SIGN-OFFS:
Betty Kennedy, 91, famed for her work on CBC-TV’s long-running quiz show, Front Page Challenge, and her 27 years at CFRB Toronto. Kennedy’s work earned her spots in both the Canadian Broadcasting Hall of Fame and the Canadian News Hall of Fame. In 1982, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Bob Elsden, 90, in London. His radio career began in 1950 in the sales department at CFPL London. Three years later, he transferred to the new CFPL-TV and worked his way up. Elsden stayed with the Blackburn-owned property for 42 years, retiring as president. He also was chairman of the board for the Television Bureau of Canada in 1982-83 and first chairman of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters television board from 1985 to 1986. Elsden was named Broadcaster of the Year by the Central Canada Broadcasters’ Association in 1989.
Reg Sellner in Kitchener after a lengthy illness. He was one of the first on-air personalities at CKCO-TV Kitchener when the station signed on in 1954. Over the years he was a news anchor, morning show host, game show host and one of the hosts of Canadian Bandstand, a take-off of American Bandstand. Sellner eventually became promotions manager for the TV station and its local radio stations, CFCA-FM and CKKW.
Bob Robertson, 71, in Nanaimo. Robertson worked in programming, production and on-air at CKXL-AM Calgary, CKDA-AM Victoria and CFAX-AM Victoria before joining the Frosty Forst morning show at CKNW NewsTalk 980 Vancouver in the mid-1980s. Later, he and wife Linda Cullen created the CBC Radio series Double Exposure. In recent years, they produced a podcast called Double Exposure Radio. Robertson also did fill-in hosting for Rafe Mair at CKBD Vancouver.
Jim Weir, 70, at home in Woodstock, Ont. after a sudden illness. His 30-year on-air career began in the 1960s at CFPL London. His last gig was a morning host at CHOK Sarnia.
Kerry Gray, 50, of brain cancer. The American radio man was PD at HTZ-FM (CHTZ-FM) St. Catharines in 1999 and was working at 105.9 FM (KWNG-FM) Red Wing, Minn., while being treated at the nearby Mayo Clinic when he died. Gray and Ben McVie worked on-air together at HTZ, then took their show to Dave FM Kitchener and JACK FM Toronto before moving to Y108 Hamilton/Burlington where they did the Ben and Kerry morning show from June 2008 to July 2013. McVie still does the Y108 morning show.
Peter Jackson, 81, in Victoria. He began his career as a DJ in 1957 at CFUN Vancouver, then moved to CKY Winnipeg where he gained notoriety as PJ the DJ. In 1963, he moved to CKLG Vancouver and then to CKXL-AM Calgary. In the late ‘60s, he joined the sales department at CKWX Vancouver.
John Cummings, 68, in New Westminster from an aneurysm. His radio career began at CHTK Prince Rupert in 1973. Later, he made moves to CKOK Penticton, CJCA Edmonton, CJVI Victoria, CKXR Salmon Arm, CKXM Edmonton and CHQT Edmonton. He signed-on CJJR-FM Vancouver when the station launched July 1, 1986. Cummings left the station in 1989 for CISL Richmond, retiring from broadcasting in 1991. He became a special education assistant at the Richmond School Board, a position from which he retired eight years ago.
GENERAL:
As part of its commemoration project celebrating Canada’s 150th Anniversary, the CRTC has recognized 23 men and women who helped shape the Canadian communications system, by giving their names to the commission’s meeting rooms. These individuals are: Israel “Izzy” Asper, Henri Audet, John Bassett, Alexander Graham Bell, Nancy Devine (former CRTC employee), Reginald Fessenden, Barbara Frum, Harold Greenberg, Matthew Halton, Foster Hewitt, Judith Jasmin, Jonah Kelly, Jose Kusugak, René Lecavalier, John Lombardi, Marcel Masse, J-Alphonse Ouimet, Marcel Ouimet, Ted Rogers, Jean-Louis Roux, Jeanne Sauvé, Graham Spry, and Réal Therrien. At the same time, the Agora at the CRTC’s National Headquarters has been named in honour of Pierre Juneau, the CRTC’s first chairman.
Cision’s 2017 State of the Media Report has found as public trust in media falls, more journalists are choosing accuracy over speed. Ninety-one per cent of total respondents (83% of Canadian respondents) believe the media industry is less trusted than it was just three years ago. Ninety-two per cent of reporters surveyed said being right is more important than being first, up four per cent from 2016. The report also found journalists are less trusting of social media with only 44 per cent finding it a reliable source of information, down seven per cent from 2016.
Tom Power of CBC Radio’s q, will host the 2017 JUNO Gala Dinner & Awards presented by SOCAN, on April 1 at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa. The private industry ceremony will see 34 JUNO Awards given out, the 2017 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award presented to Bell Media president Randy Lennox and the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award handed to Buffy Sainte-Marie.
Ex-Calgary TV producer Neil Chandran has been arrested in the U.S. on fraud charges. Chandran was banned from trading in Alberta securities in 2015 and is now accused of grand larceny, forgery and securities fraud in New York State related to an alleged scheme to steal from investors in a business selling 3D computer tablets. Chandran’s media production business employed up to 100 people and produced programs, including Energy TV, which aired on Global TV Calgary and Edmonton,
Université de Québec à Montréal and its School of Management, Tourisme Montréal and the City of Montréal are launching MT Lab, the first incubator in North America dedicated to tourism, culture and entertainment. MT Lab has a mission to host fledgling entrepreneurs from Quebec, Canada and abroad in the tourism, transport, festivals, culture, hotel, restaurant and entertainment sectors. A call for applications from young businesses runs until May 5 with plans to host start-ups in digital technology, artificial intelligence, fintech, virtual/augmented reality and usage innovation.
RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:
Red Robinson, one of only two people to emcee shows for both the Beatles and Elvis Presley in North America, turns 80 this month. The City of Vancouver has proclaimed Mar. 30 as Red Robinson Day to mark the milestone. He continues his weekly Red Rock Diner show every Sunday on CISL 650 Vancouver. On his birthday, Robinson will broadcast a live four-hour special of tunes symbolizing the evolution of rock n’ roll music.
Z99 (CIZL-FM) Regina has raised $721,192 for the purchase of equipment for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Regina General Hospital. Now in its 30th year, Z99’s annual radiothon has cumulatively raised close to $9-million.
CJAY 92 Calgary’s $1B Gofundme page to “get Calgary a new arena” launched last Tuesday and has raised a couple of thousand dollars so far. The station says anything raised under a billion will go toward the CJAY 92 Kids Fund.
Newcap Radio Alberta has launched a Gofundme campaign to raise money to build a memorial in the tiny community of Amisk that will honour five people killed in a two-vehicle crash last month near Hardisty. Four of the victims were from the same family.
George Orr, a former Vancouver broadcaster and BC Institute of Technology journalism instructor, has produced and directed a documentary on the rise and fall of talk radio in Vancouver. TALK! covers the format’s 50-year history in the Vancouver market, from Jack Webster and Pat Burns to Gary Bannerman and Rafe Mair. To see the one hour, 25 minute film, click HERE.
CKUA Alberta announcers David Ward and Hayley Muir are embarking on a 4,000 km province-wide road trip April 2–7 to mark the 20th anniversary of a five-week shutdown in 1997 that almost marked the broadcaster’s death. Back then, Albertans contributed $1 million to get the provincial network back on the air. The six-day, Touch The Transmitter tour will also feature concerts showcasing local talent.
CBC Radio Windsor’s afternoon show is about to be relocated to CBC London. The move coincides with the opening of the public broadcaster’s new station in London. Three of four jobs associated with the show will move to London while a reporter will remain in Windsor.
SiriusXM Canada will broadcast season-long coverage and play-by-play of all three Canadian MLS clubs, Toronto FC, Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
TV/FILM/VIDEO:
The Canadian Media Producers Association’s annual economic report on screen-based media production in Canada shows $2.6 billion was spent in the Canadian television segment over the year. Most of it was in TV series such as Saving Hope, Série noire and Vikings. Canadian television broadcasting revenues were $7.1 billion in 2015, down three per cent from the previous year. The entire report is available HERE.
Bell and Rogers will remove TSN and Sportsnet from bundled cable packages available to businesses with a liquor licence. Bell said the new rates are designed to more accurately reflect the commercial use of the sports channels and the value they represent to commercial establishments. Postmedia reports smaller bars with less than 100 seats will be charged about $120 monthly for both channels, on top of existing fees, with the cost increasing according to seating capacity. The new prices, effective May 1, will also apply to customers who subscribe to those channels through a third party such as Shaw or Telus.
Rogers, Shaw/Shaw Direct, BCE, Vidéotron, Cogeco, TELUS, and MTS – as a whole – continued to lose a record number of TV subscribers in 2016. But, according to Ottawa-based consulting firm Boon Dog Professional Services, not as many. Cable companies, it says, lost considerably fewer subscribers and IPTV providers saw subscriber growth significantly slow. The providers lost a record 202,000 TV subscribers (or 2 per cent of the total market) in their respective 2016/2017 fiscal years, up from 160,000 lost in their 2015/2016 fiscal years.
About 55 so-called ‘Free TV’ Android box retailers will continue to be blocked from selling the devices after the Federal Court of Appeal in Montreal dismissed their appeal of an injunction banning the sale of the controversial devices. Bell, Rogers and Vidéotron won the temporary injunction in June. The boxes allow users to stream pirated TV and movies for a one-time fee, typically about $100. Bell and Rogers say the decision bolsters their legal argument that the boxes are a clear case of copyright infringement.
TVO documentary Migrant Dreams has been awarded the 2017 Canadian Hillman Prize for Journalism. Migrant Dreams is a critical examination of migrant labour in Canada and tells the story of a group of women, mostly from Indonesia, who came to work in Ontario greenhouses as part of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The film exposes harsh working and living conditions and exploitation by corrupt recruiters and a broken system. The Sidney Hillman Foundation has named writer/director/producer Min Sook Lee, producer Lisa Valencia-Svensson, executive producer Rose Gutierrez and TVO’s executive producer of documentaries, Jane Jankovic as recipients.
Kew Media shareholders have approved the Toronto-based investment company’s acquisition of five production companies. The company announced in early February, its intention to acquire Bristow Global Media (BGM), Architect Films, Frantic Films, Media Headquarters Film and TV and Our House Media, as well as film and TV distribution company Content Media Corporation (CMC). Valued at $104.1 million, the companies acquired own a combined 6,000 hours of content.
For the first time in five years, the 2017 JUNO Awards broadcast will be expanded to two-and-a- half hours. Punk-rockers Billy Talent, country star Dallas Smith and indie quintet July Talk are the latest performers confirmed for the April 2 CTV broadcast.
CBC Sports has struck a broadcast partnership agreement with the Toronto Wolfpack rugby league club of the Kingstone Press League 1. All matches throughout the 2017 season will be live-streamed and available on demand at CBCSports.ca, as well as the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices within Canada.
Vancouver animation studio Bardel is producing the Angry Birds Blues television series – the hotly anticipated spinoff of the Angry Birds movie. Partnering with Rovio Entertainment, 30 of the two- to three-minute episodes have already been produced and began airing March 10 on Rovio’s ToonsTV. The list of companies the studio has collaborated with includes Nickelodeon, DreamWorks, Disney, Warner Bros., and Cartoon Network-Adult Swim.
Cogeco Connexion has introduced a new TiVo 4K PVR allowing its Quebec and Ontario customers to access ultra-high-definition programming. The company is also launching TSN 4K, providing 4K coverage of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC and more. Cogeco says new 4K channels will be added to its portfolio in the coming weeks
Frankly Inc. has partnered with OUTtv to support and manage its new over-the-top (OTT) video subscription offering, OUTtvGo. The LGBTQ television network, which was recently acquired by Vancouver-based private equity firm Stern Partners, is expanding its offerings beyond its cable channel and into alternative platforms.
ONLINE CHANNELS:
Canadians are spending more time on the web than ever before, according to a new report from Media Technology Monitor. On average, anglophone Canadians surveyed spent 24.5 hours online per week last year, up about two hours from 2015. Young Canadians (18-34) reported spending even more time on the net – an average of 34 hours per week, or nearly five hours per day. Internet use is also increasing among seniors with 74 per cent of people over age 65 using the internet regularly, up from about 54 per cent 10 years ago. The report is based on telephone interviews conducted with 4,157 anglophone Canadians between Oct. 7 and Dec. 12.
YouTube says it’s looking into concerns about its Restricted Mode after facing a social media storm over blocking of LGBT-related content. According to its help page, the setting uses “community flagging, age-restrictions, and other signals to identify and filter out potentially inappropriate content.” Over the weekend, several high-profile LGBT artists including Canadian musicians Tegan and Sara, called out the company over the restrictions.
Videotron is launching Chillico, the first Facebook Messenger chatbot from a Canadian telecommunications provider. Chillico’s mission is to converse with users in order to recommend selections from the illico.tv video-on-demand catalogue.
Vevo has debuted a social viewing option for watching music videos with multiple people. Watch Party offers simultaneous viewing across multiple computers with participants able to contribute to a collaborative playlist. Vevo has also announced plans to launch a new iOS app in April.
The Canada Council for the Arts has announced an $88.5 million Arts in a Digital World Fund to be launched this fall. The fund, set to run until March 31, 2021, will be used to support short-term, small-scale projects for under $10,000 and large-scale initiatives with funding up to $500,000. The fund’s purpose is to serve three main goals related to the union of technology with the arts including digital approaches to increasing public access to arts and cultural engagement.
SOCAN and Audiam are working together to ensure songwriters, composers and music publishers receive their portion of millions in unpaid YouTube royalties generated in the U.S. Until May 31, YouTube is opening a claims process where compositions can be identified that have earned synchronization royalties from U.S. views between Aug. 2012 and Dec. 2015. The right of synchronization is the right to synchronize lyrics and melody to a moving image, such as a YouTube video. You can learn more HERE.
Vancouver-based Hootsuite has announced its third significant purchase in less than two months. The social-media management platform has acquired Los Angeles-based Naritiv’s Snapchat analytics solution to analyze and enhance digital video campaigns. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed. Hootsuite has also opened a Los Angeles office.
Deezer has launched its first global ad campaign to promote its Flow feature. The listening option offers continuous song choices by using additional technology to predict a listener’s activities and location. The Internet-based music streaming service had 16 million monthly active users and six million paid subscribers at the end of January.
Remembering Gary Miles
By Chuck McCoy
I met Gary Miles for the very first time on the day we began our employment with Rogers Broadcasting. The year was 1989 and from that day forward, and right up until his retirement in 2007, the two of us worked side by side in Vancouver for a time and then later in Toronto. Gary was the Radio CEO, I was one of his station managers and for nearly 20 years I was fortunate enough to learn my trade “at the feet of the Master.”
I was blessed that in all our time working together our offices were physically right next to each other with a convenient door at the back of each office allowing me to poke my head into his office literally at will, to exploit his vast experience and receive advice, input and motivation.
Gary Miles taught all of us that winning is hard work. Gary had a work ethic that was unmatched and he would regularly be in his office before 6 am. Gary was always punctual. When he scheduled his weekly call with a manager, that phone would ring no more than 30 seconds before or after the scheduled time. You could literally set your watch by it.
We often traveled together stopping by the different Rogers stations across the country. I remember the first time we visited a station together and I suggested that in the morning we might meet in the lobby of the hotel around 8:30 then head over to the stations for our Company meetings. Gary would have none of it. He said, “No, we’ll leave at 8, that way we can stop and visit with the on-air morning teams at the stations.” Gary was the CEO of the entire radio division, and yet he always held in high regard all the people on the “floor”
A testament to his enormous influence on those he worked with was more than evident from the hundreds of comments posted on Facebook. The often repeated phrase on social media was; “Great in business and loved people” Gary was always at his best when he was developing people.
Gary was shrewd, hardworking, and a true leader of people in his illustrious Hall of Fame business career. But the other side of Gary was his capacity for kindness and compassion to those who were experiencing some of the real challenges of life. Gary was always there to help, guide and advise those who sought him out for advice on how to deal with personal problems such as financial struggles, marital difficulties, or perhaps the loss of a job along with other assorted difficult life issues. As many can verify, Gary was also particularly adept at helping people with substance abuse problems. He took on that task very seriously and effectively. Now Gary did a lot of this very quietly, but at the same time very consistently. Gary Miles will always be remembered as a brilliant business leader, but rest assured there are many who will remember him most for his sincere caring and compassionate ways.
Gary was loved by all those he touched in his career and in his life outside of broadcasting as well. I will remember Gary as a man who helped me to develop my skills as a broadcaster and also included me and my wife as his friends in so many wonderful times outside of work.
I will forever remember our last conversation barely 48 hours before his passing, when we spent time recalling so many events in our lives together and all the wonderful people that we had been privileged to know and work with. He closed our call by saying, “You know Chuck we were pretty lucky.”
Everyone leaves this earth with a legacy. Gary Miles thoughtfully left his wife Taanta with his legacy in something he printed out in his final days and then left it for her to find and read. Taanta has agreed to share Gary’s words with all of us.
Gary chose a quote from the words of Pericles –
“What we leave behind is not what’s engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others”
Reg Johns, President, Mass 2 One Interactive:
Forty-five years ago, I was working at CFAR Flin Flon doing the top 40-night shift. Unbeknownst to me, Gary was up north on a duck hunting trip. For some reason, he turned on the radio at night and heard me on-air. I don’t know what he heard, because I certainly didn’t have much content, nor any funny jokes, nor a deep voice, but I did say the call letters with energy and I ran a tight board playing the hits. I’m sure he said to himself; “Now there’s a DJ we could probably hire for next to nothing”.
As General manager of CKRC Winnipeg, Gary opened the door for me and turned on the green light brighter and brighter. He quickly became my life coach and mentor – and it stayed this way throughout my career.
As many will attest, Gary never bragged about himself or his accomplishments. As a true mentor, he was always more interested in your growth and was always there for you with objective guidance and help no matter what obstacle you faced at work or in life.
I was blessed to have spent the last nine years with Gary working on radio projects that took us around the world. We spoke every Monday morning at 9 a.m. sharp (you could set your clock to his call). FYC (for our consideration) was his approach to guidance. With the amount of reading he did, and his natural inquisitiveness on business and life, Gary always stayed current. A great person to throw new ideas at. He’d listen and could often find a piece missing, or a nuance of some kind (Typically: “where’s the money?”). If you were feeling the blues, he’d often advise: “Just hold your nose, take the steps – you’ll get through it”. I gathered new insight on each call. Strong, observant, philosophical, considerate, supportive, with humour to the very end.
Elmer Hildebrand, CEO, Golden West Broadcasting:
Gary was punctual and an early riser, as am I, so we were often on the phone in the morning before anyone was in the office. For more than 30 years, he and I would talk on the phone Christmas Eve – early in the morning – to catch up on our families, health and the industry.
Gary was also very caring. After he quit drinking completely many decades ago, he would work with friends and acquaintances to help them with their alcohol dependency. He did this quietly, almost anonymously. Many people had no idea he was spending evenings and weekends helping others in this way.
When he was working in Winnipeg radio – he wanted desperately to get to Toronto where the major broadcast head offices were located. I helped him get the job as President of the Radio Marketing Bureau in Toronto. He worked very hard at this job, while at the same time cultivating broadcast executives in the big city so that he would be positioned to land a real broadcast job there when his term as RMB president finished. He did just that and had great career in the industry.
Pat Bohn, President, Bohn & Associates Media Inc:
I woke on Feb. 25, a Saturday, leisurely having a coffee and preparing myself for the gym. On the way out, I dropped by my office to pick up my phone. Strange. Voicemail from Gary Miles. The message was as courageous as it was clear. “Pat, this is Gary. As you know I have been having tests. They are back and not good…” For the next three minutes my heart broke and a flood of memories reaching back 30 years flashed in front of me.
We had a long, wonderful relationship. Bohn & Associates consulted for Rogers for 25 years as Gary’s position moved from VP, to President, and then CEO. Gary often introduced Bohn & Associates not as his consultant, but as a division of Rogers, smiling as he poked playfully at me. And then came the twist. Gary retired and at his party he winked at me, “I’ll call Monday.” Gary did call, putting on his best pitch, suggesting he come aboard as a consultant with SparkNet. What an interesting juxtaposition. For 25 years, I got a paycheque from him. For the next five years, he got a paycheque from me!
Gary touched many of us. Julie Adam (SVP, Rogers Radio) wrote to the employees of Rogers: “As the CEO of radio, Gary built Rogers Radio into a world-class business with an incredibly strong portfolio, and an even stronger workforce in both programming and sales. The list of his contributions to our business and our people is endless.” And to that end, what I hold dear in my heart, Gary’s words: Dream big. Take a chance. Fail fast. Have fun.
Lannie Sibian, President and Executive VP Sales, CTN
Gary Miles was the epitome of generosity, authenticity and caring, with a work ethic like no other. In addition to the enormous success he brought to companies he worked for and boards he sat on, one of Gary’s greatest legacies is the number of people he has mentored. He wanted people to be the best they could be and he took the time required to make that happen. He had the unique ability to make everybody in his presence feel like they are the most important person in the room. It didn’t matter who you were or what you did, everybody mattered. I had the incredible honour to work with Gary closely over the past five years and I learned more from Gary over that time than I have in my entire 30-year career. Gary was my friend, mentor, role model and hero. He was a force of nature and will be sorely missed by many.
Mike Henry, Paragon Media Strategies:
I met Gary when I was 30 and he was 52. For the next 26 years, he was the closest thing I had to a father as an adult. Despite our age gap, we became fast friends. At our first meeting, which was in Denver where I took him to a wild game restaurant with dead animals all over the walls only to find out he was vegetarian, he said “our next meeting will be on the ski hill.” He wasn’t kidding. The next winter, he was at my house to meet my wife, two daughters and my one month old son on our way to the slopes.
Gary didn’t pull punches. He was outspoken and opinionated. He was the blunt force of life I needed to keep me straight in so many ways. He was quick to call bullshit, but also quick to say “great job.” He could kiss you and slap you at the same time, like no one else. I would hang on a compliment from Gary for years, because it meant so much to me. He challenged me to be a better person and father, and I tried very hard to please him. Even in our last conversation about death, he was stronger than me as I bawled away and he consoled me. I love you, Gary, and I always will.
Geoff Poulton, President, Vista Radio:
In late 1999 I was both mortified and elated when Gary Miles told me I was being promoted to General Manager of NewsTalk 570 in Kitchener. Elated because it was a great move for my career, mortified because he told me I would now report direct to him. Gary was a taskmaster and was known for keeping his direct reports on their toes at all times. Let’s be honest. He scared the crap out of most of us. This was a slight change for me after reporting in to Chuck McCoy (Chuck once gave me my performance review while standing at the photocopier).
So one day, Gary came to Winnipeg for the annual mid-year reviews. I was now running 92 CITI FM and 102 Clear FM and he laid into me. It was brutal. I didn’t know my numbers well enough, the station wasn’t clean enough and WHAT WAS THAT GOD-AWFUL SONG CITI PLAYED YESTERDAY AT 2:17 PM! It was one of those meetings where I wondered if I’d have a job much longer. But in typical Gary fashion, later in the day as I walked him to his cab, my head held low, he turned to me just as he was opening the cab door and said “I am really damned proud of you, you’re doing a great job.”
Gary had this incredible ability to drive you, to make you uncomfortable, to stretch you and yet there wasn’t a single person I knew that wouldn’t walk through walls for him. Me included.
Jean-Marie Heimrath, founder and partner, Clear Channel Group:
Although Gary was a fierce competitor of mine, he always remained a gentleman. We had our differences, however, he was respectful of an opposing position and that is what made him a senior statesman in the broadcast industry.
When Gary and I did get together, it was like picking up our conversation without missing a beat. He was such a delight to be around. His sense of humour and his council when we briefly worked together was something I truly looked forward to.
I will miss his laughter and his presence, but will never forget what he did for the industry and me.
