Media Profiles

Moses Znaimer

Moses Znaimer is the Vice-President Development of CHUM Limited and President/Executive Producer of ChumCity (including Citytv and specialty channels).
Born in Kulab, Tajikistan, in 1942, his family fled to Shanghai and then settled in Montreal in 1948. Znaimer obtained a B.A. in philosophy and politics from McGill University, an M.A. in government from Harvard, and honorary doctorates from Athabasca University and York University (2001). He joined the CBC in 1965 and produced extensively for both radio and TV. In 1972 he launched Citytv in Toronto and with it his distinctive style of free-form, highly urban, and ethnically diverse TV. He has brought his style to MuchMusic (1984), MuchMoreMusic (1998), Musique Plus (1986),
MusiMax (1997), Bravo! (1995), Space (1997), CablePulse 24 (1998), CLT (1999), Star! (1999), Access (1999), FashionTelevision, BookTelevision, CourtTV Canada, Sextv, Drive-in Classics, MuchLoud, and MuchVibe (all 2001), as well as to several independent television stations (the NewRO, the NewVR, the NewPL, the NewNX, the NewVI, and the NewWI). Internationally, Znaimer has licensed MuchMusica in Argentina and parts of South America, Jyrki in Finland, and Citytv in Bogota and Barcelona. Perhaps the most creative and inventive television executive in Canada, Znaimer is also known for his “10 Commandments”:

1. TV is the triumph of the image over the printed word.
2. The true nature of television is flow, not show; process, not conclusion.
3. As global television expands, the demand for local programming increases.
4. The best TV tells me what happened to me, today.
5. TV is as much about the people bringing you the story as the story itself.
6. In the past, TV’s chief operating skill was political. In the future, it will have to be mastery of the craft itself.
7. Print created illiteracy. TV is democratic. Everybody gets it.
8. TV creates immediate consensus, subject to immediate change.
9. There never was a mass audience, except by compulsion.
10. Television is not a problem to be managed, but an instrument to be played.
    
    He has received awards from the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, the Human Rights Centre, the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, and others. His collection of modern and vintage television sets is available online.
        Znaimer resigned from his managerial role at Citytv and CHUM Limited in April of 2003; however, he is still involved in some production activities.

References
MZTV Museum of Television
CHUM Limited
Canadian Journal of Communication special issue, vol. 21, no. 1 (Winter 1996), on Moses Znaimer
Moses Znaimer, MZTV Museum of Television
The Memory Project, Moses Znaimer