CBC Montreal ends sports reporter rotation; Doug Gelevan, Andie Bennett get stable gigs

Douglas Gelevan will work full-time as sports anchor on CBC Montreal's evening newscast and as sports columnist for Homerun

Douglas Gelevan will work full-time as sports anchor on CBC Montreal’s evening newscast and as sports columnist for Homerun

Three years after creating a two-person sports unit and rotating them regularly between morning and afternoon jobs, CBC Montreal has finally come to its senses and is giving them more stable schedules.

Douglas Gelevan announced on Friday that he’s moving to a full-time job as TV sports anchor and afternoon radio sports columnist as of Monday.

“We’re going to experiment with exactly how the daily work flow will work with me over the next month,” Gelevan tells me. “By fall the permanent structure should be in place. I know the plan is to create a workflow that will get sports more involved in the 6 to 6:30 part of the program in addition to a sportscast in the 5. A back and forth scenario between the TV and Homerun studio is likely, but I can’t say for sure.”

Since Homerun airs from 3 to 6pm and the TV newscast is from 5 to 6:30pm, there’s some overlap, meaning the schedule has to be figured out (especially because it takes a couple of minutes to run from one studio to the other). But the team had been doing radio hits at 5:50pm after anchoring a sportscast during the 5pm block, so it should be manageable.

I asked Gelevan if he’ll enjoy the fact that he won’t have to get up as early for Daybreak. For a sports reporter especially, those kinds of hours can be very difficult.

But “it’s never been a issue for me,” he said. “Working on Daybreak is feels like getting fired out of canon as soon as you wake up. I’ll miss that aspect of being on the show for sure. And working side by side Mike, Monique, Jeanette and Brendan… They’re awesome.”

Andie Bennett remains on Daybreak full-time

Andie Bennett remains on Daybreak full-time

It’s been three years since Andie Bennett left what was then Team 990 to join CBC, prompting the creation of the sports unit. The move meant going on TV regularly, which clearly took some time getting used to, though viewers have seen her get more comfortable in the role as time has passed.

“I’m a radio girl at heart and we were all in agreement that it is better to have consistency on the airwaves,” Bennett said. “The TV work has been a great experience and I will still be doing some TV from time to time, ideally doing maybe one item a month that will be a bit more in-depth, thought-out, creative type of story.”

Aside from giving these two broadcasters more stable schedules, the change solves some practical problems. Promotions for either Daybreak or the TV newscast would either have to include both of them or neither. Now, Gelevan can stand next to Debra Arbec and Frank Cavallaro on those TV posters and Bennett can be more prominent in the B-roll they shoot for those tomorrow-on-Daybreak TV commercials.

“With Andrew Chang’s departure, we wanted to create a consistent on-air team for CBC News at 5:00, 5:30 and 6:00,” said CBC Quebec content manager Meredith Dellandrea (who’s filling in for other managers on vacation). “Doug Gelevan is great in the TV sports role and we’re so happy he agreed to this change. We are also pleased that Andie Bennett — also great on TV and radio — has agreed to be the Daybreak sports reporter on a daily basis.”

Both Bennett and Gelevan describe this as a win-win.

“It’s good news for everyone I think,” Bennett said. “I wanted to return to radio full-time and Doug does great work in the scripted TV format.”

And they insist they’re still a team. Their “sports unit” stories, where they go out together and try out new sports for our amusement, will continue.

With all the common sense that went into this, it makes you wonder why it took three years to get here.

8 thoughts on “CBC Montreal ends sports reporter rotation; Doug Gelevan, Andie Bennett get stable gigs

  1. Steve W

    What’s a afternoon radio sports columnist? How often would he appear on Home Run for each 3-6pm edition?

    Does CBC TV Montreal have a permanent Arts reporter for their 5-6:30 pm newscast? I’m very confused as a longtime CBC TV Montreal newscast viewer. Does Anna Asimakopulos still work for CBC Montreal(as an Arts reporter, behind the scenes, on radio side or whatever)?

    Reply
    1. Fagstein Post author

      What’s a afternoon radio sports columnist?

      A journalist who comes on regularly to talk about sports.

      How often would he appear on Home Run for each 3-6pm edition?

      Details on scheduling are still to be figured out. It might change.

      Does CBC TV Montreal have a permanent Arts reporter for their 5-6:30 pm newscast?

      The arts reporter will also be shared between TV and radio in the afternoons.

      oes Anna Asimakopulos still work for CBC Montreal

      Yes.

      Reply
          1. Steve W

            So Anna A was still being paid the past year by CBC Montreal, as I just found out from today’s The Suburban, that she has been living in Paris the past year(she returns back to Montreal next month)? I could never get an answer from CBC Montreal whenever I’d asked what happened to Anna A. It’s been a revolving door who’s covering the Arts for CBC TV Montreal(it was so confusing). Now I understand why people are so mad at CBC sometimes.

            Reply
  2. Steve W

    She’s mostly on the radio side these days? I personally haven’t seen her covering the Arts for CBC Montreal TV much at all the past year(& I watch CBC Montreal TV almost every day). Last time I saw her on television maybe more than a month ago.

    Reply
  3. Mike Cohen

    See my column in the August 6th Suburban. Anna Asimakopoulis is on sabbatical in Paris until September.

    Reply
    1. Steve W

      Yes, that’s where I found out the about Anna Asimakopoulis the past year. Your comment was not posted here, when I originally send a comment to this blog post at 11:22pm tonight. I’ll look for August 15 edition of The Suburban Magazine for more details about Anna A.

      Reply

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