Their faces may no longer be on your television sets, but some familiar former CHCH personalities are still entering your homes through the web.

A few ex-workers — including "Square Off" co-hosts Mark Hebscher and Liz West — decided they weren't ready to put an end to their show after a December bankruptcy announcement left them jobless, along with more than 125 full-time and almost 40 part-time staffers.

[A CHCH primer: Who, what, why]

Hebscher and West recently started podcasting after "Square Off" was taken off the air, along with other programs in a massive restructuring of local news at the station.

"It wasn't cancelled because people don't want to see that kind of show … or hear that kind of debate," West said. "That's why we didn't think twice about reinventing it (in a podcast)."

The goal is to have a new audio show available from Monday to Friday that people can listen to through links available on their Twitterfeeds and Facebook pages.

Hebscher and West come up with topics they want to discuss, feature guests and include listener response, as was the case on the television show.

The difference? The podcast is less structured because it's not constrained by commercial breaks, Hebscher said.

Recorded at a studio in Etobicoke with the help of an engineer, the shows have so far been around an hour in length and have touched on topics from both hosts' encounters with David Bowie to lottery winners.

"It's like you're sitting around having a coffee and you're just chewing the fat," he said.

As for what the future will bring, it will depend on finding a way to monetize the content.

[BERTON: The future of news]

It's the same dilemma faced by Steve Ruddick, a CHCH weatherperson, who has been hired back on an on-call basis by the new news service company providing content to the TV station. He was one of the 81 full- and part-time workers offered positions.

Since the end of December, he's been posting short video clips of himself delivering local weather forecasts on his Facebook page, Steve Ruddick's Weather & Traffic.

The videos are uploaded three to four times every day from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and filmed on an iPhone by Ruddick's wife, Kym, who was also terminated from Channel 11 LP when it announced it filed for bankruptcy.

"People started posting little notes on it, saying thanks for doing this, I'm glad I can watch the weather when I want to watch it," he said. "There's maybe something to this."

Like many, Ruddick said he got into the news business to make a difference, but he'll need to find a way to make his forecasting sustainable.

"You have to develop some kind of income," he said. "I don't know how that would happen, but the need is there."

[Channel Zero denies it wanted to get rid of CHCH union]

Channel Zero responds to union complaint about bankruptcy, workers By: Steve Buist

A subsidiary company of Channel Zero has filed its response with the Canada Industrial Relations Board to an application made by the union representing CHCH employees left high and dry by a bankruptcy filing in December.

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Friday was the deadline for Channel Zero to respond to Unifor's successor application filed with the board on Dec. 18.

Channel 11 LP, a subsidiary of Channel Zero Inc., provided the news content to CHCH TV for the parent company and employed the on-air news personalities, producers and camera operators, who were unionized members of Unifor.

Channel 11 LP went bankrupt Dec. 11, putting nearly 130 full-time and almost 40 part-time employees out of work.

Shortly after the bankruptcy announcement, a privately held numbered company offered 58 full-time jobs and 23 part-time jobs to some of the former CHCH news employees to provide what appear to be the same services as Channel 11 LP.

Unifor filed what's known as a successor application, seeking a ruling that the new numbered company is a successor to the bankrupt one and should be required to live up to the obligations that existed under the collective bargaining agreement with the union for such items as seniority rights, departure notices and severance payments.

A spokesperson for the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) could only say the company's response was filed, but couldn't provide details about the company's response.

A representative of Channel Zero did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

An industrial relations officer with the CIRB will now conduct an investigation and then submit a report to the board. The board can then decide to hold a hearing or make a ruling.

sbuist@thespec.com

905-526-3226

WHAT THEY'RE DOING NOW ELISE COPPS, FORMER HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE REPORTER: Freelance social media moderation manager for #Kiss2Cure — an awareness campaign launched by Prostate Cancer Canada and Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Looking for a permanent job, mainly in communications, marketing and social media management.

LAURAN SABOURIN, FORMER NIAGARA NEWS REPORTER: Looking to stay in broadcast news in Canada or across the border in the U.S. as she is a dual citizen.

JACLYN COLVILLE, FORMER HOST OF MORNING LIVE FIRST EDITION AND TINY TALENT TIME AND WEATHER AND TRAFFIC SPECIALIST: Enrolled in an interior design course. Audition scheduled to host for another station. Freelancing as an unpaid entertainment reporter for a Manitoba show.

DONNA SKELLY, FORMER REPORTER AND ANCHOR: Covering the Tim Bosma trial for CHML. May run in the Ward 7 byelection.