Surprising behind the scenes details of TSN's mass firings

Bell media and TSN have absolutely eviscerated their radio presence in much of Canada today by officially shutting down TSN 1040 Vancouver, TSN 1150 Hamilton and TSN 1290 Winnipeg.

It's the latest in a wave of corporate lay offs from Bell just weeks after their wildly successful #BellLetsTalkDay to raise awareness for mental health.

Time to pull the curtain back a bit here... while we have many writers and contributors here at Hockey Feed, I happen to be based in the Vancouver area. I've been listening to TSN 1040, called the TEAM 1040 initially, since its inception in 2000. The station has the second highest ratings for a sports station in Canada and it absolutely obliterates their local competition in Sportsnet 650 Vancouver.

TSN 1040 was Bell’s #2 sports radio station... make this make sense. pic.twitter.com/B0CGv2uSB5
— JC Abbott (@JC_AbbottCFL) February 9, 2021

While Bell and TSN are taking a lot of heat online today, let's not forget about the the talented men and women of TSN 1040, TSN 1150 AND TSN 1290 who have put in countless hours of work for our FREE entertainment. Personally, my interest in sports and specifically hockey was piqued by TSN 1040 talent like Don Taylor, John Shorthouse, Jason Botchford (RIP), Rick Ball, Jeff Paterson and many, many, many others. Today is an extremely somber day in the Vancouver sports market and I suspect it's the same for Winnipeg and Hamilton. What a waste.

The worst part is that staff in Vancouver were only given 30 minutes to to pack their stuff up and leave. According to longtime TSN 1040 contributor Paul Chapman, employees were blindsided by today's news:

Lol, staff were told there would be an 'exit message' going on air and were also told "corporate security would be implementing the shutdown process in the next 30 minutes' and so they if they had anything personal to retrieve they should do it 'as fast as possible'.
— Paul Chapman (@PaulChapman_) February 9, 2021

As you might expect, online reaction has not been kind to Bell and TSN.

Just check out some of these replies:

Bell Media received a federal wage subsidy for $122M. They cut wages, increased shareholder dividends and laid off countless employees during a pandemic.

I think this should mark the end of “Bell Let’s Talk” for good. They don’t care about mental health. They never did.
— Nick Robertson Appreciator (@junotheleafs) February 9, 2021

Bell Media on Jan. 28: "Mental health is important."

Bell Media on Feb. 9: "Let's shut down several of our radio stations and not tell our employees first."

What a joke.
— Scott Billeck (@ScottBilleck) February 9, 2021

I hope you all see what a load of shit hashtag Bell Let’s Talk is. They take millions in government subsidies ($122m from the Fed gov), do their BS PR stunt, then close down an entire radio station that was THRIVING, all during a pandemic. Terrible, just terrible.
— Grady Sas (@GradySas) February 9, 2021

"Bell Let's Talk: When it comes to mental health, now more than ever, every action counts." pic.twitter.com/Hv1ORnXe4Y
— Chris Walder (@WalderSports) February 9, 2021

What Bell Media is doing to radio stations across Canada is hideous. The greed of that company and killing jobs while shrouding themselves in helping mental health is abominable.

My thoughts are with friends and colleagues across Canada who have been screwed by these ghouls.
— Joe Yerdon (@JoeYerdon) February 9, 2021

Now I'm not going to come right out and tell you what to do with your money but... I would seriously think twice about things today if you have a Bell cell phone or television contract.

Surprising behind the scenes details of TSN's mass firings

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