Shaw Communications has announced the retirement of company president Jay Mehr, effective Apr. 9.
Mehr has been in the role since Mar. 2016 and with the company for more than two decades, holding roles including Senior Vice President, Operations and Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer.
“On behalf of our Board and our employees, I want to thank Jay for his nearly 25 years of distinguished service at Shaw including playing a pivotal role in the launch of a broad range of successful consumer and business initiatives,” said CEO Brad Shaw, in a release. “Jay’s contributions over the years are too many to fully list and include his leadership in introducing Shaw to Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, building deep strategic relationships with industry-leading partners to gain scale and operational efficiencies, and most recently achieving stability in our Consumer division. Having risen through the ranks, he ensured that the contributions and input from our field, branch and operations staff were recognized and acted upon—a practice that we will carry on.”
“While the decision to retire from Shaw was not easy, I take great comfort in knowing that our customers are the source of our innovation and their experiences are at the forefront of every decision made by our exceptionally talented leadership team and our highly engaged employees. I look forward to celebrating their successes as I transition to the next chapter of my life,” Mehr added.
Paul McAleese, who has served as president of the company’s Wireless division for the last three years, will succeed Mehr in the role, responsible for overseeing all sales, marketing, base management and customer facing areas of the business, including the Wireless and Wireline divisions. The company says during McAleese’s tenure, its wireless subscriptions have grown by more than 50% and revenue doubled to exceed $1 billion. Prior to Shaw, McAleese held executive roles with Rogers Wireless, Cincinatti Bell, and was the co-founder and CEO of private label wireless service, i-wireless.
Shaw also announced the completion of its “Total Business Transformation”, which began in 2018 and saw over 2,900 employees leave the company under its Voluntary Departure Program (VDP).
Shaw says the company is on track to deliver annualized combined operating and capital savings of approximately $200 million, with the final 200 VDP employee exits to take place over the next two months.
Subscribe Now – Free!
Broadcast Dialogue has been required reading in the Canadian broadcast media for 25 years. When you subscribe, you join a community of connected professionals from media and broadcast related sectors from across the country.
The Weekly Briefing from Broadcast Dialogue is delivered exclusively to subscribers by email every Thursday. It’s your link to critical industry news, timely people moves, and excellent career advancement opportunities.
Let’s get started right now.
