Corus Entertainment chief revenue officer Greg McLelland latest to exit company
Troubled Canadian broadcast group Corus Entertainment has eliminated its dual exec VP and chief revenue officer role, leading to the departure of long-serving executive Greg McLelland.
Greg McLelland
The Toronto-headquartered company said on Tuesday that it was cutting the role as part of ongoing measures to “right-size its business for sustainability.”
With McLelland’s departure, Corus senior VP of advertising revenue Barb McKergow will assume the expanded role of senior VP of advertising. She will join Corus’s senior leadership team and report to co-CEO Troy Reeb.
Corus has been in aggressive cost-cutting mode for the past 18 months as the combination of falling advertising revenue, continued cord-cutting and the impact of the US strikes have hobbled its ability to repay its debt, which currently stands at C$1.06bn (US$771m).
Its financial woes have intensified over the past two months following the news that it is set to lose the trademark and licensing agreements to several Warner Bros Discovery-owned brands in Canada, including HGTV, Food Network and Cooking Channel, as well as the licensing rights to Bravo shows. Rogers Sports & Media is set to pick up those rights, starting at the turn of the year.
Corus’s cable TV business is built around those brands, and losing them will result in a potentially catastrophic hit to its revenue. Corus has vowed to rebrand its lifestyle-focused cable channels and continue commissioning Canadian originals for them.
The company’s share price, which had already trickled down to around 50 Canadian cents per share by the start of June, has plunged to just 10 Canadian cents per share since it was revealed that it would lose those output agreements with WBD and NBCUniversal.
In the aftermath, CEO Doug Murphy exited the company seven weeks ago, replaced by new co-CEOs Reeb and John Gossling, Big Brother Canada was cancelled after 12 seasons, the development team at Corus-owned children’s studio Nelvana was axed, and Corus sold its majority stake in production company Aircraft Pictures back to the founders of the company.
On its third-quarter earnings call last month, the co-CEOs revealed plans to cut a further 300 roles before the end of August and hinted that it may seek creditor protection if it is not able to secure relief on certain debt obligations. As it stands, the debt covenant for its main credit facility is due to expire at the end of August.
“Under Greg’s leadership, Corus has built industry-leading advertising solutions and developed an incredible unique selling proposition that drives results for clients,” said Reeb. “On industry boards, Greg has helped drive evolution in the way our industry measures and uses data. I want to thank Greg for his indelible contributions to Corus, championing our industry-leading brands and people.”
He added: “Succession planning is an integral part of our strategy and Barb is a longstanding and well-known leader who brings a wealth of experience and a passion for our products and our clients. This leadership change represents Corus’s commitment to investing in operations and areas that help our partners grow their business through our premium content and engaged audiences.”
