Michael Melling has been appointed head of CTV News, succeeding Wendy Freeman who stepped down from the role at the end of December. Melling assumes responsibility for all news, information and current events programming including CTV News, BNN Bloomberg, CP24, and current affairs shows W5, Power Play and Question Period. Melling started with the network in 2003 as a lineup editor and writer at BNN Bloomberg, moving on to a five-year reporting stint with CTV from 2005-09. He’s since held successively senior roles from News Director for Southwestern Ontario to Regional News Director for CTV Ontario, to General Manager roles in Kitchener and Toronto. Most recently, he’d been serving as GM of CTV News Toronto, CP24 and BNN Bloomberg. Freeman had led the CTV News division since 2010. Originally from Montreal, she began her broadcast career with Citytv Toronto and had also worked at WPIX-TV New York, WXYZ-TV Detroit, and the former CKO Radio News network. Read more here.
Todd Battis has been named the next Chief Anchor for CTV News Atlantic. The longtime national correspondent for CTV News, is set to succeed Steve Murphy in the role as anchor of flagship newscast CTV News at 6, starting Monday, Jan. 31. Battis has been with CTV for most of the last two decades after starting his career with CBC in the early 1990s. Among other roles, Battis served as the CTV Vancouver Bureau Chief for five years from 2003-08. After a brief return to the public broadcaster as host of CBC New Brunswick at 6, Battis returned to CTV in 2009 as Atlantic correspondent for CTV National News, based in Halifax. Read more here.
Jesse Thomas has joined CTV Atlantic as a reporter and weekend anchor. Thomas was previously with CHEX-TV in Peterborough for the past eight years, in addition to contributing to Peterborough This Week.
Jess Smith has accepted a new role with CTV Toronto and Your Morning as a segment producer, focused on social media content, in addition to taking on weekend weather anchor duties. Smith has held various roles with CTV News since 2016, including a stop in Regina and more recently Kitchener.
David Molko is leaving CTV Vancouver for KGW-TV Portland. Molko has been a senior reporter with CTV for the last four and a half years. Prior to that he was a senior producer for CNN International, Asia Pacific and has held various roles with CBS and Fox 5 in New York, among other stops.
Alison MacKinnon is leaving CTV News Regina to join CTV Edmonton. MacKinnon has been a videojournalist with CTV Saskatchewan since Oct. 2019, initially in Yorkton. She’s also worked with CTV Lethbridge and Global Winnipeg.
Andrew Collins has left Global News Toronto to work as a probationary firefighter in the GTA. Collins has been a freelance videographer and photographer in the Toronto area since 2009, working with CBC, CTV and The Canadian Press, among other outlets.
Jess Patton has left Global News Toronto after five years to return to university to pursue her Masters in Counselling. Patton first joined Global in Jan. 2017 as a Digital Broadcast Journalist.
Ted Anhorn has wrapped a 40-year broadcasting career with Global BC. An award-winning news editor, Anhorn was part of the team recognized with a Webster Award for the station’s Casino Diaries feature in 2019, among other awards and nominations over the years.
Earl Seitz has retired after more than five decades in broadcasting and 48 years of bringing sports to CFJC-TV Kamloops viewers. Seitz, 74, started his broadcast career as a DJ in Cranbrook in 1968, before landing in Kamloops in 1974. Seitz was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the RTDNA in 2011 and inducted into the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.
Kyle Mack has left his Digital Producer role with Citytv’s Breakfast Television to join Toronto public relations and artist management agency, NKPR, as Digital Content Director. Mack had been with Citytv for the last three years. Prior to that, he held social media roles with Topshop and Hudson’s Bay Company, among other companies.
Kim Magi, who has been with CTV Vancouver since 2014, has made the move to Global BC and Global National as a producer. Magi has held roles with CTV from writing for Your Morning to working as a lineup editor. Prior to joining the network, she was a reporter with the Toronto Star and Edmonton Journal.
Nabil Karim has hosted his last show with ESPN. The former TSN Sportscentre anchor/reporter joined the American network in April 2019. Karim hasn’t revealed where he’s headed next.
Shanel Pratap has left his sports anchor/reporter role with Global BC after nearly 12 years with the station. In a post to Twitter, Pratap indicated he’ll be joining sports betting venture, Parlay One Media.
Kyle Benning has moved from his reporting role with Global News Lethbridge to join Global Toronto as a Network Digital Broadcast Journalist. Prior to joining Global in 2018, Benning was an anchor and reporter with 980 CKNW Vancouver.
Jennifer McGuire, the former General Manager and Editor-in-Chief of CBC News, has joined Pink Triangle Press (PTP) as Chief Content Officer. McGuire left the public broadcaster in Feb. 2020 after nearly 11 years in the role. She’s most recently been a Visiting Fellow with the Reuters’ Institute of Journalism at Oxford University.
Charles Rusnell and Jennie Russell, reporters with CBC Investigates – the award-winning investigative unit of CBC Edmonton – have both left the public broadcaster. Rusnell and Russell plan to continue pursuing investigative journalism independently. The Progress Report has compiled a list of the longtime investigative duo’s greatest hits.
Tara Henley says she’s left the CBC due to a shifting political agenda. A contract producer at CBC Radio, Henley is a 20-year journalist whose work has appeared in The Globe and Mail and The Walrus, in addition to a books column in the Toronto Star. In a Substack post published Jan. 3, Henley writes “When I started at the national public broadcaster in 2013, the network produced some of the best journalism in the country. By the time I resigned last month, it embodied some of the worst trends in mainstream media. In a short period of time, the CBC went from being a trusted source of news to churning out clickbait that reads like a parody of the student press…It used to be that I was the one furthest to the left in any newsroom, occasionally causing strain in story meetings with my views on issues like the housing crisis. I am now easily the most conservative, frequently sparking tension by questioning identity politics. This happened in the span of about 18 months. My own politics did not change. To work at the CBC in the current climate is to embrace cognitive dissonance and to abandon journalistic integrity.” Henley has launched new podcast, Lean Out, with the first episode featuring Newsweek’s Batya Ungar-Sargon, author of Bad News: How Woke Media is Undermining Democracy.
Laura Brougham has joined CHEK-TV Victoria as a Digital News Editor. Brougham was previously a talk show producer and fill-in anchor/reporter at CFAX 1070 Victoria.
Dave Trafford has signed off from the weekend morning show on Newstalk 1010 (CFRB-AM) Toronto, but will continue to contribute to the Roundtable with John Moore. Trafford will be working with his daughter Erin Trafford on new projects through branded content production house, Story Studio Network.
Dave Woodard has left AM 640 (CFMJ-AM) Toronto for AM 900 CHML Hamilton. Woodard had been with AM 640 since 2015, including producing the morning show for four years before transitioning to a reporting role prior to the pandemic.
Alix Michaels has a new gig with Evanov’s Hot 100.5 (CFJL-FM) Winnipeg, starting Jan. 10. Michaels was previously the afternoon drive announcer on Pattison’s 94.3 The Drive in Winnipeg, prior to its October format flip to 94.3 Now! Radio (CHNW-FM).
Murray Brookshaw will continue to consult with Rogers Sports & Media as Interim Content Director at KiSS 105.3 (CISS-FM) Ottawa and Country 92.3 (CJET-FM) Smiths Falls. Brookshaw held a similar role with 92 CITI FM Winnipeg for the last seven months.
Tristan Field-Jones has left 680 CJOB Winnipeg after almost a decade. Field-Jones, who hasn’t revealed his next move, has held numerous positions with the station since 2012 from operator to web editor, content producer and news anchor.
Kim Senkiw has left radio sales to join Pollard Banknote as a sales executive. Senkiw has been with Golden West Broadcasting, based in Winnipeg, for the past four years, and prior to that was an account manager with Corus Winnipeg for 18 years. She started her career as a media planner and buyer with Western Canada Lottery Corporation, McKim Advertising and Palmer Jarvis.
Roo Phelps is hosting a new national weekend show on the Pure Country network, Saturdays and Sundays, starting Jan. 8. Phelps has been covering national midday host Shannon Ella’s maternity leave for the past year.
Trevor Chikowski has moved from the role of music director and midday host at The Bull 92.9 (CKBL-FM) Saskatoon to host afternoons in Kamloops at Classic Rock K97.5 (CKRV-FM) and K96.3 (CKKO-FM) Kelowna. Chikowski, a graduate of Western Academy Broadcasting College, started his career on the morning show at Country 104 (CKVX-FM) Kindersley, SK, before moving to The Bull.
Jared Launchbury has returned to CityNews 680 (CFTR-AM) Toronto. Launchbury was most recently with 660 News (CFFR-AM) Calgary where he was part of the national overnight anchor team, up until this past August. He originally joined 680 News in 2015 as a Humber College intern.
Matt Brand has joined Information Morning on CBC Radio One Halifax as a traffic reporter and editor. Brand previously worked at News 95.7 (CJNI-FM) Halifax as a reporter and producer on The Sheldon MacLeod Show. He’s also spent time as a creative writer at both Rogers Sports & Media and MBS.
Roshini Nair is now working as a digital producer with CBC Podcasts, stepping in for Fabiola Melendez Carlotti, who is on secondment with the CBC Content Development Team. Nair has been working with CBC Vancouver in various roles for the past six years.
Mercedes Gaztambide has joined CBC as a Social Presenter and Creator. The avid TikTok creator (@sadiebenzy) and pending 2022 Ryerson University Journalism grad has previously developed TikTok content for blogTO and produced YouTube content for Goodable.
Rachel Giese has joined The Globe and Mail as Deputy National Editor – Health, Education and Families. Giese leaves Xtra Magazine where she’s been the Editorial Director since 2018. Giese has also held roles at CBC, Chatelaine and The Walrus, among other publications.
Peter Koveos has delivered his last newscast at TVB Pearl in Hong Kong as he moves over to the South China Morning Post. Koveos has been with the station for the last four years and working in China for the last decade. Prior to heading to Beijing in 2008, Koveos was a producer, reporter and host with Global TV in Vancouver and Team 1040 (CKST-AM).
BBTV’s Board of Directors has approved the promotions of Lewis Ball to Chief Strategy Officer, Doug Johnson to Chief of Ad Sales and Branded Entertainment, and Blake Corbet to Chief Corporate Development Officer. Vancouver-based BBTV Holdings has also appointed John Kim to its Board of Directors as an independent director. Kim is an independent business consultant, investor, and director of both public and private companies with extensive experience in capital markets. BBTV’s Board of Directors is now comprised of six members, five of whom are independent.
