RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:
Vista Radio completed its third annual Million Dollars for Charity week raising $1.3 million for local charities across its 45 stations. With all fundraising efforts focused on the week ending Dec. 11, each Vista station selected its own local charity to support. For instance, Moose FM (CKNR-FM) in Elliot Lake, ON raised $34,000 in cash and toys during its annual Salvation Army for Kids Christmas Radiothon. Meanwhile, Moose FM (CJJM-FM) in Espanola, ON brought in $16,000 during its radiothon, in partnership with the Espanola hospital. Over the past three years, Vista stations have raised over $3.6 million.
The Pan Pacific Christmas Wish Breakfast, hosted by Global News BC and Rock 101 (CFMI-FM) Vancouver, saw over 21 tons of toys and $21,000 in cash and gift cards donated in just three hours for the Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau on Dec. 13. The 29th annual event has become one of Canada’s largest toy drives.
The 2nd annual Tower of Toys event, hosted by 92.5 Fresh Radio (CKNG-FM), CISN Country 103.9, 630 CHED, iNews880 and Global Edmonton collected 5,083 new, unwrapped toys for 630 CHED Santas Anonymous. The event was held Dec. 8 – 10 aboard the Santa Maria ship in West Edmonton Mall.
CBC Thunder Bay’s Lisa Laco and the Superior Morning crew broadcast live from the Wasaya Airways hangar last Friday morning as 10,000 pounds of food donations were loaded onto a Hawker Siddeley 748 destined for Sandy Lake First Nation. The 2016 Sounds Of the Season special also raised $10,000 in cash. Every member of Sandy Lake will receive a fresh food hamper.
97.5 The River (CKRV-FM) Kamloops Toys For Kids Breakfast raised $8,500 and collected 3,481 toys for local charity Christmas Amalgamated. Another $16,197 was raised for the Royal Inland Hospital Foundation’s Pediatrics Ward.
AM 560 CFOS and the Owen Sound Sun Times hosted their 77th Christmas Fund Broadcast on Sunday. Funds raised so far are set to surpass last year’s total of $27,000. About 24 local charities benefit from the event with 30 local musical acts lending their talents to the live broadcast from the Roxy Theatre.
Evanov Radio’s Winnipeg stations Energy 106 FM (CHWE-FM), Jewel 100.5 (CFJL-FM) and CKJS-AM 810 helped raise over $22,000 and collected 2,000 toys for families in need this past weekend during a two-day live broadcast. Evanov partnered with the Christmas Cheer Board for the 2nd annual Christmas Miracle promotion at St. Vital Centre.
Bell Media launched its third HD radio station Dec. 8. RougeFM 107.3 (CITE-FM) Montreal is now broadcasting in HD. The signal also carries digital sub channels CJAD Newstalk 800 (HD2) and CKGM TSN Radio 690 (HD3), improving audio quality over traditional AM reception in the Montreal core for listeners with HD radio receivers.
Newly-minted Halifax councillor and longtime broadcaster Richard Zurawski is boycotting his former employer, Rogers Radio’s News 95.7 (CJNI-FM) over an alleged contract dispute. On Monday, talk show host Rick Howe told listeners tuning into the Hot Seat segment that Zurawski had cancelled two appearances in recent weeks because of a disagreement with management. After 11 years as chief meteorologist for Rogers in the Maritimes as well as 1310 News (CIWW-AM) in Ottawa, Zurawski’s contract wasn’t renewed. Zurawski also hosted the long running segment Science Files, heard in a number of markets.
SIGN-OFFS:
Alan Thicke, 69, Dec. 14, in Burbank, CA. Born in Kirkland Lake, ON, the actor, writer, producer and composer began his broadcasting career as a copywriter and all-night DJ at CFPL-AM in London, ON while attending the University of Western Ontario. He wrote for CBC television in the 1960s and by 1969 had his first regular role on television as part of the variety show It’s Our Stuff. By 1977, Thicke was working as a producer in American television, earning his first Emmy nomination for The Barry Manilow Special. In the late 70s, he returned to Canada hosting his first Canadian game show on CFCF-TV in Montreal called First Impressions and was a frequent guest host of daytime talk show The Alan Hamel Show. That led to his own talk show The Alan Thicke Show, which ran on CTV from 1980 to ‘83. His attempt to move to late night American television wasn’t as successful with Thicke of the Night cancelled in 1984 after 18 episodes. Thicke became best known for his role as TV dad Jason Seaver on the popular ABC sitcom Growing Pains. He was also an accomplished composer for television, writing the themes for Diff’rent Strokes, The Facts of Life and the original theme for Wheel of Fortune, among other television series.
Robert (Bob) Washington, 82, on Dec. 10 after battling cancer. Born in Wadena, SK, Washington’s broadcast career took him to Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Winnipeg and Montreal, then back to Winnipeg. He was a familiar voice on CKRC-AM in the 1960s and by 1975 was program director. “The Wash” as he was dubbed by colleagues, became known worldwide in the 1970s after being drafted as the “Voice of K-Tel” for its television commercials. Starting in 1979, Bob hosted CKND-TV show Bowling for Dollars. He was also heard on 680 CJOB-AM, before retiring. Bob’s accolades include a “Golden Award” from the Manitoba Association of Country Artists in 1983 and he was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2003. More than anything, Bob was known for taking time to talk to people and make a difference by just being himself. He leaves a long legacy of volunteer work and community service including Variety Telethons, the Red River Exhibition, Meals on Wheels and the BC SPCA, after he and wife Linda relocated to Vancouver in 2005.
Norris Nathanson, 84, Dec. 9 in Toronto. Nathanson was general manager and co-owner of CJCB-AM and CKPE-FM Sydney, along with his brother Marvin, until the stations were sold to Fundy Broadcasting in 1990. The brothers took over the stations from their father, Cape Breton broadcasting pioneer Nate Nathanson, who started CJCB in 1929 in an effort to sell more radios at his Sydney book and music store. The Nathanson family also owned CJCB-TV, the first television station to broadcast in Nova Scotia when it signed on in Oct. 1954. A community-focused businessman behind the scenes, Norris was also the longtime on-air host of the call-in program TalkBack and was known for often going live to air from his car, handing out prizes to listeners.
John Badham, 79, of liver cancer on Dec. 8. With a broadcasting career that spanned 60 years, Badham’s first broadcasting job, at age 20, was in his hometown of Weyburn, SK. covering the Weyburn Beavers senior hockey team. That led to 10 years of calling Saskatchewan Roughriders games, starting in 1959. He went on to do play-by-play for the Toronto Argonauts, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, BC Lions and Ottawa Rough Riders. Badham interviewed all the big names including Pelé and Muhammad Ali and was present when Bobby Hull signed his famous $1 million dollar World Hockey Association contract in 1972. He covered Olympic Games in Montreal and Sarajevo, Commonwealth Games, a Super Bowl and world curling championships, among other major sporting events. Badham landed in Peterborough, ON in 1988 to work for Corus stations The Kruz (CKRU-FM) and the Wolf (CKWF-FM). He retired from full-time broadcasting in 2011, but returned part-time to host the EXTRA 90.5 FM (CJMB-FM) morning show The Regulars. Badham received the Career Achievement Award from Sports Media Canada just last month.
Tim Morris, 45, suddenly on Nov. 25. Morris was morning show producer and a personality on The Gerry Forbes Show on CJAY 92 (CJAY-FM) Calgary in the mid-nineties before moving to Power 107 (CKIK-FM) in 1997 to produce for host Roger Rhodes. Morris was known for his passion for music and his depth of knowledge. He went on to become director of marketing for Western Canada for Universal Music and VP of business development for Getty Images. He was also co-founder of Mega Music Canada Inc., a dedicated digital platform creating music download stores for radio stations to promote Canadian content.
TV/FILM/VIDEO:
Lionsgate has closed its acquisition of Starz for approximately $4.4 billion in cash and stock. The deal creates one of the largest independent television businesses in the world, a 16,000-title film and television library, the STARZ premium pay network serving nearly 25 million subscribers, a world-class film business and a growing suite of streaming services. Lionsgate will operate Starz as a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Rogers Communications and Sportsnet have announced they will broadcast more than 100 Toronto Blue Jays, NHL, and NBA games in 4K in 2017. Rogers is also introducing the new NextBox 4K PVR, giving customers the ability to record up to eight 4K programs at one time and store up to 90 hours of 4K entertainment. In 2016, more than 30 per cent of new TV purchases were 4K models. 4K sales are expected to top 50 per cent in 2017, particularly for TVs 55” or larger, which are now manufactured almost exclusively in 4K.
Women in Film & Television – Toronto (WIFT-T) is partnering with BravoFACT (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent) to award $50,000 to the winner of its second annual female-led short film pitch contest. The contest welcomes teams of directors and producers, featuring a woman in a key creative role, to submit their short film pitches. The top five finalists will have the opportunity to pitch their project at the 2017 WIFT-T Showcase in March. The deadline to submit is Jan. 16, with finalists to be announced March 1.
Headlining CTV’s midseason schedule is six-part serial drama Cardinal, produced by Entertainment One and Sienna Films. Starring Billy Campbell and Karine Vanasse, Cardinal follows Detective John Cardinal (Campbell) on a hunt for a vicious killer in a small Northern Ontario town. The series, which premieres Jan. 25, was adapted for television by Canadian Screen Award-winner Aubrey Nealon (Orphan Black, Saving Hope) from Giles Blunt’s John Cardinal Mysteries series. The mid-winter schedule also includes the return of Masterchef Canada and the final season of Saving Hope.
New streaming service TellMe TV is offering Described Video content for visually impaired Canadians. The service, which costs $6.99 a month, launched in November and currently offers 150 movies and TV shows with Described Video, accessible through any web browser. Canadian broadcasters are obligated to provide at least four hours a week of Described Video content with the CRTC mandating that all prime-time TV must be described by 2019.
Bell Media’s BravoFact (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent) has announced the 11 BravoFACTUAL award recipients from its Dec. 9 jury meeting. Selected from 65 applications, a total of $501,341 was awarded to Canadian filmmakers for the production of short documentary films. Recipients include directors Steve Adams, Elizabeth Lazebnik, Simon Paluck, Kathryn Martin, Byron Hamel, Charlie Tyrell, Andrew Wall, Mariam Zaidi, Jamie Miller, Tassie Notar and Heidi Janz. The next submission deadline for BravoFACTUAL is Feb. 24.
ONLINE CHANNELS:
Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage, has been participating in UNESCO ministerial panel discussions this week on “Re-shaping digital policies for development.” A government press release says the exchange of ideas reinforces the need for a global digital conversation with governments, the private sector, creators and consumers “because the digital world knows no boundaries.” Joly is reportedly focused on making the case for mandatory, cultural contributions from companies like Netflix in compliance with local content regulations. The panel was held during the 10th ordinary session of the Intergovernmental Committee responsible for the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
Following the successful launch of The Family Channel App in May, DHX Television has expanded its multiplatform offering to French-language viewers with the release of The Télémagino App. Delivering more than 500 episodes across 20 series to preschool audiences on mobile devices and tablets, The Télémagino App is available to subscribers at no additional charge. Key features include the ability to download episodes for offline viewing and a 24/7 live stream of the channel.
Amazon has expanded its Prime Video streaming service to over 200 countries. Following the lead of competitor Netflix, which rolled out in 130 countries earlier this year, Amazon is making its original content like The Grand Tour, Transparent and other series, available for streaming internationally. As of Dec. 14, Amazon Prime members in Canada, Belgium, France, India, Italy and Spain can watch Prime Video at no additional cost.
Toronto-based tech company dubdub has released the Android version of its popular app dubcandy. The app empowers any influencer to create shoppable videos, embedding product links for sharing on social platforms. dubcandy is available for free download via Google Play.
GENERAL:
Lisa LaFlamme, chief anchor and senior editor of CTV National News, is among 26 people being appointed to the Order of Ontario. LaFlamme is being honoured for her work promoting human rights and improving access to education for Afghan women. Helga Stephenson is also among this year’s appointees. Stephenson, who most recently was CEO of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, was previously executive director of Toronto’s Festival of Festivals, now known as TIFF. Her time as director has been widely credited with securing TIFF’s reputation as one of the world’s most prestigious film festivals. Stephenson was also involved in establishing the Canada Committee of Human Rights Watch and the annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival.
SOCAN has launched a new merchandise campaign Music ♥‘s Everybody, with all proceeds going to the Unison Benevolent Fund, a non-profit charity that provides counselling and emergency relief services to the Canadian music community. The e-commerce site was launched Monday with SOCAN members Hannah Georgas, Samito, Classified and Ria Mae modelling hoodies and t-shirts in support of the fund.
Ontario journalists who have produced outstanding nursing and health-care stories over the past year are invited to nominate them for the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario’s (RNAO) 2016 Media Awards. The annual competition recognizes reporters, editors and producers that keep the public informed and contribute to public dialogue on important healthcare issues. Past winners include journalists from CBC Radio, Maclean’s, and Global News. Nominations must be received no later than Jan. 20.
SUPPLY LINES:
Quadrangle, a Toronto-based firm, will be part of the consortium to build the new Maison Radio-Canada in Montreal. Quadrangle’s large-scale projects include the move of City and OMNI Television to Yonge-Dundas Square Toronto and Corus Quay headquarters from the ground up.
