When taking the stage at the Canadian Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame in May, Paul Ski jokingly informed a room full of broadcast executives that after spending more than 30 years with the former CHUM Limited, he looked forward to spending the next 24 years with Rogers – the company he joined in 2008.
He will fall several years short of his goal, with Rogers Media announcing Tuesday its senior vice-president and CEO of radio and regional broadcast operations is retiring Dec. 31. He will remain with the company in an advisory role for the next three years.
“Radio’s been the most resilient of all media for almost a 100 years,” said Ski after that May induction ceremony at Toronto’s Kool Haus. “We can remain resilient if we can remain relevant to our listeners and advertisers. I don’t think any other media establishes the psychological bond [with its audience] that local personalities do in their communities.”
Ski’s retirement was accompanied by a series of executive appointments within Rogers: Julie Adam as senior vice-president of radio; Navaid Mansuri as VP of content partnerships; and Colette Watson as VP of television and operations. All three will report to Rogers Media president Keith Pelley.
Adam assumes her new role on Jan. 1, working with Ski to ensure what the company called a “seamless transition.”
She joined Rogers in 1999 as program director at KiSS 92.5, and has held a series of increasingly senior roles with the company – most recently serving as VP of programming, radio – where she developed the programming station for Rogers’ 51 stations across the country – and program director at 98.1 CHFI. She is the 2011 recipient of The Rosalie Award, presented to influential women in Canadian broadcasting.
Mansuri’s role is a newly created position that reflects Rogers’ recent partnership with Vice Media. He is responsible for all facets of Vice in Canada, including content, advertising, marketing and finance, and will act as a liaison between the new Vice Studio and Rogers. He will also work with the company’s Consumer Business Unit, Customer Experience and IT with an objective of building and delivering what the company described as “world-class” content.
Watson, meanwhile, is charged with setting the strategic direction for Rogers’ non-sports convention, specialty and community TV assets, responsible for programming, production and operations, as well as “innovating” the viewing experience, relocating to Toronto from Ottawa.
Watson has spent 24 years with Rogers, most recently as VP, Rogers TV, focusing on its 42 community stations. Her experience includes roles in regulatory, programming and communications. She has also served as president and GM of CPAC, and is a past recipient of the Canadian Women in Communications’ “Trailblazer of the Year” award.
Ski spent four decades in radio in various roles including DJ, program director and general manager. He started his career as a jack-of-all-trades at CHLO-AM – a 1000-watt independent in St. Thomas, Ont. now owned by Corus Entertainment – in the 1960s. Ski had an afternoon drive show when he was still in Grade 11.
He joined the CHUM Radio group when he was hired by Fred Sherrat to program Ottawa’s CFRA in the 1970s, and was appointed executive VP and president of CHUM Radio in the early 2000s. He spent most of his career at the former CHUM Radio (since absorbed by Bell Media) before joining Rogers in 2008.
Speaking at his induction ceremony in May, where he also honoured with the Allan Waters Broadcast Lifetime Achievement Award, Ski joked that it was an award much better received pre-posthumously. “When you’re in a business that you love and you’re passionate about it, honours like this are pretty special,” he said.
