REVOLVING DOOR:
Bell has made changes to its executive team as Mirko Bibic assumes the role of company president and CEO, following the retirement of George Cope. Blaik Kirby becomes Group President, Mobility, Residential and Small Business. He was previously President of Bell Mobility. Claire Gillies is promoted to President, Bell Mobility. She was previously Senior Vice President, Retail. Karine Moses is promoted to Vice Chair, Québec, succeeding the retiring Martine Turcotte. She’ll also continue in her role as President, Bell Media Québec. John Watson becomes Group President, Customer Experience, continuing to lead all customer service and support operations in the execution of Bell’s Champion Customer Experience imperative. He was previously Executive Vice President, Customer Operations. Read more here.
Suzane Landry has been appointed Vice-President, French-Language Content Development and Programming for Bell Media. Reporting to Karine Moses, President, Bell Media Québec, Landry will be responsible for the leadership, strategy, and execution of all programming planning, original production, and acquisitions for Bell Media’s French-language non-sports content. Landry started her career nearly 30 years ago as a reporter and transitioned into production. For the last 13 years she’s been director of channels and programming for Groupe TVA.
Hannah Sung is joining Western University’s Faculty of Information & Media Studies (FIMS) where she’ll be teaching Podcasting and Perspective: How Audio Storytelling Can Tackle Complex Social Issues. Sung left TVO in September where she was manager of Digital Video and Podcast to pursue independent projects, including consulting on a new podcast for The Globe and Mail.
Catherine Lathem has departed CTV Ottawa, joining Terry Marcotte, Michael O’Byrne, and Joanne Schnurr, among the high-profile station departures at the end 2019. Lathem had been with the station for 18 years.
Peter Langille has retired from AM800 (CKLW-AM) Windsor after more than 20 years as an anchor and reporter with the station. The Humber College grad did stints in Toronto, Parry Sound and Sarnia prior to joining CKLW in 1998.
Terry Shepherd retired Dec. 31 after 49 years in broadcasting, most recently as Cariboo General Manager at Vista Radio. As President and Managing Director of Cariboo Central Interior Radio, Shepherd managed the sale of that company to Vista in 2005 and then moved on to become General Manager for Astral Media and later Bell Media in the BC Peace Region. Shepherd, who is retiring to Williams Lake, will remain on contract with Vista for the transition and special projects.
Pat St. John, President of RB Communications, has announced his retirement from 91.7 GIANT FM (CIXL-FM) and COUNTRY 89 (CKYY-FM) Welland, ON. His departure is planned for the end of February/March, following the pending sale of the stations. St. John’s career started at CHAM Hamilton in 1970 under the on-air pseudonym of Paul Allen. After working his way up from overnights to the afternoon drive slot, he joined 1050 CHUM Toronto and a few years later accepted a transfer to CJCH Halifax for his first programming opportunity. He then moved within CHUM to CFRW Winnipeg. Stops as PD at CFUN Vancouver, CHYM/CKGL Kitchener, 590 CKEY Toronto followed, and later Vice-President positions at Bluewater Broadcasting’s stations in Sarnia, Chatham and Leamington, Maritime Broadcasting in Halifax, and Power Broadcasting in Ontario. In 1997, he joined Conestoga College as Chair of Media Studies. He was lured back into radio in 2004 becoming a minority shareholder in CHOW-FM, which became 91.7 GIANT FM and later COUNTRY 89. Read more here.
Ryan Simpson is leaving Golden West Radio’s cluster in Portage La Prairie, MB after three decades. Simpson has been with the station since he was 18, starting on the evening shift and helping out with Portage Terriers games. He eventually worked his way up to program director for CFRY, Mix 96 (CJPG-FM) and Country 93 (CHPO-FM).
Alexandra Szacka is retiring from CBC/Radio-Canada after 29 years with the public broadcaster. Szacka has been a foreign correspondent for CBC News in both the English and French divisions with posts in New York City, Moscow and Paris, among other destinations. Szacka is working on a book, among other projects.
Catherine Verdon-Diamond is replacing Frank Cavallaro as the regular weather host on CBC Montreal’s supper hour TV newscast and radio drive home show. After 40 years in broadcasting, Cavallaro plans to start wintering in Florida. He’ll continue to fill-in. He’s been with CBC since early 2008, shortly after he was caught up in layoffs at CTV where he worked for 17 years. Verdon-Diamond returns to TV after her layoff in September in conjunction with the cancellation of Breakfast Television Montreal.
Terry Reith is joining CBC’s Ideas where he’ll be producing radio documentaries. A longtime staple at CBC Edmonton, Reith was most recently producing for CBC Network News in Alberta. He’s previously worked as a consumer writer for CBC.ca, and medical reporter for CBC-TV.
Victoria Rogers will assume the role of Retail Sales Manager for Evanov Radio Group’s Z103.5 and Proud FM Toronto. Ky Joseph takes over as General Sales Manager for both stations in addition to her role as VP of Sales and will be mentoring Rogers until she is ready to take over the management reigns herself, potentially next fiscal. Rogers has more than 15 years of experience working in the media industry with broadcasters including CHUM Television, YESTV, NewCap, Rogers, and Corus.
Miranda Anthistle is joining the Global Toronto news team as a Digital Broadcast Journalist. Anthistle was most recently at Bell Media where she worked at both CTV Toronto and CP24 over the past four years. Prior to that, she was the evening co-anchor and a reporter with CHCH Hamilton.
Nicole Stillger has left Global Saskatoon to join Global Edmonton. Stillger has been a multimedia reporter with Global since Oct. 2017.
Diana Weeks has left CHCH Hamilton to join AM900 CHML as senior anchor and multimedia journalist. Weeks had been a reporter and videographer with CHCH since 2016.
Elise von Scheel is joining CBC Calgary until the end of the year. von Scheel has been a reporter and producer with CBC Ottawa since 2017 and stationed with the Parliamentary Bureau for the last two years.
Kaila Jefferd-Moore has left CBC North to join Yellowknife-based NWT Recreation & Parks Association. The Inuvik journalist and former editor-in-chief of The Dalhousie Gazette had been with the public broadcaster since May.
Shruti Shekar is joining Yahoo Finance as a telecom reporter. Shekar has been Mobile Syrup’s senior technology and telecom reporter for the last year. She previously worked for The Hill Times.
Elizabeth Hunter has left Rogers Communications after 13 and a half years. Hunter started with the company in 2006 as Manager, Community Relations, going on to hold roles including Manager, Public Affairs, and Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility. For the past year, she’d been Senior Manager, Communications.
Adam Steinberg has joined CTV Toronto as a writer. Steinberg arrives from 680 News (CFTR-AM) Toronto where he’d been an anchor and editor for the past two years.
Benson Cook has left CJAD 800 Montreal to join Global Montreal. Cook had been a reporter and anchor with CJAD since 2016.
Nancy “Nan” Stapleton has retired after 25 years at Country 101.1 (CKBY-FM) Ottawa. Stapleton will continue to host the station’s weekend Country Classics show.
Darryl Spring has parted ways with Rebel 101.7 (CIDG-FM) Ottawa. Spring had been the station’s PD, music director and drive host since Aug. 2017. Spring has previously hosted and done programming stints at Q92 (CJQQ-FM) Timmins, 102.1 The Edge (CFNY-FM) Toronto, Y108 (CJXY-FM) Hamilton, and K-Rock 105.7 (CIKR-FM) Kingston.
Kenny Jones has joined Star FM (CKSR-FM) Chilliwack, BC as one half of Lisa & Kenny in the Morning. Jones has previously worked as a weekend announcer at Star FM, in addition to stints at JACK 96.9 (CJAX-FM) Vancouver, KiSS Radio (CKKS-FM) Vancouver, and Country 101.1 (CKBY-FM) Ottawa. He replaces Scott Riley, who is retiring after 40 years in radio – 34 of those on-air in the Fraser Valley.
Christine Bentley and Kate Wheeler are handing over the reins of their What She Said Radio show to Candace Sampson, starting Jan. 11. Heard Saturdays on 105.9 The Region (CFMS-FM) Markham, ON, the show is also available as a podcast. Sampson is a social influencer and blogger behind Life in Pleasantville.
Chris Overholt, president and CEO of OverActive Media, has been named to the board of the Global Esports Federation (GEF), the first-ever global governing body for esports. The federation’s mandate is to cultivate collaboration, and strengthen, develop and grow the interface between the traditional esports and sport-based (active) esport communities. Overholt will use his background in traditional sport and Olympic experience as he chairs the federation’s Digital, Technology and Innovation Commission.
RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:
Canadian Podcast Award nominations are out. Among the nominees for Outstanding News & Current Affairs Series are The Daveberta Podcast, CBC News’ Front Burner, TVO’s #onpoli, HuffPost’s Follow-up with Althia Raj, and Curiouscast’s Wait, There’s More. Nominees for Outstanding Music Series include Alan Cross’ Ongoing History of New Music, Kyle Marshall’s Putting It Together which focuses on Stephen Sondheim’s body of work, Growing Up Punk, StringerLabs’ Columbia House Party, and This Is Your Mixtape. Find the full list of nominees in 30 categories here.
Harvard Broadcasting’s CKPW-FM Edmonton has a new name after several months of uncertainty following a lawsuit by Corus Entertainment over use of the “Power” brand in the market. PLAY 107 made its debut Friday, Dec. 20 with the Classic CHR station’s new moniker selected from listener suggestions. Read more here.
Maritime Broadcasting System (MBS) station The Cape 94.9 (CKPE-FM) Sydney, NS has been rebranded as 94.9 The Wave, like its Halifax Classic Hits sister station 89.9 The Wave (CHNS-FM). The rebrand took effect Jan. 6.
The Morning Hot Tub with Mauler, Rush and Jenni, which originates on The New Hot 89.9 (CIHT-FM) Ottawa is now being heard on more Stingray stations. The show is now airing in the morning time slot on The Giant (CHRK-FM) Sydney, NS, in addition to 95.9 Sun FM Miramichi, NB, HOT 93.7 (CKWY-FM) Wainwright, AB, and Hot 105.5 (CKQK-FM) Charlottetown.
CJCN 91.5 Surrey, BC has been in test mode since Dec. 20. The Akash Broadcasting-owned station will primarily air South Asian programming and some English-language evening programs.
Jim Pattison Broadcast Group’s Victoria stations raised $107,630 in donations, food and clothing during the 100.3 The Q!’s Help the Homeless and The Zone @ 91.3 Toy Drive in December. On Dec. 6, The Q! Morning Show broadcast live from Mayfair Shopping Centre, accepting donations of non-perishable food, clothing, and cash for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Our Place Society, among others. In a similar effort, The Zone @ 91.3 collected cash donations, toys, and gift certificates in their 10th Annual Toy Drive Dec. 13. Cash proceeds from the event went towards the TLC Fund for Kids and donations of new and unwrapped toys to the Christmas Giving Network for distribution within the community. This year, families affected by forestry strikes in some Northern communities of Vancouver Island were also able to receive donations of toys for the holidays.
Corus Radio London’s holiday toy drive for the Salvation Army raised a record-breaking $39,315, beating a previous record of $29,000. The toy drive marked its 10th year after starting on the Taz Show on FM96 (CFPL-FM), later growing to include Global News Radio 980 CFPL, Country 104 (CKDK-FM) and 103.1 Fresh Radio (CFHK-FM).
Evanov Radio Group’s Z Cares Food Drive on Z103.5 (CIDC-FM) Toronto, saw more than $5,000 in food delivered to those in need over the holidays. Two Dodge RAM Sprinter Trucks were filled with food, delivered to The Scott Mission and Seva Food Bank.
Nielsen’s latest report suggests radio listening is dwarfing TV watching. Nielsen says adults 18+ spend just shy of six hours with TV-connected devices each week, compared to nearly 12 hours per week spent with radio. According to Nielsen, the news/talk format remains the most popular radio genre and is expected to retain that status as the U.S. heads into a presidential election. AC and Pop CHR were the top two genres among those 25-54.
iHeartRadio has launched its third all-podcast radio station. WLTM 95.9 Erie, PA joins WSAN 1470 AM Allentown-Bethlehem, PA and KABQ 1350 AM Albuquerque, NM. The station is the first all-podcast format in the U.S. to debut on the FM dial.
Triton Digital is set to debut a podcast ranker called Podcast Reports in the U.S., alongside rankers its already producing in Australia, the Netherlands and Latin America. The podcast ranker will use logfiles to produce IAB certified data. NPR, Entercom, Stitcher and Cumulus Media, including Westwood One, have already signed on.
Podcast Movement has announced more speakers for Podcast Movement Evolutions Feb. 12–15 in Los Angeles. New sessions announced for the Industry Professional Track including Dana Elmquist of Market Enginuity and Cort Irish of Claritas discussing Attribution Models Driving Advertiser Adoption; Dan Misener of Pacific Content and Brent Simoneaux of Red Hat on How Red Hat cut through the tech podcast clutter by super-serving a niche audience; and Andrew Jones of Streamguys talking Using Data to Sell Podcast Sponsorships. The Podcast Professional Track will feature Laura Benson of Patreon on Building a lasting membership community; and Jonathan Zenti of Voxnest on How to Create Content for the Emerging International Podcast Landscape. Read more here.
Canadian Music Week (CMW) will highlight the Netherlands, May 20-22 in Toronto. CMW’s ‘Focus on the Netherlands’ supports the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands by Canada and is aimed at building new bridges for bilateral music trade relations between the two countries. To advance the initiative, the European Music Exporters Exchange (EMEE) has, for the first time, allowed a Canadian panel at ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag), which takes place in Groningen, the Netherlands Jan. 15-18.
LISTEN: The team behind Broadcast Dialogue – editor Connie Thiessen, digital strategist James Wallace, and creative director Christian Lind – revisit some of the big developments in streaming, podcasting, OTT, TV, esports and radio in our final podcast of 2019. Listen on your favourite podcast app or here:
SIGN-OFFS:
Don Brown, 84, on Dec. 18. Brown had a 53-year broadcasting career, mostly with CBC Sports, producing and/or directing seven Summer Olympics, five Winter Olympics, seven Commonwealth Games and two Pan Am Games. He also worked on 17 seasons of Hockey Night in Canada and behind-the-scenes on seven seasons of Montreal Expos baseball broadcasts. Brown was also a vocal advocate of broadcast support for the Canada Games in the event’s early years. He was inducted into the CBC Sports Hall of Fame in 2010 and awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 2013.
Walter Cownden, 99, on Dec. 20. Cownden served in the Royal Canadian Navy aboard the destroyer HMCS Restigouche during WWII. He left the Navy in 1947 and went to study at the Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts. He returned to Victoria to work as an announcer at CJVI Victoria, later joining CFAX Victoria as production manager, and CKDA/CFMS-FM where he rose through the ranks to vice-president.
Peter Head, 82. Originally from Regina, Head started his broadcast career at CFRB Toronto where he hosted a recreational show called “Ask Peter Head.” He later moved over to CKVR-TV, hosting sports program “HeadStart.” After leaving media, he went on to work for Ontario Tourism and finally director of communications for Metro Toronto and Regional Conservation Authority from 1975, until his retirement in 1991.
Robert Frederick, 70, on Dec. 10. A graduate of the University of British Columbia, Frederick also received a Master of Fine Arts from New York University before joining the CBC in 1979. He started as a producer on the series Ritter’s Cove that followed the adventures of a family air taxi service that used a DHC-2 Beaver seaplane. He went on to direct 90 episodes of The Beachcombers before moving over to Paramount Pictures to produce 108 episodes of MacGyver. He later established his own production company MVP Entertainment Inc. It developed France-Canada co-production “Lifeline” and independent feature “The Wild Guys” among other projects.
Broadcast Dialogue has compiled our Sign Offs columns from 2019 in tribute to the radio, TV, film and entertainment industry professionals we lost over the last year. Read more here.
TV/FILM/VIDEO:
Numeris’ Fall 2019 TV Diary Release indicates that Canadians are spending an average of 15.7 to 22.4 hours per week watching television. The Fall 2019 Diary was released Tuesday, reflecting the period from roughly Oct. 17 – Nov. 20. Kelowna failed to yield enough diary returns to support a release and is being suppressed. Numeris says sample returns were also low in Prince George-Kamloops and is recommending stations use survey averaging when looking at data for that market. The low sample returns, experienced in several small markets in both radio and TV, are the result of a combination of households moving away from landlines and more difficulty recruiting survey participants.
Hockey Canada has announced a long-term media rights agreement with TSN and RDS through the 2033-34 season. The extension ensures that Bell Media’s English and French-language sports networks continue to hold the exclusive, multi-platform media rights to Hockey Canada events, including the IIHF World Junior Championship. In a release, the broadcaster said World Juniors games make up three of the top five most-watched programs ever on TSN, and nine of the Top 20. It has held the rights since 1991. Read more here.
Videotron is acquiring Télédistribution Amos inc. (Cable Amos) and its network. Cable Amos currently serves Amos, Senneterre, Barraute, Lebel-sur-Quévillon, Belcourt, Ste-Gertrude-Manneville, Launay, Trécesson, Berry, Champneuf, La Motte, Landrienne, La Corne, Preissac, St-Felix-de-Dalquier, St-Mathieu-d’Harricana, St-Marc-de-Figuery, La Morandière, Rochebeaucourt, Guyenne, St-Dominique-du-Rosaire, Pikogan and Rivière-Héva. The acquisition is expected to close in the spring of 2020, subject to approval by Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) and customary conditions. Videotron’s teams will then meet with Abitibi residents living in Cable Amos’ service area to present Videotron’s products and start taking installation appointments.
Bell has told its customers it plans to remove AMC from Bell TV as of Feb. 1. Rogers also announced plans to drop AMC in December, however was able to reach a last-minute carriage agreement with the channel.
Toon-A-Vision, broadcasting out of Dartmouth, NS, is now available on free preview for Bell TV customers across Canada. First launched in Fall 2018, Toon-A-Vision’s programming is divided into three age segments: The Lagoon (ages 2-6), EH Vast (ages 6-12) and T@Night (age 12+).
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) and CTV have announced that the first episode of Cardinal’s final season will screen at the opening of the CMPA’s Prime Time conference in Ottawa. The Jan. 29 gala event, presented by CTV in partnership with Entertainment One, MADE|NOUS, the City of North Bay and Sim, will be followed by a Q&A with series star Karine Vanasse, executive producers Jennifer Kawaja and Julia Sereny of Sienna Films. The panel will be moderated by ETALK anchor and Your Morning co-host Ben Mulroney. The screening will be open to all registered delegates of Prime Time, taking place in Ottawa Jan. 29-31.
Corus Entertainment has announced a series of greenlights and renewals for its suite of Global Originals. From SEVEN24 Films and Lark Productions, Family Law (10×60) begins production in Vancouver this spring with casting and pre-production underway. Set in Vancouver, Family Law follows lawyer and recovering alcoholic Abigail Bianchi struggling to put her career and family back together after hitting rock bottom. As a condition of her probation, she is forced to work at her estranged father’s firm, practicing in family law for the first time. Global has also ordered second seasons of dramas Nurses (10×60) and Departure (6×60), in advance of their broadcast premieres. Nurses, produced by ICF Films and eOne, is a coming-of-age series following five young nurses working on the frontlines of a busy downtown Toronto hospital, starring an all-Canadian ensemble cast. From Shaftesbury, Departure is a six-part event series with Season 1 starring Archie Panjabi and Christopher Plummer in the mystery of a passenger plane that vanishes over the Atlantic Ocean. Other Global Originals returning to the network in 2020 include Season 4 of Private Eyes and Season 8 of Big Brother Canada.
APTN’s winter schedule includes Spirit Talker – Season 1 (premieres Feb. 19) featuring Mi’kmaq medium Shawn Leonard as he travels across Canada connecting the living with the dead; Season 1 of TRIBAL (Feb. 20), from Blackstone producer Ron Scott, follows an Indigenous “tribal” police force and the four First Nations communities it oversees; Season 4 of First Talk (Mar. 2); and Season 1 of First Contact (Australia) (Mar. 3) – the original Australian First Contact (2014) that inspired its successful Canadian counterpart takes a diverse group of six people and immerses them into Aboriginal Australia for the first time.
Super Channel has acquired 10-episode half-hour scripted comedy Florida Girls from Lionsgate Television. It makes its Canadian broadcast premiere on Jan. 19 on SC Fuse. Each episode will also be available on Super Channel On Demand the day following its weekly linear broadcast. The brazen, original series inspired by the life of creator and star Laura Chinn (The Mick) follows four girls living in Clearwater, FL who confront their stagnant lives when their only ambitious friend moves away to follow her dreams. Fronted by an all-female cast, the series premiered last summer on Pop TV in the U.S. and was recently renewed for a second season.
Distribution360 has struck several deals in Asia for its kids’ programming. KTH in South Korea has acquired 504 episodes of Skyship Entertainment content, including Super Simple Songs, Super Simple Draw, Super Simple ABCs, Turn and Learn ABCs, Pratfall, Milo’s Monster School Vlog, Finley’s Factory, Mr Monkey, Monkey Mechanic, The Bumble Nums, Treetop Family, Carl’s Carwash, Paper Puppet Playhouse, Pit Stop, and Sing Along with Tobee. D360 has also placed four titles with specialist kids channel Da Vinci. MathXplosion (50 x 3) was acquired for nine Asian markets, including China and India, while ScienceXplosion (45 x 3.5) was acquired for India. Snapshots (6 x 30), winner of the 2018 International Emmy Kids Award for Best Non-Scripted Entertainment, will air in more than 30 Asian territories, including China, India, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea. MathXplosion has also been licensed to True Visions in Thailand and PCCW in Hong Kong and Macau.
The National Screen Institute (NSI) has announced the teams selected for the 2020 edition of NSI Totally Television, presented in association with Bell Media. The course provides customized training for Canadian producer/writer teams to develop story ideas into polished packages for the global market. The 2020 teams include: Reign of Durga – producer Mark Ratzlaff and writer Nimisha Mukerji (Delta, BC); Dwayne Has Issues – producer Eva Thomas (Wallaceburg, ON) and writer Darren Anthony (Etobicoke, ON); The Trafficked – producer Rachel Cairns and writer Brandon Laraby (Toronto, ON); Lupita – producer Eva Colmers and writer Gordie Lucius (Edmonton, AB).
Telefilm Canada has made changes to the Production Program. There will now be two application periods per year for French-language projects with budgets of $2.5 million or more. Telefilm will accept funding applications from Jan. 9-17, 2020 for these projects. Decisions relative to the first application period for the 2020-2021 fiscal year will be announced in the spring. There will be a second application period (summer 2020) for French-language projects of $2.5M or more with a minimum of 50% of funding confirmed. Additional changes: Apart from official-treaty audiovisual coproductions, only projects scripted by Canadians are eligible; A project’s financial feasibility, confirmed within a reasonable time frame, will be considered when evaluating the project. Priority could be given to projects likely to begin principal photography during the fiscal year; A project can be submitted no more than twice under the Production Program, regardless of its budget; and new minimum requirements have been added to demonstrate the producer’s meaningful involvement in projects submitted to Telefilm. Guidelines, eligibility and evaluation criteria are available on the Production Program web page.
Telefilm’s Talent to Watch Program – Funding of First Feature Films and Narrative Web Projects from Emerging Talent will accept new project proposals from designated industry partners March 2-9, 2020. Formerly known as the Micro-Budget Program, it aims to support a diverse array of emerging filmmakers, and accelerate their career development by giving them the opportunity, and the autonomy, to create their first feature film or web series. For the 2020-21 fiscal year, Telefilm is raising its financial contribution for feature film projects to $150,000 to better support projects from emerging talent. Web series will not be eligible under the program starting next fiscal, 2021-22.
Telefilm Canada is currently accepting submissions for its 10th edition of “Canada: Not Short on Talent” at Cannes, a curated showcase presented at the Short Film Corner, a component of the Cannes Market which runs parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. Running May 18-22, the showcase is designed to promote new short films and Canadian talent to festival programmers and buyers. While the Short Film Corner offers two festival accreditations per film, there is no travel grant associated with the initiative. The deadline to submit your film is Jan. 20.
Black Women Film! Canada begins 2020 with the 2nd annual Elevate Master Class series for Black women filmmakers, artists and content creators. Starting Jan. 10, a VR Filmmaking Camp will be offered by Dames Making Games Toronto at the Toronto Media Arts Centre. Spots are still available. Feb. 1-2, advanced Lighting & Cinematography will be offered by Ricardo Diaz and Sarah Thomas Moffat.
McDonald’s has signed on as the new title sponsor of TSN’s SC With Jay and Dan, hosted by Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole. The partnership includes a multitude of in-show and on-set integrations, as well as title sponsorship of the hosts’ popular podcast, the Jay and Dan Podcast presented by McDonald’s. McDonald’s will be fully integrated into all of the show’s promotional campaign elements across all platforms on the network.
ONLINE/DIGITAL:
Media Central Corporation is adding Vancouver alt weekly the Georgia Straight to its media holdings. It will pay $1.25 million for the publication in cash and shares with the deal expected to close by the end of February. The Metro Vancouver paper reaches approximately 2.7 million monthly readers through its print distribution with an additional 1.8 million via straight.com. Georgia Straight, straight.com and straightcannabis.ca become MediaCentral’s fourth, fifth and sixth properties following the company’s recent purchase of Toronto’s NOW Magazine and nowtoronto.com in December and the launch of cannabis platform CannCentral.com in Sept. 2019. Following the acquisition, MediaCentral says it expects to optimize cashflow and operating expenses across its properties. With the addition of the Georgia Straight, MediaCentral becomes the largest publisher of alternative weeklies in Canada, reaching over 77 million readers annually.
Politics Today launched this week, a new website that centralizes content from online publications Queen’s Park Today, AB Today and BC Today under one banner. Helmed by former parliamentary reporter Allison Smith, Queen’s Park Today was founded in 2012, with BC Today launched in Sept. 2017 and AB today in late 2018.
National Observer staff have filed for union certification with the Canada Media Guild (CMG). In a statement, staff said they believe unionizing will “help the National Observer to continue to evolve into a better, stronger, more cohesive, more united workplace.”
Billboard will incorporate audio and video data from YouTube in its compilation of the Billboard 200 album chart, starting Jan. 18. YouTube data was previously included in Billboard’s song charts like the Billboard Hot 100, however it will only use officially licensed content when compiling the Billboard 200 chart. YouTube data will also factor into the Country, R&B/Hip-Hop, and Latin charts going forward. The company previously incorporated streaming data from Apple Music, Spotify, Vevo and Tidal.
CBC/Radio-Canada will stream the Youth Olympic Games across its platforms from Jan. 9–22. Streaming live from Lausanne, Switzerland, the event brings together nearly 1,900 competitors, aged 15-18, from 79 countries. Daily coverage will be featured on CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca, radio-canada.ca/sports and the CBC Sports and Radio-Canada Sports apps. In addition to live streams, reporter Devin Heroux will provide real-time updates, with Jean-Patrick Balleux joining RDI Matin’s morning segment on ICI RDI with highlight packages and live reports from competition venues. Canadian diver and Olympic medallist Roseline Filion will also be on-site to interview athletes and share their stories during On va se le dire on ICI TÉLÉ throughout the games. CBCkidsnews.ca will also feature daily recaps and highlights from CBC Kids News reporter Arjun Ram. On the French-language side, Audrey Lamonde will be on her first assignment as a video-journalist with the MAJ team.
CBC and Creative BC have announced that six emerging B.C.-based creators will receive support to undertake the production of original digital content through the CBC + Creative BC Digital Production Fund. The recipients will also have the opportunity to share their projects with a national audience on the public broadcaster’s digital platforms, including CBC Gem. This year’s projects include: A-Yi (CBC Short Docs) from filmmaker Martyna Czaplak; KeYaMeTa: Sharing Truths About Menopause (CBC Short Docs; working title) from Jules Koostachin; Take Me to the River (CBC Short Docs) from Julie Kim; The Pilgrimage (CBC Short Docs) from Lori Lozinski; Colour Study (CBC Arts; working title) from Graham Kew and Daniel Code; and No Fun City (CBC Arts; working title) from Kimiya Shokoohi.
FEATURE: Broadcast Dialogue creative director Christian Lind explores three safe bets when it comes to consumer media behaviour in 2019. Read more here.
GENERAL:
Rideau Hall has announced 120 new companions, officers and members to the Order of Canada. Recipients from the media, broadcast, telecom and entertainment industries include director James Cameron (Companion); those named as Officers include DHX Media founder Michael Donovan; former Globe and Mail medical reporter Joan Hollobon; retired CBC parliamentary editor Don Newman (promoted within the order); Cirque du Soleil co-founder Gilles Ste-Croix; and actor and writer Marcel Sabourin. Named as members are record producer and guitarist Brian Ahern; Canada Media Fund CEO Valerie Creighton; Bell Let’s Talk chair Mary Deacon, writer/producer Xavier Dolan; Globe and Mail publisher Phillip Crawley; CBC investigative journalist Hana Gartner; CBC Radio host Eric Friesen, former Rogers CEO Nadir Mohamed; CTV News Channel anchor Beverly Thomson; Entertainment One CEO Darren Throop; and Franco-Manitoban documentary and television producer Louis-Frederic Paquin.
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCOC) has quashed a CRTC order that has prohibited simultaneous substitution of American ads during the Super Bowl since 2017. In a nine to two judgement in favour of Bell, which holds the Canadian broadcast rights, the SCOC found that the simsub ban order was issued “on the basis of an incorrect interpretation by the CRTC of the scope of its authority under section 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act.” Bell Media blamed the ruling for a 39% decline in audience for the game in 2017 and a drop of $11 million in ad revenue. Read more here.
The CRTC has ruled that Bell “conferred an undue preference” on its discretionary sports service RDS and subjected Quebecor-owned TVA Sports to “an undue disadvantage” by packaging the two services in a different manner. The ruling is in reference to a March complaint from Quebecor after Bell included RDS in its “Bon” TV package, but excluded TVA Sports from the same bundle. The commission has directed Bell to include TVA Sports in the same offering as RDS, no later than Feb. 5. The CRTC also sided with Quebecor in a separate decision over a complaint from Bell that saw Videotron remove Bell’s Super Écran from its premium channel selection. In that case however, the commission decided Videotron did not give its own Club Illico channel undue preference. The CRTC said there was limited data to determine if the change had conclusively impacted subscriptions to Super Écran.
Rogers Communications and the University of Waterloo have struck a three-year, multi-million dollar partnership to advance 5G research in the Toronto-Waterloo tech corridor. The partnership will focus on 5G research in the areas of engineering, network design, applied mathematics and artificial intelligence. Rogers and the University will also build a 5G network on campus that will test network infrastructure, frequencies and applications in a real world Canadian environment. Establishing the first wave of research projects and construction of the smart campus will begin in early 2020.
The Canadian Club of Toronto is presenting Catherine Tait, President and CEO, CBC/Radio-Canada, in conversation with Arlene Dickinson, on Jan. 21. Taking place at the Fairmont Royal York, the theme of the discussion will be “Staking Our Ground: Preserving Canada’s News and Culture in a Digital World.” Learn more here.
The Western Association of Broadcasters (WAB) has announced the feature speakers for its 86th Annual Conference, taking place June 10-11 at Fairmont Banff Springs. This year’s lineup includes Wizard of Ads partner and marketing strategist Johnny Molson; Pierre Bouvard, Chief Insights Officer at Westwood One/Cumulus Radio, who’ll explore future trends relevant to radio and television and how broadcasters can prepare for new opportunities and challenges; and business visionary and author Dr. John Izzo who will share why employees are a company’s greatest competitive advantage and how you can get the best from our workforce. Read more here.
The Atlantic Journalism Awards (AJAs) online entry system is now open to accept entries for the 2019 news year. The deadline for submissions is Friday, Feb. 7. Three finalists from each category will be announced in early April. The gold and silver winners will be presented at a gala awards show May 9 at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel.
Jack Webster Foundation Professional Development Fellowships are open for online applications. Two fellowships will be awarded this year to members of the media to further their journalistic knowledge and skills – either a course offered by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in Florida, or a self-directed program/project to be considered. One award will be presented to a B.C. born journalist in the name of the late Don Matheson. The other fellowship is open to any B.C. reporter. The application deadline is Feb. 29.
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will hold a teleconference for stakeholders to discuss the recently published Guidance on the income tax measures to support journalism. The teleconference will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 14, from 11 a.m to 12 p.m (EDT). Those wishing to participate are asked to register online by 4 p.m. (EDT) on Friday, Jan. 10. Details will be emailed to those registered prior to the teleconference.
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