Moses Znaimer

Moses Znaimer
Born	1942 (1942) (age 69) Kulyab, Tajikistan
Website
http://www.mosesznaimer.com/

Moses Znaimer, M.A., O.Ont (born 1942) is a co-founder and former head of Citytv, the first independent television station in Toronto, Canada, and the current head of ZoomerMedia.

Early life and career

Znaimer was born to Polish and Latvian Jewish parents who had fled the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union and relocated to Kulyab in the Soviet republic of Tajikistan. Following the war his family landed in a German Displaced Persons camp, ultimately ending up in Montreal in 1948. He graduated from McGill University in Montreal with a B.A. in philosophy and politics (and served as president of the McGill Debating Union), and from Harvard University with an M.A. in government in the mid-1960s.

Znaimer's career in broadcasting began when he joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in the early 1960s. He became well-known for his work as host of CBC Radio's Cross Country Checkup, as well as co-host of CBC Television's Take 30 with Adrienne Clarkson. After being denied the opportunity to pursue his creative vision at the CBC, Znaimer quit and went into private broadcasting.

Citytv

With all of the VHF television licences in Toronto taken, Znaimer and a partnership applied for and was awarded the city's first UHF broadcasting license, on channel 79. Citytv launched in 1972, and changed frequency to channel 57 in 1983. With Citytv, he gradually began to pioneer a distinctive style of broadcasting, inspired in part by Marshall McLuhan, which emphasized a strongly local, hip and casual format aimed at young audiences.

In 1981, Toronto-based media conglomerate CHUM Limited purchased Citytv, and Znaimer became vice-president of CHUM and executive producer for all of City's programming. By 1984 Znaimer and John Martin's vision of a 24-hour music video station was realized with the creation of MuchMusic. Much like City, MuchMusic emphasized the liveness and spontaneity of television, relying largely on hand-held cameras, and impromptu shots of VJ's taken just about anywhere in the CHUM-City offices. MusiquePlus, a joint venture based in Montreal and catering to the French speaking audiences of Canada, was launched in 1986. In 1987 CHUM-City purchased a former publishing building in Toronto's downtown west end and renovated it into the CHUM-City Building, a landmark media centre.

Throughout the 1990s, Znaimer presided over a considerable expansion of the CHUM-City television empire. Bravo! was launched as a new style arts channel in 1995, and Space in 1997. He continued his original vision for television with the launching of Canada's first 24-hour local news station, CablePulse 24 in 1998. Further cable channels included Canadian Learning Television, Star!, Drive-In Classics, FashionTelevisionChannel, BookTelevision, CourtTV Canada, SexTV: The Channel, MuchLOUD and MuchVibe. Znaimer also oversaw the launch of Citytv Vancouver.

Znaimer resigned from his managerial role at Citytv and CHUM Limited in April 2003, but stayed on in certain production roles. He co-founded and for a time served as chairman of Cannasat Therapeutics, a publicly traded company pioneering a new class of drugs from marijuana; he continues as a shareholder and advisor to the company.^[1]

ZoomerMedia

In May 2005, Znaimer re-emerged from a few years of virtual exile to head up a series of media ventures. For CBC Television, he executive-produced a television comedy called Rumours, based on a hit Quebec television show. The series was cancelled mid-season.

In 2006, he filed an application with the CRTC to acquire CFMX, a commercial classical music radio station licensed to Cobourg with a rebroadcaster in Toronto. In 2008 he gained CRTC approval to relaunch the Toronto and Cobourg transmitters as separate stations. The newly licensed Toronto station would use the call sign CFMZ to reflect his initials. In September 2007, he announced a deal to acquire high-power AM station CHWO, a signal widely heard through the Great Lakes region of Canada and the northern United States, which on its acquisition he re-christened CFZM. It is a full-service pop standards station, also offering news and some public-service talk programming, primarily aimed at the Toronto and southern Ontario market region.

He also announced a subsequent deal to acquire web developer Fifty-Plus Net International, with the intention of launching a social networking website similar to MySpace or Facebook but aimed at older adults.^[2]

In 2008, Znaimer officially incorporated ZoomerMedia to operate his new media holdings. In June 2009, the company announced a deal to acquire S-VOX, which operates several channels of religiously-oriented television programming, for $25 million.^[3]

Personal life

In 2006, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario.^[4]

An avid collector of vintage television sets, including the set David Sarnoff presented at the 1939 World's Fair, his MZTV Television Museum moved to a new home on Queen St. East in 2007. He is in a long term relationship with actress Marilyn Lightstone. His sister is broadcast journalist Libby Znaimer, who has worked for Citytv, CablePulse 24 and Report on Business Television, and now serves as news director at CFMZ.

References

1. ^ Cannasat Therapeutics appoints Dr. David Pattenden as Chairman of the Board, Cannasat Therapeutics press release, June 16, 2009
2. ^ "Moses Znaimer: rolling with the times", The Globe and Mail Report on Business, October 5, 2007.
3. ^ "Spiritual TV fits Moses' Zoomer vision. The Globe and Mail, June 15, 2009.
4. ^ CNW Group | ONTARIO MINISTRY OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION | Order of Ontario appointments announced

External links

• Official Web Site
• CARP
• Zoomer Magazine
• 50 Plus
• AM 740 Zoomer Radio
• Classical 96.3 FM Toronto
• Moses Znaimer at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Znaimer, Moses
Alternative names
Short description	canadian television executive
Date of birth	1942
Place of birth	Kulyab, Tajikistan
Date of death
Place of death