This month we’re celebrating Maria Hale, a media executive who shared her inspiring story on the rise to the top. Maria was a MuchMusic devotee as a teenager, long before she was running things. She came into the business through the internet, helping launch Excite Canada in 1999, then moving to CHUM to lead interactive, where she built MuchMusic.com and took it to #1 with Canadian youth. From there she crossed over to television to run Citytv, later served as Head of Content at TELUS. Along the way, she also made a choice many in her industry are afraid to make: taking a step back from her career to pause to be with her daughters and coming back, stronger than before to land her dream job as Head of Programming and Production at Corus, overseeing programming across 17 channels. Her team took W Network to #1, and she negotiated major carriage and studio output deals across Corus’s networks.
Today, Maria puts much of that energy into serving on several boards, including War Child, which educates and protects children living through war in places like Afghanistan, Sudan, Yemen and Uganda. She has known founder Dr. Samantha Nutt for more than 25 years, joined the War Child USA board in 2023, and became Board Chair in January 2025.
Now we hope you'll join us on November 12 for War Child's An Intimate Evening for War Child at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, featuring Aimee Mann, Sarah Silverman, Chef Roy Choi and more. Funds raised will be matched up to $150,000, so every ticket goes twice as far. If you’re in LA, it’s a wonderful chance to support a this incredible cause. [Ticket link]
Read on for Maria’s full Q&A, including her advice for Canadians building careers abroad.
What first got you interested in working in media and television?
As a teenager, I watched MuchMusic like it was my job. I was a fan long before I was an executive. Funny how life works — I actually came into the business via the internet and new media portfolio: I helped launch Excite Canada in 1999, when most of television did not know what to do with the emerging internet platform, and then landed at CHUM running interactive, where I got to build MuchMusic.com, the digital home of the very channel I'd grown up glued to. We took it to #1 with Canadian youth. What hooked me professionally was the audience — watching people find, share and live with content in completely new ways. From there I crossed over to the television side to run Citytv, and every job since has been some mix of content, platforms and the deals that connect them.
What's a career moment you're most proud of?
My proudest career moment starts with walking away. I took very little maternity leave in the early 2000s because I was working full tilt in digital and the internet business was moving too fast to step off. So after leaving my role as Head of Content at TELUS, I finally took a full year off to be with my daughters, who were six and seven. It took courage — in this business you worry the train won't stop for you. But that year is one of the best decisions I ever made, and what makes it my proudest moment is what came next: I came back and landed my dream job, Head of Programming and Production at Corus, running programming across 17 channels, and our team took W Network to #1. Stepping back didn't cost me my career. It clarified it — and some of my best work came after, negotiating the big carriage and studio output deals across Corus's networks.
What's your best advice for building trust and long-term relationships, whether at the negotiating table or in someone's career?
Do what you said you would do — especially on the days it's inconvenient. Media is a small industry wearing a big costume: I sat across the negotiating table from the same people for twenty years, so I never negotiated just for the deal in front of me. I negotiated for the next one. Be straight about what you can't do, understand what the other side needs in order to say yes, and pick up the phone — or show up in person — when there's a problem instead of hiding behind email. Trust compounds like interest. It's the real currency of a long career.
Why is War Child so important to you, and tell us a bit about their upcoming event in LA?
War Child educates and protects children living through war — kids in places like Afghanistan, Sudan, Yemen and Uganda who did nothing to choose their circumstances. As a mother, that hits me where I live. I've known War Child's founder, Dr. Samantha Nutt, for over 25 years — we first met back in those heady days at MuchMusic. I joined the War Child USA board in 2023 and became Board Chair in January 2025, and it is the most meaningful work of my life. On November 12 we're hosting An Intimate Evening for War Child at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, with Aimee Mann, Sarah Silverman, Chef Roy Choi and more — and every dollar raised is matched up to $150,000, so each ticket does double duty. If you're in LA, come. It's going to be a beautiful night for a cause that matters.
What advice would you give a Canadian hoping to build a career in another country?
Don't undersell your Canadian training — but learn how to package it. Our market is smaller, so you learn to do everything: I did programming, acquisitions, digital, strategic planning and P&L management, sometimes in the same job. That makes you wonderfully adaptable, but it can also make you harder to place in a specific box. So do your homework: understand the exact role and company you're targeting, and have a buttoned-down pitch for how your skills serve their specific needs — not your whole history, just the parts that solve their problem. And find your people where you land. Groups like Canadians Abroad have real potential to help — a ready-made community of people who understand where you come from can make settling into a new country a lot less lonely. And don't be shy about the advantage nobody puts on a resumé: gosh darn it, people like us. Being someone people genuinely enjoy dealing with may be called a soft skill, but in a world where the work is hard and complicated, it's also a real strength — and often the one that makes the difference.
Join us on November 12 for War Child's An Intimate Evening for War Child at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, featuring Aimee Mann, Sarah Silverman, Chef Roy Choi and more. Funds raised will be matched up to $150,000, so every ticket goes twice as far. If you’re in LA, it’s a wonderful chance to support a this incredible cause.
Purchase your tickets here.