Michel Godbout has found a new career opportunity over the horizon

Quebecor's soon-to-be-launched TVA Sports specialty channel isn't just looking to RDS hockey analysts like Dave Morissette and Yvon Pedneault (or La Presse's Réjean Tremblay) for on-air talent. Their hiring spree has also poached CBC Montreal's sports anchor.

Michel Godbout confirmed Monday that he will be leaving the CBC to join the TVA Sports channel set to debut this fall. His last day is July 30. (He was cut off early: see below)

Godbout (who is, as you can imagine, fully bilingual) worked for 15 years at Radio-Canada and then CBC Montreal - most famously as the evening news anchor between 2005 (when Dennis Trudeau retired) and 2009 (when Andrew Chang and Jennifer Hall took over a revamped newscast). He starts an anchoring job at TVA Sports on Aug. 22.

TVA Sports, which was approved by the CRTC in February 2010, has already signed deals to carry some Ottawa Senators games and most Montreal Impact soccer games, though it failed to get the government to break the deal the Canadiens have with RDS. Quebecor is also trying to get an NHL team to Quebec City, giving another big reason for fans to subscribe to this channel.

No word yet on who will replace Godbout permanently. CBC Montreal News Director Mary-Jo Barr is on vacation until August.

You can follow Godbout on Twitter at @GodboutSports (fortunately he won't have to change that name - but expect it to be a bit more francophone in the future).

UPDATE (July 21): Thursday was Godbout's last day. He says during an interview this morning on CBC Daybreak that he gave his two weeks' notice on Friday (July 15), but was told that Thursday would be his last day, being let go because he was leaving for a competitor.

Godbout had a brief goodbye on air with Debra Arbec (Andrew Chang was off):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfYro2kLsVc

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I was stuck in the crowd, but here are some photos I got of the TV media covering the party afterward.

The CTV tent

Brian Wilde with Damon Duval's insanely hot wife.

CTV and RDS tents side by side

Ken Connors in the Global TV tent (Global covered the parade mostly form their studio). The TVA tent is on the right.

Even cameramen need a break sometimes.

Production people contort themselves in odd ways to stay out of the camera's view

Wilde interviews Paul Lambert moments before he goes on stage. Lambert's a Montreal-born anglo so naturally a favourite of the CFCF crew.

Lambert taps Randy Tieman on the back to say hi. Alouettes players are much closer to the few reporters who cover them than Canadiens players are to the media circus that follows them everywhere.

The RDS crew turn around to watch the player introductions on stage. Good God those jackets are awful.

I believe that's Pierre Vercheval (a former Alouette) signing a football.

Rue Frontenac was there

Brian Wilde and a fan

A camera on a platform points toward the stage.

Little-known fact: Due to CBC budget cuts, Michel Godbout doubles as a delivery man for Quiznos.

Just kidding. He's a serious reporter man, after all.

Tania Krywiak gives a thumbs up at someone spelling her name correctly.

Als GM Jim Popp with the RDS guys

Cameraman at the RDS tent focuses on the big shiny thing on the table.

I see you on TV. Can we be friends?

There's this thing about local TV people, people want their pictures taken with them. I've never quite understood the concept.

But hey, as long as they're all having fun, who am I to judge? I go to parties and take pictures of TV reporters. We're all strange in our own way.

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Michel Godbout: "Returning to the field"

Instead, the CBC is going younger, picking one familiar and one unfamiliar name to sit in the big chairs. Godbout, the release says, is going back to reporting, "returning to the field." The release suggests Godbout is eager to get back on the front lines, though that's not quite the impression one gets when reading his Twitter post on the subject. Godbout, a known softie, tells us below not to read too much into that Tweet.

Replacing Godbout on Sept. 8 (a week after the new 90-minute newscast debuts) are reporters Andrew Chang and Jennifer Hall.

The announcement was sent to the media shortly before the 6pm newscast and was made on the air by Jeniene Phillips, who is replacing the vacationing Godbout in the anchor chair, at the very end of the hour-long newscast. It included video of Hall and Chang at their desk in what appears to be a new set:

Jennifer Hall and Andrew Chang try out their new anchor chairs

Chang is a familiar face to CBC Montreal viewers, one of the youngest faces on the newscast and a solid multimedia reporter who has been with the station since 2005.

Hall, on the other hand, is an import. She comes from Ontario, where she served as national reporter for CTV's "A" News network. Though she has experience as a news anchor, she's spent her career (and education) in Ontario and is entirely new to the Montreal news scene.

Frank Cavallaro remains at his post as the weather presenter.

CBC's release is below:

JENNIFER HALL AND ANDREW CHANG TO CO-ANCHOR CBC NEWS: MONTREAL SUPPER-HOUR NEWSCAST

Montreal, August 20, 2009 -- Beginning Tuesday, September 8, Jennifer Hall and Andrew Chang will take the helm as co-anchors of CBC NEWS: MONTREAL, the expanded 90-minute newscast from 5-6:30 p.m. on CBC Television.

Jennifer Hall joins the team at CBC Montreal fresh from the corridors of Parliament Hill, where a passion for politics led to her role as National Affairs Reporter for CTVglobemedia's 'A' network. She broadcast live from the House of Commons each night during one of the most tumultuous sessions in recent political memory, with the minority government coming close to falling.

In years prior, Jennifer established her diversity of skills as both host and producer of the provincial current affairs program Inquiry with Jennifer Hall. Her ability to stickhandle a panel of guests on hot-button issues garnered national recognition. Jennifer's move to the anchor desk is familiar territory, as she has held the role for many of the past 20 years.

“Coming to Montreal is a natural next step for me and my family. We've always loved this city. The people, culture and language give it soul and character like no other place in Canada,” said Hall. “I'm also thrilled to be joining CBC Montreal. The CBC just can't be matched when it comes to journalism that matters to Montrealers. I can't wait to get started.”

Andrew Chang is a familiar face to CBC News: Montreal viewers. His wide-ranging stories and compelling, in-depth style have made him one of the top journalists in the city. He has reported on many of the biggest Quebec stories in recent memory, including the Dawson College shootings, the Laval overpass collapse, the Bouchard-Taylor Commission, and the Montreal Canadiens riots. In 2008, he covered the Quebec election from the campaign trail, filing daily to CBC Montreal Radio, TV and the web. More recently, he was part of the CBC Montreal team that uncovered and broke the Earl Jones financial scandal.

"With Jennifer as co-anchor and the top-notch CBC Montreal news team at our side, I look forward to keeping Montrealers on top of the news and their city,” said Chang. “The audience can also expect something a little different. I’m a front-line journalist. I like to be where the story is happening. I plan on getting out from behind the desk as much as possible, and bringing the viewers along with me.”

After four years as host of CBC NEWS: MONTREAL AT 6, Michel Godbout is looking forward to returning to the field. He will of course continue to play a very prominent role in the newscast and report on some of the top stories that matter most to Montrealers.

“We are very excited about introducing the co-anchor format as we expand our local news coverage to better serve Montrealers,” said Mary-Jo Barr, News Director, CBC Montreal. “The new 90-minute supper hour format allows us to bring even more timely, in-depth local news and information to our viewers, and having a co-anchor team will provide a fresh approach and a different perspective to the broadcast.”

CBC NEWS: MONTREAL will begin airing on August 31, bringing Montrealers in-depth local and breaking news coverage with ongoing updates, top national and international stories and Frank Cavallaro’s accurate weather forecast. The new format, divided into three 30-minute newscasts at 5, 5:30 and 6, provides more options for Montrealers. Viewers will get the day’s top stories, including weather, in each half-hour and developing stories as they unfold. The content will be up-to-the-minute with the context and depth Montrealers expect of CBC News.

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Michel Godbout has been hosting CBC News Montreal at Six alone since 2006. (Fagstein photo illustration)

Thomas tips me off to a job posting from the CBC for a co-anchor for its weeknight Montreal newscast (the only remaining local programming on CBMT).

The posting doesn't make it clear, but I'm assuming the co-anchor will be added to the desk next to current anchor Michel Godbout, who has been hosting the newscast since he replaced longtime Newswatch anchor Dennis Trudeau.

I'm not quite sure about the strategy behind this. Dual anchors are at best redundant, and while a lot of News at Six involves Godbout speaking, he does it well enough. Especially considering the current firing craze at the network, it seems silly to hire someone new for purely aesthetic reasons.

And even then, what's the point? Silly host banter? We already have that with Godbout and "weather specialist" Frank Cavallaro.

Besides, the studio space allotted to CBC News at Six is so tiny, it would be cramped with two people inside.

Applications are due by June 10. Any takers?

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