Revolving Door

Jamie Orchard, who had been with Global Montreal for 23 years, anchored her last newscast on the station Aug. 20. Part of ongoing restructuring in Corus’ media division, the senior anchor joins what CUPE says amounted to 10% of permanent Global Montreal staff laid off last month. CUPE local president Anne Leclair called Orchard “a model for ethical journalism. We are also losing an important voice and key connection between our newsroom and Montreal’s English-speaking community.” 

Avery Haines has been named Host and Managing Editor of CTV’s W5 as the program returns to the network for its 55^th season this fall. Haines has been with W5 since 2017 and claimed this year’s Canadian Screen Award for Best Host or Interviewer, News or Information for Mexican cartel investigation “The Narco Riviera.” Molly Thomas, who has been a host and national correspondent with CTV since 2018, also joins the show this season as Investigative Correspondent.

Dave Wheeler is returning to morning radio after being benched the last two years following controversial on-air remarks about transgender people as former host of 92 CITI FM’s Wheeler in the Morning. Evanov Radio Group’s Energy 106 (CHWE-FM) Winnipeg has announced that Wheeler is joining the station’s morning show, alongside existing morning host Tyler Carr and new co-host Jasmin Laine, starting Monday, Aug. 31. The CHR/Top 40 format is a departure for Wheeler, who had carved out an edgy on-air persona over the last decade during his time at Active Rock stations 106.1 The Goat (CKLM-FM) Lloydminster, and Power 97 (CJKR-FM) Winnipeg, in addition to Classic Rock-based 92 CITI. Read more here.

Sarah Nick has been released from her co-hosting role with the Energy 106 morning show. She posted an emotional thank you video to Facebook for her friends and fans on Thursday, saying she’s not certain what’s next but is staying optimistic. The NAIT Radio & TV grad had been with the station since 2016.

Lars Wunsche has been appointed Evanov Communications Inc.’s (ECI) new Executive Vice-President of Sales, effective Aug. 31. The move sees Wunsche’s radio journey come full circle. He made his start in radio in 1992 as a sales rep at Evanov’s Dance 108/Energy 108 (CING-FM) Burlington, hired at the time by station General Manager Bill Evanov. He went on to hold roles as Director of National Sales for Corus Radio, Director of Sales for Corus Radio Toronto and most recently Regional Director of Corus Radio, overseeing eight major markets and 18 radio stations. Wunsche will oversee all Evanov sales – national, local and digital – for all ECI properties across the country.

Leslie Stein and Scooter Shantz, heard in mornings on Stingray’s Z95.3 (CKZZ-FM) up until this past March, have joined the Pulse FM (CISF-FM) Surrey morning show. Their former producer Jaclyn Tatay also joins the station in afternoon drive. Leslie and Scooter take over from South Fraser Broadcasting program director Rudy Parachoniak, who stepped in as morning show host this past February. 

Mike McCormack, former head of the Toronto Police Association, has joined Toronto’s Newstalk 1010 (CFRB-AM) as crime specialist, providing insight into crime and punishment issues. McCormack, who retired from his union role Aug. 1, comes from a family of police officers and has a colourful history with the media including an insubordination conviction for improperly accessing late Toronto Star reporter John Duncanson’s records in the police database. 

John Knox is the new brand manager and afternoon host at Bell Media’s CJ104 (CJCJ-FM) Woodstock, NB. Knox returns to his hometown after several years in Alberta where he was most recently in radio at Rogers’ Fort McMurray stations as programming and promotions director of Country 93.3 (CJOK-FM) and 97.9 Rock (CKYX-FM).

Barry Davis, host of weekday afternoon show The Spin on Sauga 960 AM (CKNT-AM) Mississauga, has announced he’ll be moving into boat and ATV sales with Bass Pro Shops full-time. While The Spin wraps this week, he’ll be resuming his Toronto Blue Jays podcast, Out Of The Park, as well as reviving music podcast, Sessions, in September. Davis’ The Spin co-host Michelle Sturino has also announced she’s stepping away from sports broadcasting, due in part to limited opportunities for women in the field.

Joel Bradley has been appointed Head of Production at Thunderbird Entertainment kids and family division, Atomic Cartoons. Bradley will be responsible for day-to-day operations and strategic management of Thunderbird’s animation studios in Vancouver, L.A., and Ottawa, managing a team of approximately 700 creative and production staff. Prior to his promotion, Bradley held various roles at Pixar Canada before joining Atomic as a supervising producer in 2013. Colin Beadle has also been named VP, Human Resources for all Thunderbird divisions. Beadle will oversee recruitment, onboarding, retention and training, for more than 1,000 crew members, in addition to his previous duties as Director of Human Resources for Atomic Cartoons. Both positions are based in Vancouver, reporting to CEO Jennifer Twiner McCarron.

Michelle Abbott has been named CFO at Boat Rocker Media. She’s been in the role on an interim basis since May 2019. Abbott succeeds Shannon Valliant who assumed the newly-created position in Nov. 2017.

Andrew Kaplan has been appointed by Liquid Media Group Ltd. to the board of Waterproof Studios Inc., in which Liquid holds a 49% interest. Kaplan, a mergers and acquisitions strategist, plans to lead a strategic review of the Vancouver studio to maximize capabilities and longterm value for Liquid shareholders. Waterproof specializes in computer-generated production, VFX and animation for the gaming industry, traditional film and TV studios, distributors, broadcasters and other streaming service providers, working on projects like Microsoft’s Gears of War and Warner Bros. Mortal Combat 11. Kaplan replaces Liquid President Charles Brezer on the Waterproof board.

Jessica Brinder is joining Genius Brands in the newly-created role of VP of International Distribution role. She’ll be based in Toronto and report to CEO and chair Andy Heyward. Brinder previously served as VP of Business Development at Kickstart Entertainment, and before that was Senior Sales Manager of Global Distribution at Nelvana.

Angela Heck has been promoted to the newly-created role of Managing Director of the Whistler Film Festival. Heck joined the organization last July as Director of Industry Programming. She’s the founder of Winnipeg-based production company Fringe Filmworks and is also a former National Screen Institute Director of Digital and Strategic Initiatives.

Eternity Martis has left Xtra Magazine after four years there as a journalist and senior editor. She’ll be continuing to freelance and will teach new Ryerson School of Journalism (RSJ) course Reporting Race: The Black Community in the Media this fall, that was added to the curriculum following a petition initiated by students. CBC Ottawa journalist David McKie and Sportsnet feature writer David Singh also join RSJ as new instructors.

Éric Gaulin has been appointed President and CEO of telecommunications network infrastructure provider, Telecon, as well as a member of the company’s Board of Directors. He’ll take up his new position Sept. 14. Gaulin was previously a member of Pomerleau’s executive management team and held the position of EVP for the Building Canada Division, overseeing all construction operations for Atlantic, Ontario and Western Canada. 

Kerry Cokelekoglu is joining Momentum Media Marketing (Broadcast Dialogue’s publisher and parent company) as Director, Digital Marketing. Based in Vancouver, Cokelekoglu has previously worked with XGen, DFO Global Performance Commerce, and Make Noise Marketing. She’ll be responsible for creating and executing digital marketing and lead generation campaigns predominantly for the company’s line of services as well as client campaigns.

RADIO & PODCAST NEWS: