Hisham Ghostine (left) and Donald Lizotte.

Media veteran Donald Lizotte is stepping down as general manager and chief revenue officer of CBC & Radio-Canada Media Solutions at the end of March, retiring after three-and-a-half years in the post.

To fill the leadership of its ad and revenue division, CBC has tapped Hisham Ghostine to take over the role, effective April 3. He will oversee all teams associated with CBC/Radio-Canada’s self-generated revenue, which includes advertising, distribution and content licensing.

Ghostine joined CBC in 2021 as executive director of sales, marketing and Olympics. He had digital monetization added to his title six months later. Prior to that, he gathered more than 20 years of agency-side experience, including nearly seven years at Dentsu, spending two as its CEO. Before that, he spent 10 years with Omnicom Media Group as chief growth officer in the Middle East and North Africa.

“I can retire with confidence and peace of mind, knowing the CBC & Radio-Canada Media Solutions group is in good hands with a solid plan for navigating the opportunities and challenges ahead,” Lizotte said in a statement.

Lizotte’s more than three-decade career has included senior positions in telecommunications, retail, food and media sectors, including 14 years with Quebecor. He has also served on the boards of Numeris, ThinkTV and the European Group of Television Advertising (EGTA).

Since taking over the Media Solutions group at the beginning of 2020, one of Lizotte’s major tasks was steering two Olympics broadcasts in the space of six months. He also oversaw the creation of a new bilingual leadership team that better reflects Canada’s cultural diversity.