Moses Znaimer
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Moses Znaimer (born 1942) is a co-founder and former head of Citytv, the first independent television station in Toronto, Canada.
He was born to Polish and Latvian Jewish parents on the run from Nazis in Kulyab, Tajikistan, then part of the Soviet Union. Following the war his family landed in a German Displaced Persons camp, ultimately ending up in Montreal in 1948. He was educated in Montreal, attending McGill University, earning a BA in philosophy and politics (and serving as president of the McGill Debating Union), and later attended Harvard University, earning his MA 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. With all of the VHF television licenses 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.
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. Changing a studio's "backstage" into its foreground is one of Znaimer's chief legacies, although CityTV news never did this until the 1980s, and taking the camera through the backstage on a regular basis was seen on Late Night with David Letterman before any of this showed up on Muchmusic or CityTV. 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 North America'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.
A mercurial, unpredictable, and ego-driven leader, Moses inspired both adoration and loathing in his staff[citation needed], many of whom still tell "Moses stories" which Znaimer either refutes or embellishes as the mood strikes him.
Znaimer resigned from his managerial role at Citytv and CHUM Limited in April 2003, but stayed on in certain production roles. He is currently the chairman of Cannasat Therapeutics, a publicly traded company pioneering a new class of drugs from marijuana.
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 serving the Greater Toronto Area. He subsequently changed the station's call sign to CFMZ to reflect his initials. In September of 2007, he also announced a deal to acquire CHWO, a pop standards station in the Toronto market, and 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. [1]
In 2006, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario. [2]
An avid collector of vintage television sets, including the set David Sarnoff presented at the 1939 World's Fair, his MZTV Television Museum will move to a new home on Toronto's Harbourfront sometime in 2007.
His sister is television journalist Libby Znaimer, who has worked for Citytv, CablePulse 24 and Report on Business Television, and now serves as news director at CFMZ. He is married to actress Marilyn Lightstone.
