CPAC (Cable Public Affairs Channel) is celebrating 25 years this month. Formed after the CBC announced it could no longer bear the cost of operating the English and French parliamentary channels, a consortium of 25 cable companies took over the role, receiving a licence from the CRTC in 1993. The Canadian Parliamentary Channel’s name was eventually changed to Cable Public Affairs Channel. The original ownership structure continues today with its shareholders Rogers Communications (41.4%), Shaw (25.05%), Videotron (21.71%), Cogeco (6.7%), Eastlink (3.76%) and several other cable companies (including Access Communications and Omineca Cablevision) owning combined equity of 1.37%.
Unifor members at Global TV stations in Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, the Maritimes and Ottawa have ratified a new contract with Corus Entertainment, averting the threat of a strike. Back in July, both parties reached a standoff in negotiations and entered a “cooling off” period, before resuming talks with the help of a federal mediator in mid-August.
The CRTC has denied an application by Canal Évasion inc. to decrease its Canadian programming expenditure requirement for Évasion from 46 to 32 per cent of its gross revenue. The commission has decided it would be more appropriate to assess the CPE requirements for Évasion at its licence renewal, when it also examines the licence renewal applications for related service Zeste and other independent discretionary services.
TSN is offering an expanded slate of 191 regular season regional games for the 2017-18 NHL season. The network’s regional hockey lineup features the newly-acquired Montreal Canadiens with a package of 50 games on TSN2, 26 Toronto Maple Leafs games on TSN4, 55 Ottawa Senators games on TSN5, and 60 Winnipeg Jets games on TSN3, with TSN Radio stations also providing listeners with pre-, post-, and live game coverage. Led by TSN Hockey host James Duthie – Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun will contribute to each team’s regional broadcast coverage and provide analysis and discussion across TSN Digital and Radio properties.
The Toronto Raptors return to TSN for the 2017-18 season with a package of 41 regular season games, starting with the season opener at home against the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 19. BMO Raptors Basketball On TSN will be led by play-by-play commentator Matt Devlin, alongside game analyst Jack “The Coach” Armstrong. Rod Black hosts pre-game, halftime and post-game coverage, alongside analyst Leo Rautins. The TSN Radio 1050 (CHUM-AM) broadcast team includes play-by-play announcer Paul Jones, with Armstrong and Sherman Hamilton delivering analysis.
Vintage TV Canada has announced plans to invest in more country music programming on the heels of CMT (Country Music Television) Canada’s move away from music videos. Launched last October, Vintage TV Canada already airs dedicated playlist shows featuring music videos from country legends like Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Shania Twain. Details of additional programming are forthcoming.
Jean-Marc Vallée has won his first Emmy Award for directing HBO miniseries Big Little Lies. The show was nominated for 16 Emmys, including nods to Quebec cinematographer Yves Bélanger and sound mixers Gavin Fernandes and Louis Gignac. The Toronto-shot Handmaid’s Tale earned best drama, best drama writing and directing awards, in addition to Elisabeth Moss taking home best actress. Canadian author Margaret Atwood, who penned the 1985 dystopian novel the show is based on, was among those onstage.
eMarketer says American consumers are cancelling traditional pay-TV service at a much faster rate than predicted. By the end of 2017, it’s projected 22.2 million people will have cut the cord on cable, satellite or telco TV service. That’s up 33 per cent from 16.7 million last year. Additionally, the number of cord-nevers, younger audiences who have never subscribed to pay television, is expected to rise 5.8 per cent to 34.4 million. The research firm also predicts average TV viewing in the U.S. will drop below four hours per day for the first time. Television’s share of total U.S. media ad spending is on course to drop to 34.9 per cent and projected to fall below 30 per cent by 2021.
CTV has announced documentary Long Time Running, chronicling The Tragically Hip’s final tour, will make its television broadcast premiere on Nov. 12. The commercial-free, theatrical version of the doc begins streaming on CraveTV the next day. Directed by Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas De Pencier and commissioned by Bell Media, the film was produced by Banger Films in association with Shed Creative.
Gusto has unveiled its fall lineup, with new original baking series Flour Power debuting Sept. 22. From Gusto Worldwide Media, Montreal baking school owner Jessica McGovern shares three recipes from her retro-inspired kitchen in each 30-minute episode, airing Friday nights. View Gusto’s complete September lineup here.
Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams makes its Canadian broadcast premiere Nov. 12 on Space. The 10-episode, anthology series brings to life the short stories of award-winning sci-fi novelist Philip K. Dick with each episode boasting an entirely different cast of critically acclaimed actors including Steve Buscemi, Greg Kinnear, Anna Paquin, Terrence Howard, Maura Tierney, Richard Madden, Vera Farmiga, Janelle Monáe and Bryan Cranston, among others. Every episode is available to Space subscribers on the newly launched Space GO app, in addition to being available on Space.ca, immediately following its broadcast premiere.
Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) has added a new one-hour live program to its fall schedule focused on issues concerning the disability community. Premiering Oct. 2, The Pulse will air daily on AMI-audio from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET, hosted by Dave Brown. Returning are popular morning show, Live from Studio 5, Kelly and Company, The Walrus with Lloyd Robertson, The Guardian This Week and The National Post Show. The full AMI-audio schedule is available online.
Vice News Tonight will anchor Much’s new fall schedule, beginning Oct. 16. The news program, which currently airs on HBO in the U.S., will also air on HBO Canada Mon. – Thurs. Complete newscasts are set to stream on Much.com, with stories also available on Much-branded social media channels.
W5 returns for a 52nd season on Sept. 23 on CTV. Airing just ahead of the Invictus Games Toronto 2017 Opening Ceremony, the one-hour Unconquered follows Canadian veterans of the Afghanistan conflict, living with disabilities resulting from combat injuries, as they prepare to compete in the Invictus Games.
Comedy’s fall lineup sees the return of its original, weekly satirical series, The Beaverton on Nov. 1, with hosts Emma Hunter and Miguel Rivas. Also debuting this fall is Season 5 of original stand-up series JFL: All Access on Sept. 30. New to the network is The Opposition with Jordan Klepper. Klepper made a name for himself as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Trever Noah.
CTV has announced Shania Twain as the latest mentor to join the inaugural season of its new original music series The Launch. Twain joins record exec Scott Borchetta, who is also producing the series for Bell Media, in addition to Black Eyed Peas’ frontwoman Fergie and OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder. The series is currently in production in Toronto.
Jason DaSilva is the inaugural recipient of the CBC-ReelAbilities Screenwriter Fund. DaSilva has been making short films and documentaries since 1998, including 2013 feature When I Walk telling the story of his own experiences with MS, which won an Emmy.
