Ousted president an apparent fall guy for Bell Media
TORONTO — Pity Kevin Crull, the now former president of Bell Media as of the announcement of his departure Thursday.
The writing of his imminent exit hit the front pages of his firm’s minority partner — possibly with BCE Inc.’s implicit blessing — just a couple of weeks ago.
Recall that Crull was vilified for meddling in CTV’s news coverage of a regulatory decision by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) involving the so-called pick-and-pay ruling that would provide consumers greater freedom to choose individual television channels as part of cable and satellite subscriptions. Bell, which owns CTV and a stable of cable channels, wasn’t thrilled with that decision last month.
For Bell and its parent, BCE, it was another poke in the eye from the federal watchdog in a long-festering feud.
Crull, ever the loyal senior foot soldier eager to appease his highspirited chief executive, George Cope, directed news staff at the country’s largest private broadcaster to exclude Jean-Pierre Blais, CRTC chairman, from any coverage of the ruling on Bell-owned networks.
A curious thing happened days later. An article appeared in The Globe and Mail detailing Crull’s actions, how senior staff at the broadcaster feared for their jobs, complete with details of how Blais’ face was ordered off all broadcast coverage after his initial six-minute interview on BNN, a Bell Media-owned business news station.
What’s interesting is that BCE Inc. owns 15 per cent of The Globe and Crull sat on the newspaper’s board of directors. Corporate partners, even media companies, don’t make a habit of embarrassing one another in public unless, of course, there’s implicit or explicit approval from the other side. In other words, it’s worth asking whether The Globe would have published such an unflattering portrait of a business partner, let alone someone who sat inside the Thomson family’s private inner sanctum, without some kind of nod from BCE.
Did Bell stage things to rid itself of an executive who had passed his expiry date? “It was a complete setup reported as a straight news story,” said a BCE insider. “It looks like the whole thing may have been staged to get rid of Kevin.”
Perhaps Crull became the fall guy for an increasingly toxic company attitude toward the federal regulator that may have raised concerns in BCE’s boardroom.
Those familiar with the company say Cope is the lead corporate spear-carrier in BCE’s clash with the CRTC and, while he has the support of the company directors, there is some concern over the company’s tense relations with its major regulator. “BCE is an entertainment company now, not a telco, and there is some uneasiness that the chief executive has (lost) respect for the CRTC,” said the insider who asked not to be named.
Whatever the reason, it took little time for the anticipated chorus of indignation to play out, most loudly from Blais and the CRTC, who criticized Crull’s actions, adding that “an informed citizenry cannot be sacrificed for a company’s commercial interests.”
On the heels of the CRTC’s blistering rebuke, Crull issued a remorseful four-paragraph apology regretting his “mistake.”
BCE is replacing Crull with Mary Ann Turcke, who was executive vice-president of Bell’s service technicians since 2008, and who has also represented Bell on the board of directors for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
In a statement Thursday, Cope reiterated that “the independence of Bell Media’s news operations is of paramount importance to our company and to all Canadians.” Interpret that as you like: A parting shot or a forced olive branch to the CRTC. Possibly both.