Denise Donlon (1956-)

Denise Donlon

Year Born: 1956

Year of Induction: 2002

Member of CAB Hall of Fame

Donlon, Denise (1956- )

Denise Donlon’s entry to Canadian broadcasting occurred in 1985 when she was appointed host/producer for MuchMusic. In the first phase of her career, Denise gave audiences new insights into the international music scene, offering a unique perspective through the magazine program The New Music.

In 1992, Denise was appointed Director of Music Programming for MuchMusic/CITY-TV-a post she occupied until 1987 when she was named Vice~President and General Manager of MuchMusic. In that capacity, she was instrumental in taking MuchMusic to an international audience. She also helped to launch MuchMoreMusic – a successful adult contemporary music television network.

In 2000, she resigned from MuchMusic to accept the position of President of Sony Music Canada. In October 2004 it was announced that she was stepping down from this position.

Denise won two Gemini Awards – received ABC Canada’s “Peter Gzowski Award of Merit” – and for three times won Canadian Music Week’s “Broadcast Executive Award”. In 1997, she was honoured by Women in Film & Television Toronto with their “Outstanding Achievement Award”. In 1998, she was named by Shift Magazine as one of the “25 Most Important People in New Music”. In 2001, she received the Wired Women’s “Woman of Vision Award” and the Canadian Women in Communications “Woman of the Year Award”.

In 2002, Denise Donlon was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Hall of Fame.  In February 2005, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

On September 17th 2008, Denise was appointed Executive Director of CBC Radio. She left the CBC in 2011, and went to work for Moses Znaimer as a program host on Vision TV, where she cohosted theZoomer with Conrad Black.