After more than 35 years in the media business, Phil King, Sony Pictures Television’s (SPT) SVP of distribution in Canada, is retiring.

In announcing King’s departure, effective Friday (April 1), the studio said Victoria Valius and Stephanie Shinkoda have been named co-country managers for SPT in Canada and now share oversight of the territory.

King managed SPT’s business in Canada for six years, having joined the company in May 2016, and is a veteran Canadian television executive. He previously spent over 26 years at Bell Media, where he served as president of TSN and president of CTV, sports, and entertainment. He also led the acquisition and production strategy for CTV, CTV 2, TSN, RDS and a host of specialty and pay channels.

While at SPT, King led the TV licensing negotiations for film franchises, TV properties and formats across broadcast, digital, SVOD and AVOD in Canada. He also oversaw the merger of Sony Pictures Television and Home Entertainment in Canada.

Valius (pictured left) is a veteran in TV distribution with over 25-years’ experience, which began managing international TV content and channel format sales at Canadian broadcaster CHUM Television, followed by a decade of work in Europe, which included selling and marketing Canadian TV productions abroad. She joined SPT over a decade ago when the company opened its Toronto office in Canada and has since held numerous roles in marketing and communications.

In her role as VP, marketing and co-country manager, Valius manages the TV distribution, physical and digital home entertainment marketing team, and now oversees operations of the Canada office.

Shinkoda (pictured right) has more than 20 years’ experience across TV distribution, acquisitions and programming, and joined SPT in October 2021. In her role as VP, distribution and co-country manager, she oversees the sales teams across TV distribution and home entertainment digital and physical distribution.

Shinkoda’s previous experience includes director of content distribution at Maple Leaf Sports + Entertainment; a role leading television distribution for Paramount Pictures in Canada; and roles at Shaw Media and Warner Bros.

“It has been an absolute pleasure working for one of the greatest Hollywood studios,” said King in a statement. “I’d like to personally thank Keith Le Goy, Jason Spivak and Flory Bramnick and the wonderful people who work for Sony Pictures Entertainment, including my Canadian team for all the support over the years. I am truly going to miss everyone.”