Hamilton is currently in a state of upheaval -- Mohawk College, McMaster Children's Hospital, Joseph Brant Hospital and the City of Hamilton are all searching for candidates to fill top positions -- and recent changes to CHCH contribute to my feeling the city is losing it's identity.The station on November 14th 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 two days earlier 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. 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.
Veteran anchor Connie Smith signed off for the last time Friday. The popular co-anchor, 54, delivered a from-the-heart goodbye to colleagues and viewers. Smith even made a surprise appearance on the viewing couch in the film review segment with Alex Reynolds.
In her farewell, Smith thanked CHCH for “taking a chance” putting a woman behind the weekday news desk. Then, she spoke directly to viewers: “I am so indebted to you, for the way you have followed my career ... literally watching me grow up on this television station, your unwavering support over the years. Thank you for allowing me into your hearts, into your homes, for sharing your stories.”
Dan McLean can't comment about his future at the station. For Hamiltonian's this turn of events leaves the same choking in the throat and sick feeling in the gut as those who had when Gretzky left Edmonton. Dan and Connie where our daily slice of piece of mind even when they had bad news to tell us. Everything will be all right once again, but it will take along time for someone to fill the big shoes of these two living legends.
Good luck, love ya.
Kendall
