Program director Slawko Klymkiw leaves CBC TV
CBC announced Wednesday that its head of network TV, Slawko Klymkiw, is leaving the public broadcaster at the end of the month.
Klymkiw has been the head of programming for nine years.
In a note to staff, CBC TV VP Richard Stursberg said Klymkiw is leaving to take up a “new, exciting and very different professional opportunity.”
Klymkiw, in his own note, said his new role will allow him to “give something back to the industry in a way that I hope will leave a lasting legacy in terms of developing future talent in this country.”
There is speculation he may become executive director of the Canadian Film Centre.
The announcement came on the third day of the CBC lockout, with 5,500 Canadian Media Guild employees off work and on the picket line, although Klymkiw said his decision “has absolutely nothing to do with our current labour situation.”
Klymkiw has been program director since 1996. Some of his successes include Canada: a People’s History, The Greatest Canadian, and Rick Mercer’s Monday Report. He was also responsible for CBC’s Movie Night in Canada strategy, which replaced Hockey Night in Canada when last year’s NHL season was cancelled.
He had previously been in charge of CBC Newsworld, the CBC’s 24-hour news and information specialty channel. He also ran the CBC News special program unit, where he developed the Gemini Award-nominated National Town Hall specials. Before that, he ran TV news for CBC in Toronto, and Winnipeg.
He started with the CBC in Winnipeg in 1980.
In July 2004, Richard Stursberg was appointed VP of CBC TV. At the time, there was widespread speculation that Klymkiw was unhappy at having been passed over, with CBC President and CEO Robert Rabinovitch telling the media he was “sure [Klymkiw] was disappointed.”
Stursberg said Eva Czigler will take on Klymkiw’s former role on an acting basis, which will ensure “strong continuity during the transition.” She is currently senior director of network programming at CBC TV.
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