Originally published in the Aug. 14, 2025 edition of The Weekly Briefing
Corus Entertainment has announced that TELUS marketing exec Christopher Mercer is joining the company as Barb McKergow, Senior Vice President, Advertising, gets set to retire this fall. McKergow started her broadcast sales career with WIC (Western International Communications) in 1992, focused on national sales. She joined Canwest Mediaworks in 2000, moving on to Shaw Media for the next 14 years, where she ended her time as Head of Marketing Ventures. She officially joined Corus in 2019 as SVP of National Advertising Revenue, holding the title of SVP, Advertising Sales for the past year, overseeing all advertising sales, revenue management, research, advanced advertising and data teams. Mercer will take on the role of Senior Vice President, Media Sales and Solutions, effective Sept. 3. He most recently held the title of Vice President, Marketing and Revenue, for TELUS Health Care Centres. Read more here.
Mark McDonald has been promoted at Bell to the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, responsible for network strategy and infrastructure, as well as maximizing the potential of key technologies like 5G wireless and fibre. McDonald joined Bell in 2015, serving as VP and SVP of Networks. Prior to that, he held roles in both Europe and Canada with Nokia, including leading the Canadian wireless engineering and operations team.
Jazz Sanghera has retired from CTV News Vancouver after a 40-year career as a field producer and videographer, most recently for CTV Morning Live. One of the very first hires at the station 28 years ago – back when it was Vancouver Television (VTV) – his career began in the early 1980s volunteering at Duncan Cable. He also spent time at CKPG-TV Prince George.
Vicki Shae has joined the morning show on Winnipeg’s 92 CITI FM, alongside Joe Aiello and Phil Aubrey. Shae, who departed Corus Entertainment’s Country 99 (CFPG-FM) in July, moves into the co-host spot left vacant by the departure of Shalinda Kirby from the show in May.
Gruff Gushnowski has been filling in for Robin Larose on Rock 101 (CFMI-FM) Vancouver in his 2 – 6 p.m. afternoon drive time slot. It marks Gushnowski’s first time on-air in the Vancouver market. The Edmonton radio veteran is currently the host of Mornings with Gruff on Corus Entertainment’s 92.5 The Chuck (CKNG-FM).
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Nate Carr has been released by Pure Country 89 (CIMX-FM) Windsor, where he’d been helming mornings, in addition to being heard weekends on Bounce Radio 99.5 (CKKW-FM) Kitchener. He had been with Bell Media since 2018. Carr’s departure seemingly leaves the station with no locally-originating shows, according to its website.
Randy Owen is returning to country radio on Tillsonburg’s New Country 107.3 (CJDL-FM) in September. Owen will be hosting a three-hour Sunday morning “Country Gold” show, under the working title of “Randy’s Country Rewind.” Owen, who previously worked for CJDL-FM from 2007 to 2020 in afternoon drive, began his career at 1470 CHOW Welland in 1980, going on to hold roles at CKGL-FM and 570 AM (CKGL-AM) Kitchener and CKPC-AM and FM in Brantford.
Joel Poirier has said goodbye to Prince George after two years with Vista Radio’s Country 97 (CJCI-FM) where he hosted middays. Vista was Poirier’s first stop after graduating from SAIT’s Radio, Television and Broadcast News program in 2023.
Sharon Taylor has been named Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at Triton Digital. Reporting to President & CEO John Rosso, she’ll oversee global teams across sales, customer success, ad operations, demand generation, and technical account management. Taylor has been with Triton since 2017, serving most recently as Executive Vice President, Podcast and Content Delivery. Prior to that, she was CEO at Omny Studio, which Triton acquired in 2019.
Evi Sari has been promoted at WildBrain CPLG to the newly-created role of VP, Global Location-Based Entertainment (LBE), as the company continues to expand its LBE business. Danielle Tanton also joins the LBE team as Director, Location-Based Entertainment, EMEA, Experiential Strategy & Partnerships. In her expanded role, Sari – who is based in Shanghai – will lead WildBrain CPLG’s global LBE strategy, with an immediate focus on Europe and the Middle East. Tanton will report to Sari and be based in London, joining from RWS Global, where she was responsible for driving business growth across experiential productions, cruise lines, theme parks and resorts. She’s also held roles at Mattel, Paramount and Entertainment One.
