Top TV Sports Execs Make Moves

Start a new chapter in your ‘Review of  2010 Canadian Sports Headlines.’  Date it November 9 & 10 and head it: “Beeforth and Moore Shock Sports Media World.”

Beeforth Receiving Sports Media Canada Award

In announcing his departure from Rogers Sportsnet, President Doug Beeforth’s farewell message was terse and to the point. It begs elaboration which will, undoubtedly, come in the future. The highly regarded veteran of Canadian sports TV stunned past and present media colleagues with this announcement:

“I am writing today with the news that I will be stepping down as President of Rogers Sportsnet effective December 31, 2010.

I am extremely proud of the Sportsnet brand that began in 1998, and is now well positioned to continue as a dominant force in Canadian sports broadcasting.   Many of you – as partners of Sportsnet – have contributed to that success, and I sincerely thank you for that.

Come the New Year, my personal plan will be to take some time to decompress.  I’ve been on the move since my first job in TV 35 years ago – and I’m ready to take a few shifts off the ice to catch my breath and decide what’s next.

In the weeks between now and the end of the year, I will assist in the transition to the new leadership structure of Sportsnet – and during that time can be contacted at my current co-ordinates.”

Beeforth was recipient of a Sports Media Canada Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.

The other surprise departure announcement came from the CBC on November 9 stating that their TV Sports Executive Director Scott Moore is leaving his post. No hint was given of Moore’s plans for the future but the next day the cause of the move was clear.  Moore was heading for Rogers Media, Inc as President of Broadcasting (his portfolio includes Sportsnet, CityTV, OMNI, the FAN590 and other radio properties).

Scott Moore

In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Moore is quoted as saying: “It was very tough leaving the CBC, I believe strongly in the public broadcaster. I really loved the place – even the immunization shots I took to go to India for the Commonwealth Games. I like to think we put sports on a better trajectory and left it better than before. But the opportunity to work for an iconic broadcaster like Rogers and with Keith Pelley was too good to turn down.”

“If I bring anything, I think it’s sense of leadership,” he said. “I bring long history of personal relationships at various networks, I know a lot of people in the business. Keith and I are a good fit, we have the right energy and drive to make it work.”

Moore had been involved in the early days of Rogers Sportsnet. Moore left the highly-regarded cable network in July 2003 and worked for a time with his own independent production company. He was involved in the coverage of the 2002 Athens Summer Olympics, 2006 Turin Winter Games and Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

Moore joined CBC in March 2007, taking over from Nancy Lee, who left the CBC to head the host broadcast team for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

David Masse will take over CBC Sports on an interim basis. Masse is a CBC Sports veteran who helped plan coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He also oversaw CBC’s coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.