Suhana Meharchand has retired from CBC after 36 years with the public broadcaster. Meharchand started her career at CHCH-TV Hamilton and CBET Windsor before moving on to CTV affiliate CJOH-TV Ottawa. She joined CBC in 1987, starting as the host and producer of What’s New, a national current affairs program for youth. She went on to anchor the Saturday Evening News for Toronto-London-Windsor and then the CBC Evening News at CBC Toronto. Following its cancellation in 2000, Meharchand moved on to anchor on CBC Newsworld and host Saturday Report. She’d most recently been hosting CBC News Now on CBC News Network.
Evan Solomon has been named the new publisher of GZERO Media, a global affairs news site and subsidiary of New York City-headquartered political risk analysis firm, Eurasia Group. Solomon will also serve as a member of the Management Committee of Eurasia Group. The veteran political journalist has most recently been hosting the nationally syndicated “Evan Solomon Show” on the iHeartRadio/Bell Media talk radio network, in addition to hosting CTV News Channel nightly political program “Power Play” and “Question Period.” Solomon will continue to serve as a special correspondent for the network with a focus on Canadian politics and global affairs. He’ll be based in the company’s New York City office. Read more here.
Terrie Tweddle has returned to Rogers Communications as SVP Communications & Sustainability, the role she previously held before joining the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan as Global Head of Marketing & Communications in late 2020. Tweddle was previously with Rogers for 12 years, the first eight as Vice-President, Communications & Social Media before being promoted to the SVP role in 2016. Prior to that, she held senior roles at Sunlife and Visa Canada.
Amanda Connolly is taking on a new role as Managing Editor of Politics & Breaking News for Global News. An online political reporter for the last five years, she’ll continue to be based in Ottawa.
Jessica Ng is the new host of CBC Radio One Edmonton afternoon show, Radio Active. Longtime CBC Edmonton reporter Min Dhariwal also joins the program as its traffic reporter. Ng was previously an anchor and newsreader on Ontario Morning and Fresh Air and has done fill-in hosting and producing on World This Hour. Radio Active was previously hosted by Adrienne Pan, who passed away in January at age 43. Rod Kurtz, the show’s former traffic reporter, had been filling in, but retired at the end of September.
Kristy Snell is taking a year-long leave of absence from CBC Montreal to begin a one-year appointment as a Journalist-in-Residence at Concordia University teaching and working on a project focused on Indigenous Education. Shawn Lyons will be filling in for Snell on CBC Montreal morning newscasts.
John Lu is returning home to Winnipeg as the host of the Winnipeg Jets on TSN and Winnipeg Bureau reporter. Lu has been with the network since 2000 and had been covering the Montréal Canadiens since 2007.
.@DanRTSN started off tonight’s #NHLJets broadcast by introducing himself as the new full-time voice of Winnipeg Jets on TSN pic.twitter.com/799JIW3lRw
— Winnipeg Sports Talk (@SportsTalkWPG) September 26, 2022
Dan Robertson is the new full-time voice of the Winnipeg Jets on TSN, succeeding the now retired Dennis Beyak who held the role for 11 seasons. Robertson has spent the last eight seasons as the English play-by-play radio broadcaster for TSN 690 (CKGM-AM) covering the Montreal Canadiens. Hailing from Trenton, NS, he was previously a sports producer for EastLink Community TV, covering Atlantic University Sport and handling play-by-play for the QMJHL Halifax Mooseheads.
George Rusic has moved from Toronto to Calgary with Sportsnet to host the Big Show with Rusic and Rose in the morning time slot on Sportsnet 960 (CFAC-AM) as part of a revamped fall lineup. Rusic will also host sports betting show, Inside the Lines, airing Sunday mornings on Sportsnet 960, Sportsnet the Fan 590 (CJCL-FM) Toronto, and Sportsnet 650 (CISL-AM) Vancouver. Sportsnet 960 is also debuting Hockey Central 960 in the 1 p.m. MT time slot, Tuesdays to Fridays, hosted by The Athletic’s Hailey Salvian.
Good morning from @GlobalBC 👋🏼 pic.twitter.com/adbdNFx9vt
— Sonia Sunger (@SoniaSunger) October 4, 2022
Sonia Sunger has returned to the Global BC anchor desk. Sunger comes back from an extended maternity leave that began in March 2020.
Randi-Marie Adams is joining Global Okanagan as a video journalist. Adams arrives in Kelowna from Prince George where she’d held the same role with Pattison Media CKPG-TV since early 2021. Prior to that, she was with Bell Media’s CJDC in Dawson Creek, BC.
Alana Pickrell has left CTV News Northern Ontario for CTV Atlantic where she’s now a video journalist, based in Moncton. Pickrell had been with CTV, based in Sudbury, since early 2020. Prior to that, she was a VJ and weekend anchor for TBT News in Thunder Bay.
Stephanie Swensrude is leaving CFJC-TV Kamloops after just 10 months to return home to Edmonton and Global News as a reporter. Swensrude is a 2021 NAIT Radio & Television grad.
Jesse Brown, the publisher of Canadaland, has announced he’s stepping down as Editor-in-Chief. Brown, who founded the news site and podcast network in 2013, has posted for the organization’s top editorial role, saying “for years now my job at Canadaland has been podcast host/reporter/publisher/editor-in-chief. It’s a bit much.”
Danger (aka Darren Grieve) has a new show on SONiC RADiO (CKKS-FM) Vancouver as host of RessureXtion Radio Sundays, airing from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Grieve also serves as an airborne traffic reporter for Rogers’ CityNews stations in Vancouver. SONiC Morning Show Producer Andrew Berridge also joins the lineup Sunday nights at 9 p.m. with the New Music Discovery Show.
Mira Laurence is the new co-host of the Ocean 98.5 (CIOC-FM) morning show, alongside AJ Cruze, starting Oct. 14. Laurence was most recently a rinkside Vancouver Canucks reporter for Sportsnet 650 (CISL-AM) Vancouver. She’s best known for her 14 years with CTV Vancouver Island where she was a host and reporter.
Heather Prosak has joined Evanov Communications’ HOT 100.5 (CFJL-FM) Winnipeg in middays. Program Director Adam West was formerly heard in the time slot. Prosak was the former Program Director and morning show host at Stingray’s XL 103 (CFXL-FM) Calgary, up until parting ways with the station in April to launch Knowledge Media.
John Kennedy has left Klondike Broadcasting to join The Canadian Press (CP) in Toronto as a reporter/editor. Kennedy, a 2018 Humber College grad, had been a reporter and anchor with 96.1 The Rush (CKRW-FM) Whitehorse for the last four years.
Jamie Chisholm is Acadia Broadcasting’s new Director of Digital Marketing for New Brunswick. Chisholm has been with Acadia since 2019, serving as the Sales Director of its Huddle.Today platform. Acadia says he’ll continue to support those customers, while helping new customers assess their marketing needs to complement existing radio campaigns with digital offerings. Prior to joining Acadia, Chisholm had a 16-year sales career with Xerox.
Vanessa Webster has left radio to join Linamar Corporation in Guelph as an apprentice electrician. A 2019 Humber College Radio grad, Webster had been working as a creative writer and producer with Byrnes Communications’ The River 105.1 (CJED-FM) and 101.1 More FM (CFLZ-FM) Niagara, as well as 104.7 Heart FM (CIHR-FM) Woodstock for the past few years.
Tammy Frick, the longtime Executive Director of Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, will take on the role of CEO of The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (the Canadian Academy), effective Oct. 31. Frick succeeds Beth Janson who left the organization in April. Frick is also a founding member of Music and Film in Motion (MFM), which transitioned to Cultural Industries Ontario North (CION) in 2014, and where she has served a secondary role as Associate Executive Director. Louis Calabro, who has been serving as Interim CEO for the last six months, will return to his position as Vice President of Programming & Awards. Read more here.
Matthew Cowling has been named VP, Marketing & Growth for Paramount+, based in Toronto. Cowling had been Head of Marketing for Prime Video in Canada for the last year, following seven years at Bell Media where he had served as Director of Marketing. Cowling has also held senior marketing roles at The Weather Network, CBC, and Universal Music Group in Australia.
Lisa Broadfoot has been appointed Vice-President, Industry and Business Affairs at the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA). She’ll join the association’s senior leadership team and play a strategic role leading business affairs support for CMPA members across project development, financing, production planning, sales, and business growth. Prior to joining the CMPA, Broadfoot oversaw production financing at Boat Rocker Media for its slate of kids and family, scripted, and animated productions, while negotiating production service agreements with clients like Nickelodeon, Spin Master, Mattel, and Netflix.
