Yesterday, Canwest Publishing announced the appointment of Kenneth Maclean as VP of digital media for its eastern region.

"[Maclean] will work closely with the publishers to grow the online audiences and revenues of the montrealgazette.com, ottawacitizen.com and windsorstar.com," says Ezana Raswork, SVP/group publisher of the eastern region.

With over 10 years of IT and digital media experience, Maclean most recently worked at St. Joseph Media as VP of interactive media services.

www.canwest.com

Shira Biderman, formerly Sympatico MSN's associate director of national advertising, has been appointed AOL Canada's director, integrated solutions.

Biderman will focus on expanding AOL's innovative, custom online and mobile solutions by leveraging premium content for advertisers seeking a combination of brand, targeted and performance-based campaigns.

www.advertise.aol.ca

The Comedy Network is opening up its show about male competitors picking up women, Keys to the VIP, to online auditions for the testosterone-fueled production. Wanna-be "playas" can upload up to five minutes of video to TheComedyNetwork.ca until July 23, for a chance to appear on the show's third season, which premieres in the fall.

Keys to the VIP's P2+ audience has increased by 75% over last year. Season two, airing Thursdays at 10 pm, has attracted an average audience of 56,400 P2+ viewers, versus 32,200 in the show's first season.

Each ep of the half-hour series showcases two so-called studs in a nightclub battlefield as they compete against each other in three rounds of pick-up challenges. The winners are chosen by the Keys' expert panel: Alen, Peachez, Sheldon and Chris.

As previously reported in MiC, Keys to the VIP is one of the Comedy Network's most popular shows on broadband. In previous seasons, the net attempted to engage viewers by airing secret passwords for use on the website and online voting.