Just weeks after leaving the CBC, former president Robert Rabinovitch is starting a new job as president of The Prix Italia, a respected international radio, television and web competitions. He succeeds the BBC’s Caroline Thomson for 2008.
Rabinovitch was elected by delegates of The Prix Italia’s member organizations, which comprise 90 companies spread over 40 countries and five continents.
The Prix Italia awards prizes for quality productions in the fields of drama, documentaries, the performing arts (television) and music (radio). The competition is held each year in the second half of September, accompanied by a series of major cultural events and performances.
CBC/Radio-Canada has fared well at the Prix Italia in recent years. CBC Radio won for Radio Music in 2006 with Spillville Then and Now. In 2005, CBC Radio won for Best Work on Music for an episode in the series The Change of the Sound in 2005, and CBC Television’s Sex Traffic won three awards: best TV drama, the President of the Republic’s Silver Cup, and the Special Students’ prize. And in 2003, CBC/Radio-Canada Radio and Television Archives won for best Web site in the Cross Media category.