REVOLVING DOOR:
Dean Rutherford takes on the expanded role of Senior Vice President, Sales as part of a raft of internal promotions at Stingray Radio across sales and operations. Steve Parsons assumes the role of Senior Vice President, Programming, upped from VP of Programming, Radio and GM for Toronto. Ryan Shortt has been elevated to the role of VP, Digital and Mark Russett to VP of Sales – Central Markets. Devon Tschritter is also promoted to VP of Sales – Western Major Markets as his scope increases to lead revenue generation in Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary, while continuing to oversee Stingray’s retail audio business nationally. Craig Letawsky has been appointed to the newly-created role of VP, Strategic Operations, in which he’ll lead large-scale operational initiatives spanning multiple departments, designed to modernize the company’s systems and processes. Read more here.
Joe Siddall is set to replace newly-retired Toronto Blue Jays analyst and colour commentator Buck Martinez on Sportsnet broadcasts, according to a report in the Toronto Sun. Siddall has filled in over the last two seasons, while Martinez has been on medical leave off-and-on, alongside play-by-play host Dan Shulman.
Steve Paikin has been appointed Chancellor of Victoria University at the University of Toronto. His three-year term is effective July 1. He’ll serve as the university’s ceremonial head, presiding at Convocation, conferring degrees and acting as chief ambassador for the university. He’ll also serve as an ex-officio member of the Board of Regents and chair the Senate of Victoria University. The veteran broadcaster is currently host of The Paikin Podcast and co-hosts #onpoli on TVO, in addition to hosting a weekday morning political segment on Citytv.
Angie Beers has been appointed Contract Creative Consultant at Harvard Media as part of an expansion of its Customer Creative Services team. Beers, who is based in Calgary, formerly spent 23 years at Bell Media as the Creative and Production Director for Radio and Television in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. She’ll lead the new team, joined by Darren Ollinger, who previously oversaw Harvard’s Alberta creative team, up until getting caught up in a round of layoffs in 2024. Liz Campbell also joins the team from Bell Media Calgary, where she’s been a Senior Commercial Producer since 2013. She’ll serve as Senior Producer & Creative Writer, working closely with revenue teams and clients. Read more here.
Jim Bennie is rejoining 1130 NewsRadio (CKWX-AM) Vancouver as an anchor, where he’ll be heard on weekends, among other dayparts. Bennie was with the station for more than two decades, most recently co-anchoring afternoon drive, before getting caught up in layoffs at Rogers Sports & Media in November 2020.
Dylan Black is returning to radio, joining BIG FM Prescott-Russell, where he’ll also be heard on 92.5 BIG FM (CHRC-FM) Rockland and 107.7 BIG FM (CKHK-FM) Hawkesbury, ON – the former Evanov Communications stations now owned by Radio communautaire Cornwall-Alexandria. Black hosted afternoons on Ottawa’s boom 99.7 (CJOT-FM) for more than a decade, before getting caught up in layoffs at Corus Radio last June.
View this post on Instagram
Dayna Brez is returning to the Ottawa airwaves, joining Bell Media’s MOVE Radio (CJMJ-FM) from 1 – 5 p.m. Saturdays. Brez, who formerly hosted afternoon drive on boom 99.7 (CJOT-FM) in the market, was also part of a sweeping round of layoffs at Corus Radio’s Ottawa stations last June.
Lochlin Cross has joined Rawlco Radio’s JACK 94.5 (CKCK-FM) Regina in evenings, while continuing to co-host sports show, The Green Zone, on 980 CJME and 650 CKOM. Cross has been with Rawlco since October 2024 following his release from The Locker Room morning show on Harvard Media’s 95.7 CRUZ FM (CKEA-FM) Edmonton earlier that year.
Curtis Papetti has been promoted at Bell Media to Senior Manager, Programming & Operations. In addition to his current responsibilities, he’ll now also oversee Toronto’s radio engineering team and contribute to national operations strategy for Bell Media Radio. Papetti has been with Bell Media since 2015.
Goran Poprzen has departed SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology). A former student, Poprzen had been an instructor and broadcast technologist with the college since 2012.
Hugues Sweeney has been appointed President and CEO of Télé-Québec for a five-year term. Sweeney arrives from Montreal’s TAIT / Thinkwell Group. He also spent a decade as a production executive at the National Film Board (NFB) and another 10 years with Radio-Canada’s Espace Musique. He succeeds Marie Collin, who had led Télé-Québec since 2014.
Vanessa Esteves is one of two new additions to Boat Rocker Studios’ Creative Affairs team. She joins as Senior Director, Creative Affairs, Kids & Family. Based in Toronto, Esteves was Head of Production and Creative Supervising Producer, Development at Nelvana up until last September, capping a 20-year career with Corus Entertainment. Joey Case also joins the Toronto office as Senior Director, Creative Affairs, Unscripted. A newly-created role, Case will support the creative development, pre-sales, current series and production of Boat Rocker’s original unscripted slate. He arrives from Alibi Entertainment where he served as Executive Producer and Development Executive. Read more here.
RADIO & PODCAST:
Edison Research’s 2026 Infinite Dial, the longest-running survey of digital consumer behaviour in America, finds online audio has reached an all-time high, with 81% of the U.S. population (233 million people) tuning in monthly. While growth among younger listeners has plateaued, the 55+ demographic is now the primary engine of digital audio expansion, according to the study, with monthly online listening for that group jumping from 52% in 2024 to 70% in 2026. Podcast reach continues its record-breaking climb, with 58% of Americans (167 million) now consuming podcasts monthly, up from 55% in 2025. Weekly listenership is growing even faster, increasing from 40% to 45% year-over-year. By demographic, 35-54-year-olds are leading podcast growth, jumping seven points to 68% of the population. Read more here.
Numeris has released Winter PPM ratings for the 13-week period covering Dec. 1, 2025 – March 1, 2026. With this book, radio retains an average weekly reach of 79% for Canadians A12+. In home represents 52% of tuning. Out of home represents 48% of tuning. For Canadians, 10% of radio consumption comes from AM/FM live radio streaming. Check out David Bray’s breakdown of the top performers in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary here.
The CRTC has approved Torres Media’s application to amend the technical parameters of CITM-FM Ottawa. Operating as Mix 98.5, Torres Media acquired the station from Evanov Communications in late 2024. Specifically, Torres proposed to change the class of transmitter from A to B1, to increase the maximum effective radiated power (ERP) from 2,500 to 7,500 watts, increasing the average ERP from 1,100 to 1,565 watts. The commission did not receive any interventions in regard to the application.
The CRTC has approved an application by Nakusp Community Radio Society to revoke the broadcasting licence for English-language community radio station CJHQ-FM Nakusp. Previously branded as The Arrow 107, the station first went to air as a developmental community station in September 2005, before moving forward as a Type B community station serving the Columbia Basin. The society made the decision to fold a year ago February due to lack of capacity – both financial and volunteer.
Bill Wilms, retiring longtime analyst with the Vancouver Giants, who is currently heard on Sportsnet 650 (CISL-AM) Vancouver, has been honoured with the Western Hockey League (WHL) Bob Ridley Award for Media Excellence. Since 1986, Wilms has covered the WHL including the Giants, New Westminster Bruins, and Seattle Thunderbirds. Hailing from Winnipeg, the now 83-year-old has worked with Vancouver Community Television, Seattle Thunderbirds radio, Canadian Hockey League (CHL) on Sportsnet broadcasts, and Shaw TV from 2005-17, where he was part of an impressive 662 WHL games. Over his 25 seasons with the Giants, he’s called nearly 2,000 games.
Terry David Mulligan’s CKUA radio show, Mulligan Stew, is celebrating 30 years. The station will air a special on Saturday, March 21 “to toast all things TDM!” Listeners are invited to send in stories, wishes, and musical suggestions. Mulligan has produced and hosted the show since 1995.
View this post on Instagram
City of Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas says he will shower with CJAY92 afternoon drive co-host Tyler Middleton of the Tyler & Lynch Show if citizens can keep water usage at sustainable levels for seven days straight as the city grapples with water restrictions. “If we go seven days in a row in the green zone, yes, Tyler, I will have a shower with you,” the Mayor told the morning show during an appearance this week, stipulating it would be clothed. “It’s up to Calgarians if you want to see that.”
SiriusXM Canada has announced the launch of Morgan Wallen Radio, a new year-round country music channel debuting April 7 on channel 64 and the SiriusXM app. Additionally, the channel will be available free in all SiriusXM-equipped vehicles from launch through May 6. Curated and presented by Wallen, in addition to his catalogue, subscribers will hear hand-picked songs from musical influences and unexpected favourites, as well as commentary and behind-the-scenes stories on the making of his music, artists that have left a major impact on him, and untold stories from the road.
LISTEN: Tony Doe is on the latest Sound Off Podcast. As a former Nigerian radio broadcaster turned podcaster, he reflects on the lost intimacy of radio as studios chase visual appeal and social media reactions, and explains why he rejects the idea that video is the “next phase” of podcasting. He discusses personal projects, including the Nigerian Podcast Index, long-running Arsenal fan podcast, Up Gunners!, as well as Into the Podverse, a show about the innovation, challenges, and opportunities shaping African and global podcasting.
TV & FILM:
KPOP DEMON HUNTERS wins the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Congratulations to Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong! #Oscars pic.twitter.com/snCgJSgepU
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 16, 2026
The 98th Academy Awards saw Canadian-driven productions sweep the animation categories as Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski’s stop-motion tale The Girl Who Cried Pearls captured Best Animated Short Film and KPop Demon Hunters claimed the award for Best Animated Feature. Toronto’s Maggie Kang, who wrote and co-directed the Netflix film, accepted the award which also picked up Best Original Song for “Golden.” Additionally, some of the Canadians behind Guillermo del Toro Best Picture nominee Frankenstein – Tamara Deverell and set decorator Shane Vieau – won for Production Design, as did the film’s Makeup and Hairstyling team Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, and Cliona Furey. Read more here.
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) has announced that the JUNO Awards will return to Winnipeg in 2027. The JUNOs were previously held in Winnipeg in 2014 and 2005. JUNO Week 2027 will take place from April 1-4, culminating in the 56th Annual JUNO Awards Broadcast, airing live on CBC TV, CBC Gem, and globally on CBC Music’s YouTube from Canada Life Centre.
CBC/Radio-Canada says Canadian audiences consumed 1.63 million streams of Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games content on its digital platforms from March 6-15, more than triple the number of streams during Beijing 2022 (up 511%). Ten million viewers in Canada also tuned in to CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage of Milano Cortina 2026 across its English and French television networks, CBC and ICI TÉLÉ, an average of 1.3 million hours daily, up 166% from Beijing 2022. Over 2.5 million viewers tuned in to the Opening Ceremony on March 6 on CBC/Radio-Canada television networks, close to double that of the Beijing Opening Ceremony. Another 2.8 million viewers tuned in to the Closing Ceremony on March 15, more than triple that of Beijing’s Closing Ceremony.
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has released a preview of changes to the Sector Development Support program for the 2026–27 fiscal year. CMF will divide Sector Development Funding into two streams: the Workforce Advancement Stream, supporting capacity building and market access activities focused on training, apprenticeships and work placements, business skills development, and market-ready preparation that lead to industry success; and the Organizational Advancement Stream, supporting industry organizations to strengthen expertise and advance their mandates, fostering stability and growth for screen sector organizations and the communities and creators they serve. Additional changes and further details will be released April 8, followed by webcasts later in the month.
Super Channel Fuse Original documentary Code of Misconduct from award-winning director Sébastian Trahan is an inside look at the criminal trial that put Canadian hockey under intense public scrutiny. The film, featuring journalist Rick Westhead, who first broke the story, examines one of the most high-profile legal cases ever in Canadian sports and the wider cultural questions it raises within Canada’s favourite pastime. Code of Misconduct premieres Friday, May 8 and is also available On Demand the same day.
Crave has announced that Sky has acquired the streamer’s first, half-hour original drama series YAGA for the UK and Ireland through a deal secured by Sphere Abacus. Based on the play by Kat Sandler, who also serves as writer and showrunner, the Crave Original reimagines the Slavic folklore of Baba Yaga as a contemporary mystery thriller set in a small coastal town. Produced by Front Street Pictures and Blink49 Studios in partnership with Crave, YAGA is co-directed by David Frazee and Rachel Talalay and features a cast that includes Hudson Williams, Clark Backo, and Carrie-Anne Moss (who also executive produces). Crave says additional territory announcements are expected in the coming weeks.
ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:
The Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy at McGill University has undertaken the first large-scale audit of how AI models use and distribute Canadian journalism, finding that when asked about Canadian news events drawn from their training data, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Grok provide no source attribution 82% of the time. When given web access and asked about specific recent articles, the same models covered enough of the original reporting to substitute for the source in 54 to 81% of cases. Models linked to Canadian news sites in 29 to 69% of responses, but named the originating outlet in only one to 16% of cases. The study’s authors call the pattern “a structural shift in how the informational value of journalism is captured and distributed,” going further to state that “the result is a system that accelerates the economic decline of the journalism it relies on.” Read more here.
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
Radio-Canada has asked Prime Video to pause subscriptions for its 24-hour French-language news channel ICI RDI. The public broadcaster says the move will allow it to finalize discussions with Canadian distributors to make ICI RDI’s signal available by subscription on its streaming service ICI TOU.TV, following concerns from Quebec MPs voiced at last week’s meeting of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. “Beyond its existing agreements with all Canadian cable and satellite providers, the public broadcaster has entered into various agreements with digital platforms such as River TV, owned by Videotron, to offer a subscription option to its 24-hour news channels for a segment of the public that is turning away from cable and cannot be reached through traditional cable, satellite, or fibre optic distribution,” Radio-Canada said in a release issued on Friday. Read more here.
Indigenous Public Media (IPM) is a new collective formed by seven Indigenous leaders for public service media, including CBC/Radio-Canada, Australia’s ABC and NITV, RNZ (New Zealand), NRK Sápmi (Norway), and Swedish Radio, together with Ngā Aho Whakaari (New Zealand), a not-for-profit promoting Māori on-screen representation. IPM was born from the 2024 “Walking Together: Amplifying Indigenous Voices in Public Media” summit hosted by CBC in Ottawa. The alliance is designed to build bridges between national public broadcasters, creating a forum of shared strategy, editorial excellence, and cultural sovereignty.
BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:
FEATURE: WABE Chancellor Tessa Potter has returned from working behind-the-scenes on the Winter Olympics for NBC. Among the observations she shares in her latest column for Broadcast Dialogue are that REMI (Remote Integration Model) setups are here to stay, immersive audio was a hot topic among techs, and women’s sport is a growth market. Read more here.
WABE has issued its call for papers for its upcoming Media & Entertainment Technology Conference, Oct. 5-7, in Vancouver. Presentations can explore real-world projects, emerging tech, workflows, education pathways or lessons learned in the field. Submit or inquire: paperschair@wabe.ca.
