BCE Inc. is sweeping out the executive team that ruled CTV for more than a decade, signalling an urgency to remake Canada's largest private broadcaster as the television industry enters a critical new era.
The network revealed the departure of the five high-profile industry veterans in an internal memo, including one of its top decision-makers on programming, paving the way for a new team that will lead it into a new world of digital and mobile content and a heated battle for Hollywood hits with Shaw Communications Inc., the new owner of Global.
As part of the shuffle, the telecom giant placed Gary Anderson, the man in charge of Bell’s widely-used Sympatico website, in charge of CTV digital content. Much of BCE’s rationale for the $1.3-billion purchase is a bet on convergence -- on the ability to distribute CTV shows, including its sports content, through cell phones and laptops, where viewers are increasingly inclined to watch them.
The changing of the guard was not a major surprise to industry watchers. At the time of the BCE purchase, Ivan Fecan, chief executive officer of CTVglobemedia Inc., announced he would retire as soon as the deal closed. The departing executives worked closely with Mr. Fecan and most were not expected to stay on without him.
Kevin Crull, a BCE import who is the new chief operating officer of CTVglobemedia, made the announcement about the changes to his team in an e-mail.
“Combining forces with Bell puts us in a great position to navigate today’s dynamic media landscape. New technology, new competition, and new business models all present tremendous challenge and opportunity,” Mr. Crull wrote. “This position of strength is a perfect place to launch the next chapter of this outstanding organization. Today is a very big day in that evolution.”
The executives leaving CTV include chief financial officer John Gossling; executive vice-president of corporate affairs, Paul Sparkes; president of creative, content and channels, Susanne Boyce; executive vice-president of digital media Alon Marcovici; and executive vice-president of human resources and operations, Dawn Fell.
The departures come as all the broadcasters prepare to travel to Los Angeles in the spring to bid on American shows, the cornerstone of the TV schedule and consistently among the highest performers in ratings – and therefore crucial to attracting ad dollars.
Spending on foreign programming by the broadcasters has been going up every year, according to regulatory data. While Mr. Crull will need to find ways to save money for BCE at its new broadcast operations, he will still have to compete during the annual pilgrimage to negotiate with Hollywood studios. And with Shaw’s deal to buy the Global TV network, CTV is facing down competitors with deeper pockets than ever before.
“In the next year or two, it’s going to be maybe even more competitive than it has been,” said Dennis Dinga, vice-president and director of broadcast investments for media buyer Universal McCann Canada. “Shaw’s going to want to establish them as the number one player, CTV’s not going to give up their status as number one. And Rogers is starting to flex their muscles too.”
That means costs for programming in the short term are likely to go up, said one media analyst speaking on condition of anonymity.
“From the position of pure corporate survival, does [Mr. Crull] want to see their ratings performance go down on his watch? No. They are going to have budgetary issues, all of them.”
CTV is sending a new group to that fight. Mr. Crull also announced that the company will create a “programming council” to put extra emphasis on selecting and creating hit shows. It will be chaired by senior vice-president of programming Joanna Webb, who left her job at Corus Entertainment Inc. last September to work at the broadcaster, and Mike Cosentino, who has been a senior vice-president in the programming department at CTV since 2006.
