TORONTO – Kathy Dore, president of Canwest Broadcasting, will not be renewing her contract with the company, it was announced today.
Dore joined Canwest in October 2004 and will assist in the search for her replacement and will remain in her role during the transition, said a note to staff from president and CEO Leonard Asper.
"Over the past four years, Kathy has effectively led Canwest’s Canadian broadcasting division through a period of strong growth and significant change,” said Asper in the release. “She has positioned the company for growth going forward through both her strategic initiatives and strong leadership. We are fortunate that she has built an outstanding senior leadership team and leaves the business with great momentum.”
Under her leadership, Global Television increased its presence in the Top 10 and Top 20 shows with U.S. series like Heroes, Prison Break, and House. Prior to her arrival, Canwest spent some stretches with no shows rated in the top 20. She spearheaded the rebranding of Global, and initiated partnerships with CBS Paramount to create ET Canada.
“Ms. Dore managed the successful integration of the Alliance Atlantis specialty channels into Canwest and led a number of strategic initiatives that better enabled Canwest to distribute and monetize content across multiple platforms while reducing its cost structure, including the transition to a digital news environment,” reads the release.
“In 2004, I made a four-year commitment to Leonard and Canwest to transform the Canadian broadcasting assets and position them for strong future growth,” said Dore in the release. “With a solid foundation now in place, and with the integration of the former Alliance Atlantis assets progressing smoothly, it’s time to pass the baton. It has been a privilege to lead Canwest’s Broadcasting organization through such an exciting and challenging period, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to manage and grow these remarkable assets.”
“I’m committed to Canwest, its success and a smooth leadership transition and I have no doubt that the outstanding management team in the broadcasting division will enjoy tremendous success in the future.”
“Our Broadcast business is well positioned for the future,” wrote CanWest CEO Asper in his note to staff. “We have expanded our reach with specialty channels that continue to grow in terms of popularity and profits. We are managing our combined television businesses as one, successfully leveraging the size and scope of our specialty and conventional networks.
“Through the combined power of these assets, we have been able to move whole audiences from one network and show to an entirely different network with similar content, allowing us to deliver the audience that advertisers want across a number of platforms. We also have a very strong fall schedule and anticipate continued audience growth,” he continued.
“While I’m confident in the work that we have done, we must also acknowledge that there is still a great deal of work ahead of us. We continue to face the challenges of a fragmented, multi-channel media environment and the prospects of a softening economy. As such, we must work diligently at managing our costs, on identifying opportunities to maximize and diversify revenue streams and on developing innovative approaches to content that maximizes the value of each asset. These are the priorities that Kathy and her team identified earlier this year as part of the three-year plan for broadcasting and those priorities will remain our key focus moving forward.
“Although Kathy’s long-term involvement with the business will be missed, I am grateful to her for her commitment to lead the business during this transition,” wrote Asper.
Prior to joining Canwest, Dore was president, Entertainment Services for New York-based Rainbow Media Holdings Inc., where she managed U.S. cable networks AMC (American Movie Classics), IFC (Independent Film Channel) and WE (Women’s Entertainment). She created and launched the Independent Film Channel and was also responsible for the growth and expansion of Bravo, now owned by NBC, where she served as president from 1996 until 2002.
For more background, click here to read her Cartt.ca interview after just a year into her contract.
Dore will be returning to New York upon her departure..
