Revolving Door

Originally published in the Jan. 18, 2024 edition of The Weekly Briefing

Melinda Rogers-Hixon and Martha Rogers have made the decision to retire from the Rogers Board of Directors as part of a private settlement between members of the Rogers family. Rogers-Hixon joined the Rogers board in 2002 and was named Deputy Chair in 2018. She previously spent 15 years in management at Rogers Communications in roles including Senior Vice President of Strategy and Development and founder of Rogers Venture Partners in 2011. Martha Rogers joined the board in 2008 and has served as Chair of the ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) committee since 2021. 

Dany Meloul is CBC/Radio-Canada’s new Executive Vice-President of French Services. Meloul has been serving in the position in an acting capacity since Oct. 2023 when Michel Bissonnette abruptly departed the public broadcaster. Previously, she had served as General Manager, Television since Oct. 2019. Prior to joining the public broadcaster, she held the positions of Vice-President, Programming, for French-language television and Deputy Chief Legal Officer at Bell Media; and Vice-President, Legal, Regulatory Affairs and Affiliate Relations, for Astral TV channels. Read more here.

Mike Miner, Executive in Charge of Production, CBC Docs, is among those impacted by job cuts underway at the public broadcaster. Miner had been with CBC since 2011 when he joined the corporation to help launch CBC Music. Prior to CBC, he was a senior producer at TVO.

Anthony Germain has announced his upcoming departure from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador afternoon current affairs show, On The Go, in March. Germain has been with the public broadcaster for 32 years, starting his career with CBC in Halifax in 1991. He moved on to report in Moncton, Saint John and Quebec City, and for the local morning show in Ottawa, where he also hosted The House. Germain joined CBC NL in 2011, initially as the host of the St. John’s morning show, following five years as CBC’s foreign correspondent in China.

Omayra Issa is joining the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) as an anchor at the end of the month. A senior reporter with CBC News, Issa has been working with the public broadcaster since 2014, including co-creating and producing award-winning multi-platform series Black on the Prairies. Born in Morocco and raised in Niger and Saskatchewan, she started her career with Radio-Canada in Saskatchewan, anchoring Téléjournal Saskatchewan and filing across television, radio and digital in both French and English. Read more here.

Brishti Basu says her one-year contract with CBC News has been cut short by budget cuts after just five months. Basu signed on as a senior writer with CBCNews.ca in August. She previously reported for Overstory Media Group’s Capital Daily in Victoria and briefly served as deputy editor at New Canadian Media.

Lauren McNabb has moved into the role of Executive Producer at 680 CJOB Winnipeg, meaning she’ll be departing The Start with Mackling, Megarry & McNabb. Brett Megarry and Greg Mackling will continue co-hosting the morning show. McNabb, a former Global National Middle East correspondent, has been with CJOB since 2018. 

Josie Dye has joined the lineup on Toronto’s CHUM 104.5. The Josie Dye Show is airing weekdays from 3 – 6 p.m. Dye, most recently, had been heard in mornings on Indie88 (CIND-FM) Toronto for the last seven years. She’s best known to GTA listeners for her 14-year run as an announcer on 102.1 The Edge (CFNY-FM). Read more here.

Meredith Shaw is coming back to radio as the host of The Feel Good Brunch, a new Sunday morning show set to air across Rogers Sports & Media’s Adult Contemporary stations. The new show will air Sundays from 9 a.m. to noon on 98.1 CHFI Toronto, STAR 95.9 (CHFM-FM) Calgary, CHYM 96.7 Kitchener, Ocean 98.5 (CIOC-FM) Victoria, STAR 98.3 (CKSR-FM) Chilliwack, KiSS 107.7 (CFRV-FM) Lethbridge, Mountain FM 107.1/102.1 Squamish & Whistler (CISQ-FM), Easy 101.3 (CKOT-FM) Tillsonburg, and 106.5 Mountain FM (CHMN-FM) Canmore & Banff. Shaw takes on the new show in addition to her co-hosting duties on Citytv’s Breakfast Television. Read more here.

Ted Bird, morning show host at Lite 106.7 (CHSV-FM) Montreal, and the co-host of Standing By: The Terry and Ted Podcast with Terry DiMonte, has added morning duties at Ottawa’s Lite 98.5 (CJWL-FM) to his remit. Former Lite Ottawa morning host Codi Jeffreys moves to middays across Evanov Communications’ Hot Country network in Clarence/Rockland, Brantford, Hawkesbury, and the GTA.

Taylor Tsakoniatis is joining Mark LeBel on the morning show on London’s 103.1 Fresh Radio (CFHK-FM). The Morning Rush with Mark and Taylor will air weekday mornings from 6 to 10 a.m. LeBel has been waking Londoners up on Fresh Radio since 2017, while Tsakoniatis is a former producer for The Morning Show with Devon Peacock on AM 980 CFPL, and also works with the London Knights Hockey Club as a host on the Ontario Hockey League team’s Knights TV. 

Hank Idsinga is joining 640 Toronto (CFIQ-AM) and Global News as a regular commentator. The retired Toronto Police Services (TPS) homicide investigator will discuss items in the news related to crime, policing, community safety and policy review. Idsinga, who retired at the end of 2023 after 34 years with TPS, has investigated some of the city’s most prolific homicide suspects including “The Village” serial killer Bruce McArthur.

David McTeague has joined CINA Radio Group as Brand Manager and FLOW 98.7 (CKFG-FM) Toronto as an Account Executive. McTeague was most recently Promotions Manager and Sponsorship Development Lead at JAZZ.FM91 (CJRT-FM), and has worked at FACTOR, and held Marketing & Promotions roles at the former G98.7FM, FLOW 93.5 (CFXJ-FM), Newstalk 1010 (CJRB-FM), and Blackburn Radio.

Michel Jodouin has joined Cogeco Media’s sales team as Director of Local Sales in Montreal. Jodouin arrives from Bell Media where he most recently held the position of Deputy Director of Local Sales for Montreal, Montérégie and Estrie. He’s also held sales positions with Astral Radio and CKOI-FM Verdun, Que. 

Pat Gonsalves has joined REV TV, Canada’s motorsports network, as an account rep. Gonsalves, who is in the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame for his motorsports announcing work on TV and at various speedways, retired from Corus Entertainment in 2021 where he’d been a Toronto-based radio sales rep since 1984.

Big Ginger, aka Kieran Wilkie, is expanding his on-air footprint with Pattison Media. In addition to Beach Radio 103.1 (CKQQ-FM) Kelowna, he’ll be heard weekdays from 2 – 6 p.m. on the Beach Radio stations in Prince Albert, Melfort, and North Battleford, SK.

Jennifer McGuire has moved into the role of Managing Director at Pink Triangle Press (PTP). The former CBC News General Manager and Editor-in-Chief, has been with the publisher since Jan. 2022, initially in the role of Chief Content officer.

Habiba Nosheen has been appointed to the role of the Newsday/Laventhol Visiting Assistant Professor of Journalism at Columbia Journalism School. The former co-host of CBC’s The Fifth Estate, and a 60 Minutes and PBS Frontline contributor, Nosheen is a three-time Emmy winner and Peabody Award recipient. Most recently, she was the host and creator of eight-part investigative podcast, Conviction: The Disappearance of Nuseiba Hasan for Spotify and Gimlet Media. 

Esfandiar Baraheni, the lead NBA reporter for the SDPN podcast network, has been laid off. Baraheni, who is also a freelance sideline reporter for the Canadian Elite Basketball League, Forbes, and Raptors Republic, had been with SDPN since November.

Bob Kronbauer has announced he’s stepping away from Vancouver Is Awesome after 16 years as publisher and editor-in-chief to work as an independent creator. Kronbauer leaves VIA in the hands of Glacier Media Group, which he sold to in 2017. Managing Editor Lindsay William-Ross will head up editorial. Kronbauer will continue to produce content on TikTok and Instagram, launching a new Patreon community with which he’ll be sharing exclusive content.

Heidi Tao Yang has been named Hot Docs new Managing Director. Yang has been with Hot Docs since 2015, initially as Industry Funds Manager. Most recently, she’d served as Director of Funds & Labs, overseeing the disbursement of over $4M in funding to filmmakers. Over the past 18 months, she has executive produced 15 short films, including seven for the second series of Citizen Minutes—a Hot Docs-produced collection of short Canadian social impact docs, now streaming on Crave and CBC Gem. Yang also designed and developed the inaugural Hot Docs Incubator, a Netflix-supported program tailored for documentary filmmakers showcasing creative and market potential. 

Marine Ksadzhikyan has been appointed to the newly-created role of VP, Content Sales, at Blue Ant Studios as it expands its global rights team. The appointment coincides with Blue Ant Studios’ upward trajectory of sales in the U.S. Based in Los Angeles, Marine reports to Bryan Gabourie, SVP International Sales and Partnerships, where she will be focused on identifying further growth opportunities across all platforms in the U.S. Her previous roles include EVP, Sales at Rive Gauche Television and Director of International Sales at GRB Entertainment. She was also an International Sales Consultant for Rocket Rights, out of the UK.

Jennifer Frees has been named to the new role of Chief Business & Marketing Officer at TIFF, overseeing Brand & Media, Development, Loyalty & Engagement, and Corporate Partnerships. Frees was most recently working with the Toronto Board of Trade in business development, but previously worked with TIFF for a decade, ending her tenure as VP of Partnerships. Judy Lung, currently TIFF’s Vice President, Public Relations & Communications, has been promoted to the newly-created role of Vice President, Strategy, Communications & Stakeholder Relations. 

The Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) has added three media leaders to its Board of Directors: Lisa Kramer, President, International TV Licensing, Paramount Global Content Distribution; Bing Chen, Executive Chairman, Founder AU Holdings, CEO & Co-Founder, Gold House and General Partner, Co-Founder Aum Group; and Patrick Vien, Group Managing Director, International, A+E Networks. Long-standing member Sandra Dewey, former WarnerMedia President of Business Operations and Productions for HBO Max, TNT, TBS and truTV, is retiring from her position on the board.