Moses Znaimer officially came down from the mountain on April 25 – leaving Citytv, the Toronto station he cofounded in 1972, and his top spots at parent company CHUM. The veteran broadcaster has stepped down as vice-president of corporate development at CHUM, and as president and exec producer of its 17 TV stations to focus on pet projects and educational television.

‘I’m aiming to do a few things I’ve not done before such as producing movies, maybe even doing that book everyone’s been urging me to write,’ said Znaimer in a statement.

Znaimer shocked the industry in January when he announced, out of the blue, that he was going on an indefinite sabbatical, informing CHUMers via e-mail that he needed to ‘take care of some personal stuff.’ A storm of rumors followed and many speculated that he had, in fact, been ousted in a power struggle with newly appointed CHUM president and CEO Jay Switzer, which CHUM denies.

‘I’m proud to have worked with him,’ says Switzer. ‘Moses has been an integral part of the growth and success of Citytv and CHUM Television for over 30 years.’

Znaimer will continue to serve as director, chairman and exec producer of Learning and Skills Television of Alberta, which owns and operates Access, Canadian Learning Television, BookTelevision: The Channel and CourtTV Canada. Znaimer’s company Olympus Management owns 20% of LTA, CHUM has 60%. He is also still attached to Ontario-based The Learning Annex, 70% owned by LTA.

CHUM will also continue to sponsor Znaimer’s ideaCity conference and his MZTV Museum of Television.