REVOLVING DOOR:
Claude Galipeau has been appointed CBC’s new EVP of Corporate Development. Galipeau has been Chief Revenue Officer at the Torstar Corporation for the last year. He’s previously held senior leadership positions with Yahoo and Syncapse, in addition to serving as the VP of Digital Media at Rogers, Astral, and Alliance Atlantis. Galipeau did a previous stint with CBC in the early 2000’s as executive director of Digital Programming and Business Development. He joins the public broadcaster effective Jan. 7.
Tina Simpkin is joining CBC Nova Scotia in the New Year as the new morning meteorologist for the Maritimes. Simpkin has worked as a meteorologist for the past two decades, most recently at Global News Edmonton. She’s also been a forecaster with CTV Atlantic, WTHR-TV Indianapolis, and WDAF-TV Kansas City.
Super Channel has appointed Jenny Hacker to the role of Director of Programming and Marlene Lone to the role of Director, Affiliate Marketing. Both positions are based in Toronto, with Hacker leading the company’s domestic and foreign program acquisitions for Fuse, Heart & Home and Vault, and overseeing development and production of Super Channel’s Canadian productions. She was most recently at Diply where she was VP of Content. In her new role, Marlene Lone will liaise with the BDU’s marketing groups to jointly develop and implement cooperative marketing strategies, with the goal of increasing subscriber growth and retention. She comes to Super Channel from Rogers where she was executive producer of In-House Productions, responsible for all Citytv and OMNI in-house productions, including Breakfast Television, Cityline, Entertainment City and specials. She also served as Director of Special Projects & Rogers TV Operations. Grant Campbell, currently Director, Affiliate Sales & Marketing, sees his role revised to Director, Affiliate Sales and will continue to be based in Edmonton. In addition, Carole Ljuden has been promoted to Director, Information Technology, while Craig Miller sees his role expanded to Director, Operations. Both are in the company’s head office in Edmonton.
Andrew Bishop is joining Stingray Halifax as the new retail sales manager for Q104 (CFRQ-FM) and Mix 96.5 (CKUL-FM). Bishop has been with Brunswick News for the past nine years, most recently as regional sales manager, based in Moncton. He replaces Mark Tanner, who retires after 22 years with the former Newcap Radio group, at the end of the month.
Chantal Jackson has joined Peacock Alley Entertainment (PAE) as senior vice president of scripted content. With plans to relocate from Toronto to Los Angeles in the new year, Jackson will spearhead the expansion of the prodco’s scripted slate, reporting to PAE president Carrie Mudd. Jackson was most recently director of development and executive producer at VICE Media. Prior to that, she was head of development and alternative content at Breakthrough Entertainment.
Christine Magee, co-founder and co-chair of Sleep Country Canada, is the new chair of the Telefilm Canada Talent Fund. New to the Advisory Committee is Vincenzo Guzzo, president and CEO of Cinemas Guzzo, best known as one of the members of CBC’s Dragons’ Den. Kimberley Walker also joins the committee. Walker is the wife of James Villeneuve, Consul General of Canada in L.A.
Elias Makos will replace Leslie Roberts as host of CJAD Montreal’s mid-morning talk show. Makos, who has been the New Media host for Breakfast Television Montreal since 2013, will also provide regular analysis to CTV Montreal newscasts. Before joining BT, Makos was CTV Montreal’s Technology and Trends columnist and a freelance reporter. Leslie Roberts announced last month he was leaving CJAD to pursue travel and wellness writing.
Alison Brunette is the new host of CBC Breakaway, the CBC Radio One drive-home show that serves Quebec, outside Montreal. Brunette has been with CBC Sherbrooke for the last decade.
Craig Mills is the new GM of 99.3 County FM (CJPE-FM) in Prince Edward County, ON. With a background in radio promotions, marketing and project management, Mills has worked over the last 35 years with CHEZ-FM and CFMO-FM Ottawa; CHFM-FM and CKXL Calgary, MediaNet Radio Network Toronto, CHAB-AM Moose Jaw, and CKMP-FM Midland. Mills will work alongside current GM Deb Simpson for four weeks, beginning in mid-January, before she retires in mid-February.
Tiffany Lizée, chief meteorologist for Global News Regina is making the move to Global News Calgary. Lizée had been with Global Regina for the last six years.
Erik Mikkelsen has left Global Calgary and his role as community relations coordinator. Mikkelsen started with Global in Lethbridge in 2015. He’s off to travel the world.
RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:
Vista Radio has announced its plans to purchase Clear Sky Radio, which operates 94.1 CJOC-FM and 98.1 The Bridge (CKBD-FM) in Lethbridge, AB, and Summit 107 (CFSM-FM) in Cranbrook, BC. Headquartered in Lethbridge, Clear Sky sold its Classic Hits station, CJCY-FM Medicine Hat, to Rogers Media earlier this year. The Clear Sky stations will bring Vista Radio’s station count to 43, across B.C., Alberta, Ontario and the Northwest Territories. Vista also owns and operates more than 30 locally-focused news, information and online events portals in its station communities. The transaction is expected to close Dec. 31. Read more here.
Vista Radio has completed its fifth annual Million Dollar Charity Drive with an overall goal of generating one million dollars annually for local charities. Each Vista Radio station selected its own local charity to support with a week long fundraising drive, ending Dec. 9. The week ended with donations in food, cash and toys totaling more than $1,600,000.
The CRTC has approved new specialty Christian music stations for Kelowna and Saskatoon. Both will be owned and operated by the not-for-profit International Harvesters for Christ Evangelistic Association Inc. The new Kelowna station would operate at 88.1 MHz (channel 201C) with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 4,200 watts. The rebroadcasting transmitter in Kamloops would operate at 99.1 MHz (channel 256B1) with an ERP of 3,000 watts. The Saskatoon station will operate at 103.1 MHz (channel 276A) with an effective radiated power of 2,000 watts (non-directional antenna with an effective height of antenna above average terrain of 39.9 metres).
CHOD-FM Cornwall, branded as FM 92.1 EST ONTARIEN, and owned by Radio communautaire Cornwall-Alexandria, will receive $253,000 in federal funding for a project that will expand the reach of its antenna. This announcement is part of the Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023: Investing in our Future, announced in March by Minister Melanie Joly. The Action Plan represents the government’s vision for supporting both official languages and official-language minority communities across the country.
JAZZ.FM (CJRT-FM) Toronto has been ordered by an Ontario Superior Court judge to provide SaveJazzFM with the email addresses of station member donors, so it can lobby for changes to the not-for-profit’s board. The station has also been ordered to cover $20,000 in legal costs, on top of its own. SaveJazzFM plans to call a Special Meeting of Members by February to vote out the incumbent board. In the latest departure from the station, JAZZ.FM parted ways with longtime fundraiser Bryan Snelson, who has raised more than $1 million for the station. Snelson told the National Post, he was given no explanation, other than the station had found a new sponsor.
HOT 107 (CJNW-FM) Edmonton took the opportunity to make some good happen out of the “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” controversy last week, by playing the song non-stop to collect warm coats for those in need. Following a Facebook poll that saw 7,000 HOT 107 followers vote 98 per cent in favour of adding the song to its Christmas playlist, the station decided to play the tune back-to-back on Wednesday morning until 107 coats had been collected for local charities The Mustard Seed, Lurana Shelter and Youth Emergency Shelter. HOT 107 ultimately decided to extend the coat drive until 5 p.m. Friday. Promotions director Lacey Slater estimates 350 to 400 coats came in, in addition to mittens, hats and scarves. Read the full story here.
Country 89 (CKYY-FM) Welland and Giant FM (CIXL-FM) Niagara have been “Haulin’ For Hunger” since Nov. 10 in benefit of Open Arms Mission. With the help of local businesses Mike Knapp Ford, The Seaway Mall and Ben Berg Farm and Industrial, along with the generosity of the citizens of Niagara, a total of 12,546.5 lbs. of non-perishable food items were collected.
The Light the Way Day Radiothon on 98 the Beach (CFPS-FM) Port Elgin, Dec. 13 raised $75,000 for the Saugeen Memorial Hospital Foundation (SMHF). The funds will help purchase updated equipment for the Southampton Hospital and go toward the purchase of a new MRI machine at the Owen Sound Regional Hospital.
BIG 105.5 FM (CHUB-FM) and the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group in Red Deer have joined the community partners supporting the local Women’s Outreach Adopt-A-Family program. The program matches about 200 families a year with anonymous sponsors who provide money for gifts and groceries over the Christmas season. The radio station and its partners raised $1,800 for the program this year.
Corus Radio London held a record-breaking Drive-Thru Toy Drive for The Salvation Army on Dec. 14, collecting $29,000 in cash, toy and book donations. Originally started by The Taz Show on FM96 (CFPL-FM), the toy drive has been running for nine years, and has grown to encompass Country 104 (CKDK-FM), 103.1 Fresh Radio (CFHK-FM), and Global News Radio 980 CFPL.
The 69th annual Christmas Cheer Broadcast for the Salvation Army on 900 CKBI Prince Albert raised over $10,000 Tuesday. Funds raised go toward Christmas food hampers and toys for families in need.
The CFAX 1070 Victoria Miracle on Broad Street on Dec. 14 raised $585,016.97 for CFAX Santas Anonymous. The 12-hour radiothon has raised more than $2 million over the past four years. Started 41 years ago, Santas Anonymous provides Christmas hampers of food, gifts and food gift cards for 1,500 local families, and shares toys and resources with 11 community organizations that help local children in need.
Stingray’s Mix 96.5 (CKUL-FM) Halifax raised over $10,000 for Children’s Wish through their Children’s Wish Christmas Wishbook. The campaign highlighted wish kids and their families during weekday mornings in December on Mix Mornings with Brad & Natalie. Local companies sponsored each featured child during the campaign and listeners generously added to the donations for Children’s Wish Nova Scotia. The families shared their personal stories – sometimes uplifting, sometimes painful – of how Children’s Wish changed their lives. You can read those stories on the Mix 96.5 website.
Bell Media’s VP of Radio and Local TV Dave Daigle was joined by Graham Mackenzie, head of Business Development, Exchange Traded Funds and Structured Products, TMX Group, to open the Toronto Stock Exchange on Dec. 18 to celebrate the 52nd CP24 CHUM Christmas Wish campaign. Established in 1966, the CP24 CHUM Christmas Wish program is a city-wide toy drive and charity event. It also provides financial assistance to hundreds of agencies, ensuring that hundreds of thousands of children across the Greater Toronto Area enjoy a holiday experience.
The Radio Humber Drama Players have produced the first-ever Radio Humber Holiday Special – a holiday-themed variety show written, produced and voiced by the students from the Radio Humber Diploma Program, under the direction of professors Sheila Walsh and Sean Doyle. The audio feature/podcast is comprised of short and long form holiday-themed radio drama pieces, skits and parody commercials, and is available to listen to exclusively on 96.9 FM Radio Humber (CKHC-FM) Toronto, the Radio Humber Soundcloud and radio.humber.ca. The production is also being offered to the platforms of industry partners and supporters.
Nielsen has released its Total Audience Report: Q2 2018. Focused on the U.S. consumer media landscape, the report indicates that radio has the largest reach across all platforms at 92 per cent. Listening time peaks at 12 p.m., but radio’s share of total media time spent per hour is consistently at its highest between 7a.m. and 5 p.m. Nielsen also found that adults are spending more time on media from 9-10 p.m. than any other hour throughout the day. Nearly 38 out of a possible 60 minutes are spent across live + time-shifted TV, TV-connected devices, radio and digital (computer, smartphone, tablet) during that time. The 9 p.m. hour is also peak viewing time for both TV and TV-connected device usage. The study finds that 19 per cent of American adults are listening to podcasts weekly.
CBC has followed up its Uncover: Escaping NXIVM podcast, with Season 2: Bomb on Board. Hosted by Ian Hanomansing and Johanna Wagstaffe, the podcast is a fresh look at the July 1965 bombing of a Vancouver to Whitehorse flight that killed 52 people. After 50 years, who left the bomb is still unknown.
SIGN-OFFS:
Angelo Iacobucci, 60, suddenly on Dec. 15. As a reporter for four decades at Radio NL (CHNL-AM) Kamloops, Iacobucci’s unmistakable baritone and trademark sign-off were a staple on the station’s airwaves. Known as “Bootch” to his co-workers, Iacobucci started with the station in 1979. For much of that time, he covered city hall and was known for his ability to ask tough questions in the scrum, while maintaining good relationships with politicians. In 2003, he was honoured, along with colleagues Trevor Metz, Jim Harrison and Bob Price, with the Jack Webster Award for Best News Reporting of the Year.
TV/FILM/VIDEO:
Digital Domain has announced Montréal as its newest studio location. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the visual effects and and immersive experience innovator, is known for its work on blockbuster feature films like Titanic, Avengers: Infinity War, Thor: Ragnarok and Ready Player One, in addition to virtual performer tech. Digital Domain is the company that brought Dr. Dre’s vision of “Virtual Tupac” to life, which earned a 2012 Titanium Lion Award from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The Montréal studio joins eight existing Digital Domain locations including Los Angeles, Vancouver, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Taipei and Hyderabad. Digital Domain Montréal will open in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighborhood, starting Mar. 1, 2019. The company says the space will start at 10,000 square feet, with expansion plans already in place.
Schitt’s Creek has become the first Canadian comedy series nominated for a Critic’s Choice Award. The show is up against Emmy-winning Atlanta, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, HBO’s Barry, The Good Place, The Kominsky Method, The Middle and One Day at a Time. The awards, handed out by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and Broadcast Television Critics Association, will be presented Jan. 13 in Santa Monica and air on the CW. Schitt’s Creek, which stars Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara and Annie Murphy, returns to CBC for its fifth season on Jan. 8. Canadian Sandra Oh is also up for a Critics’ Choice Award for her role in Killing Eve.
Heavy Rescue: 401 is returning to Discovery Canada this winter with 14 new episodes. A Top 5 series on Discovery last season, Season 3 will air Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT, beginning Jan. 8. Produced by Thunderbird Entertainment, Heavy Rescue: 401 tells the stories of heavy tow truck drivers and their dramatic recoveries along Ontario’s 400-series highways – extending from Windsor in the west to the Québec border in the east. In addition to picking up additional episodes of Heavy Rescue: 401, Discovery Canada also recently commissioned an eighth season of Thunderbird production Highway Thru Hell.
Radical Age, a documentary that follows six people proving it’s never too late to defy convention, will have its world broadcast premiere Jan. 1 on VisionTV. Written and directed by Jackie Torrens (Bernie Langille Wants to Know Who Killed Bernie Langille, Free Reins), the doc profiles provocative trailblazers like 70-year-old Ann Perez de Tejada, the world’s oldest female mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter; James “Gypsy” Haake, who at 86 is still a working drag queen; and·60-year-old Neal “The Dude” Unger, who continues to test his limits on the skateboard. An encore presentation of the 90-minute film will air in two parts on Jan. 28 and Feb. 4. Read more on VisionTV’s show page.
OUTtv has been named Playback’s 2018 Channel of the Year. The Vancouver-based LGBTQ network expanded into South Africa and New Zealand this year, and commissioned 11 new original series including Sense Appeal (Go Button Media), The Whole Package (Convergent Entertainment), and Drag Heels (Border2Border Entertainment).
Apple has struck a deal with DHX Media to produce new Peanuts series, specials & shorts. Working closely with its subsidiary Peanuts Worldwide, DHX will develop and produce new original programs, including short-form STEM content exclusive to Apple, featuring “astronaut Snoopy.” Peanuts Worldwide and NASA recently signed a Space Act Agreement, aimed at inspiring passion for space exploration in the next generation.
Helen Lebeau, VP of Production, Nelvana Studios and a Sheridan College graduate, was recognized for her outstanding contributions to the Creative Arts and Design field with a Premier’s Award at the annual awards gala on Nov. 26 in Toronto. With more than 15 years at Nelvana, Lebeau is a key part of the studio’s leadership, overseeing animation production. Her producing credits include Bravest Warriors, Hotel Transylvania, Max & Ruby, Bubble Guppies and Mike the Knight. She began her career as an editor at CBC and TSN. The Premier’s Awards honour the social and economic contribution that college graduates make to Ontario and throughout the world. There were eight recipients this year in seven categories. More than 160 graduates from Sheridan College’s animation program are currently employed by Nelvana Studios.
Air Farce is turning 45 and is celebrating with longstanding year-end ritual Air Farce New Year’s Eve, airing Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC, with an encore broadcast at 12:10 a.m. (12:40 NT). An average audience of 1.8 million Canadians watched Air Farce New Year’s Eve last year on CBC, with a total reach of 3.7 million viewers over the course of the show. The special will look back at the year that was and take aim at climate change, the fallout of the #MeToo movement, Brexit, the Trans Mountain Pipeline, the legalization of marijuana and the Queen welcoming a new royal great-grandchild. This year’s special guests include: Tommy Chong (Cheech and Chong, That ’70s Show); actress Lauren Lee Smith (Frankie Drake Mysteries, The Shape of Water); and women’s hockey champion Natalie Spooner.
Super Channel will air the first season of Pure, in advance of the Canadian premiere of the second season of the Mennonite drug drama. Season 1 will have its Super Channel premiere Jan. 22 at 10 p.m. ET on Super Channel Fuse. Each episode of the six-episode first season will also be available on Super Channel on Demand the day following its linear broadcast. Super Channel has greenlit a sophomore season of the scripted series, with Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother, American Pie, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) joining the cast as a recurring guest star. Season 2 is slated to premiere in Spring 2019.
The 2019-2021 Independent Production Agreement (IPA) has been ratified governing performers in film, television and digital media production in Canada (except British Columbia, which operates under a separate collective agreement negotiated by UBCP/ACTRA). An overwhelming number of ACTRA Members – 85.8 per cent – voted in favour of the new settlement which includes improved measures on harassment prevention, nudity, and respectful workplace language; a rate increase of nine per cent over the three-year term of the new deal; an increase to member work opportunities through an addition to the Background Performer Count; two additional use options for ACTRA Animation Voice Performers; and improved safety measures including protection for fatigued performers, which provides alternatives to driving home after work. The new IPA will take effect January 1, 2019.
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has announced that 31 projects will receive a total of $19.7M in funding through three of its programs. A total of $9.9M will be invested in 16 innovative digital media projects through the second round of funding of its Experimental Stream Innovation Program and an additional $6.6M is being invested in nine projects through the Commercial Projects Pilot Program. A further $3.2M will fund six projects through the Francophone Minority Program. Find the full list of projects here.
Global is out with its list of new and returning Winter 2019 premieres. It’s highlighted by the premiere of Dwayne Johnson’s athletic competition series The Titan Games (Jan. 3) and new comedy Schooled (Jan. 10), a spinoff of ABC’s 1980s family sitcom The Goldbergs. Returning series include the two-night Season 6 premiere of The Blacklist (Jan. 4), the Season 3 premiere of Man With A Plan (Feb. 4), starring Matt LeBlanc, and Season 2 of Big Brother: Celebrity (Jan. 21). Find the full list here.
CBC has launched its newly-rebranded CBC Gem streaming service, featuring 4,000 hours of free content from Canadian film to international series. On this episode of Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast, Gave Lindo, CBC’s executive director of OTT programming, on the strategy behind CBC Gem.
Read more about CBC Gem here.
ONLINE/DIGITAL:
Global News, TVO and Postmedia will benefit from the first-round of Google News Initiative (GNI) YouTube Innovation funding. Google says many of the 87 projects, selected in 23 countries, are focused on expanding newsroom video operations and trying out new ways of reporting news through video. Global says it will use its funding to support the growth of its original, online video news initiatives.
Facebook has responded to allegations it gave large tech companies like Netflix and Spotify access to user messages and the ability to delete them. Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, the social network’s Director of Developer Platforms and Programs, writes in a blog post that none of the so-called “integration partnerships” or features gave companies access to information without people’s permission. Users had to explicitly sign in to Facebook first to use a partner’s messaging feature that would allow users of Spotify, for example, to send and receive messages without ever leaving the app. The social platform says with the exception of Amazon and Apple, most of the integration partnership have since been shut down.
Facebook Watch has renewed original offerings Five Points, Huda Boss, Sacred Lies and Sorry for Your Loss, which collectively drew nearly 1.3 million followers. Watch appears to be gaining momentum, attracting more than 400 million monthly users, who spend at least a minute checking out videos, 75 million of those users spend an average of 20 minutes watching shows every day. Prior to its global launch in August, Facebook was reporting that Watch was drawing just 50 million monthly users in the U.S.
GENERAL:
The British Columbia Association of Broadcasters (BCAB) has announced that it’s moving its annual conference from mid-May to October and trying on a new streamlined format. The 72nd Annual BCAB Conference will now take place Oct. 2-3, 2019 with the revamped event condensed from three days to one and a half. The host location will be Victoria’s The Inn at Laurel Point. Rob Bye, president of BCAB, said the changes are in response to feedback from delegates and the broadcast ownership groups, who felt the May conference was a little too close to Western Association of Broadcasters (WAB), and Canadian Music Week (CMW). Funded by the ongoing membership of broadcast ownership groups, Bye also confirmed that Bell Media pulled its support of the regional association over the summer. Read the full story here.
The Western Association of Broadcasters (WAB) has announced the main speakers lineup for its 85th Annual Conference. Four-time Olympic champion Hayley Wickenheiser, former Premier of Saskatchewan Brad Wall, and media strategist Paul Jacobs of Jacobs Media will join delegates in Banff, AB from June 5-6, 2019. Additional speakers will be announced in the New Year. More info here.
The CRTC has dismissed an appeal by Bell and given the company until Jan. 16 to pay more than $433,000 in tangible benefits, stemming from several deals, including its acquisition of Astral. Bell’s application for reversal followed an audit that found bringing in UK artist Ellie Goulding for Bell’s 2014 Canadian Music Week FanFest event didn’t count as appropriate Canadian content development. The commission also criticized Bell for how it distributed tickets for the event, finding that 675 of the 2,703 tickets were not available to the public because they were contested or given to industry guests. To be eligible for tangible benefits spending, the CRTC says events like concerts must maximize the exposure of the artists by being open to the general public.
Faith Goldy has been ordered to pay more than $43,000 in legal fees incurred by Bell Media, following dismissal of her lawsuit against the company for refusing to air her election ads. An Ontario Superior Court judge refused to hear the case in October, citing jurisdiction. The former Rebel Media contributor and conservative commentator finished third in the Oct. 22 mayoral election.
Mike Duffy’s lawsuit against the Senate of Canada has been dismissed. The original suit targeted both the Red Chamber and the RCMP, seeking $6.5 million in general damages, $300,000 for loss of income and benefits, and $1 million in punitive damages related to the treatment he faced during the Senate expense scandal. An Ontario Superior Court judge has ruled the Senate and its members are protected by parliamentary privilege, and therefore immune from judicial scrutiny. The former CTV journalist, who still represents P.E.I. in the Senate, is moving forward with his suit against the RCMP.
The CRTC has announced that Bell, Rogers and Telus will offer data-only wireless plans for as low as $15/month, as part of the regulator’s effort to make lower-cost data-only wireless plans more widely available to Canadians. The plans, which will come into effect within the next 90 days, will range from as low as $15 for 250 MB to $30 for 1GB of monthly data, with a mix of prepaid and postpaid options, on both 3G and LTE networks. The announcement follows a public process launched in March that saw the national wireless providers ordered to come back with low-cost proposals not once, but twice, after the CRTC still found the first-round of proposed options too expensive. CRTC chair Ian Scott said the commission remains concerned by the overall condition of the market and will look at the state of mobile wireless competition more broadly in its upcoming review of mobile wireless services. Read the full story here.
The CRTC has mandated standards to enhance the user experience of message relay services, which enable Canadians with a hearing or speech disability to make and receive phone calls via text with the assistance of a relay operator. New standards will require relay operators to achieve a certain typing speed, rate of accuracy, and call-answer time. The commission says this will mean that users will experience faster response times and increased accuracy, as well as accessible IP relay interfaces. Given that many Canadians are disconnecting their home phones in favour of cellphones, the CRTC has also directed mobile wireless service providers to offer IP relay services to their customers by June 14, 2019.
The CRTC is taking further action to reduce the number of unsolicited and illegitimate calls Canadians receive, ordering telecommunications service providers to implement a system to block calls within their networks by Dec. 19, 2019. Calls with caller ID info that either exceeds 15 digits or does not conform to a number that can be dialed (for example, 000-000-0000) will be blocked before reaching the subscriber. Providers that offer their subscribers call-filtering services, which provide more advanced call-management features, will not be under the obligation.
Vantage Data Centers is acquiring the operations of Videotron’s 4Degrees Colocation data centers for $259 million, subject to adjustments. Videotron acquired Québec City-based 4Degrees Colocation in 2015, expanding its Québec City center and extending its operations to Montréal, where it built its data centre. The transaction expands Vantage’s coast-to-coast presence in North America to five markets, bringing Vantage’s total number of operational facilities to nine and total number of data centers under development to four.
Phil Lind, vice-chair of Rogers Communications, is out with a memoir that looks at the more than four decades he spent working alongside Ted Rogers. Right Hand Man: How Phil Lind Guided the Genius of Ted Rogers, Canada’s Foremost Entrepreneur is an insider’s look at Rogers move into live sports with the purchase of the Toronto Blue Jays and the launch of Sportsnet. The book includes a forward by Toronto Mayor John Tory.
Jim Pattison Broadcast Group has awarded its annual Prairie Equity Scholarships, which support would-be broadcasters from under-represented groups, including those with disabilities, women and visible minority groups. Alyssa Stoyanowski, a first year student at SAIT, with a particular interest in small-market radio, suffers from Severe Auditory Processing Disorder, a hearing problem that interferes with the way the brain recognizes and interprets sounds. Despite those challenges, she’s maintained good marks, was active in student government, helped with a number of charitable causes and was a competitive swimmer, coach and lifeguard. The second scholarship winner is Amanda Vocke, a second year Broadcast News student at SAIT, who is of German/Filipino ancestry. Stoyanowski and Vocke have each received $2,000 to assist them in pursuing their education and career goals.
SUPPLY LINES:
Chameleon, Bannister Lake‘s data aggregation and graphics management solution, has introduced new enhancements with a focus on election data. Chameleon Version 10 expands the ability to enter manual election results where data feeds may not be available. The feature is particularly useful in less populated districts where a real-time results feed may not be practical. It also includes a failsafe in situations where a data feed may have stopped working. Chameleon Version 10 also provides improved sponsorship management of campaign and client data.
SMPTE, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, has announced that the Interoperable Master Format (IMF) plugfest, held Oct. 18-19 in Hollywood, marked another milestone in the development of the IMF family of international standards (SMPTE ST 2067), with more than 48 participants making progress toward interoperability. IMF is the family of standards for the exchange of component-based audio-visual masters intended for worldwide distribution — from movies to advertisements. The format is specifically designed to handle multiple-territory distribution and advanced content such as high-dynamic-range (HDR), wide color gamut (WCG), immersive sound (object-based audio), and access services (subtitles, captions). Organized by the 35PM SMPTE Technology Committee (TC), IMF plugfests provide implementers with opportunities to interchange test content with the objective of improving interoperability and identifying areas of improvement in the standard. The plugfest focused on:
- World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Timed Text Markup Language (TTML) Profiles for Internet Media Subtitles and Captions 1.0.1 (IMSC1), the subtitle and caption format in IMF that enables worldwide and accessible experiences.
- SMPTE ST 2067-50:2018 (IMF Application #5), intended for the delivery, exchange and archival of uncompressed Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) image essence.
- SMPTE RDD 45:2017 (Registered Disclosure Document IMF Application ProRes), which adds support for ProRes image essence.
- SMPTE ST 2067-100:2014 (IMF Output Profile List), which allows creative control over deliverables generated from IMF distribution masters.
Implementers included Colorfront, Dalet, Fraunhofer, GIC, Marquise, MTI, Ownzones, Rohde & Schwarz, and Visible Light. Test content was provided by Fox, Apple, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Academy also hosted the event, while Amazon Web Services provided cloud storage and Netflix provided onsite network storage. SMPTE is currently organizing the next IMF plugfest, scheduled for the first half of 2019. The society encourages interested parties to join the effort by contacting Thomas Bause Mason at SMPTE.
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