CanWest aligns brass with biz focus
COO Camilleri taking over duties of Babick, Noble
CanWest chief operating officer Rick Camilleri is taking over exec management for the Canuck TV, newspaper and interactive divisions. The former prexy of Sony Music Canada joined Winnipeg-based CanWest as COO seven months ago. His title will remain unchanged.
He's taking over the responsibilities of CanWest Publications prexy Don Babick, who will retire in May after 40 years, and prexy-CEO of Global Television Network Gerry Noble, who will ankle in the summer after 18 years when his contract expires "to pursue opportunities outside the company."
They will advise Camilleri for the next few months, and their posts will not be filled.
"We have to go from being a renter of content to being a generator of content with a view to multiplatform distribution," CanWest prexy-CEO Leonard Asper told Daily Variety. "Rick has a good track record in change management, cultural change and developing multiple revenue sources from the same content."
Most analysts see the move as a positive one for CanWest.
"There are a lot of changes going on at CanWest. This has become a big company all of a sudden," said Todd Morgan, of CIBC World Markets in New York. "I think that Camilleri is a very connected senior executive in Canada, and for where CanWest is going that's an important piece of the puzzle."
The company also appointed Southam veteran Bob Calvert as senior VP of operations and Global TV exec John Burgis as executive veep of business services and finance for Canuck media operations.
CanWest has media interests in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the U.K. and the U.S.
On Monday, CanWest announced it sold a number of small-market newspapers, raising C$193.5 million ($126.6 million) to lower debt, which stands at $2.48 billion.
Last week, CanWest founder Asper announced he's stepping down as executive chairman of the company.
