Rogers Sports & Media has extended the reach of the Roz & Mocha Show to more markets in the wake of last week’s cross-country layoffs. Originating from Toronto’s KiSS 92.5 (CKIS-FM), the show is now airing on KiSS 100.5 (CHUR-FM) North Bay, KiSS 99.3 (CKGB-FM) Timmins, and KiSS 100.5 (CHAS-FM) Sault Ste. Marie, bumping the local morning shows on those stations. In North Bay, staff cuts included afternoon drive host Cody Belanger as well as newsroom staffers Richard Coffin and Bob Coles. Former morning show host Kevin Oschefski moves to afternoons. In Timmins, 99.3 KiSS morning host Mark Kinsman and afternoon host Tyler Cropley were released, in addition to program director Amanda Dyer, who had been with the station since 2007, as well as news anchor/reporter Alain Quevillon. In Sault Ste. Marie, Zenga McCurdy is now helming middays across all three stations, while his former morning co-host Casey MacDonald moves to afternoon drive. Former Sudbury-based KiSS network midday host Turner Gentry has been released.
Ottawa’s KISS 105.3 (CISS-FM) also underwent layoffs, including PD Anthony DeRossi. Other station cuts in Ontario impacted K-ROCK (CIKR-FM) Kingston where personalities Sideshow and Eilish Sullivan were among the casualties. In London, commercial/imaging producer Andy Goddard was let go, in addition to creative writer Sarah Drapeau.
Rogers’ News 1130 (CKWX-AM) Vancouver has announced several staff appointments following last week’s layoffs. Charmaine de Silva is upped to the senior leadership team, overseeing Vancouver local news, including CityNews, in addition to News 1130. Tamara Slobogean, former Supervising Producer of Breakfast Television in Vancouver and Calgary is now Managing Editor – News & Integration for News 1130 and CityNews. Terry Schintz, former news manager/anchor at CKNW Vancouver (who was restructured by Corus in August), is joining the station as Morning Anchor and Managing Editor. Peter Wagner is promoted to Managing Editor – News & Programming, from Managing Editor, Evenings & Weekends. Denise Wong, the station’s Managing Editor of Digital, will also now add CityNews to her responsibilities.
Ian MacKinnon is the new afternoon drive host at Rogers’ 95.9 CHFM Calgary. MacKinnon joins the station from Rogers’ sister station KiSS 91.7 (CHBN-FM) where he’d been since March 2019.
Shane Hewitt has been named as the new permanent host of Corus late night network talk show, The Shift. Hewitt succeeds Drex, aka Justin Wilcomes, who left Corus in August to pursue other opportunities. Based in Calgary, Hewitt has been with Corus since 2016, filling in on Calgary’s Q107 (CFGQ-FM), Country 105 (CKRY-FM), and 770 CHQR, as well as CISN Country 103.9 Edmonton, and Country 104 (CKDK-FM) London. Read more here.
Ange Stellisano will be taking over afternoons on Classic Hits Coast 101.1 (CKSJ-FM) St. John’s, starting Nov. 30. Stellisano was previously with Stingray, and prior to the ownership change, Newcap, in St. John’s for nearly two decades, up until this past February.
Reshmi Nair has joined CP24 as an anchor. Nair, who left CBC News Network after a decade this past March, had most recently been one of the anchors of Bell Media’s Quibi news segments, in addition to serving as CTV’s Internal Ombudsman since September.
Salim Valji is joining TSN as the network’s Calgary correspondent. Valji will deliver regular reports on the Calgary Flames and Stampeders, as well as breaking sports stories from Metro Calgary and Southern Alberta. He succeeds Jermain Franklin in the role, who moved to Toronto in August to become a SPORTSCENTRE host. Originally from Edmonton, Valji has previously worked with CTV Montreal, and been a contributor to CBC, the New York Times, and other publications.
Jennifer Basa is joining CTV Atlantic in New Brunswick as a reporter. Basa has been a VJ with Global Kingston since May 2019.
Allie Miller has joined CTV Vancouver as a reporter. Miller was most recently with CityNews Calgary. She did a previous reporting stint with CTV Lethbridge in 2017.
Media Central Corporation, which owns NOW Magazine and The Georgia Straight, among other publications, has announced the resignation of its CEO/director Brian Kalish, Chief Financial Officer Igor Kostioutchenko, and directors Scott Wilson, Gil Steinfeld and Larry Latowsky. Rodney Davis is now Chief Financial Officer and David Daniels, Emmanuel (Manos) Pavlakis, and Jay Vieira have been appointed to the board. Kalish had previously dismissed the group of what he called “dissident shareholders” following their concerns about alleged underperformance.
Tristin Hopper has parted ways with The Capital, the online Victoria startup specializing in regional long form journalism. Hopper, the publication’s founding editor and a former National Post scribe, had been with the startup since June 2019. In the meantime, Jimmy Thomson has been named Managing Editor, while former Vancouver Magazine and Western Living publisher Tom Gierasimczuk has joined the venture as VP, Partnerships & Monetization. The capital behind The Capital is Victoria area tech entrepreneur Andrew Wilkinson, who is also the money behind the Tiny Foundation, which announced a $1M investment in Canadaland this past June.
For those asking, I am no longer editor of Capital Daily because they fired me. It, uh, wasn’t amicable.
— Tristin Hopper (@TristinHopper) November 23, 2020
Faith Fundal is the new afternoon host of CBC Manitoba’s afternoon radio program, Up To Speed. Fundal has been with CBC British Columbia since 2008, primarily working on CBC Daybreak North. Fundal also hosts gender identity podcast, They & Us.
Mike Finnerty has announced he’s leaving CBC Montreal morning show, Daybreak, with Friday, Nov. 27 to be his last show. Finnerty, 55, previously stepped away for a nine-month sabbatical in March 2019. He’s hosted the show, on and off, since 2006.
A new voice is coming for @cbcdaybreak.
For me, it’s time for the next chapter.
I’ll have more to say on my last show, which is Friday.
It’s bittersweet, I will miss this so much, but in life, new adventures are excellent.https://t.co/xOxW6hYRKx— Mike Finnerty (@finnertymike) November 25, 2020
Eric Veillette has joined Radio-Canada as culture reporter for Matin Toronto, covering all things culture for the francophone community. Veillette has previously covered arts & culture for France 24 and the Toronto Star.
Zouheir Mansourati has been appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications. Mansourati has nearly three decades of experience in telecommunications, including 13 years at TELUS where he held several executive roles including VP of National Broadband Network Implementation. Most recently, Mansourati was Chief Customer Officer at Vitruvi, working with their telecommunications network clients.
Olivia Nuamah has been appointed ACTRA National Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. In the newly-created position, she’ll support ACTRA objectives to improve the working lives of Canadian performers and oversee strategies to ensure more diverse on-screen representation. Nuamah began her career as an artist before becoming a community activist and advocate. As Executive Director of the Atkinson Foundation, she oversaw policy initiatives, including Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy and The Black Experience Project study. She’s also served as ED of Pride Toronto. She’ll report to Marie Kelly, National Executive Director.
