CCR People

Former DirecTV senior executive Peter Giacalone has been named as president and CEO of Toronto-based 180 Connect Inc., which provides technical support services to the direct broadcast satellite and cable industries. Founder Barry Simons is retiring as president and CEO. Prior to joining 180 Connect, Giacalone was executive VP of customer satisfaction at DirecTV, and before that was VP of finance for The News Corporation Ltd. Philippe Tousignant is taking a one-year leave of absence from his position as manager of media and Parliamentary relations at the CRTC to work at Health Canada. Richard DeLand French has been appointed vice-chair of the CRTC, and Rita A.P. Cugini has been named as representative CRTC commissioner for the Ontario region. French worked in senior management positions at Bell Canada from 1989 to 1995. He was a member of the Quebec legislature from 1981 to 1989, and served as minister of communications from 1985 to 1988. Cugini has worked with Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. since 1999, in such positions as VP and station manager of Telelatino Network Inc., and as the specialty channel’s program director from 1985 to 1988. Julia Walden has been appointed director of nextMEDIA, the international interactive media festival being organized by Achilles Media. The festival runs June 12-15. Sports and media executive Steven Roberts has joined Kangaroo Media as an advisor to help extend its "fan companion" device to other sports, including golf, tennis and baseball. He was formerly with Sportvision. The fan companion, also called Kangaroo.TV, is a multimedia handheld device that allows fans in the stands to follow events on several different channels (CCR, July 17/03). Bell Canada executive Robert Odendaal, who currently heads the company’s video services, takes on the additional duties of CEO of Bell Mobility. His appointment comes in the wake of the departure of Michael Neuman, who was president of Bell Mobility and Bell Distribution Inc. Alek Krstajic, formerly with the consumer group, will oversee the operational leadership of Bell Mobility as president. He will also be responsible for Bell’s retail operations, including the Bell World stores. As well, Gary Smith has been appointed as president of Bell ExpressVu. He was senior VP of operations at ExpressVu. Kevin Crull becomes president of consumer solutions. Taking over the newly established Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) group, that will operate within the consumer division, is Ron Close, a former AT&T Canada executive. Ariane Giroux-Dallaire has been appointed as director of communications at Seville Pictures. Teisha Gaylard has been appointed as the director of policy at the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council. She recently completed her Masters of Arts in communication and culture at York University, where her major research paper was Cultural Policy and the Diginets: An Analysis of the Policy Framework for Canadian Digital Pay and Specialty Television Services. Kirsten Thomson is the winner of a 2005 ACTRA award for outstanding performance by a female, and Richard Chevolleau is the winner in the same category for males. Actor Paul Gross received the ACTRA Toronto’s award of excellence for his body of work as an actor, writer and director. The awards were presented in Toronto on February 18. Thomson starred in the film I, Claudia, and Chevolleau played a prison inmate in the TV drama series The Eleventh Hour.

CCR People

Broadcast | March 11, 2005

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