Originally published in the Jan. 15, 2026 edition of The Weekly Briefing
Janice Smith, Vice President of Media Sales at Rogers Sports & Media, has parted ways with the company. Smith had been with Rogers for the past 11 years. Prior to that, she served as Executive Director of Sales at CBC and also had an eight-year run with Canwest, rising to the position of Director of National Sales, Global and Specialty.
Raj Shoan is now interim Executive Director of not-for-profit advocacy group Friends of Canadian Media. Shoan, who served as the CRTC’s Regional Commissioner for Ontario from 2013-17, steps into the role following the departure of Marla Boltman, who had held the position since early 2022. Since that time, he’s been a policy consultant and served as counsel for ACTRA and Toronto-headquartered communications and media software developer, Lumine. His first order of business is re-staffing director positions, with Sebastien Higgins recently promoted to the role of Director, Strategic Communications, Campaigns and Engagement, while Devon Klaas joins as Director, Fund Development. Read more here.
Alistair Hepburn has been named the National Executive Director of the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC). Hepburn, who takes up the position starting Feb. 2, arrives from ACTRA Toronto where he’s served as Executive Director since 2021 and been with the organization for a decade, previously as Director of Film, Television and Digital Media. He’s been working in the cultural sector for 30 years, including past roles at the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association and Toronto’s Canadian Stage Company. Read more here.
Mack Meyer has taken over as Director of Calgary Eyeopener on CBC Radio One. Formerly associate producer and a frequent guest host, she’ll also continue to host her Monday morning local music column.
Alex Migdal has left CBC Vancouver after almost nine years with the public broadcaster. Migdal, who was most recently Senior Producer, Social & Audience, first joined CBC British Columbia in 2017 as a reporter.
Ruth Albert has joined Moose Media in Fort St. John, BC as a reporter for Energeticcity.ca. Albert was a lifestyle reporter in India, before studying journalism at Sheridan College.
Vista Radio’s Country 93.1 (CHMT-FM) Timmins has refreshed its weekday on-air lineup. Weekday mornings from 6 to 9 a.m. will now feature The Start with Dean Tripp. From 9 to 10 a.m., Country 93.1 is introducing The KINZ and KLOMP Radio Show, hosted by Timmins social media personalities Mark Kinsman and Jamie Klomp. The duo has built a strong local following over the past five years through their nightly Facebook talk show, which launched in 2021, focused on promoting everything Timmins.
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Chloe Bernabei has joined KiSS 92.5 (CKIS-FM) and The Roz & Mocha Show as Digital Audio Producer. Bernabei was previously an anchor and sports and traffic reporter with 680 NewsRadio (CFTR-AM) for the past two years.
Nanci MacLean has been promoted to president at McGillivray Entertainment Media (MEM). MacLean joined the prodco in 2022 as Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that, she spent 21 years with Bell Media, including seven years in the role of VP, Bell Media Production and President of Pinewood Toronto Studios.
Bryan Gabourie has been promoted at Blue Ant Rights to EVP, Content Monetization and Head of Americas. He’ll lead an expanded Americas sales organization, with a mandate to strategically maximize the value of Blue Ant’s content distribution portfolio across platforms, partners, and territories. Nick Solowski has been promoted to VP, International Sales (US & Canada), expanding his current responsibilities managing the team’s Canadian sales partnerships to also include content licensing and partnerships in the U.S. In APAC, Bruno Liporoni has been appointed VP, International Sales (ANZ & Japan). Additionally, Jason Soh, VP, Distribution (Asia), will assume expanded responsibilities, adding oversight of content sales in China and Korea to his existing remit.
Magalie Boutin is the new Director, Communications and Public Affairs, for the National Film Board (NFB). She succeeds Lily Robert, who recently announced her retirement after 18 years with the organization. Boutin previously served as Head of Media Relations, starting in 2018, and as Co-Director, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, from 2022-24.
