Discovery Channel Canada boss out in rejig

Discovery Channel Canada’s long-serving president and general manager Paul Lewis is leaving as part of continuing top level changes at local giant Bell Media.

Lewis has been with Discovery Channel since 1994, but is one of senior managers leaving as new Bell president Mary Ann Turcke continues to build a new executive team.

The departure follows that of CTV programming, entertainment and sports content chief Phil King, who was then replaced by Universal Music Canada chief executive Randy Lennox.

In Canada, Discovery Channel is a joint venture between Bell and Discovery Communications, as Canadian media regulations dictate international channels must be operated by local companies.

Lewis has been Discovery Channel’s president since 2003, when he replaced Ken Murphy in a previous restructuring. He had initially joined its in-house programming team nine years prior.

Before leaving the company, he had overall responsibility for Discovery Channel, Discovery World, Animal Planet, Discovery Science and Investigation Discovery, prodco Exploration Discovery and all distribution.

Lewis’s team now reports to Bell’s head of specialty and pay TV, Tracey Pearce.

Turcke has almost completely overhauled Bell’s management team after succeeding Kevin Crull as president in April.