Sportsnet has locked in its marquee talent for the upcoming 2026–27 NHL season, anchoring a slate that features more than 550 national games and a dramatic reduction in regional blackouts. Ron MacLean, Kevin Bieksa, Elliotte Friedman, and Colby Armstrong are confirmed to return to Saturday Night Hockey, Sportsnet’s rebrand of Hockey Night in Canada, as the national game will be absent from CBC’s TV schedule for the first time in 75 years. Meanwhile, Monday Night Hockey returns Oct. 5, hosted by David Amber alongside analysts Luke Gazdic and Justin Williams. Read more here.
QR Calgary 770AM (CHQR-AM) has unveiled the team that will anchor its Calgary Flames broadcasts this season, including play-by-play announcer Derek Wills and longtime host Pat Steinberg. Wills was formerly the Flames radio play-by-play voice on the now defunct Sportsnet 960 The Fan (CFAC-AM) since the 2014-15 season. Steinberg will host pre-and post-game coverage, along with new show, Flames Now, weekday afternoons starting Sept. 14. He’ll be joined on Flames Now by Jock Wilson, the host of QR’s Sportstalk. Brenden Escott, the host of Inside Sports on Edmonton’s 880 CHED, also joins the QR lineup. Read more here.
Galen McDougall is retiring from CTV Edmonton on Sept. 4 after 40 years as an ENG photographer with the station. He began his broadcasting career in 1980 at CJFB Swift Current, then moved to CKND and CKY-TV Winnipeg in his home province of Manitoba, before settling in Edmonton at CFRN in 1986.
Tony Fera has surfaced at CBC/Radio-Canada as a video producer dedicated to the public broadcaster’s new Peel Region bureau. Fera arrives at CBC after 14 years as an ENG camera operator and editor with Citytv Toronto.
Nav Nanwa is joining CBC/Radio-Canada’s Peel Region bureau as a host. Nanwa has been with CBC since 2020, initially as an associate producer on CBC Radio’s Here and Now, going on to host Windsor Morning and Ontario Morning, among other shows.`
Paul Brothers has been heard reading news on CBC Radio in Halifax. Brothers was among those caught up in recent cuts at Corus Entertainment, following the consolidation of Global News Morning in the network’s Eastern and Central markets. Brothers had been with the show since its launch in 2013.
Alex Adams has announced that his time as a writer at Sportsnet, where he covered the Ottawa Senators, has come to an end after two years. Adams also hosts the Sens Spotlight podcast on The Sick Podcast Network.
Molly Thomas has shared that TVO has unexpectedly cancelled weekly, half hour show, Big (If True), focused on misinformation and disinformation. Thomas had been the show’s senior producer and host since its debut in the fall of 2024. The former CTV host and reporter said Big (If True) had been in the midst of shooting field pieces for its third season.
Peter Raymond is returning to Rogers Sports & Media as Senior Director of Operations and Engineering. Raymond previously worked with RSM from 2014-20 as Director of Technical Operations, prior to joining TGI Sport as VP of Broadcast Operations for North America.
Nathan Beaulieu has started a new position as the full-time Head of Promotions at My Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), based in Welland. Beaulieu has worked with MBC on a part-time basis since 2023.
Kaitlyn McGrath has joined The Canadian Press (CP) as a lifestyle reporter. McGrath was formerly a staff writer at The Athletic, where she covered the Toronto Blue Jays for seven years.
Daniel Wagner has joined Daily Hive as a reporter, where he’ll be covering the Vancouver Canucks full-time. The longtime hockey writer is the founder of Canucks blog, Pass It To Bulis, and a former contributor to the Vancouver Courier and Vancouver is Awesome.
John Tory has been named the new Chair of TIFF’s Board of Directors. Tory also serves as a director of Rogers Communications and has had a multi-faceted career as a lawyer, executive, and broadcaster, including serving as the President & CEO of Rogers Cable from 1999-2003 and Rogers Media from 1995-99. He went on to serve as Mayor of Toronto from 2014-23. He succeeds longstanding board member Jeffrey Remedios, who had held the role since 2021. Read more here.
Omar Chalabi has joined Prime Video Canada as Head of Content Acquisition. The former Elevation Pictures’ VP of Digital and TV assumes the role vacated by Shaun Alperin earlier this summer, who is now VP of Acquisitions with NBC Universal’s Peacock.
Nataline Rodrigues is joining Shaftesbury as Vice President, Creative Content. Rodrigues, who served as Head of Originals at Rogers Sports & Media from 2013-22, has also held executive roles at CBC, Canwest, and Alliance Atlantis.
Urania Agas, the Chief Operating Officer of WPP Media, has been named Chair of the Board of Directors of CMDC (Canadian Media Directors Council). Devon MacDonald, President & CEO of the Cairns Oneil agency, has been named Vice-Chair.
Ronny Van Geel has been named Vice President, Cameras at Grass Valley. Van Geel began his career in 1999 at Philips DVS. He joined Grass Valley in 2001 as a Broadcast Camera Hardware Architect and moved into product management in 2005. He most recently served as Director of Product Marketing.
