ABC Canada board expanded to tackle Canadian-specific audit rules

The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) Canada board has been expanded to twelve members with three senior publishing people and three senior media buying executives joining, according to a story in Media in Canada.

Globe and Mail CEO Phillip Crawley, GTC Transcontinental Media SVP and general manager of magazines John Clinton and Rogers Publishing Limited SVP business and professional publishing group John Milne join Brian Segal, president and CEO of Rogers Publishing on the board. Segal will be chair of the board and Dennis Skulsky, president and CEO of Canwest Publishing, vice-chair.

M2 Universal president Sara Hill, OMD Canada president Lorraine Hughes and 58Ninety Inc. CEO and partner Ted Boyd have also become directors. They join Sunni Boot, president and CEO, ZenithOptimedia Canada; Bruce Claassen, chairman, Aegis Media Canada and CEO, Genesis-Vizeum; Kirk Davis, president and COO, Gatehouse Media; and Robert Troutbeck, president, Troutbeck-Chernoff.

The expanded board will help increase Canadian autonomy and control over rules and reporting of the audit bureau's services and policies, according to ABC. One of the board's first tasks is to review separate rules and articles ABC recently drafted for all Canadian publishing divisions, similar to Canadian-specific rules that already exist for newspapers....

"Our expanded representation will allow us to focus even more on the changing Canadian marketplace and the individual needs of ABC's Canadian members," Segal said in a release.