Google has announced the forthcoming launch in Canada of Google News Showcase, a new “news experience” that will see the digital giant partner with online publishers like Village Media and Narcity. Launching in partnership with 200 publications across Brazil, Germany, the UK, Argentina and Australia, it will allow participants to package stories that appear in readers’ news feeds incorporating timelines, bullet points, and eventually video, audio, and daily briefings. In the first three years alone, Google says it will pay more than $1 billion USD globally to publishers creating and curating content for the new product, “with plans to extend beyond that as part of our long-term commitment to supporting the news industry.” “Our new service will give readers in Canada more context and perspective on important stories in the news and drive high value traffic to a publisher’s site,” promised Google in its product announcement.
CBC/Radio-Canada has launched Local News Matters, a searchable, online local news directory developed in collaboration with News Media Canada. The public broadcaster says it will be working with other media associations to expand the list in the coming months. Any media organization that provides general interest news coverage for a community, city, province, territory or region, is eligible to be included. News organizations interested in being listed, can contact their local news media association or News Media Canada.
DAZN Media North America, the sales and partnerships division of the sports streaming service, has officially brought all of its media sales operations in-house in Canada. The company says the move allows it to offer brands a one-stop-shop through which to directly invest and reach sports fans. Michael Mobley, VP of Media Sales, said in a release that the in-house migration will also allow the company to foster one-on-one relationships with brands and “more closely align on their specific marketing goals and objectives” to help drive and develop custom campaigns and scalable partnerships.
Goalcast has announced it’s expanding into producing original content. The Montreal-based online empowerment hub says the success of several original productions over the course of the last year, as well as the site’s growth, have prompted the timing of the expansion. As part of its commitment to the new in-house vertical, Goalcast has brought on producer Adam Reid as Head of Production. Goalcast recently made the Report on Business list of fastest growing companies in Canada.
The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is presenting CFC BLOCKO!, a seven-part YouTube series from director Charles Officer (Akilla’s Escape) and produced by Canesugar Mediaworks. Premiering on CFC’s YouTube channel Wednesday, Oct. 14, the short docuseries features personal conversations with six Black CFC alumni, as well as CFC Founder Norman Jewison. Black creators featured include director/executive producer Clement Virgo (RUDE, The Book of Negroes, Greenleaf); producer Lea Marin (What is Democracy?, Unarmed Verses); writer/co-executive producer Shernold Edwards (A Day Late and a Dollar Short, Haven, Anne With An E); executive producer/media executive Joan Jenkinson (Songs of Freedom, Inside the Mind of Leonardo, Soul); director Dawn Wilkinson (How to Get Away with Murder, Locke & Key); and actor Cara Ricketts (Anne with an E, Far Cry New Dawn). New episodes will be released Wednesdays at 4 p.m. ET until Nov. 25.
