[SteelTown]

CH stars might be next to go
Longtime news anchors Smith and McLean in negotiations

November 14, 2008
Daniel Nolan
The Hamilton Spectator

More changes may be coming to CHCH News with the potential loss of two of their longest serving and most recognizable on-air personalities.

The station has made proposals to Dan McLean and Connie Smith, who co-host the station's noon news, that could lead the pair to leave the station they both have called home since the 1970s.

The actions follow job cuts and program cancellations on Wednesday to help parent company Canwest Global Communications deal with cost pressures. Canwest announced it will chop 560 jobs to save $61 million. It lost $21.5 million in the first nine months of its business year on $2.4 billion revenue.

The company said 210 jobs will be cut through restructuring of news operations at its E! stations, which includes Hamilton. The station will chop 14 jobs, cancel four TV programs, reduce its noon news to 30 minutes and close its Halton news bureau.

McLean, 61, has been at the station since 1971 and hosted two talk shows before becoming a news anchor in 1980. Asked if the station had offered him a buyout package, the Welland native said yesterday. "I'm not at liberty to say anything. Does that tell you anything? I'm not at liberty to be able to respond to that. I would think in two weeks we will know something. ... I'm in negotiations and I'm not in a position to talk about it yet."

Asked if the negotiations don't go well, it could lead to him leaving the station, he replied, "It might."

Smith, 54, has been at the station since 1976. Her station bio says she was the first woman weather person at CHCH and was the first woman anchor of the weekday news. She launched the first noon news show in 1988 with the late Tom Cherington.

Smith said she was told after Wednesday's show her anchor duties would end Nov. 28 and her show CH Straight Talk was being cancelled.

The Ancaster resident has been told she can return to reporting, but is mulling over her future. She is talking to a financial adviser, family, friends and a lawyer. While she may decide to stay with the station, she said, "There's a lot of other stuff I haven't done yet, so maybe this is a good time to do some things that I've always wanted to do."

Both McLean and Smith stressed they are in pain over the layoff of their colleagues. "I just feel badly it comes to this because I feel sorry for the people that are going," said McLean. "I wish they weren't."