Sixteen employees of Bellmedia's radio and television stations in Ottawa — including CFRA News Talk Radio and Team 1200 Sports Radio — were laid off Thursday, the company announced.

In an email statement to employees, regional vice-president Richard Gray said the structural reorganization was "purely for business reasons and was unavoidable."

"Despite having to make such a difficult decision today," Gray wrote, "we believe we have managed to keep our operation incredibly strong."

Eleven radio employees were laid-off, including CFRA announcer Michael Harris and CFRA reporter Gord McDougall, Majic 100 announcer Steve Boyton and others. Nine of the employees worked full time while the other two worked part time.

The layoffs also included five managers and administrative employees at television station CTV.