TORONTO - Broadcast guru Gary Slaight is set to receive a special award at the 2012 Juno Awards in Ottawa.
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has announced Slaight as the recipient of the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award, given to those who have made an impact in Canadian music.
The academy, which puts on the Junos, says Slaight's "remarkable intuition" in business and in the Canuck music industry is rare.
He's set to receive the award at a ceremony to be held March 31, a day before the televised Juno gala.
Slaight is president of Slaight Communications, and founder of Slaight Music. He created the National Songwriting Contest and the Canadian Radio Music Awards.
Previously, he served as general manager of rock station Q107 and in 2000 took over the helm of Standard Broadcasting Coporation, the radio empire of his father, Allan Slaight. He ultimately sold Standard's 52 radio stations to Astral Media for more than $1 billion.
