The Financial Post reports in its Saturday edition that BCE's media arm is asking the federal telecommunications regulator to waive local news requirements for its television stations, saying its obligations are based on outdated market realities. A Canadian Press dispatch to the Post says that in an application to the CRTC, Bell Media requests it drop requirements for spending on local news and on the number of hours per week stations are required to broadcast locally reflective news. The application filed June 14 came the same day Bell announced it is cutting 1,300 positions, shutting or selling nine radio stations and closing two foreign bureaus amid plans to "significantly adapt" how it delivers the news in the face of financial pressure. The filing notes Bell Media's average annual news operating loss totalled $28.4-million between 2016 and 2019, a figure that jumped to $40-million last year.