Thirty executives leave Bell Media following Astral merger

More than 30 managers and executives have left BCE Inc. division Bell Media in the past two weeks following a corporate reorganization and merger with the former Astral Media Inc., according to internal emails and a person familiar with the changes. In an email to Bell Media employees dated July 12, Bell Media president Kevin Crull outlined new leadership teams within the division, which include executives at the vice-president and director level or higher. Crull laid out a list of departing executives from each team, which came in addition to other departures. “Over the past few days, members of the Senior Leadership Team have announced changes to the organizational structure for their respective Leadership Teams and communicated these changes to their team members,” Crull said in the email. “Although change can be hard, it also comes with new, tremendously exciting opportunities and what I believe is a bright future with exhilarating momentum!” he said. A person familiar with the changes confirmed that the list relates to departures, new appointments, promotions and other changes at the company after BCE’s $3.38-billion deal to acquire Astral closed on July 5. Troy Crandall, a media and telecom analyst with MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier, said in a telephone interview that he estimates each former executive earned between $85,000 and $300,000 annually, leading to about annual savings of $4.5 million to $5 million. “At the very high side, it would be $9 million in cost savings," he said, adding that Bell Media would also save on related costs such as workers compensation insurance, taxes, travel costs and other supplies and benefits. According to the email, Nathalie Dorval, Astral’s former vice-president of regulatory affairs and copyright, and Claude Laflamme, vice-president of corporate and regulatory affairs at Astral Radio, have left the company. The Wire Report also confirmed the departures of Brigitte Catellier, Astral’s vice-president of legal affairs, and Jocelyn Côté, Astral’s senior vice-president of regulatory and government affairs. Kevin Assaff, Bell’s senior vice-president of business and legal affairs, will support Astral’s legal team “ntil a permanent structure is established,” the email said, and will work under Mirko Bibic, BCE’s executive vice-president and chief legal and regulatory officer. Other executives who have left BCE or Astral since the closing of the acquisition, according to the email, include: Marie Collin, senior vice-president of programming and communications for VRAK TV, Canal Vie, Ztélé, and Les Chaînes Télé Astral; Sylvie Shapiro, vice-president of research and strategic development at Les Chaînes Télé Astral and MusiquePlus; Neil Staite, vice-president and general manager of music and entertainment at Bell Media; Rob Farina, executive vice-president of content and platforms at Astral Radio; Glenn Chalmers, vice-president of Western Canada local sales at Astral Radio; Kevin Wright, senior vice-president of programming, Astral Television Networks; Deborah Wilson, vice-president of communications at Astral Television Networks; Alicia Barin, vice-president of strategic planning at Astral Television Networks/ Astral Télé Réseaux; Johanne Saint-Laurent, vice-president and general manager of Astral Television Networks/Les Chaînes Télé Astral; Heather Senst, vice-president and creative director at Astral Television Networks; Peter Furnish, vice-president of marketing at Astral Television Networks; Mary Kreuk, vice-president of brand partnerships at Bell Media; Murray Chistenson, vice-president of media creativity at Astral RadioPlus; Rob Dilworth, vice-president of research at Bell Media; Patrick Bertrand, vice-president of finance at Astral's Out-of-Home division; Jim Fealy, vice-president of finance, radio and capital at Bell Media; Yves Lagacé, senior vice-president, Les Chaînes Télé Astral; Arnold Chiasson, vice-president of human resources at Astral Corporate; Louis Tassé, assistant vice-president of human resources at Astral Corporate/French Television; Chantale Gagnon, vice-president of technical services at Astral Télé Réseaux/Les Chaînes Télé Astral; and Barry Mah, vice-president of Bell Media operations. The email said three other former Astral human resources directors will leave the merged company over the next two months. Three more vice-presidents in finance will also leave "after the transition period," it said. One person familiar with the changes confirmed with The Wire Report that at least five other former Astral executives, who were not included in the email, have left. They include Jean-François Bergeron, vice-president and chief information officer; Robert Fortier, vice-president of finance and chief financial officer; Stéphane Goyette, vice-president of Astral Digital; Claude Lizotte, executive vice-president of Astral Plus; and John Riley, president of Astral TV Networks/Astral Télé Réseaux. Sidney Greenberg, one of Astral’s co-founders, will not have a role in the merged company, the person said. In an emailed statement Tuesday, Bell Media spokesman Scott Henderson said that, as the media division's "new leadership team continues to organize their new combined structure, I can confirm we have made some reductions in the number of executive positions at both Bell Media and Astral, in both Toronto and Montreal.” In the email to staff, Crull said Bell Media will roll out the new structure of its director-level teams on July 18 and its “Remaining Key Structure” on Aug. 15. “I am confident that the team we are building is positioned to solidify Bell Media as an industry leader,” Crull said. —With reporting by Nicholas Kyonka and nkyonka@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Thirty executives leave Bell Media following Astral merger

Broadcast | July 16, 2013

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Thirty executives leave Bell Media following Astral merger

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