After 13 years on the job, Michael McCabe is stepping down from his post as president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters.

‘I came for five years and ended up staying for 13,’ says McCabe. ‘Things are in good shape at the association and I need to reinvigorate, get into something new, but I don’t really mean finding another job. I want to work at my own pace and do what I really like – public policy.’

Meantime, the CAB’s acting chair of the board of directors,Jim Macdonald, is heading up a search committee to replace McCabe, who will be leaving the building Nov. 9.

McCabe, who is advising the committee, says there’s no internal candidate and that his successor should be policy-minded, strategically and politically, in order to deal with the association’s ongoing tasks.

‘The challenges keep changing with the industry. It’s an exciting time ahead,’ he says.

McCabe is a career public policy and communications professional who has held senior positions in the public and private sector, including serving as: executive assistant to former Liberal finance minister Mitchell Sharp; executive director of the CFDC (now Telefilm Canada); assistant deputy minister of consumer and corporate affairs; and chairman of Policy Research for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Throughout his tenure at the CAB, McCabe has put in place a series of forward-looking strategic plans to help the association adapt to the changing broadcast environment. The most recent is FuturePlan, the association’s five-year strategy for the digital age, which is now the linchpin for all CAB activities.

Throughout his career, McCabe has been a strong advocate of Canadian programming in both television and radio. He played a key role in the establishment of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, which has helped to enforce the CAB’s code of ethics. This year, he received the Mentor of the Year award from Canadian Women in Communications. *

-www.cab-acr.ca