ICYMI: Broadcast Dialogue’s Canadian Radio Awards are back for a fifth year, thanks to our sponsors and supporters. Submissions are now open until Nov. 1 across on-air, news, creative, production, engineering, programming and podcasting categories. Ask your program director to nominate you or self-nominate. Learn more at CanadianRadioAwards.com.
REVOLVING DOOR:
Maxime Bertrand is the new CBC Ombudsman, appointed for a five-year term. She will officially assume her new duties on Nov. 18, succeeding Jack Nagler, who has served in the role since 2018. Bertrand is currently the Director of Community Relations for Radio-Canada, responsible for reviewing and responding to complaints and comments from members of the public. She previously spent more than 30 years as a journalist for the public broadcaster, reporting in both English and French in Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Sudbury, and Windsor.
Meg Roberts is joining Mike Kakuk as the new co-host of Mornings with Mike and Meg on AM800 CKLW Windsor-Essex, beginning Tuesday, Oct. 15. Mornings with Mike and Meg will air weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. ET. Roberts, who grew up on a farm in the heart of Essex County, started her broadcast career as a video journalist at CBC Windsor. She later moved on to reporting roles with the public broadcaster in St. John’s, NL and Toronto, most recently anchoring CBC Windsor’s 6 p.m. newscast. Roberts steps into the role vacated by Lisa Williams, who retired earlier this year after 38 years with the station.
Jennifer Jones is joining Sportsnet’s Grand Slam of Curling broadcast crew full-time. Jones, an Olympic and six-time Canadian women’s curling champion, replaces Joan McCusker. The skip, who retired from competition last spring, joins host Rob Faulds, Mike Harris and Kevin Martin. Jones had previously made select appearances as a Sportsnet analyst over the past two seasons. She’s also a strategic advisor to The Curling Group, which acquired the Grand Slam series from Rogers earlier this year.
Karyn Pugliese has parted ways with Canadaland. Pugliese was named the podcast network’s Editor-in-Chief in May 2023 as founder and publisher Jesse Brown took a step back from the chief editorial post. Prior to joining Canadaland, Pugliese had most recently served as EIC at Canada’s National Observer.
Sheldon Spackman has moved into the role of Alberta News Director at Pattison Media, overseeing the news departments in Grande Prairie, Central Alberta, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Cranbrook. Spackman has been with Pattison Media since 2017, working as a radio and online news reporter and anchor for rdnewsNOW.com in Red Deer, and has served as News Director since 2021.
Samantha Edwards is the Globe and Mail’s new online culture reporter, a newly-created beat covering the online landscape and its effects on society, politics, work and more. Edwards has served as the Globe’s Audience Growth Editor for the last three years.
RADIO & PODCAST:
Corus Entertainment has rebranded Winnipeg rock radio staple Power 97 (CJKR-FM) as Power 97 Winnipeg’s Iconic Alternative. Promising to play “the greatest New Wave, Grunge, and Classic Alternative hits,” the format flip is in line with Corus’ move earlier this year to rebrand CFGQ-FM Calgary as 107.3 The Edge, similar to Toronto’s 102.1 The Edge (CFNY-FM). Like The Edge stations, veteran talent Alan Cross will serve an ambassador for the station, accompanied by his long-running musicology series, The Ongoing History of New Music. The Power lineup will be rounded by Power Mornings with Jay Richardson, Middays with Lex, Power Afternoons with Ed Garcia, and Evenings and Weekends with Fearless Fred. Vickie Shae, who was heard alongside Richardson on the morning show, will be moving down the hall to sister station Country 99 (CFPG-FM) to helm afternoon drive. Read more here.
NEW SHOW ALTERT!
NIGHT MUSIC
With Dani ElwellSunday nights at 8, treat your soul to a spoonful of nostalgia and a sprinkle of something new. Night Music with Dani Elwell; tonight featuring music from Massive Attack, Jeremy Dutcher, Tears for Fears, and more. pic.twitter.com/Q2LtdDg2jH
— Indie88 – Toronto’s Modern Music 88.1FM (@Indie88Toronto) October 6, 2024
Indie88 (CIND-FM) Toronto has introduced new Sunday night show, Night Music, airing from 8 – 10 p.m. ET, hosted by Toronto radio veteran Dani Elwell. Elwell is also continuing to host JAZZ.FM91 (CJRT-FM) program, Voice Tracks.
SiriusXM Canada is expanding its advertising division, launching SiriusXM Media Canada, which will serve as the company’s exclusive cross-platform ad sales representative, including the SiriusXM Podcast Network in Canada. Operating out of SiriusXM Canada’s office in Toronto, the team will be led by Vice-President of Sales Jon Hales. As of October, SiriusXM’s burgeoning podcast slate, including Smartless with Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes – one of the most-listened to podcasts in Canada – is exclusively available to advertisers via SiriusXM Media Canada. It will also rep thousands of additional podcasts via the AdsWizz Podcast Marketplace, which includes networks like PodcastOne, Barstool Sports, The New York Times, and the Washington Post. Read more here.
SiriusXM Canada has announced coverage plans for the 2024-25 NHL season, through to the 2025 Stanley Cup Final. Entering its 20th season, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (ch. 91) is welcoming a roster of former players, including Mike Johnson, Anthony Stewart, Martin Biron, Andrew Raycroft, Mike Rupp, Frankie Corrado, Jason Strudwick, and Carter Hutton. The channel’s regular lineup of experts and analysts also returns, including Gord Stellick, Scott Laughlin, Steve Kouleas, Boomer Gordon, Mick Kern and Linda Cohn. New insider Don Granato, former Buffalo Sabres Head Coach, joins Brian Burke, Elliotte Friedman, Bruce Boudreau, Craig Button, and Dave Pagnotta.
Signal Hill Insights has released a preview of the 2024 Canadian Podcast Listener results for monthly podcast listening in Canada. It finds that 8.8% of Canadians, 18+, say they now listen to podcasts daily, a notable jump from 7.0% in 2023 and the largest one-year increase seen since the Canadian Podcast Listener began in 2017. Senior Research Director Matt Hird tells Broadcast Dialogue that a lot of that growth has been driven by men (up from 7% in 2023 to 10.5% in 2024). “The overall gender composition of monthly podcast listening in Canada hasn’t really changed, but men are much more frequent listeners this year. We’ll know more when we start taking a look at individual podcast-level results and identify which podcasts or types of podcasts are driving this behaviour,” Hird told us. The full report will be released to subscribers on Nov. 28.
Happy to introduce the Journalists for Human Rights podcast. Conversations with reporters living and working under fragile democracies. They’re brave enough to speak out under constant threat of being silenced. Here’s a teaser and I hope you will tune in! @jhrnews pic.twitter.com/tw3JaxFpmv
— Lisa LaFlamme (@LisaLaFlamme_) October 2, 2024
Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) has launched a podcast, hosted by veteran journalist Lisa LaFlamme.The first season is focused on the Philippines, which ranks among the world’s deadliest countries for journalists, hearing from local reporters who faced the Marcos dictatorship in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the deadly anti-drugs campaign of the Duterte administration, and challenges such as red-tagging, low pay, and disinformation in the age of social media and AI.
The Grain is a new podcast project exploring the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity. Hosted by Toronto-based art director, photo editor, teacher and public speaker Ronit Novak, the first four conversations will premiere this month, featuring guests from the photography, advertising, filmmaking and design fields.
CBC/Radio-Canada and ABC, Australia’s national public broadcaster, are collaborating on a new original podcast exploring the life of acclaimed Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau and how the shocking discovery of thousands of Morrisseau forgeries led to the biggest art crime investigation in Canada, raising larger questions about how Indigenous art is considered and valued. Hosted by Adrian Stimson, a multidisciplinary artist and member of the Siksika First Nation, the story begins as a true crime narrative, opening up into a larger consideration of Indigenous art and artists in Canada, Australia and internationally. Production begins on the podcast later this year, with release targeted for the second half of 2025.
The Signal Awards are now taking votes for the audience-voted Listener’s Choice award. On a mission to recognize podcasts that define culture, among the Canadian series nominated are Canadaland’s Pretendians (General, Documentary) and individual Canadaland episode “Is Jesse a Zionist?” (also nominated for Best Conversation Starter). Pretendians and A Field Guide to Gay Animals (which also has a nod for Best Show Artwork) are up for Best Co-Host Team and Show, Documentary. CBC Podcasts’ Broomgate: A Curling Scandal earned three nods. Other nominees include Radio Canada OHdio’s Croire encore?, Rares : la loterie génétique, Bianca Gervais : Entre mères, Fais un homme de toi : thérapies de conversion, and “Dans le trouble” (In trouble); Curiouscast and Great Pacific Media’s Deadman’s Curse: Volcanic Gold; TVO’s Extradition and The Ultimate Choice; The Globe and Mail’s In Her Defence; and Borders & Belonging, from the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration & Integration Program at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Corus Entertainment’s Curiouscast has partnered with Mastercard to give real-life Canadian cyberattack stories the true-crime treatment. Special episodes of network true crime series Nighttime and Dark Poutine are aimed at helping Canadians better understand cybersecurity risks. “Cyber Crime in Canada” sees Nighttime host Jordan Bonaparte joined by Amisha Parikh, Vice President of Security Solutions at Mastercard, and David Coffey from the Toronto Police Service Financial Crimes Unit, discussing how cybercriminals are exploiting AI and other tech in scams like SIM swap, job fraud, and romance scams. Dark Poutine’s “A History of Cyber Crime & How to Protect Yourself Online,” available Oct. 16, sees Parikh delve into the history of cybercrime.
LISTEN: Longtime CFCW Edmonton/Camrose program director Jackie Rae Greening and creative writer Jo-Anne Christensen, the author of a new book documenting the station’s history, join this episode of Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast, as Alberta’s Country Legend celebrates 70 years, and coming off a win for Station of the Year (Large Market) at the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Awards.
LISTEN: Tony Garcia is on the Sound Off Podcast talking about his journey through the radio industry over the past four decades. This episode is a glimpse into the evolution of syndicated content and the changing landscape of the medium, from Garcia’s early days as an intern at the iconic WNBC in New York in the 1980s, to creating his own syndicated show, “Wave Breaker,” at WNYU, roles at companies like Progressive Radio Network, the Wall Street Journal Report, Dow Jones, and his continued involvement with The Bob & Sheri Show.
SIGN OFFS:
Doc Harris, 76, on Oct. 5 in Vancouver General Hospital. Born Gilbert Auchinleck, Harris used several monikers on-air over the years, starting his broadcasting career in 1966 as “Gil Harris” at CKDA and CFMS-FM Victoria. From there, stops at CJAT Trail, BC, CKOM Saskatoon, CKSO Sudbury and CHAM Hamilton followed. He made his on-air debut in Toronto on CFTR as “Doc Holiday” in 1971, before returning to the West Coast and CKLG Vancouver in 1973, where he initially was heard as “Gil” and by 1976, “Doc Harris.” Holding roles across programming, music direction, and helming the morning show, after an 11-year run with the station, Harris moved on to CFMI-FM Vancouver in 1984, followed by CKKS-FM, CFUN, and an almost decade-long stint doing fill-in on CKNW. Harris was last heard in various dayparts on CISL Vancouver, up until 2007, and as the co-host of weekly feature Dan Gardener’s Automotive Intelligence. Concurrently, he lent his voice to animated series like Dragon Ball Z, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Monster Rancher, and John Candy vehicle Camp Candy, as well as video games, including Hulk and Aegis Defenders. Read more here.
Bob Derro, 66, on Oct. 5, following a brain aneurysm. “Brother” Bob Derro was well known in Sudbury, Ottawa and throughout the Valley for his warm, personable, kind and engaging on-air presence. Born and raised in Sudbury, Derro had an early start to his 40+ year career while still in high school. He began as a cameraman at CKNC-TV in Sudbury, circa 1974, moving over to CHNO-AM a year later as a swing announcer. In 1985, Derro crossed the hall from CHNO to join the on-air staff at CJMX-FM. He and his family would pull up stakes in 1989 to make the move to Ottawa where he joined CFRA Radio. In 2001, Bob landed at CIWW Oldies 1310 Smiths Falls. He returned to the Ottawa airwaves in 2011 as the morning show host at Jewel 98.5 (CJWL-FM.) His career also included voiceover work for radio and television as well as for private clients.
George Johns, 83, on Oct. 3. Born in Winnipeg, Johns is credited as being one of the pioneers behind Adult Contemporary radio. Following an early foray into music that saw him record with bands like The Jury, The Devines and The Phantoms, his radio career started in the 1970s as a program director at stations including CKOM Saskatoon, CKSO Sudbury, CFRA Ottawa, and CFTR Toronto. By the end of the decade, he had moved stateside, rising to National Program Director of Fairbanks Broadcasting, overseeing WIBC and WNAP Indianapolis, KVIL Dallas/Fort Worth, WVBF and WKOX Boston, WIBG Philadelphia, and WRMF and WJNO Palm Beach. Johns also helped develop nationally syndicated promotion, “Magic Ticket.” He went on to become a principal in stations in Portland, Indianapolis and Milwaukee. In the 1990s, he consulted at stations throughout North America, under the umbrella of The Johns Company, before merging with Fairwest, a syndicator of “Music Of Your Life” and Continuous Country Formats.
Garnet Behnke, 83, on Oct. 2. Originally hailing from Blind River, ON, Behnke was the longtime Chief Controller at Cambrian Broadcasting, including Sudbury’s CKSO-TV, AM and FM, and CIGM-FM. He later took on the additional role of Assistant General Manager. Earning his professional accounting designation, while raising three young children and working at Ontario Hydro, Behnke also took on business ventures over the years, including Mr. Snappy Foods, Roller Country and Vitto Brand Foods.
TV & FILM:
Bell Media and Warner Bros. Discovery have settled their Canadian content rights dispute regarding Bell Media’s suite of Discovery-branded channels. In June, Bell filed an application in Ontario Superior Court seeking an injunction to block Rogers from distributing Discovery channels. In a release Tuesday morning, Rogers said Bell acknowledged all claims “were unfounded and abandoned its legal efforts.” Bell Media says details of changes to its Discovery channels will be announced in the coming weeks. Bell Media simultaneously announced the expansion of its partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, extending Crave’s run for multiple years as the exclusive home of HBO and Max content in Canada. The new agreement also includes a co-production commitment for original Canadian content “with global appeal,” licensing of Bell Media original content for use on Warner Bros. Discovery platforms outside of Canada, and extended access to French-language content for use on Bell Media platforms. Read more here.
Crave has unveiled a new brand campaign, leading up to the streamer’s 10th anniversary in December. Targeted to both the English and French markets in Canada, it features stars from Crave Original series, Boman Martinez-Reid (Made for TV) and Katherine Levac (Completement Lycee). The campaign spans digital, social, radio, TV, and outdoor (OOH) platforms. The promo will run throughout the fall during key primetime slots, including NFL and NHL games, and CTV’s new programming line up.
The Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) has released a new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Report, based on 2023 data. For the first time, the data showed a decline in the number of episodes across every TV format. In addition, series covered in this year’s report hired fewer writers than ever before. Compared with 2016, the number of WGC members working on Canadian TV decreased by 11%. WGC says the decline jeopardizes hard-fought progress to establish a growing pool of diverse working writers within the industry. Based on data from 76 series (53 live-action, 23 animation) in production in 2023, in addition to the 372 covered from 2019-22, the report indicates the percentage of WGC diverse writers working in Canadian TV has increased steadily from 26% in 2019 to 40% in 2023. The participation of writers with disabilities increased slightly to four per cent in 2023. WGC has released a Best Practices Guide for Producers Working with Diverse Screenwriters as a companion to the report.
MTM’s latest report, Sporting Propositions, looks at sports viewing on TV and SVODs, as well as awareness of sports betting advertising. It finds half of Canadians (50%) watch sports content on linear TV. While sports SVODs are not as popular as sports TV channels, nine per cent of households subscribe to them. Close to half of online Canadians (45%) have seen an ad for an online sports betting site or app. Not only have three in five sports TV viewers (58%) and SVOD subscribers (60%) seen these ads, nearly a third of those who hadn’t watched sports in the prior month (31%) are aware of them. Even with the heavy promotion, only six per cent of online Canadians say they have bet on sports through one of these sites.
Telefilm Canada and the Talent Fund have welcomed 17 new film teams through the Talent to Watch Program with an investment of $3.45 million. Telefilm says it received a high volume of applications under the Talent to Watch Program for fiscal 2024-25, with 150 projects assessed representing nearly $35 million in funding requests.
Canfro Productions President and award-winning showrunner and industry leader Anthony Q. Farrell is calling for applications for a new cohort of the Diversity Showrunner Bootcamp program, sponsored by Warner Bros Discovery Access Canada. To be eligible, applicants must have/had a series (for web or television) in development with a Canadian or U.S. broadcaster or production company, or attained a producer-level credit on at least one season of a Canadian series, or have a story editor credit on an animated series. Applications are now open until Oct. 22.
Global Calgary turned 70 this week. CICT-TV first signed on the air on Oct. 8, 1954, as CHCT-TV, and was the first television station in the province of Alberta. The station was originally a CBC affiliate, owned by Calgary Television Ltd. CICT joined the Global Television Network full-time on Sept. 4, 2000.
TVO Today is set to launch new show, Big [If True] (28 x 30’), hosted by Molly Thomas. The weekly program dives into the disruption and division disinformation is creating in society. Each week, Big [If True] will take viewers on a journey through curious claims, hoaxes, and lies circulating online, with Thomas and a lineup of experts helping viewers navigate falsehoods and reassess how to critically think about content. Big [If True] will be available to stream across Canada starting Nov. 24 at 8 p.m. ET on the TVO Today YouTube channel, website, and Smart TV app. The series will also be aired on TVO’s broadcast channel in Ontario.
Asian Television Network (ATN) has acquired exclusive Canadian rights for the first season of National Cricket League of USA being played in Dallas. The inaugural season of the NCL kicked off Oct. 4 and will feature teams from New York, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles. ATN also has the exclusive rights for the highly-anticipated West Indies v England bilateral cricket series starting at the end of October and continuing into November. All games will air LIVE on both sports channels owned and operated by ATN, Commonwealth Broadcasting Network (CBN) and ATN Cricket Plus.
Fifth Season has secured an extension to its existing partnership with Roku, which sees Latin American and Canadian rights plus new seasons and series added to the companies’ current agreement – under which it serves as Roku’s international format and tape distribution partner for a slate of unscripted Roku Originals worldwide. Second seasons of existing flagship titles, including Jessica Alba’s Honest Renovations, Morimoto’s Sushi Master, UFO Cowboys, Reptile Royalty, and Meet Me in Rome – the follow-up feature to Meet Me in Paris from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine – have now been added to the overall agreement. Additionally, Fifth Season has secured a raft of multi-title sales across Roku’s unscripted originals, including with Corus Entertainment in Canada.
Great Pacific Media, part of Thunderbird Entertainment Group, has sold global distribution segment rights of Highway Thru Hell to Banijay Rights, the distribution arm of content powerhouse Banijay Entertainment. Banijay Rights, the longtime distributor of Highway Thru Hell internationally, now holds the rights to license, distribute, publish and broadcast short-form segments and stories excerpted from the series, which is currently in pre-production on its 14th season. An official HighwayThruHellTV YouTube channel, created and managed by Banijay Rights, launched in August. Additionally, Banijay Rights now publishes segments on social media platforms, including Highway Thru Hell’s Official Show Page on Facebook.
Cottage Life’s new original series, Holmes on Homes: Building a Legacy, a reboot of the hit Holmes on Homes program, sees construction pioneer Mike Holmes reflect on his career helping homeowners and advocating for the trade industry. In the new six-part series, audiences will witness Holmes’ determination to instill his values in his children, Michael and Sherry, as they continue his legacy. The show delves deeper into the Holmes family dynamic, following Mike as he returns to his “make it right” roots and mentors his children in the family business. Cameras follow the trio as they work side-by-side to create life-changing renovations for deserving homeowners, while also capturing heartfelt behind-the-scenes family moments with Mike, his kids and grandchildren. The series premieres Tuesday, Nov. 12.
Super Channel has announced the long-awaited return of When Hope Calls, the spinoff sequel to Canadian author Janette Oke’s book series and TV series When Calls the Heart. The highly-anticipated second season of When Hope Calls started production this month in Powassan, ON and will premiere in Canada on Super Channel Heart & Home in the first quarter of 2025. Great American Family will air the series in the U.S. Joining the all-star Canadian cast for season two are series newcomers Cindy Busby (Crown Prince of Christmas), Christopher Russell (Reacher, A Lot Like Christmas), and Nick Bateman (A Christmas Miracle with Daisy). Returning cast members include Wendy Crewson, Morgan Kohan (Sullivan’s Crossing), Ryan-James (RJ) Hatanaka (Criminal Minds) and Hanneke Talbot (Star Trek).
Prime Video has released first look images for The Sticky (6×30), a fast-paced, dark comedy, inspired by the true story of 2012’s “Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist.” From showrunners Ed Herro and Brian Donovan, the series follows a tough, middle-aged syrup farmer, played by three-time Emmy winner Margo Martindale, who turns to crime when the bureaucratic authorities threaten to take away everything she loves. Also starring Chris Diamantopoulos and Guillaume Cyr, Jamie Lee Curtis appears as a guest star in addition to executive producing. The Sticky premieres Dec. 6 on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories.
Thunderbird Entertainment Group has announced that The Day You Begin, a brand-new animated original special from Atomic Cartoons, is heading to PBS Kids. The special is currently in production at Atomic’s Vancouver studio. Based on the New York Times-bestselling picture book of the same name by Macarthur Fellow and Jacqueline Woodson, the 45-minute special follows three kindergarteners on their first day of school, and is told from each of their points of view to create an interconnecting narrative.
Crave will start streaming Born Hungry on Oct. 21, based on the true story of Toronto-based celebrity chef Sash Simpson. Directed by Barry Avrich and produced by Mark Selby, and award-winning actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Purple Pebble Pictures), the human drama is about a young Indian boy who finds himself abandoned by his family in rural India, thousands of miles from home. Ultimately rescued and adopted by a Canadian family, Simpson returns to India armed with only blurry memories to find his lost family and reclaim his Indian roots. Born Hungry premiered at the 2024 Palm Springs International Film Festival and screened at Hot Docs in Toronto to three sold out audiences.
Library and Archives Canada’s (LAC) Documentary Heritage Communities Program (DHCP) has opened funding applications for its 2025-26 cycle. LAC gives close to $1.5 million every year to community organizations so they can dedicate the necessary resources to projects aimed at promoting their collections and making them more accessible, while strengthening their capacity to preserve Canada’s documentary heritage. Eligible organizations are invited to submit by Jan. 9, 2025.
ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:
Queeries, the weekly column from CBC Arts producer Peter Knegt discussing LGBTQ art, culture and identity through a personal lens, has come to an end after seven years. The column won a 2019 Digital Publishing Award for Best Column, and was nominated again in 2022 and 2024. In January, CBC Arts will be launching Emerging Queer Voices, a new monthly column that will feature a different up-and-coming LGBTQ writer each month. It will also focus on covering LGBTQ arts and culture “through a personal lens,” but from a multitude of perspectives and ages. CBC Arts says more information will be released in the coming weeks on how to apply to write for the column.
Meta has published a research paper on Movie Gen, billed as breakthrough generative AI for media, which includes modalities like image, video, and audio. It demonstrates how simple text inputs can produce custom videos and sounds, edit existing videos, and transform personal images into a unique video. Meta says Movie Gen outperforms similar industry models across these tasks when evaluated by humans. The company says the product won’t be ready for release anytime soon.
Spotify has launched Offline Backup, bringing Premium users another way to keep listening to music offline, no downloads required. Intended for times users forget to download audio, Offline Backup takes queued and recently streamed tracks and creates an easy-to-access playlist unique to the listener. Songs within the playlist can be sorted by artist, mood, and genre, with Offline Backup evolving as you continue to listen. After testing the feature with users last year and receiving positive feedback, it began rolling out on Android and iOS this week, including Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
Our TV family is in mourning after the sudden and absolutely tragic passing of our friend Chantel. But nothing can compare to what her family is dealing with. Husband without his wife and two beautiful kids without their loving Mom. Please help them. https://t.co/f8zKKNk2WE
— Phil Perkins (@PhilPerkinsCP24) October 8, 2024
A GoFundMe has been set up for the family of Chantel Grillo, a director at Hamilton’s CHCH News, who passed away suddenly on Friday. She was just 39. The station made the unprecedented move of cancelling its 6 p.m. newscast Friday evening, announcing “the sudden death of an employee who worked behind the scenes in the newsroom.” The circumstances of Grillo’s death have not been made public. She had worked with the station for more than 18 years, joining CHCH right out of the Broadcasting program at Mohawk College in 2006. Read more here.
RTDNA Canada has announced its 2024 Regional Lifetime Achievement Award recipients. In the Atlantic region, this year’s honourees include longtime ATV/CTV Atlantic personality Jayson Baxter; CBC Nova Scotia reporter Paul Withers, who retired from the public broadcaster this year, and former Global News Supervising Producer Richard Dooley. In the Central region, RTDNA is recognizing Lily Pakula, a longtime technical producer with CTV News Northern Ontario; Linda Oland, retired Director of News and Information Programming at CP24, alongside recently retired CKLW AM 800 Windsor morning show personality, Lisa Williams. On the Prairies, RTDNA is honouring John Vos, Corus Entertainment’s former Regional Program Director for QR (CHQR-AM) Calgary and 630 CHED Edmonton; longtime Global Calgary anchor Linda Olsen; and Arnie Jackson, an alum of CFAC and CFXL Calgary, and CKGY Red Deer, known as the voice of chuckwagon racing in the region. In the West, 18-time Emmy winner Ross McLaughlin, who pioneered the first consumer investigative franchise, Troubleshooter, at ITV Edmonton (now Global), is being recognized. Read more here.
RTDNA Canada has announced its national Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, set to be honoured at its National Awards Gala on Nov. 2 in Toronto. This year’s honourees include Susan Marjetti, former General Manager of News, Current Affairs and Local Services, at CBC News, who retired from the public broadcaster in January. Beverly Thomson is being honoured for her 30-year anchoring and hosting career, most recently at CTV News Channel. Mark Blanchard, Global News’ former Manager of Resources and News Gathering, who passed away this summer, will also be posthumously recognized. Read more here.
RTDNA Canada’s Distinguished Service Award recipients have been revealed, presented to members who have played a major role in the continuing success of the organization. This year’s honourees are Jon Whitten, News Director at CityNews Toronto, and former Executive Director of News Content, and Executive Producer of The National at CBC News. RTDNA Conference co-chair Beatrice Politi, former Network Managing Editor at Global TV, and multimedia consultant and former CBC News producer Owen Leitch. RTDNA Canada has also recognized excellence across digital and broadcast journalism with its Regional Awards of Excellence. Check out the winners in the Central Region, East Region, Prairie Region, and West Region.
Journalists for Human Rights (JHR), the Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) and APTN News are launching the Growing Indigenous Storytellers Fellowship Program, supported by the Google News Initiative. Six Indigenous fellows will have the opportunity to work at APTN News for a period of six months, and connect with a wider network at IJA’s 2025 Indigenous Media Conference. The program will also offer a series of workshops and lectures for both the fellows and broader journalism community. Read more here.
The CRTC is launching a public consultation on the proposed Code of Conduct for the Online News Act bargaining framework. This is the fourth consultation on the Act the CRTC has launched, to encourage organizations and platforms to bargain in good faith and make informed decisions during negotiations. The CRTC is accepting comments until Nov. 7. The CRTC is also investigating whether Facebook has been allowing Canadian news on its platform in violation of the Act. The regulator is gathering comments until Oct. 11 on whether Meta is complying with the law. Read more here.
The CRTC has released its “What We Heard” report, summarizing feedback from workshops with members of the audiovisual (AV) industry discussing the CRTC’s definition of Canadian Content (CanCon) and the possibility it might need to be adapted given fundamental changes to the broadcast industry. A total of 382 participants took part in 17 workshops in February and March of this year, including in-person events in Montreal, Toronto, Halifax, Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Calgary, encompassing the perspectives of Indigenous and official language minority communities (OLMCs), online creators, small and large producers, domestic broadcasters, unions, and representatives from foreign streaming services. Read more here.
The CRTC is taking action to help make cellphone use more affordable when Canadians travel internationally and within Canada. A commission review found roaming fees for Canadian travellers are often inflexible, causing consumers to pay a flat fee of $10 to $16 per day regardless of how much they use their cellphone. The commission is calling on large cellphone providers to take immediate action to provide affordable roaming options. Companies must inform the CRTC by Nov. 4 of the steps they are taking to respond to the commission’s concerns. It says that if sufficient progress is not made, it will launch a formal public proceeding. The CRTC says it is also taking steps to help make domestic wholesale roaming rates – the fees cellphone service providers pay when their customers travel outside of their province’s coverage area – more affordable for Canadians to travel within Canada.
BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:
Comlab is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Established in 1984, the Quebec City-headquartered company started with an AM/FM/SSB training system designed to teach the principles of radio communications to technicians and engineers. That set the stage for a series of successful product lines, including the current third generation of Davicom Remote Site Management products, the Cortex and Axon/Neuro.
Avid has entered into an agreement to acquire Wolftech Broadcast Solutions, the cloud-based multi-platform planning and news publishing production solutions provider. Avid says the strategic move is in line with its focus on transforming news, sports, and live production workflows. The acquisition will allow Avid to combine its digital-first, end-to-end media solution with Wolftech’s expertise in story-centric workflow management. The integration is intended to enable news organizations to rapidly deliver stories through multi-platform amplification, increasing efficiency and improving remote collaboration.
