Prime Time

There are few media jobs in this country as closely scrutinized as Kirstine Layfield’s, the broadcasting doyenne charged with kicking life into the stodgy CBC. Since taking over in 2006, she’s killed such critic-approved ratings duds as This Is Wonderland and Da Vinci’s City Hall, and introduced a big hit (Little Mosque on the Prairie) and a big miss (The Gill Deacon Show, cancelled after six months). Actors whined that she’d dumb down the CBC with the kind of reality shows she specialized in during her previous gig overseeing the lifestyle channels at Alliance Atlantis. Now it seems Layfield also wants to transform the Ceeb’s corporate culture: where self-promotion was once discouraged, she’s been interviewed by the dailies (she was named in the Globe’s annual “Top 40 Under 40”) and has had her looks compared to Michelle Pfeiffer’s in Frank. The secret to her charm offensive? She recently convinced the brass to hire Deb McCain (whose other clients include design guru Sarah Richardson and high-end shoe retailer Ron White) as her publicist—unprecedented for a behind-the-scenes type. It pays to pay someone else to help you look good.—Paul Nelson