MONTREAL 鈥� Bell Media says its president Wade Oosterman, who also serves as vice-chair of parent company BCE Inc., is set to retire at the end of the year, to be replaced by Sean Cohan, who is joining the company in November.
In a press release, the company says Cohan will join the BCE leadership team on Nov. 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 making Bell a strong competitor in Canadian communications and media," including having played a key role in the transformation of Bell Media.
Earlier this year, BCE announced it was closing or selling nine radio stations as the company planned to 鈥渟ignificantly adapt鈥� how it delivers the news and cut 1,300 positions 鈥� including a six per cent reduction at Bell Media.
Oosterman said in a memo to staff at the time that Bell Media faces "strong economic and inflationary pressures, a pullback in advertisers鈥� budgets, and a challenging regulatory environment that has been too slow to adjust."
Cohan, who will also serve as an executive officer to BCE, spent 15 years at A+E Networks including as president of international and digital media, and most recently was chief growth officer and president at Nielsen, a global measurement and data analytics company.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2023.
Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)
The Canadian Press
