(Montreal) Bell Media announced Tuesday that its president Wade Oosterman will retire at the end of the year and will be replaced by Sean Cohan, who will join the company in November.
Mr. Cohan, who spent decades working for media and business companies, was most recently chief business development officer and president for data analytics firm Nielsen, Bell Media said in a statement .
The newcomer will join BCE’s management team on November 1. For his part, Mr. Oosterman will remain in office until January to ensure a smooth transition.
In a statement, BCE President and CEO Mirko Bibic thanked Mr. Oosterman for his “leadership that has helped make Bell a formidable competitor in the Canadian communications and media market,” and for his “instrumental 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 “significantly adapt” the way it delivers news. It eliminated 1,300 positions, including a 6% reduction in Bell Media’s workforce.
Mr. Oosterman said in a memo to staff at the time that Bell Media was facing “strong economic and inflationary pressures, declining advertiser budgets and a challenging regulatory environment that has been too slow to adapt.”
Mr. Cohan, who will also be a member of BCE’s senior management team, spent 15 years at A E Networks, including as president of international and digital media.
