REVOLVING DOOR:
Harvard Media has unveiled a new programming leadership structure. Jim McCourtie, who formerly oversaw the X stations in Calgary and Red Deer, alongside the play brand in Edmonton, Red Deer, Regina, and Fort McMurray, assumes the role of VP, Programming and Brand Strategy, Alberta. Matt Berry officially rejoins Harvard Media as Program Director, X, while also assuming Alberta Music Director responsibilities for both X and play. Jordan Keating is promoted from Local Program Director for Fort McMurray to PD for the Cruz and play brands in Alberta, while also serving as Music Director for Cruz Alberta. Brad Bazin is promoted to VP, Programming and Brand Strategy, Saskatchewan. Tonya Cherry is bumped to PD, AM Stations. Travis Stewart continues as PD for Wolf, Cruz, and play in Saskatchewan, in addition to handling music direction across the province’s FM stations. Read more here.
Corus Entertainment’s move to centralize Global News Morning in its Eastern and Prairie Markets sees a number of staff depart the company, including Paul Brothers, who had anchored the Halifax morning show since its launch in 2013; technical producer Sean Hargreaves, and engineer Chad Allen.
In case you missed this morning’s announcement ✨❤️ pic.twitter.com/ZQHyHaApo5
— Laura Casella (@La_Casella) July 30, 2026
Laura Casella moves from anchoring Global Morning News Montreal – a role she’s held for the past 10 years – into a hosting position in evenings. Global News unveiled its new morning show Tuesday, anchored by meteorologist Ross Hull, Miranda Anthistle, and Jaden Lee-Lincoln. Read more here.
Rob Faulds is retiring after 51 years in broadcasting. Faulds will hang up his microphone following the conclusion of the 2026 National Bank Open on Sportsnet, where he’s been a day one employee since 1998. Faulds started anchoring sports at CFCF 12 (CTV) Montreal in 1984. He went on to serve as a sports commentator for Canada AM and CTV Sports, prior to signing on with Sportsnet.
Update pic.twitter.com/NT7GkYLQND
— Kelly Hrudey (@KellyHrudey) August 5, 2026
Kelly Hrudey’s contract with Sportsnet hasn’t been renewed after 12 years with the network. The former NHL goaltender joined the network full-time in 2014 as a studio analyst for Hockey Night in Canada and colour commentator for regional Calgary Flames broadcasts. Read more here.
Andrew Brown signed off from the morning show at CBC London for a final time on July 31. Brown, who had been hosting London Morning for the past three years, is headed back to CBC Calgary to host the provincial call-in program Alberta at Noon.
Marie-Audrey Houle has decided not to renew her contract with Radio-Canada after a decade with the public broadcaster. Houle was a weather and environment journalist, based in Montreal.
Rob Polson, Lead Producer at CBC Kamloops, is leaving the public broadcaster in September to pursue other opportunities. Polson initially started working in the Kamloops market in the late 1980s at CFJC-TV, before joining CBC Vancouver for a decade. He returned to Kamloops in 2012 to help the launch the new CBC bureau and Daybreak Kamloops.
Dustin Collins has stepped away from Corus Entertainment, where he’s served as Program Director for CFOX and Rock101 (CFMI-FM) Vancouver, Chuck@925 (CKNG-FM) Edmonton, and Power97 (CJKR-FM) Winnipeg for the last four years. This was Collins second stint with Corus after previously serving as PD for CFOX and Rock 101 from 2013-19.
@claytonkroeker Will always love 92.9 The Bull. #yxe #saskatoon #radio ♬ original sound – Clayton.Kroeker
Clayton Kroeker has parted ways with 92.9 The Bull (CKBL-FM) Saskatoon. Kroeker had been hosting the station’s morning show since November 2024 with his departure coming as the station transfers ownership from Saskatoon Media Group (SMG) to Rawlco Radio. He moves over to SMG’s 98 Cool (CJMK-FM), where he’ll be heard from noon – 6 p.m. Program Director Steve Chisholm was previously heard in the time slot.
Kendra Moore has confirmed that she was among those caught up in layoffs last month at Corus Radio after 16 years with the company as The Kyle and Kendra Show on Country 104 (CKDK-FM) London comes to an end. Kyle Grimard continues in the morning time slot solo.
Sharon Taylor is filling in as Interim General Manager at JAZZ.FM91 (CJRT-FM) Toronto. The former Rawlco Radio, Standard Broadcasting and Astral Media exec steps in for Dana Wigle, who is on medical leave.
Robert Kubbinga has joined MBC’s 107.7 WOW FM (CFMP-FM) Armprior, ON full-time in an anchoring, reporting and writing role. Kubbinga had been working with MBC’s stations in Renfrew and Armprior for the last few months as a community ambassador.
Natalia Buia has rejoined Daily Hive as Associate Editor, National Trends. Buia, who arrives from a nine-month stint as an Associate Editor at blogTO, previously had a brief run with Daily Hive as Toronto City Editor in 2022.
Penny Coles, Editor of Niagara-on-the-Lake Local, has retired. Coles co-founded the publication with Karen Skeoch in 2018, prior to its sale to Village Media in 2024. Joining Village Media are Community Tools & Partnership Coordinator Natasha James, Digital Operations Coordinator Alicia Baxter and GuelphToday Community Partner Specialists Raeanne Paul-Fensom, Reyan Rajan, and Ruhi Suvarna.
Lisa Cole has been named Vice President, Education at TVO Media Education Group. Cole will lead TVO’s education portfolio as the organization strengthens its digital learning services and deepens their connection to Ontario’s curriculum. Cole previously launched and led the k2i academy at York University’s Lassonde School of Engineering and served as an Education Officer with Ontario’s Ministry of Education.
Lindsey Scully is taking on an expanded role at Netflix. In addition to acting as Senior Director of Communications for Canada, she’ll now also oversee Studio Communications for the U.S. She’s been with the company since 2020.
Kevin Barton has stepped down as Executive Producer of Departure Festival + Conference. Barton – a partner in Loft Entertainment with former Bell Media President Randy Lennox, which acquired Canadian Music Week (CMW) alongside Oak View Group in 2024 – had executive produced the “reimagined” event for the past two years.
Yazmine Laroche, founding Chair of the Disability Screen Office (DSO) has stepped down from the board after nearly four years. The former federal Deputy Minister of Public Service Accessibility, Laroche also sits on the boards of the National Arts Centre and Ottawa International Airport Authority.
Rebecca McKillican has joined the BCE and Bell Canada board of directors. McKillican served as CEO of McKesson Canada from 2020-23, after joining the company in 2017 through its acquisition of health and wellness e-commerce site, Well.ca, where she was CEO. McKillican also serves on the board of National Bank of Canada. Her appointment comes as former GE Capital Canada CEO Katherine Lee retires from the board after 11 years.
RADIO & PODCAST:
Numeris has announced the launch of Radio Local+ – a new hybrid radio measurement approach for local markets that’s set to replace Online Radio Diary methodology. Developed by Numeris, in partnership with Stats Radio, the new “official currency for local radio measurement” combines people-based listening behaviours with census-level streaming data and advanced modelling to deliver what Numeris says will be a more stable and representative view of radio consumption in local markets. Read more here.
The CRTC has launched a consultation on the market capacity and the appropriateness of issuing a call for radio applications for a new station to serve Kelowna. The call was triggered by an application from CIAM Media for a licence amendment to operate a Kelowna rebroadcasting transmitter for its English-language community FM station CIAM-FM Fort Vermillion, AB. The deadline for interventions is Aug. 27.
FEATURE: A who’s who of Calgary media gathered on Friday, July 31st to say goodbye to two of the city’s longest-running AM radio stations, 660 NewsRadio (CFFR-AM) Calgary and Sportsnet 960 The Fan (CFAC-AM). Mark Strashok, a 660 News employee from the station’s launch in 2006 until early July when Rogers Sports & Media shuttered the stations, writes “It was a radio reunion for all the wrong reasons, but it was still one heck of a night.” Read more here.
JACK 102.3 (CHST-FM) London and The Paul Harper Show brought the community together to help rescue animals from the Ontario fires alongside the Humane Society London & Middlesex last month. The station stepped in with a “Random Act of Summer,” helping raise funds for food, supplies, and relocation. The station gave out free ice cream to everyone who donated, with the live on location broadcast generating more than $15,000 and hundreds of slip leads, bags of food and treats. Listen here.
Griff & Caroline, the former morning duo on JACK 92.9 (CFLT-FM) Halifax, have launched their own YouTube channel. The market veterans were among those caught up in recent layoffs at Rogers Sports & Media. The channel features mostly flashbacks from the duo’s 13-year run with Rogers.
LISTEN: Whiteoaks Communications President Matt Caine and longtime Pattison Media broadcast engineer Rob Brown join Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast to talk about the realities of the AM band – both from a technical standpoint and the challenges of trying to meet listeners where they’re at digitally. Among other things, we talk about the under-utilization of HD Radio in Canada, the lack of a digital transition plan for the industry, and we ask how much blame for the current state of the radio business is rooted in a lack of vision?
LISTEN: Podcast sound designer Gaëtan Harris, founder of Syrup Sound, is on the latest Sound Off Podcast. He discusses the technical side of podcast production and the creative philosophy behind great audio, as well as what separates a polished listening experience from a rushed edit, and why the smallest details can make the biggest difference.
SIGN OFFS:
Lloyd Robertson, 92, on Aug. 4. Robertson began his broadcasting career in 1952, while still in his teens, as an operator and announcer at CJCS radio in his hometown of Stratford, ON. He went on to join CJOY Guelph in 1953, moving into television a year later with CBC Windsor. That was followed by four years (1956-’60) with CBC Winnipeg and two in Ottawa (1960-’62). By 1970, he had worked his way up to anchor CBC flagship newscast, The National. Frustrated with union rules prohibiting him from writing or editing, Robertson left the public broadcaster after 22 years in 1976, joining CTV News later that fall as co-anchor of CTV National News, alongside Harvey Kirck. He was appointed Chief News Anchor and Senior News Editor in 1983 when Kirck retired. He continued to anchor CTV National News until Sept. 1, 2011, signing off for a final time with his signature “And that’s the kind of day it’s been” at age 77 after 41 years as a national anchor – the longest tenure of any national news anchor in North America. He continued to co-host W5 until 2016. Read more here.
Bill Atanasoff, 73, on Aug. 1. Atanasoff was a Citytv cameraman from the 1970s through the mid-2000s, who was struck by a drunk driver in November 2010, while on assignment. The experienced night shift field cameraman, who was 58 at the time, suffered severe head trauma, a broken neck, broken pelvis and two broken legs in the accident. He was left blind and paralyzed from the neck down. Atanasoff survived his circumstances with dignity, becoming an inspiring beacon of perseverance to friends and colleagues. Listen to this tribute on the Toronto Mike’d podcast here.
Jim Fonger, 69, suddenly on July 25. Fonger began his broadcasting career in 1979 at Telemedia Ontario, engineering Toronto Blue Jays home broadcasts alongside sports broadcaster Tom Cheek and pitcher Early Wynn. In 1982, he joined CFNY-FM as Sales Manager, later rising to the position of Director of Operations. Fonger helped guide the station through a difficult period, making efforts to broaden its audience while heeding a commitment to introduce new music. In 1990, he co-founded Zenox Communications (later DCCI and Telmetrics), leading the company as President and CEO for its first 11 years. Zenox pioneered tech-connected computer applications with telephone networks, laying the groundwork for the modern call-tracking industry. He went into the energy sector in 2011 and from 2024, up until this year, served as President of Rodan Distributed Energy Resources.
Alan Bell-Chambers, 73, on July 18 in Shellbrook, SK. Bell-Chambers was with CTV Saskatoon for over 23 years. He had ascended to the role of News Director, prior to layoffs in October 2001.
TV & FILM:
Rogers Sports & Media has confirmed it has given working notice to roughly two dozen employees at its multicultural broadcaster, OMNI Television, as the company proceeds with a round of voluntary buyouts and job cuts previously announced in July. Nineteen Citytv employees agreed to a voluntary buyout, while another 23 unionized staff – primarily at OMNI Toronto – received notice last Thursday that they’ll be laid off effective Aug. 14. Read more here.
The News Forum alleges Cogeco and Quebecor’s Videotron are not giving the channel the TV package placement it deserves. The independent national news service, which broadcasters must offer to subscribers under 9.1(1)(h) rules, claims in separate Part 1 applications to the CRTC that the aforementioned broadcasters are excluding it from packages that include incumbent news networks CBC and CTV.
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CBC is marking 50 years since the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games with a series of features exploring both the behind-the-scenes events behind the public broadcaster’s first turn as an Olympic host broadcaster as well as highlights from the games themselves. The series is available to stream on CBC Gem.
CBC has set fall premiere dates, starting with award-winning original comedy North of North returning for a second season on Tuesday, Sept. 8, alongside the fifth and final season of Son of a Critch, and This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Heartland and Murdoch Mysteries return for their landmark 20th seasons Sunday, Oct. 4 and Monday, Oct. 5.
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
TELUS has released unaudited results for its second quarter ended June 30. The company delivered mobile phone and internet net additions of 17,000 and 20,000, respectively, and connected device net additions of 187,000. Mobile network revenue of $1.7 billion is up one per cent year-over-year, supported by subscriber base growth and ARPU (average revenue per user) of $56.36. Achieved blended mobile phone churn of 1.08 per cent, up from 1.06 per cent in the same period last year.
