The latest pre-BCE takeover CTV departure: Robert Hurst is to step down as president of CTV News and Current Affairs.

Hurst, who has been with CTV for 38 years and took the news division’s top job in 2002, is to step away when his successor is named in the coming weeks, CTV said Wednesday.

Hurst’s departure also comes ahead of other pending retirements at CTV by Ivan Fecan and top news anchor Lloyd Robertson, just as BCE gets set to take over the national TV network, likely in mid-2011.