Originally published in the Oct. 24, 2024 edition of Broadcast Dialogue’s Weekly Briefing
Marie–Philippe Bouchard has been confirmed as CBC/Radio-Canada’s next President and CEO. Appointed for a five-year term, effective Jan. 3, Bouchard has served as President and CEO of francophone public broadcaster TV5 Québec Canada since 2016, overseeing the TV5 Unis channels and platforms. Prior to joining TV5, Bouchard held management and executive positions at CBC/Radio-Canada, most recently as Director General of Radio-Canada’s music services. Fluently bilingual, she’ll be the first francophone woman to serve as President and CEO. Read more here.
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Mark Carcasole is leaving Global News after 12 years as a reporter and anchor. Carcasole, who had been anchoring weekend news across the network since 2018, has yet to reveal his next move.
Drex has joined Local Radio Lab’s Indie88 (CIND-FM) Toronto, hosting live on weeknights from 6 – 10 p.m. ET. Drex was most recently co-hosting the JACK FM (CJAX-FM) Vancouver morning show, alongside Lena Schulman and Bob Addison, up until this past April when the show was a casualty of changes at Rogers Sports & Media.
Clayton Kroeker is the new morning show host at Saskatoon Media Group’s 92.9 The Bull (CKBL-FM) Saskatoon. Kroeker, who’ll be flying solo, leaves Creatorade Media where he’s been a digital content creator for the last eight months after parting ways with Harvard Media’s 96.3 CRUZ (CFWD-FM) last fall where he co-hosted Cruz Mornings with Stacie & Clayton. Kroeker formerly helmed afternoons on The Bull from 2013-17.
Chris Chreston has announced he’s leaving radio and 640 (CFIQ-AM) Toronto after 16 years. Chreston first joined the station as a weekend producer in 2009, going on to produce for Bill Carroll and more recently Kelly Cutrara. He also hosted “The Producers,” alongside fellow producer Ryan Bonnar. Chreston is joining the City of Markham as a Senior Communications Advisor.
Dave Woodard is taking on the role of Supervising Producer, Audio at The Canadian Press (CP). Woodward was most recently heard anchoring on CHML Hamilton, up until this past August, and prior to that spent seven years with AM 640 (CFMJ-AM) Toronto.
Arfa Rana has announced her resignation from CBC News. Rana, who had been a London, ON-based reporter with the public broadcaster for the last year and a half, has published an op-ed in Mondoweiss titled “I resigned from Canada’s largest broadcasting corporation over its complicity in Israel’s genocide.”
David Ball has left CBC Vancouver after three years as a reporter and editor. Ball is returning to pursuing freelance editing, reporting, podcasting and photojournalism work.
Lexy Benedict is joining Global News Toronto as a reporter and videographer. Benedict had spent the last two years as a reporter with Global’s bureau in Durham, ON. Prior to that, she held roles with The Weather Network and CTV Barrie.
Janet Brown, who moved on from 980 CKNW Vancouver and Global BC after three decades earlier this fall, has announced she’s joined Surrey Urban Mission Society as Director of Communications. Brown was a 2021 RTDNA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
Kim Sullivan is joining APTN as the host and reporter for the network’s French-language news program. Sullivan departed Global News Montreal in September where she’d been a weather specialist and community reporter since 2016.
Amanda Wawryk has been named Editor-in-Chief at Daily Hive. Wawryk formerly held the title of Managing Editor, overseeing day-to-day editorial across the country. The former News 1130 (CKWX-AM) Vancouver anchor has been with Daily Hive since 2021.
Gave Lindo has joined Troveo AI as Chief Content Officer. Lindo, who left his role at TikTok in March as Head of Content Programming for North America, was previously Executive Director of OTT Programming at CBC.
Randene Neill won the Powell River-Sunshine Coast seat for the NDP in last weekend’s BC provincial election. The former Global BC anchor has most recently been a Communications Consultant for the BC Parks Foundation.
Robert Vroom is joining NFB as the new Producer with the Eastern Documentary Unit. Based in Montreal, he’ll work closely with anglophone directors and co-producers in the Montreal region and across Quebec to strengthen English-language non-fiction storytelling. Vroom has been working in the film and TV industry for over 25 years. After receiving his MFA from the American Film Institute, he immersed himself in television series, both scripted and documentary. After living in L.A. and Vancouver, he returned to his hometown of Montreal in 2012 to start his own production company, Vroom Productions. His feature film credits include Pat Kiely’s Three Night Stand and Another Kind of Wedding, Jeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum, and Sarah Watts and Mark Slutsky’s You Can Live Forever.
Laura Jabalee Johnston has joined Toronto-based indie prodco Hitsby Entertainment as a Partner and Executive Producer, alongside Founder Andrew Morris. Johnston most recently served as General Manager of Find Your Fun, a Wizards of the Coast company, where she led the mobile-gaming studio and navigated the Canadian business unit through massive organizational change. Prior to that, she was Director of Business Affairs at Secret Location, driving the Emmy-winning studio’s integration into and subsequent spinoff from its parent companies, eOne and Hasbro. Hitsby is developing a slate of scripted comedy and drama series, with its debut scripted comedy series, The Squeaky Wheel: Canada, airing on AMI-tv.
Vanessa Walmsley has a new role at Vizrt as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). The company says Walmsley, who has been with Vizrt for six years, most recently as Global Head of Customer Success, has played a crucial role in driving customer success initiatives, ensuring strong alignment between commercial teams to shift to a customer-first focus.
