Fireworks Entertainment chief Jay Firestone is stepping aside and veteran television executive Gerry Noble has moved from broadcaster to supplier, replacing the departing production head.

After being put into limbo after an extensive media management restructuring at CanWest Jan. 28, Noble, former president and CEO at Global Television Network, had not expected to renew his contract, which was to expire in August. However, when Firestone, founder of CanWest’s wholly owned producer/distributor Fireworks, decided not to renew his five-year management contract, an opportunity opened.

In late April, in reporting its second quarter results, CanWest announced that revenues at Fireworks had declined by 14% to $35 million, ‘reflecting the continued weakness in international media markets.’ The company also overhauled management of the National Post and closed down Edmonton-based commercial production house Apple Box Productions in the last month.

Effective May 5, Noble was named president and CEO Fireworks, producer of programs such as Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda, Mutant X and Relic Hunter.

According to CanWest, Firestone wants to pursue other business opportunities, but will stay on as an advisor during the transitional period. Firestone sold Fireworks to CanWest in 1998.

However, along with the change in CEO, Fireworks is re-focusing its strategic direction to take into account the changing content trends – and to address disappointing business returns.

Specifically, the European market, from which the financing model for most shows expected to pull revenue, has been ‘unreliable,’ says Tom Strike, CanWest’s COO. ‘The current model is not working well. We are going to focus on fulfilling the Canadian broadcast needs.’

The new direction will include increased emphasis on working with CanWest’s Canadian television operations – Global Television Network, CH Television, Prime TV and digital cable channels – to create programming content that has North American appeal.

‘We have redefined our content strategies recently to take better advantage of our relationships with North American producers/distributors and broadcasters, thereby limiting the extent to which we need to rely upon European TV markets for the success of our programming content,’ explains Leonard Asper, CanWest’s president and CEO. ‘We are confident that our new direction for Fireworks, while in many respects a departure from our existing business model, is nevertheless the right direction at this time.’

Strike says the current slate of production will not be impacted by the change in corporate strategy. The fourth season of 22 hours of Andromeda, a third season of 22 hours of Mutant X and the second season of 22 half-hours of Black Hole High, for instance, are moving ahead.

‘We salute and thank [Firestone] for his leadership at Fireworks,’ adds Asper. ‘Under that leadership, Fireworks has established an enviable record in producing both TV programs and feature films, and has built an important content library.’