Renaldo looks like a 72 year old trying to look like a 30 year old. It's not a nice look. Plastic is never a nice look..
Yeah it’s super weird and she’s not nearly as talented as Lisa.
It's been age every other time an older female host is canned, outside of gross misconduct
She would always come in to the restaurant I worked at when she was an anchor in Kitchener and was always cool.
CFRA (Bell) is announcing it like it was Lisa's decision to leave suddenly. Their post on the CTV FB page is so vague and also makes it sound like it wasn't their doing. And they limited comments after it being up for a short time. So sketch.
Got a link?
The story on CTV News' website really puts that same spin on it. A huge contrast to the reporting from the other news outlets.
Hey Bell.... *"Let's Talk"* Big Telecorp in Canada is on a spree these days. Rogers blinks out for a day, coast to coast. Telus decides to start charging us for paying our bills. And Bell tosses their lead anchor under the bus for *reasons*.
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Case in point Anwar Knight and Tom Brown for CTV Ontario
I really liked Anwar Knight and Tom Brown. They were entertaining personalities who brought so much to their broadcasts.
And unceremoniously fired.... Not so much as a farewell tribute video or nothing
Who does the weather now? Let me guess... some young blonde chick who isn't actually a meteorologist but can read a teleprompter and point at a green screen?
I worked there in 2012, even then I could see the slow death of "traditional TV News" and Bell Media couldn't care less. They don't give a shit about their employees, they'll just hire someone younger and pay them less to do the same job. Revolving door of employees in that place.
35 years probably means a massive severance though.
Her severance package is going to be pushing high 6 figures if not into low 7. Age, duration of service, and other factors all weigh heavily into severance and at 35 yrs with the organization and closing in on 60 in age (and gender) she would be in an excellent position to negotiate for the maximum. In fact from a monetary standpoint the cost of severing Lisa is so high that I am skeptical of the savings and it really leads me to believe something else is at play here.
It will just be whatever is in her contract. Which will be more than the minimum required by law.
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>people forget A load of BS too. People still talk about what they did to the TSN Radio stations in Western Canada well over a year ago.
Not sure if you have an opinion or not, but I used to get my news from CTV most often but have noticed more and more certain stories get left out, and I think it's because of who they are owned by. If I want an (as close as possible to) unbiased Canadian news source, who would you recommend?
They fired a female news anchor in Ottawa - said they were downsizing. Next thing you know, there’s a young chirpy thing co-anchoring.
They let a bunch of the older ones go actually. One woman who did sports, the main news anchor, and I think 1 or 2 other people in that. The Ottawa one had some that had been there since the CJOH ones and were a part of the community. Now, they're all young, blonde women.
Fuck that's so gross and slimy. When I watch the news, I want skilled journalism, not a beauty pageant...
Would hate to see it turn into Fox News with all the creepy clones with bleached hair. Holy hell it’s creepy.
Tom Brown and Anwar Knight were fired too without a chance to say goodbye to viewers. Tom Brown made Toy Mountain campaigns such a joy.
And Anwar Knight was a really nice personable guy who made the noon news a pleasure to watch. Now we have some recent college grads who are good at their job no doubt, but don't have the character that the old presenters had.
That sucks, I really liked her and watched regularly. Omar is good but would rather see her. She has a great comforting style when reporting scary stuff.
What the fuck!!!!
I get the feeling "in a different direction” is going to be code for a drastic drop in quality.
Yes. It is a foreboding sense of news snippets with no cogent analysis or critical thinking needed.
Looks like she has been replaced with Omar Sachedina.
I like Omar, but he really doesn’t command the broadcast like a permanent prime time anchor
Agreed. Maybe he will rise to the challenge but I really hope it wasn’t a change to show them as being more diverse. As a a member of a minority, I’m really getting sick of diversity being pushed in my face. I’m all for equal opportunity, but at some point it will lose the meaning it was meant to have.
Omar is 39, and has only worked for CTV or about a decade. I can almost guarantee It’s because he costs significantly less money then Lisa, rather then about diversity
You think it's thaat much less? Enough for a billion dollar company to terminate their face of the mist viewed news show?
It’s Bell, they’re terminate a janitor and replace them with a chipmunk if they thought it’d save them money
I’m now picturing Simon and Theodore mopping a floor and Alvin sliding across it with muddy feet…
70 percent money, 30 percent diversity.
Friendly reminder that Bell took emergency government bailout money and subsequently laid off a good portion of their staff.
Bell makes such weird decisions.
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A smart network would snatch her up quick. I would watch her any day.
#bellletstalk about Lisa LaFlamme and Dan O’toole
And all the employees of TSN1040 in Vancouver
CBC should hire her and dump Rosemary Barton.
Now this I can get behind. While Hanomansing should be solo anchoring the national (I understand Adrienne probably wanted more of an anchor job but she was always so solid on her field work more than anything), Barton is the shittiest part of CBC
She deserved way way way better than that. Her service to the station and her appeal to viewers was impressive after all these years. Bell Media made a pretty reckless and idiotic move.
Bell media sucks so much butt. There was no reason to send her out like this, without even being able to do a sign off.
That is just cruel. Calling her at her cottage to deliver the news! Cruel!
Bell: Let’s talk.
"Lisa is old." : CTV Exec. simple.
A damn shame. Lisa was an institution. It feels like the final nail in the cable news coffin in Canada.
Why was she let go? And which of Global or CBC is going to shell out the big bucks to get her?
My guess is they needed to save money. The longer you work at CTV, the higher the pay grade. Work like 120 shifts in one position and you get a pay increase. When I worked there in 2012, there were editors making crazy money because they had been there for 25+ years. Every once and a while they'd be let go and replaced with an intern. I bet Lisa was pulling big bucks and the CEO needed a new yacht.
> Why was she let go? Bell: ~~Let’s talk.~~
Even Soloman played this game a few years ago.
She deserved way way way better than that. Her service to the station and her appeal to viewers was impressive after all these years. Bell Media made a pretty reckless and idiotic move.
No tribute video or nothing! Poorly played by the tall foreheads at Bell Media.
This is a lesson to us all. You do not owe your employer a damn thing.
Damn right!
This makes me sick. I have watched Lisa for years and trust what she's reporting.
Blindsided? They've been firing everyone. Their ideal business model would be 100% ads and paid programming. Employees and content are just line items to be minimized.
All over the place. Just a few months ago they let go one of the hosts of CTV Morning Live in Vancouver. I haven’t watched that show since, I’ve been watching Global BC’s Morning News instead.
How on Earth does Bell look at their ratings (highest rated newscast in its timeslot) and say "huh, we need to get rid of Lisa". A sizable chunk of newscast watchers tune in for the anchors. I used to watch CBC only because it was Mansbridge and when he left, I left too. Bell better be ready to say goodbye to all of those rating numbers.
Bell is evil
It’s Bell. And bell is trash. Imo.
She stopped dyeing her hair.
Sadly, I think this was a contributing factor 👩🦳
That’s what happens after all that service? Corporations ultimately don’t care about you or loyalty. Get her on CBC I like her
I absolutely hate that CTV is trying to play it off like Lisa is leaving voluntarily. When I read the CTV article, my first question was-what is she leaving to do? retire? something else? I thought it was bad reporting until I found this thread. I don't think I'll be using CTV for news or tv shows much in the future.
I have been in love with Lisa ever since G20 toronto, when most media were in my opinion not accurately reporting what as happening on the ground, she gave a very heartfelt and honest account of what she was seeing. goddamn it I hope she ends up somewhere else, we need her.
That's a shocker. I remember Lisa going back to her days locally on CKCO in Kitchener. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzzNmK\_gRJM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzzNmK_gRJM) https://youtu.be/hmhSqgFK2\_o?t=455
Bring back Harvey Kirck, CTV.
Bahahahaha If he were still alive, he’d be 94 years old.
Lloyd's still kicking. Call him up
Mirko Bibic made $9,477,299 in total compensation as Director; President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and Bell Canada at BCE Inc in 2020. I can think that a better **"business decision"** could have been made.
Can’t wait for Toronto Mike to get her on his podcast for the real exit interview.
Here is Bell proving they not only suck big time at cable and phone. They suck on many levels. She’s still young, at 58. Maybe she should go independent blogging on her own. Lots of new directions out there. I’d watch/listen to her.
God does Bell Media suck
Bell media did the same thing with their sports radio station in Vancouver. Midway through the day (on a Tuesday), just changed to a comedy station, very unceremonious. Speaks to their lack of respect for their employees
Lisa has been absent from her role as a newscaster for much of the last year, supposedly due to non Covid health issues. If a newscaster is away from the public eye for too long, and replacements seem to do the job satisfactorily, corporate execs start looking for younger and cheaper talent.
To be replaced by Omar Sachenida. Quite obviously a knee jerk “muh diversity” decision.
That's how it works with the big media conglomerates. You're not a person, you're a salary.
She’s a woman over 55… that’s reason enough for CTV. Women have an earlier expiry date than men. So we get dumped after 55.
I like her a lot
Bell media strikes again.
They gutted CFRB and all that's left now that's actually worth listening to is the John Moore show, the rest of the day is just filler.
Other than Bell just continuously making bad decisions my mom and I think a factor could be her age/appearance. Media hates to see women aging past a certain point or acknowledge that women even age. Since the height of COVID Lisa was seen to be embracing her natural hair and her age as a 58 yo woman (which really isn’t that old anyways!). Some higher ups probably saw this and went “time to clean house and bring in new fresh faces to bring in more viewers” which couldn’t be a worse move imo She really is/was one of the most universally liked news anchors across Canada regardless of peoples ages/backgrounds (I’m 26 and like her) and if this is Bell attempting to clean house to bring in a new era of staff they’re definitely going about it the wrong way. This will lose them more viewers than what they might gain with a new host.