January 17, 2023 – Donald Lizotte, General Manager and Chief Revenue Office, CBC & Radio-Canada Media Solutions, will be stepping down to take a well-deserved retirement on March 31, 2023.

CBC/Radio-Canada and its teams are fortunate to have been able to benefit from Mr. Lizotte's vast experience, strong leadership, strategic vision and innovative thinking, especially in such turbulent times. Despite his short tenure, Donald will have left a lasting mark on his teams and collaborators, who quickly came to appreciate his empathy, values and ability to listen. “I have enjoyed my time at the public broadcaster and take great pride in what the team has been able to do, especially so through the pandemic. I can retire with confidence and peace of mind, knowing the CBC & Radio-Canada Media Solutions group is in good hands with a solid plan for navigating the opportunities and challenges ahead,” he said. “I'm confident that the transition will go smoothly for the entire group and our partners. Many thanks to all my teams.”

Mr. Lizotte has enjoyed a more than three-decade career spanning the telecommunications, retail, food and media sectors, including 14 years with Quebecor, while also serving on the boards of Numeris, ThinkTV and the European Group of Television Advertising (EGTA). He leaves us after three-and-a-half years, having made a significant impact on the Corporation. Mr. Lizotte took over the Media Solutions group and led it to achieve outstanding results despite challenging circumstances. On top of that, he contributed significantly to the success of two Olympics in the space of six months — an extraordinary feat in itself. He also oversaw the creation of a new bilingual leadership team that better reflected the country's cultural diversity.

Appointment of Hisham Ghostine

With Donald Lizotte's departure, we are excited to announce the appointment of Hisham Ghostine as General Manager and Chief Revenue Officer, CBC & Radio-Canada Media Solutions. In this role, he will oversee all teams associated with CBC/Radio-Canada's self-generated revenue, including the advertising, distribution and content-licensing streams. He will start on April 3 and share his time between Montreal and Toronto.

Appointed Executive Director of Sales, Marketing & Olympics, Toronto and Western Canada in May 2021, Hisham was promoted six months later to Executive Director, Digital Monetization, Sales, Marketing and Olympics.

Hisham's illustrious career spans over 25 years, and across the globe. Before joining CBC/Radio-Canada, he was the CEO of Media and Performance Brands at Dentsu Aegis Network in Canada.

Before that, Hisham spent 10 years at Omnicom Media Group in various roles, including Chief Growth & Revenue Officer for the Middle East and North Africa. Since then, he has also served as a board member at Numeris, the President of Amplifi Canada and the Chief Commercial Officer at Dentsu Aegis Network in Canada. He holds an Executive MBA from the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management and a Global ESG Competent Boards Designation (GCB.D). He currently sits on the board of ThinkTV.

We are thrilled to have such a talented executive take on this key role, with his deep digital expertise and extensive knowledge of the agency and business community. Fluently trilingual in English, French and Arabic, he will strive to uphold the values of equity, diversity and inclusion that he holds dear within his team at the national level. His new position will also allow him to showcase his leadership skills, with a focus on building strong, united and high-performing teams. Mr. Ghostine had this to say about his appointment: “I'm proud to take the baton from Donald, keep up the momentum of existing initiatives and continue working with everyone to drive Media Solutions toward greater heights of excellence.”