Bart Yabsley has been appointed the new president of Sportsnet. Yabsley has been part of the Rogers Media senior leadership team since 2014 as senior vice-president of Sports and Entertainment Partnerships & Content Distribution. Yabsley succeeds Scott Moore, who stepped down as president, Sportsnet & NHL Properties, at the end of October after eight years in the role. Yabsley, who started his career as a lawyer, previously worked at Bell Media/CTV for more than 15 years in senior executive roles, including EVP of Content Sales & Distribution, EVP of Business Planning & Distribution, and EVP of CTV Specialty Television Inc.
Cathrin Bradbury has joined CBC as senior director of Daily News. Bradbury has been editor-in-chief and vice-president of Metro English Canada newspapers for the last four years. Prior to that, she was executive director of content development at Star Media Group.
Farshad Kajouli’s role at Bell Media Québec has been elevated to general manager, sales and business development for Astral. Kajouli has been with Bell off and on since 1998, most recently as director of operations and development for Astral.
Dr. Angèle Beausoleil, assistant professor of Business Design and Innovation at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, has joined Telefilm Canada’s board of directors. Beausoleil is the first Canadian to complete a PhD in Innovation Pedagogy and Design, focusing on innovation literacy using business and strategic design processes and methods. She previously ran boutique innovation agency Agent Innovateur Inc., and has held senior strategy and marketing positions with Chalk Media and Cossette, among other organizations.
Nancy Carlson has been named the new host and producer of CBC Edmonton News at 6. Carlson arrives at the public broadcaster from Global Edmonton where she’s been producing and hosting the 11 p.m. newscast since 2011, and more recently co-anchoring Global’s supper hour newscast. She’ll join CBC in April.
Ian MacKinnon is joining KiSS 91.7 (CHBN-FM) Edmonton, starting Mar. 11. MacKinnon was most recently co-hosting the Virgin Radio (CFMG-FM) Edmonton morning show, up until this past November, when he and co-host Chelsea Bird were part of layoffs at Bell Media. MacKinnon moves into the noon to 4 p.m. daypart. His first day is Monday, Mar. 11.
Desiree Nelson has been appointed to the newly-created role of Super Channel Heart & Home Ambassador. She’ll be based in her home town of Saskatoon and report to Don McDonald, president and CEO. As Heart & Home Ambassador, she’ll liaise with community groups at a grassroots level to promote Heart & Home’s family programming, with the goal of increasing subscriber growth and awareness of the channel. Desiree will also contribute to an upcoming radio show that will air on Touch Canada radio stations Shine FM (CJRY-FM) and The Light (CJCA-AM) Edmonton, Shine FM (CKRD-FM) Red Deer and The Light (CJLI-AM) and Shine FM (CJSI-FM) Calgary.
Jessica Chin is the new managing editor of blogTO. Chin departs HuffPost Canada where she’s been an editor since 2015.
Victoria Walton is joining Halifax Today as weekend editor. Walton is a recent University of King’s College Journalism grad.
Mira Laurence, former Sportsnet rinkside reporter for the Vancouver Canucks and host of The Starting Lineup on Sportsnet 650 (CISL-AM), is headed to Vancouver Island. Laurence has accepted the position of director of Communications and Community Partnerships for Pacific FC soccer club. Laurence was previously with CTV News Victoria for 14 years.
Charles Décarie has been appointed president and CEO of Groupe Juste pour rire. Based in Montréal, Décarie will take office on Mar. 25. Décarie has been working in the entertainment industry for over 20 years and until recently was COO of Triotech Inc., a Canadian company that specializes in the design of immersive and interactive attractions that operates in Asia, Europe and North America. From 1999 to 2016, he greatly contributed to the growth of Cirque du Soleil, where he held various senior management positions, including COO .
Steve Kowch is set to retire next week and has started a countdown clock on his blog. Kowch, who turns 68 this month, has been consulting and talent coaching for the last decade, but previously was operations manager of CFRB Toronto for 14 years, up until 2009. He started his career as a copy boy with The Montreal Star, eventually finding his way to CKGM/CHOM-FM Montreal, Standard Broadcast News, CJAD Montreal, and Astral Radio, where he was the national director of newstalk programming. Kowch also taught news and radio at both Humber and Seneca Colleges. Among other accolades, Kowch is a three-time Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) Gold Ribbon Award winner.
Bela Bajaria is moving into a new role with Netflix, heading non-English TV originals including scripted, unscripted, and comedy, in all international markets where Netflix is available, excepting Korea and Japan. Erik Barmack, the former VP, International Originals for Latin America, EMEA and India, is leaving to launch his own production company. Bajaria had been VP of Content in charge of original unscripted series, talk shows and co-licensed, scripted series. Cindy Holland, VP of Original Content, will now oversee all English-language series.
Bob Addison has returned to his producer role on nationally-networked, Corus late night show The Shift with Drex. Addison, who is based in Vancouver, has been out the last eight weeks after surgery and subsequent diagnosis with testicular cancer. Listen to his return to the show here.
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