Latest round of staff cuts to Shaw include VPs in programming, communications

By Ahmad Hathout

CALGARY – Rogers is preparing to make additional cuts to the Shaw team, which will include layoffs in the programming and communications departments, according to individuals with direct knowledge of the matter.

Vice president of programming Andrew Eddy and vice president of external affairs Chethan Lakshman are expected to depart the company this week, the individuals said.

It is unclear to Cartt how many more are expected to be let go as part of Rogers’s integration of the cable company officially gobbled up earlier this month. Rogers president and CEO Tony Staffieri has reiterated the company’s focus on the transition to the combined entity, which includes consolidating duplicate divisions of both companies.

As VP of programming and content for nine years, Eddy led Shaw’s negotiations of linear carriage agreements, content on new platforms, and monetizing pay-per-view and premium television. Previous to that, he was vice president of content and distribution for slightly more than three years where he oversaw the distribution of a portfolio of specialty television brands.

Eddy was with Corus Entertainment when it was still a subsidiary of Shaw and after the spinoff in 1999. He spent over 13 years in the Corus senior management team, where he was responsible for distribution for both linear and non-linear programming.

Lakshman has been with Shaw for more than 10 years, with all roles related to communications since he joined the company in 2012. He was previously senior director of corporate communications at RBC Bank for more than a decade and spent time as a journalist in his earlier years.

The latest round of cuts come after Rogers announced new appointments and departures to its own leadership team.

Announced last week, the appointments include former Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains as public policy head and Shaw’s Zoran Stakic as chief transformation officer. Ted Woodhead, who was previously with Telus and the CRTC, is departing as chief regulatory and government affairs officer.