Printer friendly version

de Wilde departs Astral

8/21/01

Montreal/Toronto - Lisa de Wilde, president and CEO of Astral Television Networks Inc., will leave the company on September 14th after more than eight years at the helm, announced Ian Greenberg, president and CEO of Astral Media Inc., and Andre Bureau, chairman of the corporation and president and CEO of the Astral Broadcasting Group.

No replacement has been named.

Astral Television operates the company's English and French pay television and pay-per-view networks, The Movie Network, Moviepix, Viewer's Choice, Super Ecran and Canal Indigo.

In the company release announcing the move, de Wilde said that with the networks on a solid growth path, she felt the time was opportune for her to leave in order to pursue other ambitions. During her tenure, aided by the growth of digital DTH satellite service in Canada, the combined subscriber base of The Movie Network and Super Ecran more than doubled, moving over the 1.1 million mark in Eastern Canada.

The pay networks began to offer exclusive programming such as "The Sopranos" and de Wilde ushered in new digital technologies, bringing multiplexing to The Movie Network and Super Ecran, increasing the number of potential channels for customers to watch.

"We are very pleased with the work Lisa has done for our pay television and pay-per-view operations, and her overall contributions to the building of the Astral Media brand," said Greenberg. "We deeply regret that she will be leaving but respect her decision."

Back to headlines