Don’t wait to read today’s industry moves. Subscribe to The Weekly Briefing now and receive the latest Revolving Door updates every Thursday. It’s free, here.
REVOLVING DOOR:
Judith A. LaRocque has been appointed the CRTC’s new vice-chair of broadcasting. She succeeds Tom Pentefountas who resigned from his post in Nov. 2015 to join Stingray Digital Group Inc. LaRocque has been appointed to a six-month term, ending in mid-May, rather than the standard five-year term. The Ontario commissioner’s role remains vacant, following the revoked appointment of Raj Shoan in June.
Lisa Walker has joined Vista Radio as director of regional and national sales. Walker was most recently a nine-year retail sales manager for Durham Radio’s three stations in Oshawa, ON – KX96 New Country FM (CJKX-FM), 94.9 The Rock (CKGE-FM), and CKDO. She previously worked for Milestone Radio’s Flow 93.5FM (CFXJ-FM) Toronto and Evanov’s Z103.5 (CIDC-FM) Toronto.
Matt Woodman is leaving CTV Atlantic to join CTV Edmonton as late, weekday anchor. The Halifax-based reporter, anchor and weekend weather anchor began his career at CTV Atlantic in 2013, learning jobs on both sides of the cameras. In 2014, he began doing the weather on the weekend edition of CTV News at 6 and anchoring the 11:30 newscast. Most recently he’s filled in as a co-host on CTV Morning Live and CTV News at 5. He studied Journalism at the University of King’s College, where he graduated with honours.
99.1 Fresh Radio (CJGV-FM) Winnipeg has released morning show hosts Vicki Shae and Sean Dilworth in station restructuring. The move leaves the Corus modern adult contemporary station without on-air staff. Fresh is currently playing all Christmas music.
The Community Radio Fund of Canada has named Amély Friolet-O’Neil as its new executive director, as the CFRC moves to increase its visibility and support to Canadian campus and community radio stations. Friolet-O’Neil previously held the position of executive director of the Regroupement féministe du Nouveau-Brunswick as well as vice-president of the Société Nationale de l’Acadie.
Adam Glynn has been appointed station manager of CJNU 93.7 FM community radio in Winnipeg effective Dec. 2. Glynn was previously program manager at Radio Northwick Park in Britain and a former traffic reporter for BBC Radio Essex. He replaces Bill Stewart, who is retiring after serving as the first president of Nostalgia Broadcasting Cooperative before formally taking on the managerial role for the last six years. Stewart will continue as a volunteer with CJNU.
Toronto’s Boat Rocker Media has promoted Samantha Traub to chief operating officer and Michel Pratte to chief revenue officer. Traub has been with the company since 2007, and has been leading its legal and business affairs team. Pratte joined Boat Rocker in 2008 and has spearheaded its digital division and corporate development strategy, most recently as senior vice president of Boat Rocker Ventures.
Kristy Pinand has joined Toronto-based Kingstar Media as VP of U.S. business development. Pinand is a 15-year DRTV veteran and was a former News 12 New Jersey producer and reporter before entering the direct response industry. Kingstar also announced the launch this week of its new digital media division, L49 Digital.
Former Global BC news anchor Steve Darling has been tapped by the BC Liberals to run in Burnaby-Lougheed, BC in the next provincial election. Darling was laid off from Global last month. Last week, former Global News foreign correspondent Jas Johal also announced he’d be running for the BC Liberals in the new riding of Richmond-Queensborough.
Bell Media confirms that Len Perry has retired from his role as GM at CTV Calgary. The company says no decisions have been made about his replacement. In the meantime, James Stuart, regional vice-president and general manager, is overseeing Perry’s former responsibilities. Perry had been overseeing the day-to-day operations of the station since Jan. 2008 after serving as director of news and public affairs for seven years.
