ET Canada's Cheryl Hickey and Rogers Radio's Al Campagnola Honoured at Broadcast Awards Night

On Saturday, April 25, 2009, two of Fanshawe College's own broadcasting success stories were honoured at the College's Broadcast Awards Night. Cheryl Hickey, host of Global Television's Entertainment Tonight Canada, and Al Campagnola, an executive with Rogers Radio, were inducted into Fanshawe College's Broadcasting Wall of Fame.

Left to right: Fanshawe College Radio Broadcasting & Broadcast Journalism program coordinator, Robert Collins; Entertainment Tonight Canada host Cheryl Hickey;
Television News program coordinator, Jim Van Horne

Born in Owen Sound, Ontario, Cheryl has always been interested in entertaining. At the age of 15, after landing a volunteer gig at a local cable station, Cheryl knew broadcast journalism was her calling. Cheryl started her career in radio at the Mix 106.5 but quickly found her real passion was in television and joined the New VR team as a writer for the 6:00 p.m. news. In 2005, Cheryl competed against hundreds of hopefuls across North America and secured her dream job as Host of Global TV's Entertainment Tonight Canada.

Left to right: Rogers Radio executive, Al Campagnola;
Fanshawe Radio Broadcasting professor, Brian Nuttall

Al Campagnola discovered his love for radio broadcasting in the mid-70s working part-time at CHYM/CKGL in Kitchener. Since graduating from Fanshawe College in 1979, Al has worked with several stations including CHUM-FM, CKEY 590, CISS FM, CKBY, and Rogers Ontario North. He has held various positions through his career and won many international production awards. As production manager, music director, program director, and senior programmer with Rogers, Al Campagnola attributes the success of his career to being at the "right place...right time." But those around him know that it's his passion for the business that brought him to where he is today.

Robert Collins, Coordinator of the Radio Broadcasting, Broadcast Journalism, and Media, Theory & Production programs at Fanshawe College, notes the Wall of Fame honours the best and brightest in broadcasting. "After delivering 40 years of Broadcast Education at Fanshawe College, we are very proud of all our graduates and their impact on broadcasting across Canada and around the globe."

Each year, Fanshawe's Broadcast Awards Night celebrates the work of graduating students in both the Radio Broadcasting and Broadcast Journalism programs. Industry partners, friends and family gather to celebrate the graduates, many of whom were recognized with more than $10,000 in student awards. Stay tuned to Fanshawe News for a full list of this year's award-winners, coming up in our next issue.