TNI expanding radio operations

Nunavik’s Taqramiut Nipingat Inc. network will be doubling its broadcast time on radio to six hours a day from three, network manager Claude Grenier told KRG councilors.

Grenier said public meetings would also be carried live by TNI. Sports and youth programming will also be given more airtime, and 99 per cent of all programming will continue to be in Inuttitut.

At the same time, CBC programs, broadcast on the TNI network, will be phased out.

Yet as its radio broadcast rebounds from earlier cuts, TNI is shutting down its television studio in Kuujjuaq, to end recruitment problems and cut costs.

“TNI is fighting a major deficit,” Grenier said. “And we can no longer afford the cost.”

KRG executive member Michael Gordon encouraged TNI to develop more professional journalism skills as it expands its airtime.

“We can’t have people who just switch on and off from meetings,” he said.