REVOLVING DOOR:
Paul Kaye is departing Rogers Sports & Media at the end of May. Head of Rogers Audio Business for the last three years, Kaye has been with the company since 2016 when he joined as VP, Product & Talent. He will also step down from his post as President & Board Chair of Radioplayer Canada. Originally from the UK, Kaye began working in Canada in 2012, holding roles at Newcap Radio, including National Director of Talent Development, prior to joining Rogers. Read more here.
Evan Solomon, the longtime journalist and former iHeartRadio Canada network talk show host, has been named to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new Cabinet moving into the newly-created post of Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation. Artificial intelligence previously fell largely under the Industry portfolio, which is now headed by former Foreign Affairs Min. Mélanie Joly. Anita Anand moves from the Industry file to take up the Foreign Affairs portfolio, while Steven Guilbeault retains his post as Minister of Canadian Identity & Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages. Solomon will also serve as Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.
Dan Mellon has been named the new GM/GSM for My Broadcasting Corporation’s stations in Brockville. Mellon arrives from Algonquin College where he’s been a professor in the Radio Broadcasting program for the last 15 years and General Manager of campus radio station, CKDJ-FM. His first day on the job will be May 26.
Robyn Oliver has announced she’s moving on from Stingray after 14 years as a media sales strategist with its Newfoundland & Labrador stations. Oliver first joined what was then Steele Communications in May 2011. She hasn’t revealed her next move.
Jordan Heath-Rawlings has joined strategic communications firm, Burson, as an Account Director, focused on earned media. The former Executive Producer of the Frequency Podcast Network and host of its podcasts, The Big Story and The Gravy Train, was part of layoffs at Rogers Sports & Media in November.
Dana Roberts has announced his departure from CTV News Barrie. He’ll be staying with the network, moving into a behind-the-scenes role as a producer in Toronto. Roberts had been a videographer, anchor and producer in Barrie since 2021.
Derick Fage is the new Supervising Producer of CTV Morning Live Ottawa, starting June 2. Fage has been a host and producer with Rogers TV in Ottawa for the last five years, best know for his work with Daytime Ottawa. Prior to that he was a host on Breakfast Television Montreal.
Santiago Bedoya is joining The Sound Off Media Company as a podcast producer. He’ll also continue in his role as a technical producer and master control operator at Corus Entertainment in Toronto. Aidan Glassey is moving into the new role of Video Content Creator for Sound Off shows that have or are in the process of including video as part of their marketing strategy.
Natasha Kowalsky has joined Lead Podcasting as an Associate Producer and Executive Assistant to Founder and CEO Amanda Cupido. Kowalsky is a former technical producer for AM 640 (CFIQ-AM), Q107 (CILQ-FM) and The Edge (CFNY-FM), among other radio and television production credits.
Tori Romano is the new Executive Director of AMPIA, the Alberta Media Production Industries Association. Based in Calgary, Romano arrives from Calgary Economic Development where she’s been in charge of Digital Media and Entertainment Business Development for the last five years. Romano has also worked as a Production Coordinator for Cinesite and ReelFX in Montreal.
Iain Christiansen has been promoted to Vice President, Marketing & Communications at Shaftesbury. Christiansen, who has also held publicity roles with WildBrain and Bell Media, has been working with Shaftesbury for the last six years under Dylen Postnikoff, who is moving on.
Olivia Marie Golosky has joined Experimental Forest Films (EFF) in Vancouver as an Associate Producer. Hailing from Fort McMurray, Golosky is a Two-Spirit Michif director, writer and producer.
Rachel Field has departed WideOrbit where she had been serving as Sales Director for the past year. Prior to joining WideOrbit, Field was with PromoSuite for the last 25 years, most recently as Chief Revenue Officer.
RADIO & PODCAST:
Radiodays North America officially got underway last Wednesday as part of the inaugural Departure Festival + Conference, a “reimagined” Canadian Music Week (CMW) encompassing music, media, tech, art and entertainment. This year’s sessions kicked off with an exploration of what radio might look like in 2040, featuring radio futurologist James Cridland and market researcher John Parikhal that tackled everything from what kind of shelf life AM radio might have to the need for better measurement and less restrictive regulation. Moderated by CHUM 104.5 afternoon host Josie Dye, Cridland didn’t waste anytime in addressing AM radio’s uncertain future. Read more here.
The CRTC will hold a virtual hearing on July 10 to consider Vista Radio’s application to acquire CJGY-FM Grande Prairie and its transmitters CJGY-FM-1 Fort St. John and CJGY-FM-2 Dawson Creek, BC from Golden West Broadcasting. Vista would purchase the assets of the Christian format radio station, branded as Reach 96.3, for $1,250,000.
Durham Radio has rebranded the three Ontario stations it acquired from Bell Media. CKLY-FM Lindsay moves from Bell’s Bounce Radio format to Y91.9, maintaining a similar format; CKPT-FM, formerly a MOVE station, takes on Adult Hits format Pete 99.7; and CKQM-FM Peterborough goes from Pure Country to KX105.
The Pro Canada Project has welcomed comedian, writer and actor Mark Critch and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Anne Murray to its “Buy Canadian” PSA campaign. The Pro Bono Group campaign – led by veteran advertising and commercial production veterans Mike Occomore and Larry MacInnis – was launched in February in direct response to the threat of U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods. In Murray’s PSA, the Canadian icon revisits the theme of her acceptance speech for her recent Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 JUNO Awards, discussing the pressure she received to move to the U.S. early in her career. Read more here.
The 43rd National Campus & Community Radio Conference takes place June 17-20 in Nanaimo, BC at Vancouver Island University. Speakers at this year’s gathering of Canadian Campus, Community and Indigenous Radio stations include Jon Bisset, Chief Executive of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA); Andre Goulet, Executive Director at the Harbinger Media Network; Jennifer Waits, Assistant Curator, Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications (DLARC), and Aaron Levy, Executive Director of the University of the Fraser Valley’s CIVL-FM Abbotsford.
YYC PodSummit has announced two of its keynote speakers: PodNews editor James Cridland and Alberta author and activist Jesse Lipscombe. The second annual event will take place Sept. 19-20 in Calgary.
Pink Triangle Press (PTP) has launched Get Queer, a new podcast hosted by Xtra Senior Editor, Audience Engagement Mel Woods and produced by PTP Creative Consultant Daniel MacIvor. The initial six episodes explore how reality TV has shaped queer identity via interviews with Zeke Smith (Survivor), Wes Culwell (Boy Meets Boy), Arewà (Are You the One?) and Racquel Chevremont (The Real Housewives of New York City).
Kelly&Kelly, the boutique Vancouver creative studio behind award-winning podcasts like Broomgate: A Curling Scandal, is collaborating with Lark Productions on a new docuseries for CBC Uncover. Dirtbag Climber is a five-episode series looking at the unsolved homicide of Jesse James, a rock climber found dead in Squamish, B.C. who was living a double life as a con artist. The show is one of two Kelly&Kelly podcasts premiering at the Tribeca Festival in New York in June, alongside Jacob Reed & Me – an investigative comedy docuseries about a comedian who has a mid-life crisis and creates a spreadsheet of 700 others who share his name. CBC Podcasts’ Creation Myth, an exploration of life without children hosted by audio producer Helena de Groot, is also an official Tribeca Audio Storytelling selection.
LISTEN: Fearless Fred is on the latest Sound Off Podcast discussing his transition from mornings at The Edge (CFNY-FM) to afternoons at Q107, the challenges of radio, mental health, the impact of AI on creative fields, and he reflects on mentors like Darrin Harvey and Dean Blundell who shaped his career.
SIGN OFFS:
Geoff Rohoman, 41, on May 5. After attending both Seneca Polytechnic and Humber College, Rohoman got his start in broadcasting as a news anchor at 640 (CFIQ-AM) Toronto. He joined Rogers Sports & Media a little more than a year later, arriving at Vancouver’s News 1130 (CKWX-AM) in the fall of 2006 where he anchored and reported, frequently contributing to sports coverage including the 2010 Winter Olympics. He returned to Toronto in 2011, signing on with Sportsnet 590 The Fan (CJCL-AM), before joining 680 News (CFTR-AM) full-time in 2014, most recently working as an “infotainment reporter,” capitalizing on his love of pop culture. Following medical leave to battle colorectal cancer, Rohoman was released by the company in January. Since his diagnosis, he had been focused on spreading awareness of the rise of colorectal cancer cases in those under 50. Read more here.
TV & FILM:
Stingray has announced the closure of CITL-TV and CKSA-TV in Lloydminster, AB and the elimination of 19 jobs, effective immediately, citing “challenging economic conditions.” CKSA and CITL were the only two conventional television stations in the Stingray portfolio, acquired through the company’s acquisition of Newcap Broadcasting in 2016. Both stations simulcast a 6 p.m. Primetime Local News broadcast. The company said in an announcement that with economic conditions deteriorating over the last six years, viewership had substantially decreased with revenues dropping by more than half. Read more here.
Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) and Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada (APFC) are among the organizations representing film and audiovisual creators from around the world signing a global petition in response to the threat of U.S. tariffs on foreign film productions. The petition – which already has 100 signatories – calls on all governments to stand firm and safeguard the systems supporting independent film and audiovisual creation. Read more here.
Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent swept the Ensemble categories at the 23rd ACTRA Awards on Thursday evening, handed out at an event at Toronto’s Koerner Hall. The Citytv spinoff of the long-running Dick Wolf franchise won both the 2025 Members’ Choice Series Ensemble Award and the 2025 Stunt Ensemble Award for Season 1 episode “The Key to the Castle.” Find the full list of winners here.
The Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment Canada will honour award-winning producer Christina Jennings, Founder, Chairman and President of Shaftesbury, with the Glass Ceiling Award at this year’s second annual event May 29 at the Ritz-Carlton in Toronto. The Glass Ceiling Award recognizes excellence in leadership in the Canadian entertainment industry from women role models setting the agenda and driving the industry forward.
Corus Entertainment is touting Global’s The Morning Show as the country’s most-watched Canadian news/lifestyle morning show, celebrating a 17% audience increase year-over-year, reaching almost 1.2 million Adults 18+ every week on Global TV. According to data provided by Corus, The Morning Show is delivering audiences nearly two times higher than CTV’s Your Morning, and more than twice that of Citytv’s Breakfast Television, also outperforming daytime series including The Social and The Good Stuff with Mary Berg.
CBC says the 54th annual JUNO Awards broadcast was streamed over 825,000 times, marking a 400% year-over-year increase. National TV viewership exceeded 2.8 million, peaking at 1.1 million viewers during host Michael Bublé’s opening monologue. On social, JUNO content racked up over 9.1 million views.
Accessible Media Inc. (AMI), in partnership with FRANK Digital, has announced the debut of the 16-episode Game Changers, Thursday, May 15. Each episode finds host Dave Brown visiting stunning locales, while spending the day chatting with notable Canadians. Season 1 guests include wheelchair basketball star Tara Llanes, sportswear designer Lucy Wild, The Honourable Carla Qualtrough, music producer/recording artist Mattmac, PGA golfer Kyle Miller, playwright Ashley King, actor Bruce Horak and punk rock icon Bif Naked.
Ryan Straschnitzki, who was paralyzed from the chest down in the tragic 2018 bus crash in Saskatchewan that killed 16 and injured 13 members of the Humboldt Broncos, stars in upcoming AMI docuseries We Were Broncos, premiering May 26 on AMI-tv and AMI+. In the debut episode of the six-part series, “Moving Beyond Tragedy,” Straschnitzki tries to narrow down which parasport will give him his best chance at making Team Canada for the Paralympics, ultimately choosing wheelchair basketball.
Longhope Media and OMNI Television have announced that Season 4 of satirical sketch comedy series ABROAD will premiere on Sunday, May 18 on OMNI 2, OMNI BC and OMNI Alberta. Co-created by and starring Filipina comedian Isabel Kanaan, the Canadian Screen Award-nominated half hour series features episodes in English and Tagalog, based on the immigrant experience in Canada.
TELUS is launching a combined streaming and TV experience in Ontario and more regions of Quebec. Customers in select regions can now build their own mix of streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+ and illico+ with core live TV channels. TELUS says with over 80% of Canadian households now subscribing to at least one streaming service and streaming customers paying for an average of 2.6 platforms per household, TELUS’ new TV and entertainment solution meets growing demand from Canadians to choose the services they want.
Asian Television Network (ATN) has expanded its channel offerings on Rogers (formerly Shaw) in Western Canada from 12 to 54. Customers now have access to a broader range of South Asian content, with newly-launched channels including a mix of general entertainment, movies, music, news, and spiritual programming in multiple South Asian languages like Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Urdu, Telugu, Gujarati, Marathi, and Bengali.
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
CRTC hearings aimed at modernizing the definition of what constitutes a “Canadian program” got underway in Gatineau Wednesday morning. The commission will hear from nearly 80 speakers through May 27. Also considering how to support the creation and distribution of Canadian programming in the audio-visual sector, CRTC Chairperson Vicky Eatrides opened the hearings by outlining the commission’s desire to reflect “today’s reality” in its policy. Read more here.
The CRTC is launching a public consultation on how the regulatory body can make it easier to participate in its proceedings. Specifically interested in encouraging more participation from those with a diversity of perspectives, the consultation’s scope will include making funding to cover the costs of those participating in proceedings more predictable and more easily recoupable by simplifying the application process. Comments are being accepted until Sept. 9. Read more here.
Bell has launched Build. Connect. Grow Canada., a national multimedia campaign the company says is a direct response to the CRTC decision allowing TELUS, Rogers and Bell to resell on each other’s fibre networks. The commission said its February decision – a reconsideration of a temporary decision published in late 2023 – was in response to a number of parties submitting that allowing the large incumbents to use wholesale access “would have material negative effects on future investment and long-term competition.” Bell says the move undermines the business case for further investment in new network builds, saying it has revised its fibre build target down by 1.5 million locations and cut capital expenditures by $500 million this year. Read more here.
BCE has reported results for the first quarter of 2025 and adjusted the BCE annualized common share dividend to $1.75, or $0.4375 quarterly per common share, from $3.99. Net earnings of $683 million were up 49.5%. Bell Media revenue was up 6.9%, with 35.9% adjusted EBITDA growth. Digital revenue was up 12% in the quarter as digital platforms and advertising technology continue to drive growth.
BCE and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board have announced the formation of Network FiberCo, a long-term strategic partnership to accelerate the development of fibre infrastructure through Ziply Fiber in underserved markets in the U.S. BCE says as a premier wholesale network provider, Network FiberCo will be focused on last-mile fibre deployment outside of Ziply Fiber’s incumbent service areas. PSP Investments has agreed to a potential commitment in excess of US$1.5 billion.
Quebecor has reported consolidated financial results for the first quarter of 2025, reporting revenues of $1.34 billion, down $19.7 million (-1.4%), and adjusted EBITDA of $549.6 million, a decrease of $9.9 million (-1.8%) attributable to the significant $22.5 million increase in the stock-based compensation charge. Excluding the accounting charge, adjusted EBITDA was up $12.6 million (2.3%). Telecom adjusted EBITDA increased by $5.9 million (1.0%), or $12.5 million (2.2%). Revenues decreased by $19.4 million (-1.6%) due mainly to lower equipment sales, partly offset by growth in mobile services. The company says while restructuring plans have reduced operating expenses considerably, TVA Group recorded negative adjusted EBITDA of $20.5 million in Q1 as a result of a significant ongoing decline in advertising revenues and fewer major foreign productions filming at MELS studios.
TELUS has released unaudited results for the first quarter of 2025. Consolidated operating revenues and other income increased by 3% over the same period a year ago to $5.1 billion, driven by higher service revenues in the TTech and TELUS Health segments, as well as higher external revenues at TELUS Digital. In Q1, the company added 218,000 net customer additions, up 9,000 over the same period last year, and inclusive of 20,000 mobile phones and 148,000 connected devices, in addition to 21,000 internet, 27,000 TV and 15,000 security and automation customer connections.
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) says UFC clips showing bloodied fighters that aired on Sportsnet Central and Sportsnet Ontario at 9:30 a.m., should have been accompanied by a viewer advisory. The CBSC decision notes that the clips included an extreme close-up of a bloody gash above one participant’s eye with the match ended due to “doctor’s stoppage.” A viewer complained about the “grotesque and brutal violence” during morning weekend programming when children could be watching. Sportsnet took the position that there was nothing outside the sanctioned activity of the sport and, therefore, no reason to restrict the broadcast of such images.
The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) has announced the recipients of this year’s Black Journalism Fellowship Program, in partnership with CBC/Radio-Canada, CTV News, The Globe and Mail and the Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB). They include: Myrialine Catule, a recent graduate of Concordia University; Amal Mohamud, a first-generation Somali-Canadian journalist and producer living in Edmonton; Adriel Smiley, a Toronto-based journalist, multimedia storyteller and creator of the podcast Album Mode; Bianca Thompson, a Toronto-based freelance multimedia journalist; and Kayla Thompson, a Toronto-based journalist currently working at Caribbean Vibrations TV.
OP-ED: Why giving the CBC $150M won’t save local journalism. “What local news needs is local news outlets and they won’t see a dime of this funding,” writes Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC) Executive Director Alex Freedman. “For a fraction of the $150 million dollars recently promised to the CBC, support could be directed to not-for-profit community newspapers and community broadcasters, and it would truly support local news and information.” Read more here.
BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:
Media Technology Monitor (MTM) has introduced the MTM Census Tool, a dashboard providing insights into Canadian population statistics. Built with custom data from Statistics Canada, MTM says the tool empowers organizations to make data-driven decisions. Users can explore over 70,000 geographic areas and leverage approximately 2,000 demographic variables, gaining insights through population and proportion statistics.
Flightpath, the predictive analytics platform for on-demand media, has announced a new partnership with the Impressions.fm podcast hosting and monetization network. Ontario-headquartered Flightpath says by leveraging its forecasting and campaign performance tools, Impressions.fm will be able to offer advertisers smarter forecasting, tighter campaign execution, and greater confidence in delivery, allowing them to focus on content and delivering results for creators and brands.
