Bill Mustos is taking a break from CTV and will be on sabbatical until next year, making good on a lifelong dream to live in France, according to a network spokesman.

Mustos - the top-rated net's SVP of dramatic programming - will be away for the approximate length of the school year, gone as of Sept. 1 and due back the following summer. Filling in will be CTV's director of dramatic programming, Tecca Crosby.

Crosby will steer day-to-day operations for drama, working with development execs such as Vancouver-based Louise Clark and Robin Johnston in Halifax. All final decisions rest with CTV programming president Susanne Boyce.

"CTV supports Bill's decision to make good on a lifelong dream, at the only time when he and his wife, together with their children, could make this happen as a family," says spokeperson Mike Cosentino. "Along with his drama and development teams, he has worked extremely hard for months to ensure a seamless transition."

His departure follows the proposed buyout of CHUM by CTV's parent Bell Globemedia, announced last month, on which the CRTC is expected to rule next year.