Broadcasting pioneer and publisher Daniel Iannuzzi passed away from a heart attack on Nov. 20 in Rome. Founder of the multilingual station CFMT-TV in Toronto, and an executive at Citytv in the 1970s, he was best known as a champion of multiculturalism. A third-generation Italian-Canadian, Iannuzzi was born in Montreal in 1934, and lived in Toronto for 50 years. In 1954, he founded Corriere Canadese, a newspaper catering to the Italian community.

Iannuzzi was a founding shareholder at City and became its executive producer of multilingual programming from 1972 to 1979. In 1979, he went on to found CFMT-TV and served as its president and executive producer for the next 10 years.

Iannuzzi received several awards and citations, including the EXPO ’86 Award for Excellence and Contribution in pioneering multicultural communications. He became a member of the Order of Canada in 1990.

Iannuzzi leaves behind his wife, Elena, and children Michael, Derek and Doreen.