Global News Morning Calgary is expanding its digital presence. Matthew Conrod is the program’s new online social host providing the television audience with updates from the digital space, while reporting the daily news on the station’s Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook platforms. The show’s team also includes full-time anchor Dallas Flexhaug; meteorologist Jordan Witzel, who takes on new duties as co-anchor; and Leslie Horton, whose role expands to ensure important community events are featured across platforms, while evolving her traffic coverage.
CTV has announced a multi-year partnership with Canada’s Walk of Fame to become the official and exclusive broadcaster of the awards. Brokered by Canada’s Walk of Fame CEO Jeffrey Latimer and Bell Media president Randy Lennox, the partnership comes ahead of the event’s 20th anniversary milestone this December. This year’s awards show will include 2018 inductees and those inducted since the Walk of Fame was founded in 1998. Past inductees include Ryan Reynolds, Bryan Adams, Pamela Anderson, Jeanne Beker, Jim Carrey, Kim Cattrall, Michael J. Fox, and others. Broadcast details will be announced at a later date.
Télévision française de l’Ontario (TFO), Ontario’s only French public broadcaster, has cut programs and laid off 37 workers, including 11 Unifor members. The cuts include camera operators, editors, switcher directors, archivists, a purchaser, production assistant, props, and marketing staff represented by Unifor, as well as journalists and non-union staff. The broadcaster, which is owned by an Ontario Crown corporation relies heavily on funding from Ontario’s Ministry of Education, and says it has not seen an increase in the last two years despite rising operating costs and declining cable revenues. The news comes as Unifor tries to negotiate a new collective agreement for the 80 technical staff at TFO.
Bell Media will rebrand four of its leading entertainment specialty channels as CTV properties. Space, Bravo, Comedy and Gusto will become CTV Sci-Fi, CTV Drama, CTV Comedy and CTV Life. They will be joined by CTV Movies and CTV Vault, two new ad-supported VOD services, in a new CTV digital super-hub featuring all seven services. Debuting “in front of the wall” on the new CTV digital platform, CTV Movies and CTV Vault will each offer thousands of hours of content, refreshed weekly, all flowing from a new partnership with Sony Pictures Television. The CTV super-hub will be available on connected devices everywhere, including the web, iOS, Android, Chromecast, Apple and Android TV, Xbox One and Samsung smart TVs.
CBC has greenlit Cavendish, a new primetime half-hour original comedy series set to premiere in winter 2019. Cavendish will be the first Temple Street series to be represented internationally by Boat Rocker’s distribution arm Boat Rocker Rights. Cavendish is created by executive producers and comedians Andrew Bush and Mark Little, along with Garry Campbell. The eight-episode series is Temple Street’s first comedy series with CBC, and follows the company’s previous one-hour dramas X Company and Being Erica for the public broadcaster.
Don Carmody Television has begun production in and around Parry Sound, ON on the new CBC and Netflix family adventure series Northern Rescue. The series follows John West (William Baldwin), who uproots his three children from the big city to return to his hometown to take command of the local Search & Rescue service after the death of his wife. New cast members include Amalia Williamson (Level 16) as Maddie West, John’s 16-year-old daughter; Spencer MacPherson (DeGrassi: Next Class) as Scout West, John’s 14-year-old son, and Taylor Thorne (Odd Squad) as Taylor West, John’s 10-year-old daughter.
The Quebecor Fund board of directors has announced the Canadian production companies that will receive funding in the 36th round of the fund’s Television Production Assistance Program. More than $2.1 million is being dispersed, including nearly $700,000 to Galafilm Productions inc., ToonDraw Animation inc. and Attraction Images inc. The three selected productions will air on CBC, CBC News Network, Documentary Channel (CBC), ICI Radio-Canada, ICI Explora (SRC), RDI (SRC), YOOPA (TVA Group) and V Télé (Groupe V Média). Under Support for the Creation of Intellectual Property, more than $1.4 million is being granted to six projects from Productions Squeeze inc., Productions KOTV inc., Média Ranch TV inc., Productions Déferlantes inc., and Anémone Films inc. The broadcasters investing in the development of the projects are Télé-Québec, TVA, Canal D (Bell Media) and Société Radio-Canada.
Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) was among the winners at the 2018 Rockie Awards at the Banff World Media Festival. Its series Employable Me, produced by Thomas Howe Associates, received the Lifestyle Program Award in the Arts and Entertainment category. The docu-series follows job seekers determined to prove that having a physical disability or neurological condition shouldn’t make them unemployable. Other Canadian winners included Still Standing (CBC/Frantic Films), Giver (Sinking Ship Entertainment), and Travelers (Peacock Alley/Corus Entertainment) which took home the Rogers Prize for Excellence in Canadian Content. Find the full list of winners here.
CTV News says it’s coverage of the Ontario Provincial Election drew an average audience of 840,000 preliminary overnight viewers who tuned in to CTV News’ election results special Election 2018 on CTV and CTV News Channel from 9 p.m. – 11:35 p.m. ET. Anchored by CTV Toronto’s Ken Shaw and Michelle Dube, the special was watched by 3.8 million unique Canadian viewers. Audiences peaked at 1.2 million viewers at 9:44 p.m. ET, after the Ontario PC Party had secured a majority government. In the Toronto market, CP24 delivered the second-most-watched election special, behind CTV News, attracting an average audience of 210,000 viewers from 8 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. ET.
TSN has announced its CFL ON TSN broadcast schedule, including live coverage of all 81 regular season games, all four divisional playoff matchups, and the 106th Grey Cup presented by Shaw. Live coverage of every CFL game is available to stream and on demand for TSN and TSN Direct subscribers via TSN.ca/Live and the TSN app. RDS will deliver French-language coverage of 45 regular season CFL games, including all 18 Montreal Alouettes games, plus the playoffs. Kate Beirness is the new host of Thursday Night Football which is getting a new look, including musical performances. Two-time Grey Cup MVP Henry Burris is also joining the Thursday panel.
