MONTREAL – Jacques Parisien, Bell Media’s president of national specialty and pay TV, radio, and out-of-home (and the man pitched to be the company's leader in Quebec) is surprisingly, leaving the company at the end of the year.
Before joining Bell Media, Parisien was the executive vice-president and COO of Astral Media Inc. and president of Astral Radio where he was responsible for the company's operation and growth strategy. He has spent his professional career in the communications industry, having worked for many years at Telemedia before joining Astral.
"I have been at Astral for nearly two decades. I have seen it mature into the pride of Québec, and one of Canada's most accomplished media organizations," Parisien (pictured) said in a statement. "Now, as Bell Media, the team has the resources and acumen to further flourish and succeed." The departure, however, caught the industry by surprise because Parisien had a high profile role during the two CRTC hearings into Bell's acquisition of Astral and company officials often said publicly he would be the executive face of Bell Media in Quebec.
Reporting to Bell Media president Kevin Crull, Charles Benoît, president of television and radio, Québec and Luc Quétel, president of Astral out-of-home will join Luc Sabbatini, president of Bell Media Sales, Anne McNamara, vice-president of human resources, and Gerry Frappier, RDS president and general manager as the Québec leads on Bell Media's executive team as of January 1, 2014.
"On behalf of the national Bell Media team, I would like to thank Jacques for his counsel, leadership, and enthusiasm as we joined Astral with Bell Media”, said Crull in the announcement. “We look forward to working with him for the rest of this year, and wish him a very happy and rewarding future."
