Sally Catto, CBC’s recently appointed Executive Director, Commissioned and Scripted programming, announced today CBC English Services will merge its Drama and Comedy departments into a single division to be called Scripted Prime Time. This change is effective immediately and reflects CBC’s new financial reality in light of the recent budget cuts; CBC’s Commissioned and Scripted department will lose three positions.

Jenny Hacker, formerly Creative Head of Comedy, is appointed Senior Director, Scripted Prime Time, reporting to Catto.

“Jenny’s creative instincts are exceptional and given her proven track record and ability to think strategically, she is an ideal choice to lead our new division going forward,” said Catto.

“I’m delighted to have the opportunity to lead such a talented team within Scripted Prime Time. We’re committed to partnering with Canada’s creative community to deliver the most entertaining and engaging scripted content that Canada has to offer,” added Hacker.

The reorganization will focus the department’s resources on content creation and ensure a streamlined, cost efficient business model is in place. Consistent with this new direction, production executives will now be responsible for development and production in both Drama and Comedy.

Today’s announcement will, unfortunately, also see the departure of CBC’s Creative Head of Drama, Tom Hastings. “Tom has made significant contributions to CBC’s drama department and will undoubtedly continue to have a significant impact on the Canadian television industry going forward; he will be missed at CBC,” noted Catto.