REVOLVING DOOR:
Valérie Héroux will join the Stingray management team as Vice-President, Content Acquisition and Programming, effective Nov. 11. Based in Montreal, Héroux will report to Mathieu Péloquin, SVP Marketing and Content, and oversee Stingray’s content and programming team as well as publishing and label relations. Héroux steps into the role from Vidéotron, where she’s been Senior Director of Content and Strategic Partnerships for the last decade, leading strategic negotiations as well as CRTC commercial arbitrage. Read more here.
Jamie Haggarty will broaden his previous role at Deluxe as President, Post Production, and assume the role of President, Deluxe Creative Services, overseeing the company’s newly combined VFX and post-production teams. Deluxe Creative Services will bring together over 3,700 artists, editors and experts across Method Studios in Los Angeles, Montreal and Melbourne, along with Deluxe Post Production companies EFILM, Encore, Stereo D, Level 3, and Editpool, and combined operations in Atlanta, Barcelona, London, Madrid, New York, Pune, Toronto, and Vancouver. The company says the alignment will allow Deluxe’s creative teams, with similar customers and workflows, to work more collaboratively, streamline operations and enhance services. Prior to joining Deluxe in June, Haggarty served as President & CEO of Sim International. He’s also held EVP and VP roles at Rogers and Corus Entertainment. Haggarty will continue to be based out of Los Angeles and report to John Wallace, CEO of Deluxe.
Luc Perreault has retired after 31 years with the The Weather Network and MétéoMédia. Perreault, who most recently held the role of vice-president of distribution and government relations, had been with the network since its launch in 1988 and was part of the transition team when the channels were acquired by Pelmorex in 1992.
Dave Tomlinson is making a return to TSN Radio after getting caught up in layoffs at the network in March. Tomlinson and Jon Abbott will be the TSN Radio broadcast crew for the 2020 World Junior Hockey Championships, live from the Czech Republic. They’ll also be hosting their own weekly hockey show on TSN 1040 (CKST-AM) Vancouver. Tomlinson will also pop up on Vancouver Canucks pre- and post-game coverage throughout the NHL season.
Jeunesse Montgomery-Spencer will be joining Energy 95.3 (CING-FM) Hamilton as midday personality and syndication specialist. Montgomery-Spencer was most recently a weekend/swing announcer at Flow 93.5 (CFXJ-FM) Toronto. She’s also a former on-air personality and music director at The New Hot 89.9 (CIHT-FM) Ottawa. Her first day with Energy 95.3 is Nov. 4.
Luisa Alvarez has joined CTV Vancouver as a multi-skilled journalist. Alvarez arrives from CHEK News in Victoria where she’s been a videojournalist for the past two years.
Krista Sharpe has joined the CTV Kitchener newsroom. Sharpe transfers from CTV Barrie where she’s been a videographer since Sept. 2017. Prior to joining CTV, she worked with Global News Regina and Cogeco Media in Halton, ON.
Laurie Few will join Canada’s National Observer in Toronto as its new Managing Editor. Most recently part of the senior management team at CPAC as Director of Digital and Creative Content, Few is also a former executive producer of Global News’ investigative program 16×9. She also spent 19 years at CTV, including nine as a producer with W5. Carl Meyer, who has been serving as interim Managing Editor for Canada’s National Observer will step into a new role as Ottawa Bureau Chief.
Rachel Rusen Margolis is taking on the role of CEO of Manitoba Film & Music and Manitoba Film Commissioner on a permanent basis. Rusen Margolis had been serving in the role on an interim basis since June when Carole Vivier retired. She has a background in entertainment law and as a partner at MLT Aikins LLP.
Michael Donovan has resigned from the board of directors of DHX Media Ltd. (which recently rebranded as WildBrain). Donovan, the Halifax-based company’s founder, stepped down as CEO in August. Donovan was also a co-founder of Salter Street Films.
RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:
Increased activity in the Canadian podcasting space shows promise of closing the monetization gap, according to the 2019 Canadian Podcast Listener (CPL) survey. Presented at last week’s RAIN Summit in Toronto, Jeff Vidler of Audience Insights Inc. – one of the study’s authors, says Canada is following global trends as the medium matures. With podcast ad revenue in the U.S. rising from $106 million in 2015 and projected to reach $863 million by 2020, Vidler says podcasting in Canada is also poised for steep growth in ad returns, albeit on a smaller scale. Among other findings, the survey reveals that podcast listening in Canada is only growing incrementally. While nearly 11 million adults (37% of the 18+ population) have listened in the past year, up from 35.9%, weekly listening went down slightly from 17.9% to 17.2%. Read more here.
South Huron Hospital Foundation and Jessica’s House 6th Annual myFM Radiothon, heard on 90.5 myFM (CKXM-FM) Exeter, ON, on Oct. 18, raised more than $40,000. The funds will go toward new state-of-the-art beds, defibrillators, a specialized CO monitor, and new CPR mannequins.
The 2nd Annual Fairchild Radio Animal Well-being Awareness Week took place across the multicultural network from Oct. 5-11. Fairchild Radio aired special programming in Vancouver (AM1470 & FM96.1), Calgary (FM94.7) and Toronto (AM1430 & FM88.9) promoting the protection of animal rights. Each station also created on-site or online events to raise funds for animal welfare organizations in their respective cities. Among those events, Vancouver staff raised over $2,800 at a charity sale benefitting the BC SPCA; while the Calgary station teamed up with Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS) and PALS (Pet Access League Society). Fairchild Toronto saw 22 of the stations’ pet-owning DJs share stories about their pets.
Bayshore Broadcasting’s 98 The Beach (CFPS-FM) Port Elgin was part of the local media push in support of the Lamont Sports Park, Saugeen Shores, which won the 2019 Kraft Heinz Project Play grant, sponsored by Kraft Heinz and TSN. The $250,000 award will help build an accessible playground, accessible trails and sports fields. 98 The Beach produced a number of promotional spots, including some voiced by local dignitaries, that were logged in high rotation in the days leading up to the 48-hour vote and over voting weekend. Announcers dropped most other commentary to focus on stirring up excitement in the community. During voting weekend, 98 The Beach also broadcast live from The Plex Rotary Hall.
Canada’s Walk of Fame has announced that multi-platinum, singer-songwriter Alessia Cara will receive the 2019 Allan Slaight Music Impact Honour at the Canada’s Walk of Fame Awards Show on Nov. 23. Music Impact has been added to this distinction (formerly known as the Allan Slaight Honour) to shine a greater light on a Canadian artist who has had a significant music influence within Canada, and whose career in the music industry has been further recognized around the world.
FEATURE: On Benztown CEO Andy Sannemann’s latest blog, he profiles one of the imaging house’s own, Matt Anderson, Director of Custom Imaging. Read their conversation on Anderson’s struggle to embrace Pro Tools and how he’s learned to take production cues from hip hop by “honing in on the flow.” Read more here.
SIGN-OFFS:
Stephen Halinda, 84, on Oct. 19. Halinda started his four decade broadcasting career as a news anchor at CHOW-AM Welland, ON in the early 1960s. He went on to marry colleague Connie Chicorli. From CHOW, Halinda moved on to CKPR Radio and TV in Thunder Bay; then CJOB Winnipeg; and later CBWT-TV Winnipeg, where he served as both an anchor and news director. During his time in Winnipeg, he played a large part in getting cameras and mics into the Manitoba Legislature and served as president of the Winnipeg Press Club. From 1985 and through 2000, Halinda was news director at CFRN-TV Edmonton. He retired to Langley, BC in 2001.
Bob Kingsley, 80, on Oct. 17. Kingsley had a national radio syndication presence for more than four decades as host of American Country Countdown (1978-2006) and Bob Kingsley’s Country Top 40 (2006-19). At its peak, Bob Kingsley’s Country Top 40 was syndicated to nearly 50 Canadian radio stations and about 320 across North America. A 2016 National Radio Hall of Fame inductee and 1998 inductee of the Country Radio Broadcasters Hall of Fame, Kingsley got his start in broadcasting in the late 1950s as a member of the U.S. Air Force. He was named the Country Music Association (CMA) National Broadcast Personality of the Year in 2001 and 2003, and won the 2006 Academy of Country Music Award for On-Air Personality-National. Those awards book-ended his inaugural wins in 1966 and ‘67 for ACM Radio Personality of the Year, during his time on-air at KGBS Los Angeles. Kingsley was also the first recipient of the Grand Ole Opry’s Bob Kingsley Living Legend Award, which has been presented every year since 2014 and benefits the Opry Trust Fund.
Mary Wong, 60, On Oct. 10, following a battle with cancer. Wong was an accomplished editor and sound recordist. She initially joined CBC Vancouver as a film editor in 1978, and went on to work with CBC Toronto, covering world events like the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Noriega Invasion, and First Gulf War. Among the long list of programs Wong worked on were The Fifth Estate, The Nature of Things and Marketplace, in addition to 2015 docuseries Keeping Canada Alive and China Rises (2006).
Ken Lundgren, 78, on Oct. 9. Lundgren’s broadcast career started at CKWX-AM Vancouver where he served as copy chief in the late 1970s. He went on to become the Director of Spoken Word Content at CJAZ-FM Vancouver. Over the years he also worked overseas, as a commercial producer at London, England news/talk station LBC, and as a morning show host at Commercial Radio Hong Kong, and voiceover artist at TVB (Television Broadcasts Limited) in Hong Kong. From 1999 – 2010, Lundgren taught writing, advertising, and marketing at Langara College in Vancouver.
Carol Burgoyne, 76, on Oct. 3. Based in BC’s Lower Mainland, Burgoyne had a long career in film distribution that started in the late 1960s, up until her retirement in 2003. Over the years, Burgoyne worked for Paramount Pictures, Astral/Bellevue, and Criterion. She was a member of the Canadian Picture Pioneers and was recognized with their Silver Spotlight Award for both her industry and charitable contributions in 2014.
TV/FILM/VIDEO:
Women in Film and Television – Toronto (WIFT-T) has announced this year’s Crystal Award honourees, recognizing those who’ve made significant contributions to Canada’s screen-based media industry. They include former TIFF VP Maxine Bailey, Cinefest Sudbury executive director Tammy Frick, Solo Productions producer Mary Young Leckie, Oya Media Group co-founder Alison Duke, writer/producer/showrunner Esta Spalding, and Ontario Creates program consultant Kim Gibson. The 32nd annual WIFT-T Crystal Awards Gala, hosted by CBC Radio 2 weekend host Shakura S’Aida, will take place on Dec. 3 in Toronto.
GENERAL:
LISTEN: On the latest episode of Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast, Lenore Gibson, Chair of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB). Gibson, who doubles as Senior Regulatory Counsel for Bell, covers the CAB’s current lobbying efforts on behalf of commercial radio and television broadcasters, and the organization’s designs on establishing a greater presence in Ottawa, among other issues facing Canada’s private broadcasters.
Duncan Stewart, Director, TMT Research, Deloitte Canada will be the opening speaker at the Ontario Association of Broadcasters’ (OAB) CONNECTION 2019 Conference. Stewart, co-author of Deloitte’s annual Tech, Media and Telecom Predictions report, will present selected prediction topics for the broadcast industry and offer a sneak peek at some 2020 predictions. Find the full Nov. 7 speakers lineup here.
Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) Annual Leadership Excellence Awards are open for nominations until Dec. 14. WCT Awards include Woman of the Year and Company of the Year. More info here.
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