As part of a series of changes to its senior leadership team, Bell Media announced today it has appointed veteran music industry executive Randy Lennox as president of entertainment production and broadcasting.
His appointment comes one day after The Globe and Mail reported the company’s former programming head and TSN executive Phil King had left the company, along with other senior executives including president of radio and local TV Chris Gordon; senior VP of English TV and business operations Adam Ashton, and president of Quebec TV and radio Charles Benoît.
King had been president of CTV and sports programming since 2010. His departure comes as recently appointed president Mary Ann Turcke, a long-time BCE executive who succeeded Kevin Crull as president of the media unit in April, continues to reshape the company.
Reporting to Turcke, Lennox will oversee Bell Media’s English and in-house entertainment productions for conventional, specialty, pay television and digital media, bringing together the company’s production teams under one leader.
He will also oversee the company’s English and French radio and local TV broadcasting and associated assets.
As TV continues to grapple with the effects of technological advancement and changing audience consumption, Lennox is joining Bell from an industry that has seen its own business model disrupted by the same factors.
He was previously president and CEO of Universal Music, where Bell said he has consistently grown market share and revenue in spite of the myriad changes facing the industry. Lennox was previously responsible for over 50% of domestic and international recording artists.
Under his leadership, Universal has been named Company of the Year at Canadian Music Week for 15 straight years, while Lennox himself has been named Executive of the Year seven times. He was also named International Executive of the Year by the Worldwide Radio Summit in 2014.
Turcke said he joins Bell at a “pivotal time,” as the media industry undergoes significant change. “He brings to Bell Media an unparalleled record of success, a deep understanding of the complexities of the entertainment industry, and a passion for creative multimedia content,” she said in a release.
Lennox has also been involved in the production of the Juno Awards and MuchMusic Video Awards for many years, and was executive producer of CTV’s Vancouver 2010 Olympic anthem “I Believe.” He is also an executive producer with Insight Productions for Canada’s Walk of Fame event.
He sits on the board of directors for Music Canada, The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), Canada’s Walk of Fame and the board of both Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall.
