Michael Melling, CTV’s Vice President of News, is on leave, pending the outcome of a third-party workplace review first announced on Aug. 19. Richard Gray, Regional GM, Eastern Region, has stepped in as Acting VP of News, taking interim responsibility for news, information and current events programming. Since the unceremonious departure of CTV National News Chief Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme from the network, Melling has been the favoured target of relentless public backlash to the move, in part for suggestions that he questioned LaFlamme’s decision to go grey. His case wasn’t helped by a letter sent to company executives early last week, on behalf of a number of CTV journalists, stating that both their confidence in his leadership and morale have suffered since he succeeded Wendy Freeman in the VP of News role. Read more here. Meanwhile, an open letter to the board of directors and management of BCE and Bell Canada was printed in the weekend edition of The Globe and Mail, in support of LaFlamme, calling on Bell to ‘make things right.’
Hayden Mindell, Vice President of Television Programming & Content, and Paul Kaye, VP, Music Brands & In-house Production, will join the Senior Leadership Team as part of the changes at Rogers, overseeing Citytv, OMNI, and non-sports speciality programming across platforms, while also assuming responsibility for News, which will continue to be led by Dave Budge, VP, News & Information. Kaye assumes responsibility for all Music Radio, In-house productions, Breakfast Television and Cityline, while also adding Frequency Podcast Network to his plate. Engineering and Operations teams now fall under the banner of the Media Technology Group under Pierre Fortin, VP, Media Technology & Innovation, with Glenn Torrence, Senior Director, Operations, Engineering, and Infrastructure and Lisa Ball, Director, Broadcast Systems & Facilities, now direct reports to Fortin. Adam Bower, Director of Marketing, will report directly to division President Colette Watson in the interim. Pacific Content will fall under the auspices of Chief Revenue Officer Alan Dark, with its incoming head to report to Janice Smith, VP, Radio Sales. Read more here.
Andrea Goldstein has left her role as Senior Director of Communications at Rogers Sports & Media to join the Toronto Blue Jays where she is now Vice President, Communications & Baseball Media. Goldstein had been in her previous role for 11 years.
Tara Mora has been appointed to the newly-created role of Senior Director, Radio, Talk and Music Programming at CBC. Mora will report to Jennifer Dettman, Executive Director, Unscripted Content, leading the strategy, programming and development of the unscripted team’s audio content and schedules for CBC Radio One, CBC Music and CBC Listen, in addition to overseeing CBC Music, CBC Books, q, Now or Never, and Under the Influence. She’ll also lead development for new unscripted audio content, excluding CBC News and Current Affairs and CBC Podcasts. Mora has been with CBC since 2013, starting as an Account Manager with CBC’s Digital Operations team, before quickly moving into the role of Executive Producer, CBC Books and Literary Partnerships, where she’s credited with elevating programs like Canada Reads, The Next Chapter and Writers & Company. She began her career in the music industry, holding various roles with Warner Music Canada and MapleMusic Recordings. Read more here.
Allia McLeod is joining CBC News as Senior Advisor of Development and Production. McLeod will lead development projects, special productions, and be a leader within the CBC News Studios team working across news, current affairs and local. She was most recently Head of Development & Partnerships at Yahoo and prior to that held Senior Producer roles at Verizon Media and Bell Media.
Teena Monteleone is moving into the role of Corporate Managing Editor, assisting Pattison Media’s 19 news and information portals. Monteleone has been with Pattison since 2016, as Director of Information Programming and morning show co-host on 101.5 Beach Radio (CHQX-FM) Prince Albert, SK. Prior to joining Pattison, she was News Director at CTV Prince Albert.
Kevin Bissett, Fredericton correspondent at The Canadian Press (CP), has retired after 21 years with the wire service. Bissett started his more than 40-year career in private radio, including CFBC-FM Saint John, CJYC Saint John, CIHI Fredericton and CKHJ Fredericton.
Virginie Ann is joining CBC North as a reporter in Whitehorse, YK. Ann has been a Montreal based reporter and editor with The Canadian Press (CP) since April 2021.
Teri Fikowski is taking a year off from CTV Calgary to pursue a Master’s Degree in Dublin. Fikowski has been with the station since 2019. Her career started at 660 News (CFFR-AM) Calgary before moving on to stints with Global News in Lethbridge and Regina.
Mona Mahmoud is joining CTV Morning Live Vancouver as the show’s new community host. Mahmoud arrives from CTV Vancouver Island where she’s been a producer and anchor since 2020.
Corné Van Hoepen has resigned from Global News to pursue freelance work in Lebanon as the country continues to endure an economic and political crisis. Van Hoepen had been with Global since 2020 working as a digital news editor and content coordinator.
Kasia Bodurka is moving on from Global BC where she’s been a weather host since 2017. Bodurka has also worked with The Shopping Channel (TSC) and as an anchor and reporter at The Weather Network.
John Biggs is moving from afternoon drive to mornings on Evanov Communications’ Lite 92 (CKPC-FM) Brantford, beginning Sept. 6, as longtime morning show host Ed McMahon departs the company. McMahon has been in mornings for 35 years, first on CKPC-AM, before the move to FM and Jewel 92 in 2009 ( which was rebranded as Lite 92 last year). Biggs will be joined by a new co-host to be announced in the next few weeks.
Kalie Mac (MacIntosh) has resurfaced at 106.1 The Goat (CKLM-FM) Lloydminster in afternoon drive. Mac was formerly in the afternoon time slot and served as music director at the station, prior to joining 94.3 NOW! Radio (CHNW-FM) Winnipeg in evenings and weekends last October.
Kieran Oudshoorn is leaving Canadaland after a year with the company as Managing Editor of Podcasts. Prior to joining Canadaland last fall, Oudshoorn had been working with CBC as a reporter and editor in Victoria and Iqaluit.
Kyle Fulton is joining the Globe and Mail full-time as a Podcast Producer. Fulton has been a freelance producer for the last five years, including TIFF Long Take, and other content for the Globe and Mail, Maclean’s, and Cineplex.
Rachel Gilbert is the new host of The London Free Press podcast, succeeding Lynzee Barnett in the role. Gilbert left Pure Country 93 (CJBX-FM) London in July as she and morning show co-host Dave Collins decided to end The Dave & Rachel Show after 11 years. Gilbert also runs her own voiceover business, Voiced By Rachel.
Chanda Chevannes is joining the National Film Board (NFB) as Executive Producer of the Ontario Studio in Toronto. Chevannes has worked as an independent filmmaker, writer and educator for more than two decades, producing and directing 14 documentaries aimed at amplifying women’s voices, including award-winning features Living Downstream and UNFRACTURED. She’s also developed and facilitated creative filmmaking labs for organizations including the DOC Institute, the Toronto Queer Film Festival and the Toronto Public Library. A graduate of Sheridan College’s Media Arts Program, she is currently earning her MFA in Film Production at York University.
