REVOLVING DOOR:
Leo Baggio will succeed Bruce Uptigrove as general sales manager of The Jim Pattison Broadcast Group’s Kamloops division, effective Jan. 1 when Uptigrove retires. Baggio will oversee sales for CIFM-FM, CKBZ-FM and CFJC-TV. He previously spent 25 years in the Kamloops market in programming, operations and on-air as an afternoon drive host. For the past five years, he’s been with JPGB in Cranbrook as GM/PD and then GM/GSM of East Kootenay operations.
Hannah Witherbee is moving within the Virgin Radio family, relocating from Halifax to Edmonton where she’ll be on-air at 104.9 Virgin Radio (CMFG-FM).
Ralph Bird is the new general sales manager for 96.3 Cruz FM (CFWD-FM) Saskatoon. Promoted from account executive, he succeeds Rob Lozinski, who has accepted a position outside of broadcasting with NSC Minerals.
Bell Media Terrace, which includes CFTK-TV, EZ Rock (CFTK-AM) and CJFW-FM, has hired Marek Tkach as Terrace/Kitimat reporter and host of the Week In Review program. The Edmonton native is a recent graduate of the Television Broadcasting program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.
CKUA Edmonton announcer Peter North has quit after 17 years with the community station, nine of those as music director. North has candidly told media outlets that he felt “elbowed out” as the station moves to broaden its audience under new CEO Marc Carnes. The CKUA Radio Network recently hired Hayley Muir from University of Calgary campus station CJSW-FM to host middays from its new studio in Calgary.
RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:
The CRTC has denied an application to amend the broadcasting licence for LG 104.3 (CHLG-FM) Vancouver. The Newcap subsidiary had requested removal of the condition of licence requiring it to devote at least 15 per cent of its musical selections to Special Interest Music. The station argued the requirement is alienating listeners and impacting CHLG-FM’s market share and revenue.
The World Famous CFOX-FM Vancouver banned Seattle bands from its playlists on Oct. 29 and Nov. 2 in a show of support for the Vancouver Whitecaps as they face-off against the rival Seattle Sounders in the semi-final run up to the MLS Cup. It’s not clear if the gesture proved to be good luck for the team as the first leg of the playoff series ended in a scoreless draw.
SIGN-OFFS:
Juliette Cavazzi, 91, on Oct. 27. Born in Winnipeg, Cavazzi started her career in entertainment at the age of 13, performing as a singer with Dal Richards’ band at the Hotel Vancouver, after moving with her family to the West Coast. She started headlining popular CBC TV musical variety program “The Juliette Show” in 1956, which enjoyed a decade of success in its time slot after Hockey Night in Canada. Performing under only her first name, she was introduced at the top of each episode as “your pet, Juliette.” Following the cancellation of the The Juliette Show, Cavazzi hosted an afternoon talk show on CBC in the 1970s. She was named to both the Order of Canada and Canada’s Walk of Fame. Cavazzi eventually retired to Vancouver.
John Calver, 72, on Oct. 30, of cancer. Calver, started his journalism career in the 1960s with CBC Radio in St. John’s, NL, moving on to newsrooms in Calgary and Saskatchewan. He returned to St. John’s as the national reporter for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador in the 1980s, covering stories that included the 1982 sinking of the Ocean Ranger drilling rig and the judicial inquiry that followed. He moved back to western Canada to be executive producer of CBC Saskatchewan and, after retiring, taught at the University of Regina’s school of journalism. He eventually returned to St. John’s, working as a tour guide with McCarthy’s Party and running his own media training and coaching business.