RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:

SiriusXM Canada’s 200+ audio channels are now available on Apple TV 4K and Apple TV (4th generation) via the SiriusXM app. Among other features, users can choose from a large library of archived programming on SiriusXM On Demand; set preferences and resume shows from where they left off across their devices.

CFUZ Penticton, the online community station operated by not-for-profit Peach City Radio, began streaming live programming at cfuz.ca on New Year’s Day, in addition to podcast content, from its studio at the Cannery Trade Centre. The society is working toward establishing an FM signal.

Coast to Coast with George Noory has picked up several new Canadian affiliates. The long-running syndicated program exploring all things paranormal and conspiracy theory is now airing on Roundhouse Radio (CIRH-FM) Vancouver, CFRB-AM Toronto, and CKFR AM 1150 (CKFR-AM) Kelowna (beginning Jan. 15).

The CRTC is renewing Dufferin Communications licence for Z103.5 (CIDC-FM) Orangeville short-term until Aug. 2023, citing non-compliance issues. As of the New Year, the regulator is requiring the station to mention Orangeville in its station IDs and include news relevant to areas within its authorized market, including Orangeville, and not related exclusively to Toronto.

107.5 Beach Radio Vernon has rebranded from KiSS FM, playing the greatest hits of the 80s and 90s and early 2000s, in addition to news, sports and play-by-play coverage of the BCHL Vernon Vipers. The station has also returned to the original CKIB call letters it launched with as an AM in 1947. Over the years, it’s used the call signs CKIS and CKIZ.

CBC Calgary’s Food Bank Blitz Day on Dec. 20 raised more than $1 million and collected 4,270 pounds in food donations. Calgary Eyeopener hosts David Gray and Angela Knight kicked off the broadcast from the CBC Calgary lobby. The live radiothon continued with The Homestretch and host Doug Dirks, Jenny Howe and local band Son of Ray.

98 the Beach (CFPS-FM) Port Elgin helped raise $60,600 for the Saugeen Memorial Hospital Foundation on Dec. 14. The 12-hour Light the Way Radiothon topped its goal for the second year in a row, with the total added to approximately $100,000 raised from the foundation’s annual mail-in campaign.

CHVN-FM Winnipeg’s Be Part of a Story Radiothon raised $100,885. Over three days in mid-December, Adult & Teen Challenge of Central Canada shared stories from their multiple programs. In total this year, CHVN raised $306,157 for Winnipeg service providers and put together 2,584 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.

KiSS 102.3 (CKY-FM) and 92.1 CITI FM Winnipeg held their annual Christmas for Kids Radiothon on Dec. 8-9. The broadcast was the most successful to date, raising $116,000 for the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba.

Sportsnet is launching a new podcast in January. 31 Thoughts: The Podcast, hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman is based on Friedman’s 31 Thoughts news and opinion

SIGN-OFFS:

Jim Shaw, 60, on Jan. 3, after a brief illness. A colourful, Harley-riding maverick who avoided wearing business suits, Shaw initially resisted joining the family business, dropping out of university and trying several small business ventures before joining Shaw Communications in 1982. He started out installing set-top boxes, rising through the ranks to eventually become CEO in 1998. Under his tenure, Shaw acquired various cable competitors including Moffatt Communications, launched internet-based phone service, and led a hostile takeover of WIC (Western International Communications), which resulted in Shaw acquiring a number of radio and television properties that eventually became Corus Entertainment. Shaw went on to acquire the broadcast assets of bankrupt Canwest-Global Communications in 2010. He stepped down as CEO in 2010, making way for younger brother Brad to take over. Among the numerous boards Shaw served on over the years, he chaired the Canadian Cable Television Association for six years.

Ralph Noseworthy, 81, on Dec. 26, after suffering a heart attack. Born in Sydney, NS, Noseworthy was a professional diver and participated in the excavation of the historic Fortress of Louisbourg, before moving to Quebec City and becoming a journalist. He worked for the Chronicle-Telegraph, UPI news service, CJMF-FM Quebec City and CFOX-AM Montreal, before joining CFCF-12. The longtime Pulse News reporter covered Quebec’s National Assembly for nearly two decades, earning him the nickname Ralph “Newsworthy” and a reputation for never taking no for an answer. Always looking for a scoop, Noseworthy ultimately triggered early reading of Quebec’s budget in 1987 after taping together a shredded copy he found in the trash. Later in his career, he was reassigned to Montreal, where he hosted consumer affairs show Action 12.

Robert Charles (Bob) Dawson, 85, on Dec. 10. Dawson played for the Hamilton Tiger Cats from 1953-59, winning Grey Cups in 1953 and 1957, before going on to coach the Burlington Braves and McMaster Marauders from 1961-65. Following his football career, he was vice-president of sales at CHCH-TV Hamilton and then co-owner of Alexander, Pearson and Dawson National Television Sales Organization. Dawson also taught Advertising and Media at Mohawk College.

Doug Kirby, 67, on Dec. 15. Kirby graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design with a degree in Fine Arts, before starting a four-decade career with CBC Nova Scotia. In his role as a media librarian and archivist, Kirby worked on numerous programs including CBC’s Land and Sea. For the last two years, Kirby had been working on the development of a private media venture which he called 01IVE Media File Brokers.

Gary Connors, 65, on Dec. 16 of lung cancer. Connors began his career in radio as a reporter for CKJD-AM Sarnia in 1972 and then spent 14 years on CHOK-AM/FM Sarnia. Diagnosed with lung cancer in 2014, Connors continued as a DJ at The Eagle 107.7 FM (CKTI-FM) at Kettle & Stony Point First Nation, where he worked every Saturday right up until Dec. 2, 2017. The Ipperwash resident was also an avid motorcycle drag racer and musician, volunteering his time and talents for many fundraisers.

Richard (Dick) Orkin, 84, on Dec. 24. An award-winning voice actor and commercial radio producer, Orkin created the Chickenman radio series, which ran in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s. Originating from WCFL Chicago, the show was syndicated to Canadian radio stations and aired on Armed Forces Radio during the Vietnam War. Orkin was an inductee of the National Radio Hall of Fame, the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame, the Illinois Broadcasters Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the Radio Advertising Bureau Hall of Fame.  Orkin wrote to the NAB in 2010 asking that his name be removed from the Hall, because he did not wish to share the honour with radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

Roman Stoyko, 83, on Dec. 19. While Stoyko studied plumbing and electrical courses, in his younger years he performed with the Rusalka dancers and Royal Winnipeg Ballet, including many performances at Rainbow Stage. He later joined CBC working on costume/set design and puppeteering, eventually working his way up to producer. Stoyko toured Canada with the Hymn Sing program, in addition to working on many other productions including Winnipeg Jets and Blue Bombers broadcasts.

Sarah LaLumiere, 60, Dec. 14. LaLumiere spent her early years in Ottawa, London, England, and Tanzania before embarking on a career as a television tech with CBC Ottawa. One of her professional highlights was her years spent as an editor on folksy television series On The Road Again, hosted by Wayne Rostad. LaLumiere’s editing work on CBC Ottawa’s 2013 series Fetanyl: Fatal Addiction, earned her an award from the Canadian Medical Association.

Bruce Gray, 81, on Dec. 13, of brain cancer. Born in Puerto Rico to Canadian parents, Gray graduated from the University of Toronto with a master’s degree in psychology before getting into modelling and acting, moving to Hollywood in 1980. He was best known to Canadian audiences for his portrayal of investment banker Adam Cunningham on Traders (for which he earned a Gemini Award for Best Actor), the father of the groom in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and the ghost of Joe’s father on Medium. Over the years he appeared on Beverly Hills 90210, Chicago Hope, Murphy Brown, Melrose Place, ER, Picket Fences, Queer As Folk and Murder She Wrote. On film, Gray played opposite Carol Burnett in Between Friends, For the Boys, The Peacemaker and Spy Hard. He was seen at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival in the Canadian film Don’t Talk to Irene, in which he played a reluctant nursing home resident who joins a seniors’ cheerleading troupe.

Bob Crowe, 62, on Dec. 15. Crowe was a lawyer who left a successful practice to work in the film industry. Co-owner of Angel Entertainment and Bamboo Shoots, Crowe worked on everything from feature films to TV series, commercials and live events. He and his producing partner of 17 years, Wally Start were behind series like Rabbit Fall and The Other Side. A cheerleader for Saskatchewan’s film industry, he also served on committees and the boards of industry organizations like the Canada Media Fund, SaskCulture, Canadian Media Production Association and SMPIA.

Heather Menzies-Urich, 68, on Dec. 24, in Frankford, ON of brain cancer. Menzies-Urich was best known for playing Louisa von Trapp, the third-oldest of the singing von Trapp children in the 1965 film adaptation of “The Sound of Music.” A Toronto native, Menzies-Urich also appeared in the films “Hawaii” and “Piranha.” On television, she appeared as a fugitive in “Logan’s Run” and had guest spots on “Dragnet,” “Bonanza,” “Marcus Welby, M.D.” and other series. Her husband, actor Robert Urich, died in 2002. After his death, she established the Robert Urich Foundation to raise funds for cancer research.

Len Rowcliffe, 88, on Dec. 19. A native of Montreal, Rowcliffe was one of the first helicopter traffic reporters on CJAD AM 800 Montreal in the 1960s and early 70s, a role captured in the 1972 National Film Board short Trafficopter. He went on to work at CFMS-FM Victoria during the 1980s and then CFAX-AM Victoria in the 1990s where he hosted nostalgia music program Sentimental Journey weeknights, as well as a Sunday morning call-in garden show.

TV/FILM/VIDEO:

Bell Media’s appeal of the CRTC ruling banning simultaneous substitution of U.S. advertising during the Super Bowl has been dismissed by The Federal Court of Appeal. Bell has been fighting the ruling for almost three years, which it blames for a 39 per cent decline in audience for the big game in 2017 and a drop of $11 million in ad revenue. Whether Bell will appeal isn’t clear, with the company said to be exploring its options. In August, it asked the regulator to reverse the policy.

Rogers Media and CBC have signed a new seven-year sub-licensing agreement for English-language broadcasts of Hockey Night in Canada and the Stanley Cup Playoffs, beginning with the 2019-20 season. The new deal, which follows a previous four-year sub-licensing deal and one-year extension, runs through the end of the 2025-26 season when Rogers’s 12-year broadcast rights deal with the NHL is set to expire. Sportsnet will continue to produce the games, retain editorial control and manage advertising, with games continuing to be produced from Sportsnet’s Hockey Central Studio at CBC Toronto. This season, HNIC has been the most-watched program in Canada on Saturday nights, reaching a total of 18 million Canadians.

W5 and VICE Canada have struck a partnership to produce and air two documentaries in 2018 on the impact and root causes of Canada’s opioid crisis. The initial 30-minute production looks beyond the perception of the issue as an urban problem and examines the toll it has taken on small-town Canada. Details of other long and short-form doc projects will follow later in the year.

City has announced it’s extended its broadcast deal to exclusively air the Grammy Awards in Canada. City has extended its current five-year deal for an additional three years. City will broadcast The 60th Annual Grammy Awards live from Madison Square Garden in New York City on Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Late-night personality James Corden will return as host. Additional broadcast and Rogers Media multi-platform coverage details will be announced in the coming weeks.

CTV has announced additional premiere dates for the network’s January schedule, headlined by the latest season of The X-Files, which premiered Jan. 3, and the 30th anniversary season of The Amazing Race, which will air five nights a week for two weeks, Feb. 11-25. Along with the previously announced Season 2 return of Cardinal (Jan. 4), Young Sheldon (Jan. 4), The Good Doctor (Jan. 8), and CTV original music series The Launch (Jan. 10), Ellen DeGeneres’ reality competition show Ellen’s Game of Games continues in a new time slot on Tuesday nights.

CTV had Fall’s Top 3 most-watched programs for total viewers (P2+) and all key demos (A18-34, A18-49, and A25-54), including The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, and The Good Doctor. Numeris data confirms Young Sheldon experienced the biggest debut for a new comedy series in a decade, while Russell Peters’ vehicle The Indian Detective marked the biggest debut episode for a Canadian scripted series since 2011.

Temple Street, a division of Boat Rocker Studios, has secured the television rights to author Guy Gavriel Kay’s The Fionavar Tapestry. Published as three volumes in the mid-1980s (The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire and The Darkest Road), the modern fantasy trilogy has sold more than a million copies around the world. David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, Boat Rocker’s co-executive chairmen, will executive produce for Temple Street (Orphan Black, Killjoys), along with Kris Holden-Ried (Vikings, Tudors, Lost Girl). Temple Street senior VP Kerry Appleyard and senior development producer Lesley Grant will oversee series adaptation. Boat Rocker Rights will control worldwide rights.

CraveTV has secured Canadian streaming rights for new, 10-episode, sci-fi drama Counterpart, starring J.K. Simmons (Whiplash). Set in the world of espionage and government conspiracies, Episode 1 is now available to subscribers as a CraveTV First Look before the series makes its official debut on Jan. 21.

Global Television’s Global GO app is now available for Apple TV. The new version of the app works continuously across iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, allowing users to stop watching a show part way through and pick it up on a different device on demand. Additionally, users can ask Siri to find new episodes of their favourite Global series. Those with Apple’s Automatic Downloads feature enabled will automatically get Global GO for Apple TV with a software update to Global GO. Global GO is available for Apple TV 4th generation and Apple TV 4K.

Global Edmonton has been found to have violated the CAB Code of Ethics and the RTDNA Code of Journalistic Ethics when it aired a report with erroneous information on Global News at 5 on April 3, 2017. The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council reviewed a viewer complaint about a news report focused on the sentencing of a Sunwing pilot. The broadcaster reported that the pilot had been banned from flying for two years, when the ban had actually been for one year. Global aired a correction.

The CRTC has denied an application by Ethnic Channels Group Ltd. (ECGL) to bring Polish music channel 360tunebox to Canada. Blue Ant Media and Stingray Digital Group opposed the application, saying the channel was directly competitive with Blue Ant’s A.Side and Stingray Vibe.

A Celebration of Life in memory of singer, entertainer and TV host “Our Pet” Juliette Cavazzi, who died in October at age 91, will be held at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club on Sat., Jan. 20. Those wanting to attend are asked to RSVP to [email protected] by Jan. 5.

Stingray has acquired the assets of New-York based Qello Concerts, the leading over-the-top (OTT) streaming service for full-length, on-demand concerts and music documentaries. With users in more than 160 countries, Qello Concerts is available on Amazon Channels, Apple TV, Roku, Google TV, Samsung Smart TV, mobile devices, and QelloConcerts.com.

ONLINE/DIGITAL:

CBC ombudsman Esther Enkin suggests serious consideration should be given to removing live interviews from social platforms where inaccurate content cannot be edited. Enkin has responded to one of 10 complaints in reference to a q & a with palliative care physician Louise Coulombe, which streamed as a live chat on Facebook, and was later posted to YouTube. In the course of taking questions, the interviewee gave wrong information. In her review, Enkin suggests CBC management “should find a solution to the challenge that the record cannot be adequately corrected. If there is no remedy that alerts people landing on this page that there is misinformation, then strong consideration should be given to removing the material.” Read the review here.

GENERAL:

Actor William Shatner, Montreal filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, and Coast Salish poet and screenwriter Lee Maracle are among the latest Canadians appointed Officers of the Order of Canada. New Members to the Order include entertainer and author Jann Arden; Yuk Yuk’s co-founder and radio host Mark Breslin; Quebec actress and former Tory MP Andrée Champagne; former sports journalist Red Fisher; Mi’kmaq filmmaker Catherine Ann Martin; former CBC Montreal and W5 host Sylvia Sweeney; and Hollywood Suite co-founder and former CHUM CEO Jay Switzer. View the complete list of recipients here.

Deloitte is out with its Technology, Media and Telecommunications Predictions for 2018. Among them, that this will be a big year for AR (augmented reality), including the development of thousands of AR apps; that the role of the smartphone will become ever more central with the number of daily glances continuing to rise; and that TV viewing will continue to decline among 18-24 year-olds. Download the full report here.

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) says it’s filed a complaint with the CRTC, asking the regulator to clarify its unlocking rules after complaints Bell will only unlock phones free of charge for current and former customers, excluding those who may have a second-hand phone locked to its network. New CRTC rules took effect Dec. 1 that were supposed to free Canadians from unlocking fees. Rogers, Telus and Freedom Mobile say they’ll unlock phones locked to their networks free of charge, as long as the phone hasn’t been flagged as lost or stolen.

Freedom Mobile’s 10 GB wireless plan for $50 triggered similarly priced plans in Freedom’s service areas in December. The price wars saw Bell, Telus, and Rogers and flanker brands Koodo and Fido offer 10 GB for $60 in B.C, Alberta and Ontario.

The CRTC has called for comment on what types of non-carrier telecom providers should be exempt from registering with the commission. Right now, those providing interexchange; local exchange services (also known as local telephone services); wireless voice; local voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP); Internet access or payphone services are required to register. Comments close Jan. 30.

Newfoundland and Labrador’s government has announced that $40 million in federal, provincial and private funding will go toward expanding broadband internet service in the province. When the work is complete, 1,500 homes will be brought online in rural areas or service will be upgraded. Bell Aliant will contribute $9.2 million to the expansion.

The 2018 Canadian Telecom Summit is set for June 4-6 in Toronto. In its 17th year, the theme is Innovation and Disruption in ICT: reinventing and securing our business and personal lives. Find out more here.

The Western Association of Broadcasters 84th Annual Conference will take place June 6-7 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Arlene Dickinson from CBC Dragons’ Den, one of Canada’s most successful communications entrepreneurs, will headline this year’s conference. The speakers lineup also includes researcher David Allison; Terry O’Reilly, the familiar voice behind CBC Radio program Under the Influence; and a panel of programming experts including Paul Kaye (Rogers Media), Ronnie Stanton (Alpha Media), Rob Farina (Bell Media), Steve Jones (Newcap Radio) and Barrie Vice (Golden West Broadcasting). CRTC Chair Ian Scott will also be a special conference guest. Registration and hotel information is available at www.wab.ca.

Cision has acquired CEDROM-SNi Inc., a Montréal-based firm specializing in digital media monitoring solutions. CEDROM, with approximately 110 employees in Montréal, Québec City, Ottawa, Toronto and Paris, offers media monitoring and analytical services through its digital solution, Eureka.cc in Canada, and its European counterpart, Europresse.com in France. Cision is also acquiring PRIME Research, subject to regulatory approval. PRIME provides real-time monitoring and analysis across digital, print, television, radio, and online channels.

Chad Booth, a first-year student at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton, and Jessie Weisner, a second-year majoring in Broadcast News at SAIT in Calgary, are the 2017 recipients of the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Prairie Equity Scholarships. The Equity Scholarship was instituted in 2009 to address the shortage of broadcasters from under-represented groups.

An Interview With Dr. Michael Geist

On the first Broadcast Dialogue podcast of 2018, publisher Shawn Smith talks to University of Ottawa law professor Dr. Michael Geist, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law. Geist touches on what we can anticipate in the areas of net neutrality, copyright reform, and at the CRTC as 2018 unfolds.