Bob McCown signed off for the last time on Friday as host of Prime Time Sports on Sportsnet 590 The FAN (CJCL-AM) Toronto and its television simulcast Sportsnet 360. McCown, 67, was the original host of Prime Time Sports when the show launched in 1989. He got his start in radio in 1974 in sales at the station (then CKFH-AM) and made his on-air debut in 1975, hosting a nightly sports talk show. He left for Global TV to host Sportsline in 1981. Prime Time Sports launched shortly after his return to CJCL. Rogers says details of a new afternoon drive show will be announced in the Fall. While Jeff Blair was in the chair this week, Sportsnet says a rotating roster of hosts will carry Prime Time Sports through the summer. Read more here.
“My butt hurts. I’m gone. There will be no more. Good night and goodbye from Toronto.”@FadooBobcat signs off the only way he knows how 😂 pic.twitter.com/QTBxAhvZ0M
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 21, 2019
Nahlah Ayed will succeed Paul Kennedy as the new host of CBC Radio One’s Ideas, starting in September. Kennedy, who announced earlier this year he would step down at the end of this season, has hosted the long-running program exploring contemporary thought since 1999 when he succeeded Lister Sinclair. Ayed is an award-winning foreign correspondent for CBC News. Based in London for the last seven years, she’s covered world events over nearly two decades from Europe to Bangladesh, Pyongyang, Donetsk, New Delhi, Iraq and Tehran. Read more here.
J. Serge Sasseville is retiring from Quebecor at the end of the year. Sasseville has held a number of positions since joining the company in 1987, including Senior Vice-President, Corporate and Institutional Affairs, which he’s held since 2008. He’s also been Director of Legal Services of Quebecor and Corporate Secretary of Quebecor Communications; Vice President, Legal Affairs, Corporate Secretary and Assistant to the President of Archambault Group; founder and GM of the archambault.ca e-commerce site; VP Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary of Videotron and Canoe; and President, Archambault Group Music Division. Jocelyn Poirer will rejoin Quebecor as EVP of Corporate Development and take on responsibility for public affairs and communications. Poirier has been with law firm Stikeman Elliot LLP for the last six years.
Marie Ginette Lepage has joined Cogeco in the newly-created position of VP of Wireless Solutions and Innovation. Lepage departs Stingray where she’s been SVP, Global Sales and Mobile Solutions for the past two years. Prior to that, she was with Videotron for 11 years in various roles.
Francine Grimaldi has retired after nearly 50 years as a cultural columnist for Radio-Canada. Grimaldi, the daughter of playwright Jean Grimaldi, started as a researcher at CBC in the 1970s on “Studio 11” and “CBF-Bonjour” alongside Michel Desrochers, and later Joel Le Bigot.
Talia Schlanger is leaving NPR music show World Cafe this fall to “pursue new creative endeavors.” Schlanger has been in the host’s chair since 2017 when David Dye retired and a contributing producer since 2016. Schlanger previously worked with the CBC hosting weekend mornings on Radio 2 and TV series CBC Music Backstage Pass. She also has several stage and screen credits, including the touring production of American Idiot.
Alex Henderson is the new VP of News, Local Stations for Global News. Henderson was previously executive producer of Multi-market Content for the network.
Steven Pudwell is the new General Sales Manager for the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group in Medicine Hat. Pudwell has been a marketing consultant with the company since 2017. JPBG’s Medicine Hat operations include CHAT 94.5 FM and MY96 FM (CFMY-FM), Rogers` Citytv affiliate CHAT TV, and online news/community portal CHAT News Today.
Bob Willette has left his position as music director/midday host with Durham Radio’s 94.9 The Rock (CKGE-FM) Oshawa to join Bell Media Hamilton-Niagara. Willette will be covering 105.7 EZ Rock (CHRE-FM) St. Catharines and 102.9 KLite (CKLH-FM) Hamilton program director Lisa Vinc’s maternity leave. Prior to her departure, he’ll also cover off afternoon drive duties on 97.7 HTZ FM (CHTZ-FM) St. Catherines for the summer. Willette had been with Durham for the last three and a half years.
David Lao is moving from his producer role at the Global National network news desk to covering breaking news as a national online reporter for Globalnews.ca. A recent Ryerson grad, Lao joined Global in December.
Nathaniel Dove has joined Global Saskatoon. Dove has been working as a VJ with CTV Yorkton for the past nine months. Prior to that he was a freelance chase producer with CTV in both Toronto and Ottawa.
Keegan Matheson has signed on with MLB.com. He’ll start in July. Matheson is the founder of online site Baseball Toronto, which covers the Toronto Blue Jays and minor league affiliates. He’s also a features writer for theScore.com and frequent television and radio analyst.
Jill Krajewski has been promoted to senior social editor at Vice Canada. Krajewski has been with Vice as a social media producer and contributor to its Noisey music offshoot since 2016.
Adam Carter has accepted a web reporting job with CBC Toronto. Carter has most recently been reporting for CBC Hamilton and contributing to CBC Radio’s In the Key of C – a weekly show exploring music and the arts in Ontario.
Craig Beauchemin is the new play-by-play host for the WHL Swift Current Broncos. Beauchemin has been the director of broadcasting and communications for the Penticton Vees Junior A Hockey Club since 2017.
Matthew Pearson is joining CBC Radio One show The House with Chris Hall as an associate producer. Pearson was a reporter with the Ottawa Citizen for nearly a decade and an instructor at Carleton University. He was named a Michener Deacon Fellow for Journalism Education in 2017, creating an initiative to build more trauma awareness in journalism schools and newsrooms.
Gary Pizante and Barry Chapman have been appointed to the Canada Media Fund (CMF) board of directors. Based in Calgary, Pizante was previously VP, Pricing and Analytics at Shaw Communications. Chapman held the role of VP, Regulatory Affairs at Bell from 1989-2017. They succeed outgoing directors Dave McLennan and Rob Scarth and join current directors Alain Cousineau, Chair; Alison Clayton; Lori DeGraw; Guy Fournier; and Michael Schmalz.
Paula Fletcher, Toronto City Councillor for Toronto-Danforth, has been returned as chair of the Toronto Film, Television and Digital Media Board. The board provides advice to the Mayor and City Council on ways to strengthen and grow the film, television and digital media sector.
Radioplayer has appointed Laurence Harrison to the newly-created position of Automotive Partnerships Director. Harrison will be responsible for leading efforts to get hybrid radio interfaces into internet-enabled cars, including working with car companies to keep radio front and centre in the dashboard. He’ll join Radioplayer at the end of August from Digital Radio UK where he’s been Market Development Director, responsible for several high-profile automotive projects, including the rollout of DAB digital radio in cars. He also serves as chair of the WorldDAB Automotive Working Group, helping define User Experience guidelines for car radios.
Adam Cooper, who has been anchoring and producing with News 1130 (CKWX-AM) Vancouver for the last year, is returning to New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) and his hometown of Wellington. He’ll be the morning newsreader and reporter at NewstalkZB. He’ll be leaving Vancouver in August.
Jessica Ford is one of the casualties of layoffs at VICE Toronto. Ford had been with the online publication in various roles since 2015, most recently as senior producer directing videos for the brand’s social platforms. She’ll be starting a short-term contract with CBC Music.
Jennifer McCann is joining Shaftesbury in the newly-created role of executive producer for its kids and family entertainment division, overseeing original series as well as the Shaftesbury Kids YouTube channel. McCann is a veteran producer who has previously worked with Groupe Media TFO, 9 Story Media Group, and Zodiak Kids.
Misha Solomon will lead the new scripted division at Montreal-based production company WAM Media GRP. Solomon was previously director of scripted development at Muse Entertainment.
Barbara Fisher is joining Montreal-headquartered Reel One Entertainment as EVP of Scripted Content. Fisher is a former Lifetime and Hallmark Channel executive, who most recently was SVP of Original Programming for UP TV. She’ll be based in Los Angeles.
Alex Patrick has joined Cameron Pictures as an executive producer with a focus on strategic planning. He’ll also lead legal and business affairs. For the last eight years, Patrick has helmed Take the Shot Productions with executive producer credits on three seasons of Frontier and CBC series Caught and Little Dog.
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