WINNIPEG — Canwest Global Communications Corp. (TSX:CGS) announced Wednesday it would close two of its local conventional television stations by the end of August.

A Canwest representative said about 80 jobs in total are affected by the closures of CHEK-TV in Victoria and CHCA-TV in Red Deer, Alta.

They were among five TV stations whose future was under review by the Winnipeg-based broadcasting and publishing company since early February.

All five of the stations have been part of Canwest's second network, operating under the E! brand.

Canwest has already announced the proposed sale of CHCH-TV in Hamilton and CJNT-TV in Montreal to a Toronto company.

Canwest said it will keep the fifth station, CHBC-TV station in Kelowna, B.C., as a Global affiliate.

"When we began this process about six months ago to determine if there was any way to keep these local stations on the air in the current regulatory environment, we said that we would examine every avenue," Canwest Broadcasting president Peter Viner said in a statement.

"From the outset, we said that closing stations would only be considered as a last resort. We recognize that the decision to close CHCA and CHEK will negatively impact the employees of those stations and the communities that those stations have served so well."

Canwest and CTVglobemedia have warned some of their conventional TV stations wouldn't survive without new sources of revenue to offset a drop in advertising because of the economic downturn and competition from other media.

CTVglobemedia has since said it would sell a station in Brandon, Man., for $1 to a Toronto investment group. CTVglobemedia had also offered earlier to sell stations in Windsor, Ont., and Wingham, Ont., for $1 each.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has repeatly rejected the broadcasters' requests for carriage fees from cable and satellite services that distributed the conventional TV stations' programming.

However, the CRTC announced July 6 that a fund for local television stations would be increased to more than $100 million for the 2009-10 broadcast year.

Two days later, CTVglobemedia announced it would keep its A Channel station in Windsor open for the 2009-10 broadcast year as a result of the enhanced Local Improvement Programming Fund.

CTVglobemedia also said it would apply to convert CKNX-TV in Wingham to a rebroadcaster of the signal from its A Channel station in London, Ont.