Brian Williams has announced his retirement following a 50-year career that’s seen him cover more than a dozen Olympic Games, in addition to the NHL, CFL, Major League Baseball, PGA TOUR, Canadian and World Figure Skating Championships, World Cup Skiing, Formula One, and the Breeders’ Cup, among many other sporting events. Originally from Winnipeg, Williams began calling university basketball play-by-play in 1967. He started his professional broadcast career with CHUM radio in Toronto. After a year at CFRB, he joined CBC in 1974, serving as the studio host for the CBC’s coverage of the CFL, Formula 1 and horse racing, in addition to acting as the play-by-play announcer for the Toronto Blue Jays. He made the move to CTV and TSN in June 2006 where most recently he’s been contributing regular features to CFL ON TSN, hosting the network’s coverage of the Canadian Triple Crown of horse racing, as well as figure skating on CTV and TSN. Read more here.
Robert Dépatie is joining Rogers Communications as President and Chief Operating Officer, of the newly-created Home & Business Division, which encompasses Connected Home, high-speed internet, television, smart home monitoring services, and Rogers for Business. Dépatie has nearly 20 years of executive leadership experience in telecom and media, including four years as a member of the RCI Board of Directors. He was previously President and CEO of Quebecor Inc. and Quebecor Media and also served as President and CEO of Vidéotron for a decade.
Cam Barra has been promoted to Program Manager at Vancouver’s Sportsnet 650 (CISL-AM). Barra joined Sportsnet in 2017 as the producer of Vancouver Canucks games and the content producer for Canucks Central at Noon with Satiar Shah. Prior to joining Rogers Sports & Media, he was a producer and operator with TSN 1040 (CKST-AM) and 1410 (CFTE-AM) for four years.
Gord Rennie is the new Technical Producer of Toronto Today with Greg Brady and The Kelly Cutrara Show on AM 640 (CFMJ-AM) Toronto. Up until this past October, Rennie was the Technical Producer of the CHFI morning show for 16 years and prior to that produced the Mike Cooper & Christine Cardoso Show on 97.3 EZ Rock (CHBM-FM).
Levon Sevunts is leaving CBC Montreal to join the UN Refugee Agency in Canada (UNHCR) in a communications role. Sevunts has had a 31-year journalism career that included stops at the Montreal Gazette and freelance work as a foreign correspondent covering the war in Afghanistan, the civil war in Darfur, and the humanitarian relief effort in Chad for the Toronto Star and The Washington Times. He joined CBC Montreal in 2006 as the producer of daily current affairs program, The Link. After a two-year stint with Breakfast Television Montreal as a producer and writer, he returned to CBC in 2015 as a radio reporter and producer. Most recently, he’d been the lineup editor for CBC Montreal News at 11 p.m.
Chantelle Bellrichard is leaving CBC Vancouver to join Spotify-owned Gimlet as a producer working on Connie Walker-hosted podcast Stolen. Bellrichard has been a writer, reporter and researcher with CBC since 2012, most recently working with the CBC Indigenous Unit.
Daniella Ponticelli is leaving Global News Regina to return to CBC Saskatchewan. With Global Regina since late 2019 and the morning news anchor on Global News Morning for the past year, Ponticelli previously did a brief stint with CBC as a camera operator and video editor. She’s also the play-by-play voice of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey broadcasts, heard on Pattison Media stations and the HuskieFan app.
Kayla Karim is joining CityNews Toronto as a producer. The 2020 College of Sports Media graduate has been a video journalist with Global News Kingston for the last eight months. Prior to that, she reported for Global in Thunder Bay.
Joe Scarpelli has moved on from Global Winnipeg where he’s been a Digital Broadcast Journalist since 2018, filing for television, radio and online. Prior to arriving in Manitoba, Scarpelli was with Global Lethbridge and CHEX-TV Durham
Jessica Robb has left Global Lethbridge for a new opportunity. Robb has been with the station since March. Prior to that, she was an editorial assistant with the Global Edmonton newsroom for nearly two years.
Robyn Smith, Editor-in-Chief at The Tyee is leaving after more than a decade with the publication. Dave Beers is stepping into the EIC role, while the independent online news site will be hiring a Managing Editor.
Kevin Ritchie has stepped down as Editor of Now Toronto, saying he’s moving on to another opportunity to be announced at a later date. Ritchie started as a contributor to the publication in 2016, holding roles including Senior Culture Editor. He’d been Editor since Dec. 2019.
Trillian Reynoldson is moving on from her morning news anchor role at CKDM Dauphin, MB to join Golden West Broadcasting’s stations in Weyburn, SK. The Western Academy of Broadcasting graduate is now writing, reporting and anchoring for AM 1190 (CFSL-AM), Magic 103.5 (CKRC-FM) and Big 106 (CHWY-FM).
Clare Smyth has joined the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) as Manager, Business Affairs, supporting members with business affairs inquiries including production financing and recoupment. Smyth arrives from Corus Entertainment where she primarily handled contract management for the last 14 years. Kyle O’Byrne has also been promoted from Manager, Media Relations & Communications to Director, Policy, supporting CMPA policy, advocacy and research initiatives. Sarah Jesson is also promoted to Manager, Executive Office & Board Secretary. She was previously Executive Assistant to President & CEO Reynolds Mastin.
Joanne Kerrigan has been named the first-ever Executive Director of Women in Film and Television – Atlantic (WIFT-AT). Kerrigan has a varied background spanning filmmaking, communications and marketing, change management, and non-profit governance, including the Khyber Centre for the Arts, Linda Joy Media Arts Society, Moving Images Group, and the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative. She was most recently leading the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre in organizational renewal as Interim Executive Director.
Marni Wieshofer has been appointed Thunderbird Entertainment Group’s Interim Chair while a search for a new chair is underway. Brian Paes-Braga, who has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2019, and Paul Sparkes, who has served on the board since 2012, did not stand for re-election.
Tripp Wood has joined D-BOX Technologies, the Montreal-based haptic and immersive entertainment provider, as Vice President of Sales, Home Entertainment. Wood has over 20 years of business development, partnership and sales experience in the home entertainment industry, including The Walt Disney Company, Electronic Arts and Paramount Pictures Home Media. He’ll be based in Los Angeles.
