Bell Media taps music exec Randy Lennox to lead TV, radio

A major shakeup at Bell Media on Monday sees King out, Lennox (pictured) in and several other senior execs let go as the media co reshapes its structure in the face of change.

randy_lennox_white-2The new leader tapped to take over TV and radio at Bell Media was officially revealed today, and he comes from outside the TV industry.

The media co has named former Universal Music president and CEO Randy Lennox (pictured) president of entertainment production and broadcasting for Bell Media. The role is different title than the one Phil King, whose exit from the company was revealed yesterday, held and includes a different portfolio of oversight.

Lennox will oversee independent and in-house-production for Bell Media conventional, specialty, pay and digital media on both the English and French-language side. He will also oversee local TV and national radio, which didn’t fall under King’s reporting line, but not sports, which did.

Reporting to Lennox are TSN president Stewart Johnston on the English sports side and Tracey Pearce, as head of specialty and pay and Mike Cosentino, head of CTV networks and CraveTV on the programming side. On the French-language sports side, Gerry Frappier as been promoted to president of TV and RDS.

King’s departure was part of a larger reorganizatoin yesterday at Bell Media. Also let go were Chris Benoit, president of TV and radio in Quebec, Chris Gordon, president of radio and local TV and Adam Ashton, SVP of English TV and business operations.

A Bell Media spokesperson confirmed that Corrie Coe, SVP, independent production, remains in her role.

Elsewhere, Domenic Vivolo has been promoted from ‎EVP, content sales and distribution marketing to become president of content sales, marketing and digital products.

As head of Universal Music, Lennox’s work has crossed over into the TV realm often, and has been involved with the production of the MMVAs and The Juno Awards. He is also a member of Canada’s Music and Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame.

“Randy joins us at a pivotal time as the media industry experiences significant change,” noted Turcke in a release. “We look forward to his expertise in creating new revenue opportunities in television, radio and digital, including building strategic alliances and special, tent-pole events for our key brands.”

Taking over for Lennox at Universal Music is Jeffrey Remedios, the well-known co-founder of independent Toronto music label Arts & Crafts.

with files from Val Maloney
Updated 10 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. Aug. 25
Clarification: The headline and parts of this story were updated to reflect that Lennox’s remit at Bell Media includes different business divisions and as such, is not a direct replacement of former president – CTV, sports and entertainment programming Phil King.