Xavier Brassard-Bédard has been appointed President and CEO of Ontario French-language public broadcaster, TFO. Brassard-Bédard has most recently been serving as General Manager of TVA Nouvelles and LCN. A journalist by training, prior to that, he worked at Radio-Canada for eight years in Ottawa and Toronto as a producer and news editor for Téléjournal Ontario. His term will officially begin on Jan. 6. Brassard-Bédard succeeds Michelle Séguin, who has been CEO since February 2022.
John Voiles has announced his retirement as the General Sales and Marketing Manager at Victoria’s CHEK-TV at the end of March. Voiles joined CHEK in January 2022, but has a history with the station dating back to 1989 when he worked in sales for then-sister station BCTV, regularly selling advertising on CHEK. His 45-year career includes senior leadership roles at Global, City TV, A-Channel, Astral, and Bell Media.
Amber Belzer has been promoted at the Canadian Traffic Network (CTN) to Senior Director for Western Canada. Belzer has been CTN’s Director of Operations since 2011 and with the company since 2007 when she started as a Vancouver-based traffic reporter.
Paul Harper is being heard on Evanov Communications’ Z103.5 (CIDC-FM) Orangeville over the holidays. Harper was most recently helming the morning show on Stingray’s Today Radio (CFXJ-FM) in Toronto, up until this past August when the station flipped to a New Country format.
Patti Sonntag is joining Postmedia’s political bureau. The former New York Times Syndicate editor was among those caught up in layoffs this fall at Global News, where she’d been a National Online Correspondent with the Investigative Unit for the past year.
Antonello Cozzolino has been named President of the Board of Directors of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television – Quebec Chapter. Cozzolino is a veteran producer with Montreal-based Attraction.
Prentiss Fraser, President, Television Distribution, Fifth Season; Andrew Peterson, Head of YouTube Canada; and Jane Rimer, Senior Vice President, Canada, Banijay Rights, have joined the BANFF World Media Festival board of directors. In addition, Patrick Vien, Group Managing Director, International at A+E Networks, has been appointed Vice-Chair of the Board, succeeding Brenda Gilbert, producer and Co-Founder of BRON Media, who will be remaining on the Board of Directors. Retiring board members include Sally Catto, General Manager of Entertainment, Factual and Sports, CBC, and Colin Bohm, Chief Executive Officer, Toon Boom Animation.
Joel Baskin, Vice-President of the Feldman Agency, and Anne Stirk, Director of Marketing & Brand Strategy at Toronto’s Republic Live, have been newly-elected to the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) 2024-25 Board of Directors. Also newly-appointed to the board are Jeremy Johnson, co-founder of Johnson Talent Management, and former CBC producer and current Amazon Music Curator Kerry Martin. Casadie Pederson, Owner of Muse Creative Management, has been re-elected for a second term.
