REVOLVING DOOR:
Stuart McLean, host and writer of CBC’s The Vinyl Cafe is suspending his popular radio show to focus on his cancer treatment. McLean was diagnosed a year ago with melanoma and revealed in a post on his website that his first round of immunotherapy treatment was not completely successful. He’ll undergo another round in the new year. Instead of airing repeats, McLean says he wants to step aside to make room for others’ work. As of January, there will be no new episodes of The Vinyl Cafe on CBC Radio, SiriusXM satellite radio or podcasts. NPR in the U.S. will air Vinyl Cafe Stories episodes until the end of February.
As reported in Broadcast Dialogue last week, Maureen Holloway will be replacing Erin Davis on the 98.1 CHFI-FM Toronto morning show. Holloway announced in November, she was ending her run at Q107 (CILQ-FM). As part of the changes, CHFI morning news anchor Steve Roberts has been restructured. Prior to joining Rogers in 2014, Roberts worked for more than eight years with Bell Media’s Virgin Radio (CKFM-FM) and NewsTalk 1010 (CFRB-AM) Toronto. Christine Cardoso will be joining Darren Lamb and Holloway on the morning show. Cardoso is best known for her 10-year stint as one half of Mike and Christine in the Morning on 97.3 EZ Rock (now CHBM-FM).
Blue Ant Media has appointed David Brown as CEO of Omnia Media. Blue Ant acquired the digital video network earlier this year. Brown is the former head of YouTube Canada and most recently headed corporate development at Victorious. Omnia Media’s executive team expansion also includes the appointment of Dan Lubetkin to chief content officer. Lubetkin is known for his work on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Comedy Central’s Workaholics and Adam Devine’s House Party. Also new to Omnia is Greg Kampanis who joins the team as SVP of operations and Mike Waghalter as SVP business development. Kampanis joins Omnia from izo (formerly DanceOn). Waghalter was most recently head of business development for BuzzFeed Motion Pictures.
CKNW NewsTalk 980 Vancouver is making some changes to its Saturday afternoon line-up in the new year. Beginning Jan. 7, Tim Dickert will host CKNW Weekend from noon to 3 p.m., with The Best of Charles Adler Tonight running in the 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. time slot.
Dan Rioux, VP business systems at Pelmorex Media Inc., which includes flagship brands The Weather Network, MétéoMédia and El Tiempo (Spain), retired Dec. 12, 39 years to the day he entered work life. Dan had been with Pelmorex since 2011.
Terry MacLeod is retiring as host of Weekend Mornings on CBC Radio One Winnipeg. His last day is Dec. 19. MacLeod has been in the position since 2013 after a broadcasting career that started in the early 1980s. The Charlottetown, PEI native started as a freelancer for CBC in Thunder Bay, ON in 1983, moving to the network as a story producer on Morningside with Peter Gzowski in 1988. MacLeod went on to host and co-host Information Radio in Winnipeg for almost 20 years and has guest hosted CBC Radio Toronto’s Metro Morning, Morningside in the Summer, Sounds like Canada and As It Happens. He’s also worked in Indigenous language radio with WaWaTa in Sioux Lookout, ON and Taqrimuit Nipingat in Nunavik and hosted specials and documentaries for BBC Scotland and PBS Prairie Public Television.
Jonathan Crowe is leaving CBC Newfoundland & Labrador after 11 years as co-host of supper hour television news show Here & Now. After 31 years with the CBC, Crowe is leaving to teach journalism at the College of the North Atlantic. Crowe, 56, began his career as a casual production assistant in Montreal when he was 23. He covered sports in his early days in Newfoundland, eventually going into news and training as a VJ before becoming the Here & Now anchor in 2005. Crowe’s last show will be Dec. 23.
Doug Barron has retired from Weekend Mornings on CBC Radio One in the Maritimes after working as associate producer and fill-in host on the show since 2000. Barron started as an announcer and music director at CHNR-AM Simcoe, ON in 1971, moving to CHIC-AM in Brampton in 1974 as morning show host. Barron moved to Halifax in 1976, working first as a production director for CJCH-AM, eventually becoming morning host and producer at C100 (CIOO-FM). He moved over to Q104 (CFRQ-FM) in 1983 as morning co-host and news director, where he was known on-air as Hal Harbour. From 1989 to 1994, Barron returned to Toronto where he was an on-air announcer and director of Canadian talent development for CFNY-FM. In addition to acting in numerous CBC Radio dramas and film roles, Barron has held a recurring part on The Trailer Park Boys as Channel 10 news reporter Steve Rogers. Barron plans to spend more time with family, make music, surf and continue his voice acting career.
John Macintosh is no longer with the Bayshore Broadcasting Corporation. Macintosh had been station manager and GSM for 97.7 The Beach (CHGB-FM) Wasaga Beach, ON and Sunshine 89.1 (CISO-FM) Orillia, ON since Sept. 2015. Macintosh was previously a national ad rep for Sun Media and general manager of 104.7 Heart FM (CIHR-FM) in Woodstock, ON, with previous stints in sales at Corus Entertainment, Blackburn Radio and Telemedia Communications.
