CBC will cut 24 positions in Atlantic Canada, the organization said Thursday.

Denise Wilson, the senior managing director for Atlantic Canada, said the cuts are part of the 2020 strategy announced in June.

"Since then we've announced and received the information that we have a $15 million cut across the regions, across the country," she said.

Atlantic Canada will lose 24 positions, accounting for eight to 10 per cent of the budget. That breaks down as:

11 positions in Nova Scotia (10 in Halifax and one in Sydney).

Seven positions in Newfoundland and Labrador (all in St. John's).

Four positions in New Brunswick (two in Fredericton, one in Moncton and one in Saint John).

Two positions in P.E.I.

Wilson said the cuts will come from all areas of the operation. Staff will receive redundancy notices within two to three weeks, she said.

Stephen Kimber, a professor of journalism at the University of King’s College, sits on the steering committee for the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.

"It’s just one more cut in a whole series of cuts. We’ve gone from trying to do more with less, to trying to maintain with less, to making less look like approximating more. You can only do that for so long, and the core of what the CBC is trying to do becomes so badly undermined that it can’t be recovered,” he said.

He said the CBC board should be speaking out, but "the president serves at the pleasure of the prime minister, rather than at the pleasure of the board."

"One of the things I see as an outsider that surprises, shocks and saddens me is that there’s nobody on the inside of the CBC, at the top ranks, speaking up for public broadcasting," Kimber said.

Kimber said the CBC is one of the most underfunded public broadcasters in the world. "Canadians value the CBC. This little-by-little cuts makes it harder for people to get on board and say this is wrong, we’ve got to stop it."

He said the newsroom does a great job. “Think what it could be if the CBC was funded properly,” he said.

Focus on digital

Wilson said some staff given redundancy notices will have "bumping rights," some will be reassigned, some may retire and some may come from unfilled vacancies. Some staff may switch to new digital positions, if they have the skills and qualifications, Wilson said.

"We will certainly look at any opportunity for reassignment of our staff into those jobs," she said.

But some people will just lose their jobs, she acknowledged.

Wilson said no further cuts are expected under the 2020 plan.

Asked what the CBC's audience would notice, she said most things would remain unchanged.

"They will hear the same radio programs, they will see the same supper hour newscast, they will see hourly updates on television," she said. "Everything remains; however, our focus and priority will now be on mobile first and digital."

She said the broadcaster remains committed to a "baseline of service" that includes no station closures, prioritizing online content, and not changing any of the regional radio programs. It also includes at least a 30-minute newscast in each province.

Each province currently has a 90-minute newscast, but New Brunswick will drop to a 30-minute supper-time newscast in the fall. Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and Newfoundland and Labrador will each drop to a 60-minute newscast.

She said local TV will provide hourly news updates starting mid-afternoon and running to the start of the National.

"We'll introduce visual radio. Morning shows throughout the region in the major cities will now, from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Newfoundland time, will be on the main television network," she said.

Television's late news and weekend news will become an Atlantic newscast, rather than a Maritime one, starting in June. That means Newfoundland and Labrador will lose their late night and weekend newscasts.

Local meteorology staffing won't be affected, she said.