TORONTO – Ross Davies has been hired by Canadian Satellite Radio as vice-president of programming.
In this role, he will be responsible for overseeing all originally-produced and acquired programming on the service and overseeing the programming and production studios that CSR will build across the country, says the company.
Bob Mackowycz, who had been CSR’s programming chief through the regulatory process and genesis of the company, which plans to launch its service this fall, has decided to step aside, CSR president and COO Stephen Tapp told www.cartt.ca this afternoon.
“There’s no big, bad story here,” said Tapp. “He’ll still give us creative consulting advice, but he decided to go freelance. He went travelling this summer and this is his decision.”
Mackowycz has a long history in Canadian radio and also worked as a programmer in the States with CSR’s American partner, XM Satellite Radio.
Tapp said the CSR programming position filled by Davies is a mix of creative and business processes and that Mackowycz preferred just the creative end. “He had planned to re-evaluate his position once the licensing was complete,” added Tapp.
“We are thrilled that Ross has agreed to join our launch team as our leader for creative and strategic content,” said Tapp. “He is recognized as a best-in-class, innovative programmer in the Canadian radio industry and we know that he will add to Canadian Satellite Radio’s vision of becoming the number one satellite radio provider in Canada.” 
Davies (right) has more than 30 years experience in the programming industry. Most recently, he is president of The Davies Company, where he provides strategic consulting for a number of clients, including Standard Radio, Maritime Broadcasting and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters.
Prior to heading up his own consulting firm, Davies served more than 20 years at CHUM Limited, most recently as vice-president of programming, CHUM Group Radio, where he was directly responsible for all programming aspects of the CHUM radio division. Davies has also served as president of the Ontario Association of Broadcasters, the inaugural Chair of the Radio Starmaker Fund, first vice president of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and is currently a member of the Music Education committee for CARAS.
He has been honoured with a number of awards, including Station of the Year and Program Director of the Year. According to the CSR release, Davies is the co-creator of the original Jack/Bob format, launching Bob-FM in Winnipeg and he is credited with creating of Canada’s number one morning radio show, Roger, Rick and Marilyn on CHUM-FM Toronto.
