News Releases

October 4, 2004

CBC/Radio-Canada Appoints René Bourdages as New President of its Merchandising Division

Ottawa — CBC/Radio-Canada is pleased to announce the appointment of René Bourdages as the new President of its Merchandising Division. Mr. Bourdages's appointment is effective immediately.

"With an outstanding track record in leadership and management, coupled with extensive experience in the broadcasting industry, René has exactly what it takes to lead the Merchandising Division through its next phase of development and further grow revenues", said Michel Tremblay, Vice-President, Strategy and Development, CBC/Radio-Canada.

Mr. Bourdages's extensive experience includes tenures at Groupe TVA Inc. as Executive Vice-President, Broadcasting and Operations; Astral Media, as Executive Vice-President, Sales, Products and Marketing, Super écran and Canal Indigo; Cogeco Radio-Television, as Director of Development; and CFGL-FM Radio, as Director, Products and Marketing.

At Astral, Mr. Bourdages launched Canal Indigo and spearheaded the re-branding of Super écran. At TVA, Mr. Bourdages orchestrated the launch of Star Académie and oversaw the rollout of all the platforms used by this wildly successful program, the biggest convergence project ever launched by Groupe TVA. Over 500,000 Star Académie 1 CDs were sold, along with 300,000 concert tour tickets and thousands of DVDs. Two editions of a special Star Académie magazine were also published.

CBC/Radio-Canada's Merchandising Division operates cbcshop.ca and retail outlets, and is the focal point of all of the corporation's merchandising activities. Created in 2002, the division's objective is to enhance the Corporation's revenue-generating opportunities flowing from CBC/Radio-Canada's significant radio, television, and archival content and products.

About CBC/Radio-Canada

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. CBC/Radio-Canada reaches Canadians through eight national radio and television networks, its full-service Web sites, local/regional stations and affiliates, as well as the digital television channel Country Canada and the continuous music network Galaxie. In addition, CBC/Radio-Canada has forged partnerships with other broadcasters and is a partner in the satellite radio service SIRIUS Canada as well as in the specialty television services ARTV and The Documentary Channel. Through this array of activities, CBC/Radio-Canada brings diverse regional and cultural perspectives into the daily lives of Canadians in English, French and eight aboriginal languages. (2006)

For additional information, please contact:

Katherine Heath-Eves
Media Relations
CBC/Radio-Canada (Ottawa)
Tel: (613) 288-6235
heathevk@cbc.ca
www.cbc.radio-canada.ca