MONTREAL, Jan. 16, 2012 /CNW/ - CBC/Radio-Canada president Hubert T.
Lacroix has confirmed Louis Lalande as the new executive vice-president
of French Services. Mr. Lalande had held the position on an interim
basis since September 2011.
"I'm very pleased to announce this appointment today, as we enter the
second year of our 2015: Everyone, Every way strategic plan. Louis has the leadership qualities we need to continue
developing Radio-Canada in line with our three main priorities:
regions, digital platforms and distinctive programming," said Hubert T.
Lacroix. "In a rapidly evolving media environment, Canadians are right
to have high expectations for their public broadcaster. We'll need to
move more quickly to implement the required changes and I'm confident
that Louis has the skills and experience to meet these challenges,
while keeping audience levels high across all our platforms."
Louis Lalande has worked at CBC/Radio-Canada for nearly three decades.
During that time, he has held a variety of positions with news and
current affairs, including 10 years as an executive producer of special
coverage and major events, such as election nights. He later went on to
become executive director of technical production, then executive
director of news and current affairs for Télévision de Radio-Canada. As
a member of the French Services management team, he also played a key
role in establishing the Centre de l'information in Montreal.
In 2006, Louis Lalande was appointed executive director of regional
services, where he oversaw all French-language TV, radio and web
programming in the regions, managing a staff of approximately 1,000
employees spread across the country.
Radio-Canada Regional Services experienced considerable growth during
Louis's tenure. Three multimedia centres were established in
Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières and Saguenay, with a fourth one now under
construction in Rimouski, slated to open in September. Radio-Canada
also launched two websites in late 2011 devoted to local affairs in
Montreal's off-island communities: Radio-Canada Rive-Nord and
Radio-Canada Rive-Sud. Thanks to these initiatives, the public
broadcaster is now more visible, more effective and more relevant in
these communities.
Over the past few years, French Services has achieved and maintained
all-time high ratings on TV and radio. Traffic on Radio-Canada.ca,
TOU.TV and the new web music platform Espace.mu is also growing
steadily, demonstrating the public broadcaster's online leadership in
French-speaking Canada.
About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster and one of its
largest cultural institutions. The Corporation is a leader in reaching
Canadians on new platforms and delivers a comprehensive range of radio,
television, Internet, and satellite-based services. Deeply rooted in
the regions, CBC/Radio-Canada is the only domestic broadcaster to offer
diverse regional and cultural perspectives in English, French and eight
Aboriginal languages, plus seven languages for international audiences.
