Published October 3, 2023, 5:26 PM ET
The Bell Canada headquarters is seen on Nun’s Island in Montreal on August 5, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
MONTREAL – Bell Media says its president Wade Oosterman, who also serves as vice chairman of parent company BCE Inc., will retire at the end of the year and be replaced by Sean Cohan, who joins the company in November.
In a press release, the company said Cohan will join the BCE leadership team on November 1, while Oosterman will remain in his role until January 2024 to ensure a smooth transition.
In a statement, BCE President and CEO Mirko Bibic thanked Oosterman for his “leadership in developing Bell into a strong competitor in Canadian communications and media,” including playing a key role in the transformation of Bell Media have played.
Earlier this year, BCE announced the closure or sale of nine radio stations as it planned to “significantly adjust” the way it delivers the news and cut 1,300 jobs – including a six percent reduction at Bell Media.
Oosterman said in a memo to employees at the time that Bell Media was facing “severe economic and inflationary pressures, a reduction in advertisers’ budgets and a challenging regulatory environment that is too slow to adapt.”
Cohan, who will also serve as executive officer for BCE, spent 15 years at A+E Networks, including as president of international and digital media, and most recently served as chief growth officer and president at Nielsen, a global measurement and data analytics company .
BCE is the parent company of CTV News through its Bell Media division.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2023.
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