REVOLVING DOOR:
Stewart Johnston is moving into the role of SVP, Content and Sales at Bell Media as part of an executive shakeup that sees Karine Moses join Bell’s Consumer and SMB (Small & Medium business) division. Moses most recently held the title of SVP, Content Development and News. She assumes the role of SVP, SMB and Internet Companies Group (ICG), supported by Blaik Kirby, Group President, Consumer and SMB, in addition to retaining her executive role as Vice Chair, Québec. Kevin Cluett moves from Consumer and SMB to Bell Media where he’ll take on the role of SVP of Distribution, Out of Home (OOH) and Direct to Consumer. Jonas Nwuke also recently joined Bell Media as Vice-President, leading strategy, planning, and partnership initiatives. He arrives from Nielsen, where he’d served as SVP, Global Business Development & Partnerships. Read more here.
Cogeco and Cogeco Communications have unveiled a new operating model, combining the commercial, operational, and technical functions of its Canadian and U.S. telecom businesses into a North American organization. Changes to the existing leadership team reporting to Frédéric Perron, President and CEO, are effective Sept. 1 and see Sean Brushett become Chief Operating Officer, responsible for call centres, field operations, facilities, and supply chain across Canada and the U.S. Brushett previously held a similar role at Breezeline, Cogeco’s U.S. telecom business. Nancy Audette becomes SVP, Growth Initiatives, responsible for growing digital brands and wireless services across Canada and the U.S. She was previously SVP and GM, Consumer at Cogeco Connexion. Marie Ginette Lepage becomes SVP, Transformation, responsible for key revenue and cost initiatives. Lepage was previously SVP Mobile Strategy and Innovation at Cogeco. Paul Cowling will join Cogeco in July as Chief Legal and Corporate Affairs Officer. He previously spent 12 years in similar functions at Shaw, and more recently Xplore. A search is underway for a Chief Commercial Officer. Patrice Ouimet (Chief Financial Officer), Tim Dinesen (Chief Technology and Information Officer), Linda Gillespie (Chief HR Officer) and Caroline Paquet (President, Cogeco Media) will continue to lead their respective areas. As part of the changes, Frank van der Post (President, Breezeline) and Valéry Zamuner (Chief Legal and Corporate Affairs Officer) depart the company.
Wayne Rabishaw is retiring from Hamilton’s CHCH TV on May 31 after more than 42 years. Rabishaw joined the station in 1982 after studying Television Broadcasting at Mohawk College. Starting off as a Television Assistant, he worked his way up to Tape Operator, Promotions Editor, Production Mobile Supervisor, Technical Director for News, Operations Supervisor, Operations Manager, and Director of Operations. Since last September, he’s held the role of Manager of Special Projects.
Brittany Greenslade is assuming the anchor chair at CBC Manitoba as host of News at Six. Greenslade, who has called Winnipeg home since 2012, joined CBC in January of last year. She previously worked with Global News for 11 years, covering health, justice, crime, and politics. Greenslade takes on the anchor position for the year, as Janet Stewart hosts Radio Noon while Marjorie Dowhos is on maternity leave.
Last day vibes✨ It’s been a dream come true to work at such an iconic news station like @CP24 – I’m grateful for each and every experience I’ve had along this wild 3 year journey! And the 3 years I spent at CTV NewsChannel before that! Stay tuned to see where I end up👀 pic.twitter.com/3GZHP9MtXb
— Mandy Kovacs (@MandyVKovacs) May 24, 2024
Mandy Kovacs has left CP24. Kovas joined the station in 2021 after three years as a lineup editor at CTV Toronto.
Dalia Ashry has departed CTV Ottawa. Ashry had been a contract news anchor with the station since November. Prior to that, she was a freelance journalist and weather and traffic presenter at CBC Toronto for the past three years, working across radio and television.
Brianne Foley has parted ways with CHCH News Hamilton. Foley had been a sports reporter with the station for the past year, arriving from CTV Regina where she was a videojournalist up until last July. She’s also worked in television at Global Thunder Bay and CityNews Winnipeg.
Yvonne Van De Wiele is semi-retiring after 41 years in radio. After copywriting gigs in Tillsonburg, London and Sarnia, Van De Wiele made the move to news in 1982 at CKPC/LITE 92 Brantford. Stints in Hamilton at CKOC/K-103, CHAM and a 13-year run at CHML followed. In 2016, she helped launch Durham Radio’s 92.9 The Grand (CHTG-FM) in Haldimand-Hamilton, reporting and anchoring morning news. She’ll continue to freelance and pursue voiceover work.
Cam Gordon has left Rogers Communications to join Seneca Polytechnic as Director, Communications. Gordon had been with Rogers for the last year and a half as Director, Media Relations, following almost eight years as Twitter Canada’s Head of Communications for Canada and Global Project Lead. He has previously served as a course instructor at Seneca, teaching Digital and Social Media.
Gail Case has been appointed Executive Director of The Black Academy. Case will have oversight of all aspects of the advocacy organization, including fundraising and year-round programming initiatives. She brings 20 years of both public and private sector experience to the role, most recently as the Director of Client Services at FACTOR (Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings). She also brings a wealth of sales & marketing knowledge to the role having worked with CBC, CTV, Global, Blue Ant Media, JAZZ.FM91 (CJRT-FM), and G98.7FM (CKFG-FM).
RADIO & PODCAST:
Rogers Sports & Media is shutting down Pacific Content, its branded podcast division. Founded in 2014 by CBC Radio and CBC Music alumni Steve Pratt and Jennifer Ouano [in addition to Chris Kelly and Pat Kelly, who soon departed to found boutique production house Kelly&Kelly], they were joined by Chris Boyce and business consultant Rob Leadley in 2016. The B2B podcast company has predominantly serviced U.S.-based clients like Dell, Ford Motor Company, Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab, and Facebook, among others. Rogers Sports & Media acquired the business in 2019. Pacific Content’s operations will wind down by the end of June, with all content producers and administrative staff supporting the company to be impacted. Read more here. Pacific Content was recently named Best Podcast Agency at the 2024 Quill Podcast Awards.
Radiodays North America has unveiled this year’s award recipients, set to be recognized during Canadian Music Week (CMW). The first annual Pat Grierson Sales Person of the Year Award recipient is Cheryl Foster from Stingray’s 93.5 Today Radio (CFXJ-FM) and boom 97.3 (CHBM-FM) Toronto, while the Allan Waters Young Broadcaster of the Year is Luke Rodriguez from Virgin Radio (CFMG-FM) Edmonton. David Farrell of Billboard Canada/FYI Music News will be honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his longstanding career covering the music and broadcast industry. Dave Charles, CEO of Media Results Inc., will be inducted into the Allan Waters Broadcast Hall of Fame as he celebrates six decades in broadcasting. Read more here.
Canadian Music Week (CMW) has announced that musician Tom Wilson, best known as the founder of Junkhouse, and for his work with Blackie & The Rodeo Kings and Lee Harvey Osmond, will receive the 2024 CMW Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award during the 23rd Anniversary Jim Beam INDIE Awards on June 6 in Toronto. The award recognizes a Canadian artist for their social activism and support of humanitarian interests and causes. Wilson established the Tom Wilson Bursary in 2020 to support year-one Indigenous students from Ontario secondary schools completing an undergraduate program to shine a light back on the culture he was introduced to later in life. His memoir, Beautiful Scars, has become a national bestseller, in which he reveals the impact of discovering his Indigenous heritage.
The CRTC has approved two new radio stations serving the Joliette, Que. radio market. Arsenal Media’s application proposed a French-language Country and Folk format, targeted at the 35+ demo, broadcasting 42 hours of local programming each week. The commission also approved an application from Radio Nord-Joli to operate a French-language community FM station to replace CFNJ-FM Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon, which it currently operates, in addition to a rebroadcasting transmitter in Saint-Zénon. Radio Nord-Joli proposes to broadcast 126 hours of programming per broadcast week, including more than 117 hours of local programming. It will initially maintain CFNJ-FM’s current programming and then expand it to meet the needs of the new communities served by the new licence. It also proposes to broadcast the station’s signal in HD.
Stingray’s Ocean 100 (CHTN-FM) and HOT 105.5 (CKQK-FM) Charlottetown staff spent 12 hours on May 22 broadcasting the Big Day Of Giving live from the QEH, while Big Day ambassadors traveled across the Island, from Souris to Tignish, gathering donations. The radiothon raised $987,117 to support Island healthcare.
Q107’S High School Reunion will take place June 22 at the historic Phoenix Concert Theatre. Featuring live music by Neon Nostalgic, the only live rock and roll show that syncs the band’s performance to original music videos by Prince, Bon Jovi, INXS, U2, Oasis, Pearl Jam, The Killers, Duran Duran, The Cure, and others, attendees are encouraged to dress to impress in their high school prom wear for a chance to be named Prom King or Queen and score a trip for two to Cuba. All the Q personalities will also be in attendance.
Curiouscast’s award-winning The Deadman’s Curse returns for a second season Monday, June 3 with haunting new tale, Deadman’s Curse: Volcanic Gold. Host and explorer Kru Williams aims to solve the mystery of the disappearance of a prospector searching for a legendary gold mine, retracing the steps of the fortune seekers looking for ‘the motherload’ – billions in gold. Produced by Great Pacific Media (GPM), Curiouscast and Corus Entertainment, new episodes will drop every Tuesday. The podcast is based on HISTORY Channel series Deadman’s Curse.
The Sonar Network’s newest acquisition is Yub Nub from TV writers, filmmakers, and multi-media creators Tim Barnes (The Tonight Show), Greg Iwinski (The Late Show, Last Week Tonight), and Jim Fagan (Comedy Central). Yub Nub is a meeting place for Star Wars and media-loving comedy nerds to talk about all things Star Wars, film, and TV through the point of view of the people who make it. The new season launches May 31, deep diving into the media that inspired George Lucas to create Star Wars in the first place, from Buck Rogers to Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.
LISTEN: Yann Legarson, CEO of Radioplayer Worldwide, and Paul Kaye, Board Chair for Radioplayer Canada and Head of Audio for Rogers Sports & Media, join Broadcast Dialogue publisher and Radioplayer Country Manager Shawn Smith to talk about the organization’s latest developments and tease their upcoming panel at Radiodays North America in Toronto. Listen on your favourite podcast app or here:
LISTEN: Roz Weston is on the Sound Off Podcast talking about The History of Roz & Mocha, the new limited podcast series on how the show came together, why it works and how it has lasted 14 years when most armchair PDs gave it 14 months.
Pro Bono Group’s newest PSA for Feed Ontario is directed at the concern for children who may be going hungry. “Breakfast For A Month” was voiced by award-winning Canadian actress Kristina Nicoll. “Breakfast For A Month” replaces previous PSA “Samir.”
SIGN OFFS:
Bob Mackowycz, Sr., on May 29. Mackowycz is arguably best known for his time at Toronto’s Q107 (CILQ-FM), which he joined in its first year of operation in 1977, and where he went on to create “The 6 O’Clock Rock Report” and “Psychedelic Sundays.” After being promoted to program director in 1987, Mackowycz left the station that same year to work for Standard Broadcasting, joining CKFM in 1988. He went on to leadership positions at CFRB and The Fan 590 (CJCL-AM), among other stops. His industry footprint included working on the application to bring Sirius satellite radio to Canada, and while in Washington, D.C., serving as the program director of SiriusXM’s USA Today channel. He eventually became a programming consultant and subsequently a co-owner of Shore 104 (CHLG-FM) Vancouver, which was sold to Astral Media in 2012. Mackowycz was also a published author, co-authoring Dream Tower: The Life and Legacy of Rochdale College, exploring the history of the experimental student-run alternative education and co-operative living venture, located in a notorious 18-story residence in downtown Toronto in the late 1960s and early ’70s. The book was later adapted into a National Film Board (NFB) documentary. Mackowycz’s son, Bob Mackowycz, Jr., also went on to pursue a career in broadcasting. Read more here.
TV & FILM:
The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television handed out the 2024 Canadian Screen Awards for News, Entertainment, and Sports on Tuesday evening at the CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto. Multiple award winners included CBC’s The National, which saw Jorge Barrera capture Best National Reporter and Adrienne Arsenault named Best News Anchor, National. CTV National News with Omar Sachedina won Best National Newscast, while Best Local Newscast went to CBC Vancouver News at 6. APTN Investigates, W5, and ET Canada all picked up two awards apiece, as did TSN’s 2022 Grey Cup coverage. Crave and APTN’s Little Bird led both the Television Craft and TV Program & Performance Awards, with multiple awards also claimed by Sort Of, The Hardy Boys, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, PAW Patrol, and Transplant, among other series. The Documentary, Factual, Lifestyle & Reality Awards, and Cinematic Arts Awards follow on Thursday, and the televised Canadian Screen Awards gala on Friday, set to air on CBC and CBC Gem.
CBC News has announced its intention to launch 14 new free ad-supported streaming (FAST) channels, featuring breaking news, weather, and news headlines. CBC News BC and CBC News Toronto are already live and available to stream via CBC Gem, the CBC News App, and the Roku Channel. They’ll be joined by 12 additional FAST channels serving Calgary, Edmonton, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, the North, Nova Scotia, Ottawa, P.E.I., Quebec, Saskatchewan and Windsor. CBC made the announcement as part of the unveiling of its 2024-25 programming slate, which includes over 40 new and returning original series from Canadian creators, headlined by Allan Hawco police procedural Saint-Pierre. Read more here.
I Am: Celine Dion starts streaming on Prime Video on June 25. Directed by Academy Award nominee Irene Taylor, the documentary promises a raw and honest behind-the-scenes look at the superstar’s struggle with a life-altering illness.
Crave Original series Made for TV with Boman Martinez-Reid sees the Canadian actor and comedian embark on a hilarious and slightly awkward quest for television fame as he explores various TV genres. With the guidance of real-life celebrity advisors, he puts his skills to the test, hoping to discover the one that will propel him to television fame. Created by two-time Canadian Comedy Award-winner Natalie Metcalfe and produced by Alibi Entertainment in association with Bell Media, all six episodes of the series drop on Crave on July 12. Boman’s advisors include reality star and influencer Francesca Farago (Too Hot To Handle); Chef Lynn Crawford and Audrey MacKinnon (Junior Chef Showdown); news anchors Nathan Downer and Sandie Rinaldo; Toronto Raptors broadcaster Jack Armstrong, and former NBA star Jamaal Magloire, among others.
TSN will deliver complete coverage of the 2024 RBC Canadian Open, beginning Thursday, May 30 from Hamilton Golf and Country Club. A total of 25 Canadian players are set to compete, including Mike Weir, Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes, and Taylor Pendrith. Bob Weeks, James Duthie, and former Canadian PGA Tour competitor Graham DeLaet are on-site all week delivering daily reports for Sportscentre. TSN 1050 (CHUM-AM) is also broadcasting live on-location in Hamilton throughout the week.
AMI-tv has unveiled its summer lineup of new and returning original series, beginning with the debut of The Squeaky Wheel: Canada, an eight-episode satirical, half-hour news format which pokes fun at the ableist society people with disabilities face every day. New series Got Game explores coming-of-age in a board game café as six youths with disabilities share their stories in a roundtable discussion while playing inclusive tabletop games. Returning series include Season 4 of the Canadian Screen Award-nominated By Hook or By Cook, Season 2 of Breaking Character, and a special episode of Mind Your Own Business filmed before a studio audience.
ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:
Postmedia Network is selling the Winnipeg Sun, The Graphic Leader in Portage La Prairie, MB, and Kenora Miner & News to The Klein Group, helmed by former Sun publisher Kevin Klein, who went on to serve as a Winnipeg City Councillor and Conservative MLA. Postmedia says employees at each of the newspapers are expected to continue in their roles, with no job losses anticipated. Non-unionized employees will be offered their same job with the Klein Group, while unionized employees will retain their current terms as presently contracted. Included in the transaction is Postmedia’s Winnipeg Press Commercial Print division, all associated digital properties, contracts and other related parts of the businesses. The deal is scheduled to close on or about June 1.
Narcity Media Group is launching an equity crowdfunding campaign on FrontFundr. Readers and retail investors will be able to invest “in the company’s transformation.” “Our goal is to evolve from a media company serving millions of readers to a tech company engaging millions of users,” the company said in a note to readers. Terms of the investment have yet to be revealed.
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
The CRTC is proposing Cost Recovery Regulations that would apply to the largest online platforms that distribute news content as it continues to set up a framework around implementation of the Online News Act. With the vast majority of the commission’s operations funded by fees charged to companies it regulates, it’s now proposing additional cost recovery rules in light of work required under the new Act. In a call for comments on the suggested measure, the CRTC proposes charging the largest digital operators to fund that new work, stipulating it will not collect from news businesses. The deadline for comments is June 25. Read more here.
“This Show is Made with Zero Support from the Government” is a new campaign launched by independent ethnic community television producers, who say third-language programming is in jeopardy without more funding. A number of shows broadcast on Rogers Sports & Media multicultural broadcaster OMNI TV have begun airing the public service announcements, which warn viewers that without support, multicultural voices could start disappearing from the airwaves, urging audiences to contact their local Member of Parliament. The group says despite the Online Streaming Act calling for diverse and third-language content to be bolstered, in fiscal 2023-24, less than 0.0128% ($4.3M) of the Canada Media Fund’s $336 million in support for Canada’s television and digital media industry went to diverse language programs. Read more here.
CBC Saskatchewan employee Richard Agecoutay has been granted a human rights hearing over claims of discrimination. Agecoutay, 61, has worked at the public broadcaster since 2001. The Indigenous videographer for CBC Regina alleges he’s been denied work due to his race, pointing specifically to an incident in 2012 when he says a less-experienced white employee was hired over him for a position at Hockey Night in Canada. His claim alleges the broadcaster offered him a settlement, in exchange for signing a non-disclosure agreement.
Trauma Aware Journalism (TAJ): A News Industry Toolkit is a series of free “micro-learning” videos, online resources and study guides on how journalists can best cover people and communities that are suffering, as well as how to protect the mental health of news professionals. Available at TraumaAwareJournalism.org, the toolkit was produced by the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, CBC/Radio-Canada, and the Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma. The TAJ videos showcase experts and leading journalists sharing tips on everything from interviewing techniques, to ethics and taking care of yourself.
Inspirit Foundation, the Local News Research Project and the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) have released Funding Journalism: A Guide to Philanthropic Support for Canadian Media, which aims to provide journalists and media organizations with guidance and best practices on how news organizations can explore philanthropic funding as a means of supporting quality public service journalism. The guide blends anecdotes from individuals working at the evolving intersection of journalism and philanthropy and reviews recent tax and regulatory changes that have made philanthropic support for journalism more viable in Canada.
BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING NEWS:
Vizrt has announced that its flagship newsroom HTML-based templated graphics system, Viz Pilot Edge, now integrates with Dalet Galaxy five. To ensure speed, efficiency, and fast turnaround of stories in the time-critical live news production environment, the integration brings the templated graphics capabilities of Viz Pilot Edge directly into Dalet’s solution for unified news operations. Journalists and editors can now access the latest Viz graphical elements directly in their existing Dalet newsroom workflows.
