Michelle van Beusekom has been named the new President and CEO of British Columbia public broadcaster, Knowledge Network. van Beusekom has had a more than 25-year career in broadcasting and film production, including stints with the National Film Board (NFB) as Head of English Language Production, Executive Director of the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC), and as a senior advisor working behind-the-scenes of the launch of Inuktut language broadcaster, Uvagut TV. She’s also held management roles with Women’s Television Network and CBC. She succeeds Rudy Buttignol in the role, who parted ways with the network at the end of June after 15 years, following an equity audit that found a distinct lack of representation in its commissioned programming. She takes up her new appointment, effective Feb. 6. Read more here.
Peter Hill has been hired by Sony Pictures Entertainment as the new Executive Director of TV Distribution for Canada. Hill leaves Corus Entertainment where he was Director of Programming, Global and Drama for the past two years. Prior to that, he served as Director of Acquisitions & Program Strategy at Bell Media, in addition to roles with CBC and BBC Worldwide. Christina Deguara takes on Hill’s former role at Corus, moving over from her most recent position as Senior Manager, Revenue Management.
Tanuka Roy has joined Super Channel as Chief Revenue Officer. Based in Toronto and reporting to President and CEO Don McDonald, Tanuka will be a member of the company’s executive team, responsible for leading Super Channel’s deployment into new platforms and related revenue streams, including FAST channels, and developing relationships with BDU Affiliates through co-operative marketing campaigns. Tanuka arrives at Super Channel from WildTV, where she consulted on the launch of a new Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) app. Prior to that, she was Associate Director, OTT Digital Products at Bell Media for eight years, as product development lead for Crave and led the launch of the DTC versions of TSN and RDS, as well as leading the digital expansion of several Bell Media brands.
Paul Riismandel has joined Signal Hill Insights as Chief Insights Officer and Partner as the audience research company expands its podcast measurement practice. Riismandel arrives from SXM Media, the ad sales division of SiriusXM/Pandora, where he led podcast advertising research for the last three years as Senior Director of Insights. Signal Hill says Riismandel’s focus will be on furthering innovation in podcast measurement, combining ad effectiveness, creative analysis, and audience insights. He’ll continue to be based in Portland, heading up Signal Hill’s American operations, which currently account for about 70% of its business. Read more here.
Allya Davidson is the new Executive Producer of CBC’s The Fifth Estate. With the program as Senior Producer since 2021, Davidson first joined The Fifth Estate in 2013 as an Associate Producer. She went on to work as a producer/director with VICE News and contribute to VICE’s nightly HBO news program, “VICE News Tonight.” She then moved on to CTV’s W5 in 2016, where she worked as a senior producer, winning a 2021 Canadian Screen Award for her investigation into the international criminal gangs behind online romance fraud. Davidson takes up her new role Jan. 30. Diana Swain moves from leading The Fifth Estate for two seasons to the role of Managing Editor of Investigative.
Brittany Greenslade has left Global News Winnipeg after 11 years to join CBC Manitoba as a reporter. The BCIT alum has held various roles at Global since 2011, including hosting and producing weekly public affairs program, Focus Manitoba.
Josh Crabb has joined CBC Manitoba as a reporter. Crabb arrives from CTV News in Winnipeg and Brandon where he’d been a reporter for the last 12 years.
Raji Sohal, the host of weekend mornings on 980 CKNW Vancouver since early 2021, has moved on to another opportunity. Prior to joining CKNW, Sohal was an arts and culture reporter across radio and television with CBC Montreal for 16 years. Market veteran Stirling Faux moves into the 6 a.m. weekend time slot.
Alan Regan has joined CBC Radio Vancouver as an Associate Producer. Regan was previously with 980 CKNW for four years, up until this past June, most recently as the Senior Producer for The Jas Johal Show. Prior to that, he worked as a producer with Newstalk 106-108 Dublin.
Jeremy White has parted ways with Cogeco’s 92.5 The Beat (CKBE-FM) Montreal after nine years where he’s been hosting swing. White, who joined the station at age 17, says it was time for a change. He will continue to voice track evenings on Corus Radio’s Energy 95.3 (CING-FM) Hamilton and host The Jeremy White Podcast.
Jeremy Baker, Charis Hogg and Jason Manning have been released by Pattison Media in Vancouver. The move comes following CKPK-FM’s flip to the NOW! Radio format over the summer and an effort to keep The Peak brand alive on HD Radio and online. Baker and Hogg had been helming the alt-rocker’s morning show since 2021, while Manning had held various on-air roles at the station over the last eight years, in addition to serving as Music Director and APD.
ACTRA National has appointed two new directors to its senior management team. Natalie Clancy takes on the role of Director of Public Affairs and Communications, while Linda Noelle Bush moves into the position of Director of the Performers’ Rights Society and the ACTRA Recording Artists’ Collecting Society. Clancy joins ACTRA from Unifor where she served as Director of Communications for the past five years. She previously spent more than 25 years with the CBC as a journalist, anchor and investigative reporter. Noelle Bush most recently served as a Vice President of Artist and Label Relations at Toronto’s Cadence Music Group. Her background spans major label, publishing and film and television experience, including seven years as Music Manager at children’s entertainment provider WildBrain and five years as Creative Manager at Universal Music Publishing. Read more here.
Carlyn Staudt is among the Blue Ant Media execs promoted in an effort to boost commissioning capacity following a year of growth for the company in the FAST (Free Ad-supported Streaming TV) space. Staudt moves into an expanded role as General Manager, Love Nature and Head of Commissioning, Global Media. Julie Chang has been promoted to EVP, Business Strategy and Co-productions, Global Media, overseeing commercial deal negotiation and strategic co-production opportunities for the original content slate. Sam Linton moves up to VP, Production and Development, Global Media, serving as the main point of contact for production companies developing and producing content for Blue Ant brands and networks. James Manfull has been promoted to Commissioning Editor, Love Nature, responsible for growing the brand’s pipeline of original series and documentaries. Read more here.
The Youth Media Alliance (YMA) has appointed six new members to its board of directors: Julie Derome (Director, Youth and Family Content, Télé-Québec), Agustin Guevara Mastretta (Production Executive, TVO), Drew Mullin (Executive in charge of Production, Children’s Content, CBC), Mike Omelus (Executive Director of Content & Strategy, APTN), and Claude Sauvé (VP, Content and Production, Groupe Média TFO). Athena Georgaklis (Head of Development, Nelvana) will also take on a new role as co-chair. Outgoing board members include Monika Ille (APTN), Nadine Dupont (TFO), Marie McCann (CBC), Marney Malabar (TVO), Nathalie Chamberland (SRC), and Marysol Charbonneau (Télé-Québec).
