Jay Switzer (July 11, 1956 – January 29, 2018) was a Canadian television executive, most noted as a longtime senior executive of CHUM Limited."Veteran Canadian TV Programmer Jay Switzer Dies at 61"
'' The Hollywood Reporter'', January 29, 2018. Born in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Alberta and raised in

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

, he was the son of broadcast executives Israel Switzer and Phyllis Switzer. He had his first job in broadcasting as a weekend switchboard operator for

Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...

, and then worked as a cable installer for Maclean-Hunter, a director of television pilots and a research analyst for the '' Financial Post''. He attained an MBA from the University of Western Ontario's

Ivey Business School Ivey Business School is a constituent unit of the University of Western Ontario, located in London, Ontario, Canada. Ivey offers full-time undergraduate (HBA), MBA, MSc, MFE and PhD programs and also maintains two teaching facilities in Toronto ...

,"Jay Switzer (1956-)"
Canadian Communications Foundation, 2004. before rejoining Citytv as director of programming in 1983. In that role, he also oversaw the launch and development of

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

, the first of CHUM's forays into ownership and operation of cable channels. In March 2000, he was named senior vice-president and general manager of the company, before being promoted to president and chief executive officer in 2002. He stepped down in 2007 after CHUM was acquired by CTVglobemedia. He then joined the board of directors of OutTV, and became one of the founding investors in Glassbox Television. In 2011, he was one of the founding partners in the new pay TV film service

Hollywood Suite Hollywood Suite is a group of four Canadian specialty channels, each either majority-owned or wholly owned by Hollywood Suite Inc., a privately held broadcasting company based in Toronto, Ontario. The four channels are primarily devoted to classi ...

, and joined the board of directors of Shaftesbury Films. He was married to actress

Ellen Dubin Ellen Dubin is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her part in the television mini-series ''Lexx'', playing the role of Giggerota. From 2004 to 2006, Dubin starred in the TV series ''The Collector'' as Jeri Slate. She was nominated for a ...

. He died in Toronto of

brain cancer A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondar ...

Honours

He was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2004. He was named to the Order of Canada in December 2017. In January 2018, just before his death, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television named him as a recipient of its Board of Directors Tribute award, alongside

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nin ...

, to honour his work in and commitments to the Canadian broadcasting industry."Canadian Screen Awards: Peter Mansbridge, Karyn Pugliese, Margaret Atwood to be honoured"
CBC News, October 30, 2017.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Switzer, Jay 1956 births 2018 deaths Businesspeople from Calgary Canadian Jews Canadian television executives Canadian Screen Award winners Citytv Deaths from brain tumor Deaths from cancer in Ontario Members of the Order of Canada University of Western Ontario alumni