Despite a track record that generated more than nine times the impact with each dollar it invested, the Saskatchewan Communications Network is being shut down.
Based on plans and budget information contained in the 2010 provincial budget, broadcast activities at SCN Corporation are expected to cease at the end of May.
In the 2007-08 budget, statistics were cited to show that SCN's $11.0 million investment into regional programming for that year had leveraged over $107.5 million in jobs and other economic activities in the province.
Nearly 40 employees will be impacted by closing the station down, a move the government says will save as much as $5 million annually. Other reported cutbacks in the budget will see arts and cultural organizations' financial support reduced an estimated $4.5 million to less than $2.5 million.
In 2006, SCN opened its new digital broadcast facility, intended to solidify its future in a rapidly changing digital media environment.
At the time, then Premier Lorne Calvert said, "Part of our plan for building a better future for Saskatchewan families is to ensure stories about where we have been and where we are going are told here and around the world through SCN."
The Saskatchewan Communications Network operates as a Treasury Board Crown agency of the Government of Saskatchewan in accordance with The Communications Network Corporation Act (1989).
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) licensed SCN as a non-commercial, English-language television network in 1991.
The mandate of SCN is to undertake responsibilities as the regional, public broadcaster that delivers cultural, informational and educational programming and enables the regional film and television industry.
For more information about this story, please see:
SCN Appoints New Executive Director of Content
http://www.mediacastermagazine.com/issues/story.aspx?aid=1000090590
BUG.tv has Broadcasters Buzzing Over Digital Workflows
http://www.mediacastermagazine.com/issues/story.aspx?aid=1000214798
SCN Opens Broadcast Facilities
http://www.mediacastermagazine.com/issues/story.aspx?aid=1000062251