Veteran TV executive Sean Cohan is set to lead Bell Media in Canada.
His hire was announced on Wednesday and follows 15 years spent at A+E Networks, including as president of international and digital media, and a stint as chief growth officer and president at global measurement and data analytics company Nielsen.
Cohan, who was named president of Bell Media and will step into the new post on Nov. 1, will replace Wade Oosterman, who is retiring as president of the Canadian media player at the end of the year. There’s no word on whether Cohan will relocate from New York City to the Canadian company’s headquarters in Toronto as he takes the helm at Bell Media on the programming front.
“I look forward to working with Sean as he leads the Bell Media team in delivering the most compelling content across every platform. Sean and his leadership team will be responsible for Bell Media’s portfolio of premier entertainment, news and information assets,” Mirko Bibic, president and CEO of parent BCE Inc. and Bell Canada, said in a statement on Wednesday.
Cohan joins Bell Media after a series of cost-cutting layoffs and radio station closures in response to worsening Canadian TV climate as U.S. streaming giants take an increase share of domestic TV viewing and ad revenue increasingly shifts to foreign digital platforms like Google and Facebook.
As the digital age has allowed U.S. studio dramas and comedies that traditionally reached Canadians via local pay TV providers to now be streamed into homes via the Internet, Bell Media bet its future profits would come more from channel subscriptions than advertising, including for its local Crave streaming platform.
Bell Media includes the CTV television network, a slate of specialty television channels and the Crave streaming platform. The continuing penetration of U.S.-based platforms Disney+, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video into Canada has stepped up pressure on Bell Media local media players to cut costs to ensure profitability.
In 2021, Oosterman a long-time exec with parent Bell Canada, took the helm at Bell Media amid a major management restructuring to allow the Canadian company to pivot to its Crave streaming platform and the digital space.
In 2015, another American at the helm of Bell Media as president, Kevin Crull, was ousted after he apologized for barring Canada’s TV watchdog from his airwaves over a regulatory decision.