Craig Oliver, CTV’s chief political commentator and a fixture on the network for the last four decades, is retiring. Oliver, who turned 81 last month, will still appear occasionally as a guest commentator. His career with CTV started in 1972 when he signed on to produce new daily network show Canada AM. He went on to serve as director of news and current affairs, Washington bureau chief, and eventually returned to Ottawa as bureau chief and host of Question Period. He stepped back from his hosting duties in 2012. Oliver fell into broadcasting in his hometown of Prince Rupert, BC, leaving high school in 1957 to start working at CFPR-AM, a CBC affiliate. He went on to work at CBC Regina and CBC Winnipeg, including a stint as national reporter for the Prairies, before being appointed executive producer of regional TV news for Ontario. Read more here.
Michael O’Byrne delivered his final newscast for CTV Ottawa Dec. 18 after 38 years with the station, retiring as the region’s longest-serving TV anchor. O’Byrne started with CTV Ottawa in 1981 and has covered countless local and international stories, in addition to his time on the anchor desk. Read more here.
Julie Dabrusin has been appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Steven Guilbeault. Dabrusin was first elected as the MP for Toronto-Danforth in 2015. She previously served as chair of the House heritage committee.
Ken Smithard, President of Cogeco Connexion, is stepping down at the end of Jan. 2020 to pursue personal interests. Smithard had been with Cogeco for 20 years, starting as Director of Sales & Marketing in 1999. A recruitment process for his successor is being launched.
Lisa Blackburn, former longtime morning show co-host at Q104 (CFRQ-FM) Halifax, has been unanimously voted in as the city’s Deputy Mayor for a one-year term. Blackburn, who was elected to Halifax City Council in 2016, has also co-hosted on LITE 92.9 (CFLT-FM) and worked as a digital reporter for CBC Halifax and Broadcast Dialogue, among other stops.
Ronnie Stanton, who had been interim program director at Corus Vancouver stations CFOX and Rock 101 (CFMI-FM) since Dustin Collins’ move to join Jim Pattison Broadcast Group in November, is moving into the role officially. Australia-based, Stanton has consulted for Corus Radio across its FM stations. He’ll be relocating to Vancouver in January.
Lainey Lui is stepping in to fill in for anchor Danielle Graham on ETALK as Graham prepares to welcome a second baby girl in January. Lui is currently ETALK’s senior correspondent and co-host of The Social. Sonia Beeksma is also joining ETALK as a reporter. Beeksma, who has been a traffic anchor and segment reporter with CTV Morning Live in Vancouver for the past three years, will relocate to Toronto and start her new role Jan. 8.
Sonia Beeksma is leaving CTV Vancouver to join ETALK in Toronto. Beeksma has been a weather and entertainment host with CTV for the last three years, following a similar run with Global BC as a weather anchor and community reporter.
Peter Alpen has retired from his senior sales executive role with Canadian Traffic Network (CTN) in Vancouver. Alpen had been with CTN for the last 13 years. He got his start in broadcasting as an overnight DJ at CFUN 1410 in 1965, before going on to host mornings at CHWK Chilliwack and later CKWX where he was host of 9 p.m. – midnight show “Legendary Sock Hop and Malt Party” (1969-74). In 1974, he moved into promotions and sales with CKWX, and then other sales roles with Fraser Valley Broadcasters, Target Media, Starcom Broadcast Sales, and Digital Advertising Network. Alpen was the recipient of the Association of Broadcast Communicators (ABCOM) Audrey Award in 2012.
Jamie Johnston and longtime morning show co-host Cory Laycock have departed Bayshore Broadcasting’s mix 106.5 (CIXK-FM) Owen Sound after eight years to join Rogers’ KiSS 105.3 (CJMX-FM) Sudbury. Their first day on-air is Jan. 2.
Nathalie Fabien is TVA’s new senior director of channels and programming. Fabien has been with TVA for a decade and now assumes responsibility for programming all of the network’s specialty channels including Casa, Évasion, Moi et Cie, Yoopa, and Zeste, among others.
Nicolas Vigneault, Radio-Canada’s National Assembly correspondent, is leaving to take a position with the Quebec Ministry of Transport. Vigneault had been with Radio-Canada the last five years after nearly two decades as a journalist with TVA.
Ryan Hobson has been promoted within Stingray to National Director of Digital Content. Hobson previously held the role of Western Canada Digital Content Director, supporting Stingray radio stations in BC and Alberta. In his new role, based out of Toronto, he’ll be focused on curating content for Stingray Radio digital properties while assessing the value of available content and provide direction to local programming teams. He’ll also assist nationally in the lead the creation of design elements for programming and promotions as they relate to marketing the brands, including logos, print, outdoor, and other marketing materials.
SiriusXM is amping up its presence in Western Canada, adding two new District Managers and restructuring its field team to include regional managers across Canada to better connect with dealers. Amanda Booth and Melissa Sousa sign on as District Managers for the Northern Prairies and Southern Prairies, respectively, joining Andrew Mallalieu for British Columbia and Yukon; Andrea Brown for Central Canada, Bobby Toms for Southwestern and Northern Ontario; Serena Esposito for Central Ontario, Jason Turner for Eastern Ontario; Suzie Dassylva for Eastern Quebec; and Jean-Francois Martin for the Atlantic region. Regional Managers are Mario Degrace for Western Canada, Andrea Brown for Central Canada and Jean-Francois Martin for Eastern Canada.
Vicky Mochama has joined independent news and commentary site theconversation.com. Mochama, previously a national columnist for Metro News, will be The Conversation’s new critical race, culture and society editor. Mochama is also a partner in Toronto-based Vocal Fry Studios and host of the No Little Plans podcast focused on sustainable development.
Tara Deschamps will re-join The Canadian Press as a business reporter in January. Deschamps was reporting on tech, retail and real estate for CP, up until this past February when she was part of layoffs at the wire service. For the past few months, she’s been freelance producing The Globe and Mail’s Industry Interrupted podcast.
Chase Kell (editor), Nick Ashbourne (MLB editor), Vivek Jacob (writer), Sarah Jenkins (video/content producer), and Kishan Mistry (social content producer), are among layoffs last week at Yahoo Sports Canada. The layoffs were part of a reported 150 positions cut by Yahoo parent Verizon Media Group on both sides of the border.
Diana Weeks has left CHCH News to join AM 900 CHML Hamilton as afternoon news anchor and multimedia journalist. Weeks had been with CHCH for the last three and a half years as a videographer/reporter.
Anya Zoledziowski is leaving CBC Edmonton to join VICE in Toronto in January. A 2018 UBC Journalism grad, Zoledziowski had been with CBC for the past year.
Piay Chattopadhyay is joining CBC Toronto’s Metro Morning as interim host, starting in January. Chattopadhyay, whose regular gig is hosting CBC Radio’s Out in the Open, steps in for Matt Galloway, who has been named the new host of national current affairs show The Current.
Rachel Browne has signed on as a producer of Global News’ daily podcast Wait, There’s More, alongside Stephanie Werner and Tamara Khandaker. Browne has previously reported for VICE and Maclean’s.
Jeremy Spry has been appointed National Director, Canada Media Fund (CMF) Program Administrator. Spry will lead a national team administering the television and digital media funding programs on behalf of the CMF. Previously, Spry was VP of Business Affairs and an executive producer at Datsit Sphere, working on its English-language productions and corporate development. He served in a similar role at Muse Entertainment. He’s also a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA). He’ll start his new role Jan. 8 out of the Montreal office.
Marni Wieshofer has been appointed Thunderbird Entertainment Group’s Lead Director. Wieshofer’s background includes serving as the CFO and EVP of Corporate Development at Lionsgate Entertainment where she oversaw mergers, acquisitions, and other strategic financial initiatives.
Marie-France Falardeau, Manager, Enterprise Strategy, Cogeco Communications Inc, and Annie Miville-Dechêne, Senior Legal Counsel and Assistant Secretary, have joined Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) Quebec as regional chapter co-chairs. WCT Québec continues to seek additional board members outside of Cogeco.
Joey Castillo, weekend/swing announcer at Energy 95.3 (CING-FM) Hamilton, is moving to Corus sister station 91.5 The Beat (CKBT-FM) Kitchener-Waterloo. Castillo will take on afternoon drive, starting Jan. 2, filling in for Elle D, who starts maternity leave in the New Year.
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