Councillor Sam Merulla is calling on Canwest Global head Leonard Asper to come to city council at the start of the year to explain where he is taking CHCH News in the future.

The councillor is making this request in the wake of comments by Asper that his company cannot sustain the number of local hours it produces under its licence from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

Merulla said the future of Hamilton's only commercial TV station is the talk of the city and he said many residents are worried.

"It is a part of who we are," the Ward 4 councillor said yesterday. "It's part of our day-to-day life."

He said it is important to have Asper come and speak to council because "I believe that's where the decisions are being made. My understanding is that the decisions are being made outside the city and the province and we need to hear from the source of the decision making."

CHCH News is cutting 14 jobs, cancelling four programs and reducing its noon hour news program to 30 from 60 minutes as part of a cost-saving measure by Global that will see the loss of more than 500 jobs across the whole network.

The moves, which have lead to the departure of CHCH personality Connie Smith from the station after 32 years, take effect Monday. CHCH had produced over 40 hours of local programs, but it will be reduced to 37 hours. Its licence requires 36.5 hours.

CHCH News general manager Patrick O'Hara said management will decline Merulla's invitation as the station is federally regulated and its licence commitments are to the CRTC.

He said there is "no need for a local accounting" and calls program changes minor but necessary for the business.

O'Hara was invited to come to council last year, and also declined, to talk about changes to the station when it became part of Global's E! Everything Entertainment Network.

Merulla -- who will seek council support for his request at a Dec. 8 meeting -- was aware council had no official role in changes at the station, but believed the city had a role when it "hurts the culture of our city."

dnolan@thespec.com

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