Revolving Door

Harvard Broadcasting has eliminated its General Manager positions across the chain as it looks to minimize the revenue impacts of COVID-19. The layoffs include Tamara Konrad, who had been GM in Edmonton for the past decade; Craig Picton, GM for the company’s stations in Fort McMurray for the last five years; and Jason Huschi, GM in Regina, who’d been with the company since 1985. Darren Robson, program director for MY 92.1 (CHMX-FM) and 104.9 The Wolf (CFWF-FM) in Regina, and Sara Parker, PD at Kraze 101.3 (CKIK-FM) and X100.7 (CKEX-FM) in Red Deer, were also casualties.

Andy Ross loses his GM title in Saskatoon, but will stay on as Program Director for 96.3 CRUZ FM (CFWD-FM), while adding PD duties for Regina. Chris Meyers, PD for Harvard’s Edmonton stations, is now also PD for Kraze, while Christian Hall, PD at Calgary’s X92.9 (CFEX-FM) and National Program Manager, adds programming X100.7 to his duties. The restructuring includes the creation of VPs who will oversee their departments across all markets. They include Hall, now VP Brands and Content; Karen Broderick, VP Sales – Saskatchewan; Gary Brasil, VP Sales – Alberta; Angela Prokop, VP Finance and Administration; and Chris Terpsma, VP Engineering and Infrastructure. Read more here.

Ben Mulroney, who has anchored CTV entertainment magazine etalk for the last 18 years, has announced he’ll be stepping away from the show to “create space for a new perspective or a new voice.” Mulroney, who made the announcement on CTV Your Morning, started out by acknowledging “the situation surrounding my wife Jessica.” Bell Media cut ties with Jessica Mulroney earlier this month following an online disagreement with Black social media influencer and blogger Sasha Exeter around the Black Lives Matter movement. Mulroney indicated that while he’ll no longer anchor etalk, he’ll continue to contribute to the show, hosting red carpets and taking on other special projects for Bell Media, in addition to his co-hosting duties on Your Morning. Read more here.

Geneviève Levasseur has been named Senior Director of ICI Musique. Up until recently, Levasseur was president and creative director at Ingrid Ingrid, a production company that specializes in designing interactive experiences for physical spaces. Since 2013, Levasseur has also been a strategic digital consultant for SODEC (Société de développement des entreprises culturelles), the National Film Board, APTN, and Just for Laughs, among other cultural organizations. Levasseur previously worked at Radio-Canada for 13 years and formerly was head of programming and development for ICI Premiere.

Dorothy Alexandre has been appointed Senior Specialist and Outreach Coordinator on ICI Radio-Canada’s Community Inclusion Team. Alexandre’s mandate will be to open doors for diverse talent at Radio-Canada, identify candidates, and bring them to the attention of in-house content managers and independent producers with whom Radio-Canada does business. Alexandre is the founding president of Inspiration Communication, and a former journalist and researcher with TVA. 

Drex aka Justin Wilcomes has announced he’s stepping away from his Corus Radio late night show The Shift with Drex to pursue other opportunities. Wilcomes has been with Corus since 2013 and hosted the late night show for the last two years.

Brock Lewis and Drew Dalby are leaving Regina’s 104.9 The Wolf (CFWF-FM) to head to Winnipeg where they’ll launch The Brock and Dalby Show in the afternoon slot on 92 CITI FM in August. Lewis had been with the station for the last two years, while Dalby leaves The Wolf after six years as afternoon drive host and music director.

Leah Ramsay and Seth Armstrong have been released from mornings at Harvard’s My 92.1 (CHMX-FM) Regina. Both joined the station in a reshuffle in June 2018, when Armstrong was initially paired on the morning show with Rustie Dean. Ramsay joined the morning show in April 2019 when Dean stepped back from radio to spend more time with her family.

Crystal Darche has left Corus Radio Edmonton after relocating to Kelowna with her family. Darche first joined Fresh 92.5 (now 92.5 the Chuck) (CKNG-FM) in 2015, and has also been voicetracking middays for the last few years on both 93.1 Fresh (CHAY-FM) Barrie and Peggy 99.1 (CFPG-FM) Winnipeg. Most recently, she did mat leave fill-in for Jacqueline (Jack) Sweeney on CISN morning show, CISN in the Mornings.

Scooter aka Scott Shantz is doing summer fill-in on 102.9 The Peak (CKPK-FM) Vancouver. Scooter was part of the Z95.3 (CKZZ-FM) morning show, up until this past March, when the station made a move to bring in Kid Carson and Vancouver actor and comedian Jordan McCloskey.

Lauren Fink is leaving her helicopter traffic reporter position with the Canadian Traffic Network (CTN) after four years. Fink has been a regular contributor to Global Edmonton, as well as Corus Radio stations Global News Radio 880, CISN, 630 CHED and 92.5 The Chuck.

Dalia Ashry has departed CityNews Edmonton. She’d been a VJ with the station for the past two years. A Seneca College grad, Ashry previously hosted her own YouTube channel “ViewPoint tv.”

Charles Gabriel has been appointed to the newly-created position of Vice-President and Head of U.S. Advertising Sales for WildBrain Spark, the digital media division of WildBrain. Gabriel brings over 15 years of experience in digital advertising to the role aimed at expanding WildBrain’s digital AVOD sales efforts to its current partners, U.S. media agencies and brands reaching kids and families. Gabriel has previously held roles with AOL and Disney, as well as multi-platform publishers like First Media. Based in Los Angeles and New York, he’ll report to Managing Director Jon Gisby.

Melissa Williamson has been named SVP, Scripted Content, at Blue Ant Studios’ Saloon Media. The newly-created role sees Williamson oversee development and production of all scripted series across comedy and drama. Based in Toronto, she reports to Managing Director Michael Kot. Prior to joining Saloon Media, Williamson was President of Toronto-based prodco Pier 21 Films, most recently serving as Executive Producer on The Beaverton for CTV.  

David Casey is joining Cineflix Productions in the newly-created role of Head of Current, in which he’ll oversee creative for Cineflix’s factual slate. Casey was formerly Executive Producer of Television and Digital Media with Wilderness Productions and show runner for Coyote Peterson: Brave The Wild.