Moses Znaimer

Moses Znaimer O.Ont (born 1942) is a co-founder and former head of City, the first independent television station in Toronto, Canada, and the current head of ZoomerMedia.

Znaimer was born to Polish and Latvian Jewish parents who had fled the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union and relocated to Kulyab in the Soviet republic of Tajikistan. Following the war his family landed in a German Displaced Persons camp, ultimately ending up in Montreal in 1948. He graduated from McGill University in Montreal with a B.A. in philosophy and politics (and served as president of the McGill Debating Union), and from Harvard University with an M.A. in government in the mid-1960s.

Znaimer's career in broadcasting began when he joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in the mid-1960s. He became well known for his work as host of CBC Radio's Cross Country Checkup, as well as co-host of CBC Television's Take 30 with Adrienne Clarkson. After being denied the opportunity to pursue his creative vision at the CBC, Znaimer quit and went into private broadcasting.

In 2005, Znaimer received a Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts, for his lifetime contributions to broadcasting. In 2006, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario.

An avid collector of vintage television sets, including the set David Sarnoff presented at the 1939 World's Fair, his MZTV Television Museum moved to a new home on Queen St. East in 2007. He is in a longterm relationship with actress Marilyn Lightstone. His sister is broadcast journalist Libby Znaimer, who has worked for Citytv, CablePulse 24 and Report on Business Television, and now serves as news director at CFMZ.