REVOLVING DOOR:
Eric Ellenbogen has been appointed CEO of DHX Media and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors. Ellenbogen has held senior management roles as president of Broadway Video Entertainment (founded by Lorne Michaels); president of Golden Books Family Entertainment; and president and CEO of Marvel Enterprises before its acquisition by Disney. With the backing of private equity, he co-founded Classic Media in 2000, which became one of the largest private owners of branded kids’ and family entertainment and was acquired by DreamWorks Animation (DWA) in 2012. Ellenbogen went to become co-head of DreamWorks Classics and DreamWorks International Television, and was largely responsible for the company’s entry into the television business. Following DWA’s sale to NBCUniversal, he became co-president of Classic Media, which was restarted as a business unit of NBCUniversal. Ellenbogen succeeds Michael Donovan, who has stepped down as CEO and Executive Chair, but will continue to serve on the board as Founding Chair. Donald Wright has been appointed non-executive Chair.
Patrick Jutras has been appointed Senior Vice-President and Chief Advertising Officer of Quebecor and TVA Group. Jutras will oversee the corporation’s Advertising Network and continue the transformation of its business model as it shifts to 360° multiplatform solutions. In addition to Sales, two new business units will report to him: the marketing solutions and content production specialist unit, headed by Robert Renaud, and the data and digital performance expertise centre, headed by Jean Péladeau. Jutrus has spent nearly 15 years in sales and marketing at La Presse, Bell Media Quebec and RDS. Until recently, he was VP of Digital Business Development at Videotron.
Brother Jake Edwards has officially retired, hosting his last show for TSN 1040 (CKST-AM) Vancouver on Aug. 31. Edwards, who was inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame in May, had been with the station since 2013. Edwards has spent 47 years on-air across Canada including stops at Q104 (CFRQ-FM) Halifax, 92 CITI FM Winnipeg, 97 Kiss FM (CKIS-FM) Winnipeg, and Q107 (CILQ-FM) Toronto, before becoming the morning show ratings leader at Vancouver’s Rock 101 (CFMI-FM) for 17 years. “Bro Jake” is also known as the voice behind syndicated radio character “The Champ.” Edwards signed off from TSN 1040 mornings in June 2018, but continued to co-host Saturday midday show The Bro Jake Show with Gene Valaitis. Listen to the final show here. Valaitis tells Broadcast Dialogue, he’s returning to Toronto for now and plans to concentrate on his podcasting, marketing and business branding company Brain Zoo Gurus.
Andrew Wadden is taking over as host of Sports Saturday on TSN 1040 (CKST-AM). The show will air from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., followed by Rink Wide from 1 – 3 p.m. during hockey season, hosted by Wadden and J.D. Burke. Wadden also serves as producer of weekday afternoon show Sekeres & Price.
John Shannon has confirmed that he won’t be returning to Sportsnet, alongside Nick Kypreos and Doug MacLean. Shannon had been with the network for 10 years, most recently as a contributor to Prime Time Sports and Hockey Central. The former CBC Hockey Night In Canada producer has been working in sports media for four decades.
Elliot Price and DJ Brooks will anchor Niagara IceDogs broadcasts on 610 CKTB St. Catharines this season. Up until this past January, Price was co-hosting the morning show on Sportsnet The Fan 590 (CJCL-AM). Over the past five seasons, Brooks has been covering the IceDogs for Bullet News Niagara, Niagara this Week, and YourTv.
Dany Dubé is joining the RDS roster of hockey analysts. The former QMJHL coach will regularly contribute to 5 à 7 and provide intermission analysis during Montreal Canadiens games. Dubé is also a radio analyst for the Cogeco network.
Alyson Lozoff has parted ways with the Vegas Golden Knights’ broadcast team where she’d been a rinkside reporter since 2017. The former Miss Teen Canada and Citytv Montreal host is joining the Anaheim Ducks as a rinkside reporter for all games airing on Prime Ticket and Fox SportsSD.
Daren Millard is among this season’s new additions to the Vegas Golden Knights’ broadcast team. Millard, who left Sportsnet in Aug. 2018 after two decades with the network, was a guest host for two Golden Knights games last season. Most recently, he’s been hosting podcast “the chirp with Daren Millard.”
Hailey Salvian is The Athletic’s new beat reporter dedicated to the Ottawa Senators. Salvian started writing for the online sports startup last September, while also working as an in-arena host at Oshawa Generals games and producing for CBC in Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo.
Laura Lynch has been named interim host of CBC Radio’s The Current. Now based in Vancouver, the veteran foreign and political affairs correspondent has previously filled in for the show’s longtime host Anna Maria Tremonti. After 17 years, Tremonti announced in June she was leaving the show – after 17 seasons – to host and produce for CBC Podcasts. CBC says a permanent host will be named later in the season.
Sabrina Marandola is the host of new CBC Montreal afternoon show Let’s Go. Airing from 3 – 6 p.m., the program replaces Homerun. Marandola has been with CBC Montreal for the last 11 years holding roles from traffic reporter to lineup editor and web journalist.
Gill Deacon is returning to CBC Toronto’s Here and Now after taking time off to undergo cancer treatment. Deacon’s first broadcast will happen live from TIFF this Friday.
Ceilidh Millar has joined CTV Morning Live Atlantic as co-host and weather specialist. She’ll be filling in for the next year for Jennifer Grudic, who is on maternity leave. Millar had been with Global Regina since March, and prior to that with CHEK News Victoria as a reporter, anchor and host.
Bill Wood is signing off as morning show host and program director at 105CJVR Melfort, SK, capping a 45-year career in broadcasting. Bill’s Breakfast will air for the last time on Sept. 13. Wood started his career at CKBI radio and television in Prince Albert in 1971. He joined CJVR-AM as an afternoon announcer in 1974 and became PD in 1987. Under Wood’s leadership, the station has been a four-time winner of the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Station of the Year (secondary market). Wood’s duties also encompassed overseeing CK750 and its recent rebrand to Saskatchewan’s New Beach Radio. Cristy Beggs will succeed Wood as morning host, starting Sept. 16. Beggs has worked for the Saskatoon Media Group for the last two decades as an announcer on both 600 CJWW and 92.9 The Bull (CKBL-FM), where she was most recently hosting middays.
Tyra Sweet has joined YTV as a host. A newcomer to television, Sweet is an improv performer, a graduate of Second City’s Conservatory Program, and an alum of the Young Artist’s Performance Academy at the Royal Conservatory of Music. She also has a background in social media and photography.
RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:
Nik Nanos, one of the country’s best-known pollsters, is hosting a new podcast for CTV News, alongside producer Michael Stittle, that will push out episodes three times a week leading up to the federal election. Trend Line promises to provide listeners with insight into “the public mood of Canadian voters” with the 15-minute podcast offering analysis of the latest polling results and tracking numbers. Trend Line is available on CTVNews.ca, iHeartRadio Canada, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts. It joins Kevin Newman’s new podcast Attention Control, which debuted Monday, and explores the impact digital media and technology will have on the election. Read more here.
When Life Gives you Parkinson’s, the podcast hosted by Corus National AM Radio director Larry Gifford, has been renewed for a second season. Gifford, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2017 at age 45, co-hosts with CKNW Vancouver producer Niki Reitmayer. This season’s guests include Rasheda Ali, daughter of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali; Tim Hague, Season 1 winner of Amazing Race Canada; and Dave Clark, BBC television presenter. This season will also explore Gifford’s life, two years into his diagnosis. Parkinson Canada has signed on as the presenting partner of the second season, with UK charity Spotlight YOPD (Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease) on board as a content and promotional partner. The Michael J. Fox Foundation is also teaming up with Gifford to promote a series of free, educational panels in 2019-20 called Parkinson’s IQ + You. When Life Gives You Parkinson’s was a finalist in two categories at the Canadian Podcast Awards and was named one of the best of 2018 by Apple Podcasts Canada.
Melanie Case, of 95.1 The Peak (CKCB-FM) Collingwood, ON morning show Talk of the Town, is set to star in independent feature film Good Grief It’s Friday. Shooting at various locations around Simcoe County, the film noir is set for release in Spring 2020. Written and directed by Mike Patterson, the film will also feature Matt McLean, morning co-host at 93.1 Fresh Radio (CHAY-FM) Barrie.
“CKGM Rendez-Vous With You 2019, The 60th Anniversary Alumni Reunion” is set to take place Sept. 21 at Montreal’s Sir Winston Churchill Pub. Close to 120 station alumni are expected to attend, crossing all of CKGM’s incarnations, including its brief CHTX and CKIS rebrands in the late 80s and early 90s. CKGM Alumni can contact Marc Denis at maisoui@marcdenis.com for more info or to confirm attendance.
LISTEN: SoundExchange, the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit collective rights management organization, made waves a few weeks ago with the announcement that it’s collaborating with SourceAudio and Podcastmusic.com to make label and publisher-owned music available to the podcast industry. On the latest episode of Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast, Richard Conlon, SoundExchange’s Chief Corporate Development Officer, in his first-ever podcast interview, on the future of music licensing for the podcast space.
SIGN-OFFS:
Kerry Stratton, 66, on Aug. 27. Growing up in Belleville, ON, Stratton’s interest in pursuing conducting was spurred by hearing Leonard Bernstein on the radio. He went on to hold posts with the Prince George Symphony Orchestra, the Georgian Bay Symphony, North York Symphony (which developed into Toronto Philharmonia), and the Toronto Concert Orchestra. Stratton was known to listeners of The New Classical FM (CFMZ-FM) Toronto as the host of programs The Oasis and Conductor’s Choice. After a 2018 ALS diagnosis, Stratton stepped down from hosting The Oasis last November, but continued to host a Sunday afternoon show.
Pierre Nadeau, 82, on Sept. 3, of Parkinson’s. Born in Montreal, Nadeau grew up dreaming of a career in radio. He got his start at CJBR Rimouski and went on to work with CBC Montreal. In 1957, after getting married, Nadeau left the public broadcaster for a year to work as a reporter with the Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF) in Paris. He returned to Radio-Canada in 1962 and was hired as host of television program “Camera.” Nadeau went on to serve as Paris correspondent for several years, returning again to Montreal in 1968 where he hosted radio shows “Le monde maintenant”, “Le téléjournal”, and television program “Le 60.” He eventually made the move to TVA in the early 1980s where he hosted and produced several variety shows, including L’Événement magazine, before he returned to Radio-Canada. In 2001, he published his autobiography. He went public with his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2008. Among his many accolades were six Gemini Awards. In 1992, he was knighted by the National Order of Quebec and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2009.
TV/FILM/VIDEO:
Family Jr. has premiered brand new animated series Rev & Roll. Created by mom and dad duo, Scott and Julie Stewart (Kate and Mim-Mim), the show follows 8-year-old Rev, and his best friend Rumble – a powerful truck with a puppy personality – as they go on wild adventures in their town of Fender Bend. Rev & Roll is airing daily at 8 a.m. ET and will also be available on Family Jr. OnDemand and the Family Channel App.
Muse Entertainment, Back Alley Films and Cineflix Studios have announced that production is underway on Season 2 of CBC original drama Coroner (8×60). Starring Serinda Swan (Inhumans, Ballers) as coroner Dr. Jenny Cooper, Season 2 is scheduled to debut on CBC and the free CBC Gem streaming service in Winter 2020 and expected to return to the UK, Australia, France, Spain, Germany, Africa, Poland, Latin America and Brazil in 2020. Inspired by the best-selling series of books by M.R. Hall and created for television by Morwyn Brebner (Saving Hope, Rookie Blue), the series is currently being filmed in various locations in Toronto. Season 1 of the series premiered as the highest-rated new drama series on CBC in more than four years and delivered average audiences of more than one million views. Coroner also premiered as the highest-ever rated series launch in the UK for Universal TV in Jan. 2019.
TSN is the new home of Gridiron Nation presented by Krown Produce, a weekly college football recap focused on Canadians in NCAA and USPORTS football. Previously airing on CHCH-TV, the show was previously known as Krown Countdown U. Hosted by veteran sports broadcaster Jim Mullin, who also serves as president of Football Canada, the show features commentary from Gord Randall and Mike Hogan, who doubles as the play-by-play voice of the Toronto Argonauts. It made its TSN debut last Wednesday.
GENERAL:
The News Photographers Association of Canada (NPAC) has expressed concern over a recent incident where CBC reporter Carolyn Dunn was initially denied entry into the U.S. to cover a colleague’s vacation leave in Washington, D.C. Dunn tweeted on Aug. 25 that she’d been refused entry based on Sections 212 (a) (7) (A) (i) (I) and advised by U.S. Customs and Border Protection that she would require a non-immigrant visa. In a release, NPAC vice-president Ryan McLeod called the incident “a disturbing trend.” “The members of the Canadian press have always had a mostly cordial relationship across borders. It doesn’t matter if it’s television/print/web, freelance or staff; citizens of Canada should not and do not require visas to enter the United States. While Ms. Carolyn Dunn was eventually allowed to board a flight into the United States, it speaks volumes about the current climate,” said McLeod.
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