The Weekly Briefing

REVOLVING DOOR:

Nick Kypreos and Doug MacLean have announced they are both parting ways with Sportsnet. Kypreos has been with the network since 1998 as an analyst and NHL insider, including appearances on Hockey Night in Canada and Hockey Central. He also co-hosted Hockey Central at Noon on Sportsnet 590 The FAN (CJCL-AM). MacLean started with Sportsnet co-hosting talk radio show The Game Plan in 2008, alongside Jack Armstrong on The Fan 590. He took over the Hockey Central radio show the following year and later became co-host of Hockey Central at Noon, with Kypreos and Darren Millard. He also served as an analyst on Sportsnet’s Hockey Central. Read more here.

Daryl McIntyre has announced he’s leaving CTV Edmonton after 33 years with the station. In a Twitter post, McIntyre said he doesn’t have specific plans but is “excited over whatever new opportunities arise.” His final CTV News at Six newscast will be on Friday, Sept. 13. Read more here.

Scott Dyer has announced his retirement as president of Nelvana, effective Aug. 30. Current Head of Nelvana Enterprises, Pam Westman, has been named as his successor. Dyer has been with Corus and Nelvana for 22 years, holding roles including Head of Nelvana Studios, President of Nelvana, EVP of Corus Kids and Chief Technology Officer, where he oversaw the design and construction of Corus Quay in Toronto. He’ll stay on in a consultantcy role for the next year to ensure a smooth transition.

Rocco Frangione is retiring Aug. 31 after 39 years in radio. After graduating from Algonquin College’s Radio and Television Arts program, Frangione began his career as an evening/weekend announcer at CKOB-AM Renfrew, ON in the fall of 1980. He moved on to Elliot Lake to join the CKNR-FM newsroom a few months later where he stayed until 2006. For the past 13 years, he’s been with 106.3 Moose FM (CFXN-FM) North Bay.

Marie-Eve Bédard has been named Radio-Canada’s correspondent in Paris. Bédard has been with Radio-Canada since 1996 and has been a foreign correspondent since 2001, covering major events from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, to events in Washington, D.C. and Moscow. Most recently, she’s been based in Beirut.

Michelle Mackey is leaving The Weather Network to join 680 News (CFTR-AM) Toronto. Mackey had been with TWN for the last five years holding roles from national morning anchor to working as a VJ for the network in Toronto.

Bradley Karp is leaving Country 93.3 (CJOK-FM) Fort McMurray. Karp has been hosting the morning show since 2017. His last day is Sept. 5. Karp, who was named the Allan Waters Young Broadcaster of the Year at Canadian Music Week 2019, hasn’t revealed where he’s landing.

Stephanie Perron has left Rogers Media after eight and a half years. Perron first joined Rogers as a Communications intern from the Humber College PR program in 2011 and has served in roles from Publicist to Senior Manager of Communications, TV. She’s leaving to start her own digital marketing and public relations company.

Sunny Freeman is the new managing editor at The Canadian Press. Freeman has been CP’s business editor since 2017. She’s also done resource and business reporting for the Toronto Star, HuffPost Canada, and the Financial Post.

Jordan Timm is leaving his role as executive producer, news at the National Post to join online innovation & tech reporting site The Logic. Timm has been with NP since late 2015. His first day at The Logic is Sept. 3.

Sarah O’Donnell is joining CBC Radio Edmonton as senior producer of Edmonton AM. O’Donnell leaves her role as assistant managing editor of the Edmonton Journal.

Scott Riley, longtime morning man at Star FM (CKSR-FM) Chilliwack, has announced he’s retiring at the end of the year. Riley joined CKSR in 1986 and has served as both an announcer and music director.

Thomas Leung has resigned from Fairchild Radio (CJVB-AM) in Vancouver following online backlash over the host’s commentary in support of a white-shirted mob that attacked a group of civilians in Hong Kong in July. The resulting complaints to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council were so numerous they reportedly overwhelmed the CBSC website. Leung is known for his pro-Beijing government stance.

Heather Wright is joining CTV National News as a correspondent in September. Wright has been a reporter with CTV Toronto for the last five years and was previously with CTV Barrie.

Chris Brentlinger-Grant is leaving CKNW Vancouver for Corus sister station 630 CHED Edmonton. Brentlinger-Grant, who has been a talk show and technical producer with NW since 2016, will take over as producer for J’lyn Nye’s afternoon talk show.

Pippa Reed is leaving CKNW to produce for CBC Edmonton. The Aussie journalist has been lead producer on the Jon McComb Show since late 2017.

Simon Kennedy, who has been serving as Deputy Minister of Health since 2015, will be the new Deputy Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), starting Sept. 3. Kennedy replaces John Knubley who had been Deputy Ministry of Industry since 2012 and retired in June.

Tim Black is no longer with Pure Country 101.1 (CKXA-FM) Brandon, MB. Black, who had been with Bell Media since 2006, was host of the Farm Country morning show and also served as the station’s music and program director.

Randy Snow has returned to the OZ FM (CHOZ-FM) St. John’s, NL morning show after a 16-year absence. Snow originally started with the station in 1988, co-hosting mornings alongside Larry Jay and Deb Birmingham. Snow moved on in 2003, going on to work with 99.1 HITS FM (CKIX-FM).

Brent “Brooksie” Brooks has announced he’s not returning to Country 95 (CHLB-FM) Lethbridge. Brooks, who has been recovering from cancer treatments, has been with the station the last nine years. He was most recently co-host of the Wake Up with Brooksie & Gillian. 

RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:

Don Cherry has told the Toronto Sun that the long-running Grapeline radio show won’t see a 36th season. Cherry and Brian Williams have been helming the show for 35 years, which at its peak was heard on 100 stations. Sportsnet PR has confirmed to Broadcast Dialogue that the show, which it says was drawing one million listeners a week, won’t be returning.

The Biggs & Barr Show with Pastey Jamie will debut on 106.1 CHEZ Ottawa on Tuesday, Sept. 3. Chris Biggs and Jason Barr left HTZ-FM (CHTZ-FM) St. Catharines in June to replace CHEZ’s retiring morning team Doc & Woody. Biggs & Barr had been helming mornings at HTZ-FM for the past eight years.

99.3 County FM (CJPE-FM) Prince Edward County, ON is continuing its broadcast partnership with the OJHL Wellington Dukes for the 2019-20 season. The community station will continue as the official voice of the Dukes, with play-by-play provided by former OHL broadcaster and County FM news voice Craig Foster. The production team includes lead Pat Larkin, Ken Murray, and Mark Despault. The station will broadcast all weekend road games and road playoff games, starting Sept. 8.

Neil Hedley, program director and morning show co-host at Zoomer Radio AM 740 (CFZM-FM) Toronto, has a new podcast called The Snooze Button that’s set to launch Sept. 2. Inspired by Hedley’s many sleep-deprived years doing morning radio, the podcast will essentially turn the host into a lab rat as he makes his search for slumber a public experiment. In each weekly nine-minute episode, Hedley will feature the latest in sleep science and research, including conversations with the world’s leading neuroscientists, celebrities and others who’ll share the tips that help them sleep. Hedley will then try those tips for himself. The nine-minute length of the podcast references how much ‘extra sleep’ one gets when they hit the snooze button on an alarm clock. The podcast is part of research Hedley is doing for an upcoming book on the subject.

The Tragically Hip Radio is now live online and on the SiriusXM app. The new channel, available via SiriusXM Streaming, will feature curated music from across The Tragically Hip catalogue, including never-been-aired live recordings from the band’s personal vault; archived interviews and track-by-track sit downs with Gord Downie, Rob Baker, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois and Gord Sinclair; solo work from all members; plus the band will host and program specialty shows from Bathouse Studios. The channel will also feature hosted programs with and music from other artists who have been influenced by the band.

Rebel 101.7 (CIDG-FM) Ottawa and Big Rig Brewery will make Rebel 101.7 Lager available for sale, starting Aug. 28. Available at the Big Rig Brewery Kanata Tap Room and Big Rig Restaurant in Ottawa, brewmasters describe the new brew as “Slow and cold fermented to make this pale lager brilliantly smooth and refreshing. Brewed for The Love of Rock.”

The City of New Westminster, British Columbia has proclaimed Aug. 26 George Garrett Intrepid Reporter Day. Prior to his retirement in 1999, Garrett was an investigative reporter with CKNW NewsTalk 980 for 43 years, working for much of that time out of the station’s original studios in New Westminster. Also named an honorary constable with the New Westminster Police Department, Garrett now dedicates his time to working with Vancouver’s Volunteer Cancer Drivers Society. He released memoir George Garrett: Intrepid Reporter earlier this year.

The 2019 Radio Show is approaching Sept. 24-26 in Dallas. Co-produced by the Radio Advertising Bureau and National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), this year’s event features a new format that will see bigger sessions on broader topics around the theme of Leveraging Transformation addressing the ever-changing audio landscape. They include “You’re Not in the Radio Business Anymore” led by Jacobs Media; and a fireside chat on “The Podcast Revolution” featuring panelists from iHeartMedia, Vox Media, NPR, and United Talent Agency (UTA).

BROADCAST DIALOGUE – THE #PODCAST:

LISTEN: On the latest episode of Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast, Troy McCallum, program director of Toronto’s boom 97.3 (CHBM-FM). McCallum joins us to talk about the challenges of keeping the Classic Hits format fresh, his incessant search for the next big idea, and the station’s new web series “The First Time.”

SIGN-OFFS:

Gord McDougall on Aug. 22.

A 1990 graduate of the Radio and Television Broadcasting program at Algonquin College, McDougall started his radio career with Rideau Broadcasting right out of school, as a reporter and anchor for CJET and Q101 (CKBY-FM) Smiths Falls, ON. In the fall of 1991, he moved on to the newsroom at then-Rawlco stations Majic 100 (CJMJ-FM) and Energy 1200 (CFGO-AM). After eight years, he joined CFRA radio where he was an anchor and reporter for 12 years. McDougall was one of the casualties of a significant group layoff at Bell Media Ottawa in Feb. 2012. Most recently, he’d been working with the Canadian Traffic Network (CTN).

Bryan Stone (Ghidoni), on Aug. 23, suddenly of a heart attack.

Stone spent the bulk of his career in Winnipeg, arriving at CFRW 1290 in 1980 from CKLW Windsor. Stone served as news director in the 1990s and later became general manager of the CHUM Group stations in Manitoba, including CFRW and Q94. Clay Young and Tom Milroy shared their memories of working with Stone on CJOB Winnipeg this past weekend.

Kerry Marshall, on Aug. 26, after a short battle with brain cancer.

Marshall was a well-known morning co-host and news voice on CKLG-FM, CFOX-FM, JACK FM (CJAX-FM), and more recently Roundhouse Radio (CIRH-FM) in the Vancouver market after starting his career with CHUB Nanaimo in 1969. Marshall spent nearly 28 years with CKLG-FM through its call sign change to CFOX, beginning in 1974. Serving as news director and morning show co-host, Marshall worked alongside hosts like Greg Collins, Terry David Mulligan, and Humble Howard. In 2002, he followed morning show team Larry Hennessey and Willy Percy over to Rogers’ JACK FM. Marshall was eventually part of layoffs in 2012 with Larry & Willy’s subsequent contract dispute leading to the dissolution of the morning show. Marshall resurfaced at Roundhouse Radio from 2015 to 2017 as senior news editor and morning news reader. Most recently, he’d been co-hosting the Prattcast podcast with sports radio veteran Dave Pratt. Read more here.

ONLINE/DIGITAL:

CBC Gem has announced its fall streaming lineup, kicking off Sept. 6, which includes Season 1 of the Emmy-nominated Documentary Now! – a mockumentary series created by Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, and Rhys Thomas. UK drama The Victim, starring Kelly MacDonald (Boardwalk Empire) is also set to stream, in addition to Seasons 4 and 5 of acclaimed UK documentary series Travel Man featuring Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd). Canadian feature films joining Gem’s streaming lineup include Closet Monster, Cosmopolis, Maudie, and Fubar, in addition to CBC Films feature Into Invisible Light.

OneSoccer, the 24/7 platform devoted to Canadian soccer coverage and content, has added the League1 Ontario Championship Finals to its portfolio of domestic soccer content. The Women’s Championship Final kicks off on Sat., Aug. 31 from the Ontario Soccer Centre and will be produced for live domestic and international broadcast on OneSoccer by MEDIAPRO. The Men’s Championship Final will air on OneSoccer Sept. 27. OneSoccer is available to stream at OneSoccer.ca and through the OneSoccer app on iOS, Android, Apple TV and Roku.

MEDIAPRO has secured the media rights in Canada to the 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League, the new three-tier men’s national team competition involving all 41 Concacaf (North and Central America and Caribbean) member associations. The 102 group stage matches, including Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team home and away matches, as well as the Final Championship will air on OneSoccer. All Canadian games will be enhanced by live studio pre-, half-time and post-match shows, together with interviews, features and other content. The action begins Sept. 5 with the opening match between League C teams U.S. Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands. Canada’s first match will kick off Sept. 7 at BMO Field in Toronto against Cuba. OneSoccer subscribers will be able to view all Concacaf Nations League matches at no extra charge.

Canadian Heritage has announced $187,896 in funding for a digital documentary series from Keewaywin First Nation in Northern Ontario. Keewaywin will partner with professional filmmakers to produce a digital multimedia series in Oji‑Cree. Each episode of the documentary-style, youth-oriented program will feature a different aspect of life in the community. It will be broadcast online through IsumaTV. The funding is being provided under the Northern Aboriginal Broadcasting component of the Aboriginal Peoples’ Program.

TV/FILM/VIDEO:

Hasbro will acquire Entertainment One (eOne) in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $4.0 billion USD. Hasbro chairman Brian Goldner said the acquisition will add story-led global family brands with strong operating returns to Hasbro’s portfolio and provide a pipeline of new brand creation driven by family-oriented storytelling. Among those brands are Peppa Pig, PJ Masks, and Ricky Zoom (in development). eOne’s Canadian TV and film operations will continue as a distinct Canadian-controlled business within the combined business.

Birks and Telefilm Canada have announced the honourees for the annual Birks Diamond Tribute to the Year’s Women in Film. This year’s list includes director Micheline Lanctôt; actors Wendy Crewson and Jean Yoon; screenwriter Marie Clements; and emerging directors Jasmin Mozaffari and Sophie Dupuis. Set to be honoured at a Sept. 4 luncheon at Toronto’s Four Seasons, each honouree in the directing, acting, screenwriting and emerging talent categories receives an honourarium from Birks to support their next project. Read more here.

DHX Media-produced animated series Carmen Sandiego is among the juried award winners for the 71st Emmy Awards. Awarded in categories including Animation, Choreography, Interactive Programming and Motion Design, juried entries are screened by a panel of professionals in the appropriate peer group with the possibility of one, more than one, or no entry being awarded. Carmen Sandiego won in the Outstanding Individual Achievement In Animation category where there were seven first-time winners and one second-time winner from programs across two platforms, YouTube and Netflix. The Twitch platform received its first Emmy for Outstanding Innovation In Interactive Media. Find the full list of winners here.

Bell Media’s The Harold Greenberg Fund and Creative BC have revealed this year’s selections for the BC Shorts Program. The initiative finances short films from BC filmmaking teams, showcasing new creative visions and furthering the careers of writers, producers, and directors as they move towards feature filmmaking. The short film projects receiving $20,000 from this year’s program are: A Pregnant Woman from director/writer Ana Carrizales, producer Lori Watt; Hatha from writer/director Asia Youngman and producer Kaayla Whachell; The Unicorn Code from writer/director Martin Glegg and producer Katherine Koniecki; and Freya from writer Rhona Rees, director Camille Hollett-French and producers Athena Russell and Willan Leung.

The Pacific Screenwriting Program is still accepting applications for its Scripted Series Lab, running Jan. 6 – Apr. 17, 2020. The full-time 15-week curriculum polishes and prepares candidates for an entry-level writer position on a series. Every term, up to six committed writers are chosen to hone their craft, strengthen their collaboration and presentation skills, and obtain a deeper understanding of BC’s television industry and how to market themselves within it. The deadline for applications is Sept. 1.

Youth Media Alliance (YMA) is looking for promising entrepreneurial Canadian students at the university level who show a talent and passion for creating innovative children’s content. Two Canadian students planning to pursue a career in children’s television (animation or live action) or digital media production will be selected to receive the YMA Andra Sheffer Scholarship. The award gives recipients the opportunity to attend the Kidscreen Summit in Miami and Banff World Media Festival, in addition to mentorship resources throughout the year. The online application form must be submitted by Oct. 4.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation (NLFDC) and CBC have announced a new funding partnership that will support the creation of short-form digital content developed by Newfoundland and Labrador creators. The two organizations will each contribute up to $50,000, for $100,000 in total funding, towards digital content projects which will be showcased on the public broadcaster’s digital platforms, including CBC Gem. Applications can be made for short-length projects of various genres. The deadline is Sept. 20.

Rust Valley Restorers is the first Corus Studios original production to be released worldwide on Netflix. Ranked among HISTORY’s top five programs last fall, the car-flipping series profiles the “Rust Valley” vehicle restoration community in the B.C Interior as they transform rusted wrecks into collectible cars. Corus Studios previously struck a deal with Netflix to stream unscripted series Cheer Squad which features Cambridge, ON-based all-star cheerleading squad The Great White Sharks, however the Rust Valley Restorers (8×60) agreement marks the first worldwide release (excluding Canada).

VICE Studios and OUTtv are partnering to produce a makeover series that celebrates the transgender and gender non-conforming community. Clothes Minded will centre around young adults who are nervous to attend an upcoming event in their lives (a job interview, a wedding, a prom) because they are still working to feel comfortable with their identity. The series marks the first production partnership between VICE Studios and OUTtv. VICE Studios will handle global distribution of the series outside of OUTtv territories, which include Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and India.

APTN has announced it will premiere the second season of documentary series First Contact in a three-night television event, starting Sept. 17. Produced in association with Animiki See Digital Production, Nüman Films and Indios Productions, Season 2 takes six Canadians, all with varied opinions about Indigenous peoples, on a unique 28-day exploration of Indigenous communities. Narrated by George Stroumboulopoulos, this season will see participants travel to Kanesatake, QC; Natuashish, Labrador; Thunder Bay; northern Saskatchewan; and Yukon. Among those who’ll appear are Ian Campeau, formerly of A Tribe Called Red; Ellen Gabriel and Elder John Cree, front line community members at the Oka Siege; and Debbie Baptiste, the mother of Colten Boushie. Following the third episode Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. ET/CT/MT, the travellers and some of the Indigenous hosts and producers will sit down in an interactive panel, live on Facebook.

marblemedia has greenlit its latest unscripted kids and family series, All-Round Champion for TVO and Knowledge Network in Canada, and BYUtv in the U.S. Set to air in early 2020, All-Round Champion is an 11-episode, 60-minute series that features 10 of North America’s most decorated young athletes who compete in sports like wakeboarding, gymnastics and skateboarding. The series hook is they won’t be competing in their own sports. Scored on skill, sportsmanship and improvement, one athlete will be crowned the All-Round Champion. Originally created by Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, “Best i mest” saw huge success in Norway, winning an International Emmy Kids Award for Non-Scripted Entertainment, as well as a Prix Jeunesse. marblemedia was granted format rights to create a North American version from Beta Film. Hosted by Olympian and World Champion hurdler Perdita Felicien, the non-elimination serialized format also features a new ‘Sports Star’ in each episode including Darin Shapiro – the first athlete to land a double-flip on a wakeboard. Producers for the series include Matt Hornburg, Mark Bishop and Steve Sloan of marblemedia, alongside Michael Dunn, Andra Johnson Duke, and Jim Bell from BYUtv, and Marney Malabar from TVO.

CBC’s Battle of the Blades will be taping live in and around the Greater Toronto Area from Sept. 19 to Oct. 31. Fans are invited to book tickets for the high-stakes figure skating competition that partners athletes from the worlds of hockey and figure skating. Produced by Insight Productions, Battle of the Blades will launch with a special two-hour premiere Thursday, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC and CBC Gem.

Sportsnet’s Calgary Flames regional broadcast team will feature veteran play-by-play announcer Rick Ball, game analysts Kelly Hrudey and Cassie Campbell-Pascall, and reporter Ryan Leslie. Sportsnet will deliver coverage of all 82 Flames matchups, starting Oct. 3. on Sportsnet West, Sportsnet 960 The FAN, Sportsnet NOW, Sportsnet NOW+ and NHL Live. Sportsnet West is the home of regional Calgary Flames broadcasts this season, with four additional games available on Sportsnet Flames, the Sportsnet ONE companion channel. On radio, Derek Wills will handle play-by-play, alongside game analyst Peter Loubardias. Pat Steinberg will host pre- and post-game analysis.

Sportsnet hits the ice for NHL opening night in Edmonton Oct. 2. as the Oilers open their 2019-20 season against the Vancouver Canucks on Sportsnet, Sportsnet NOW,Sportsnet NOW+ and NHL Live. Sportsnet is also set to air two Oilers pre-season matchups on Sportsnet ONE, beginning Sept. 17. Sportsnet West will be the home of regional Oilers games this season, in addition to two matchups exclusive to Sportsnet Oilers, the Sportsnet ONE companion channel. The regional Oilers broadcast team features play-by-play announcer Kevin Quinn, game analyst Louie DeBrusk, reporter Gene Principe, and in-game contributions from Oilers analyst Drew Remenda.

The Vancouver Canucks regular season campaign begins Oct. 2 on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 650, Sportsnet NOW, Sportsnet NOW+ and NHL Live with Sportsnet also broadcasting Canucks pre-season matchups on Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet Pacific. Sportsnet’s Canucks television broadcast team features play-by-play announcer John Shorthouse and game analyst John Garrett, panel discussions live from Rogers Arena hosted by Dan Murphy, and contributions from NHL on Sportsnet insider Iain MacIntyre. Sportsnet 650 (CISL-AM) is set to deliver all 82 games this season. Returning to the broadcast booth are play-by-play announcer Brendan Batchelor, who will have the call alongside game analyst Corey Hirsch.

Discovery and Crave will premiere documentary special 9/11: Cleared For Chaos on Sept. 11. It tells the story of a group of Gander, NL-based Nav Canada air traffic controllers tasked with safely landing over 200 planes when U.S. airspace was closed in the aftermath of the terror attack. The doc uses live news footage from 2001 and features emotional interviews with air traffic control staff, pilots, flight attendants, and passengers.

Capilano University and Vancouver Film School (VFS) are partnering on four new accelerated pathways that will allow students to complete both a diploma at VFS and a bachelor degree at CapU in three years of full-time study. Both institutions deliver film and entertainment art programs driven by a cross-section of industries in the creative arts. The four new pathway programs launching in September include: VFS Digital Design (1 year) → CapU Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication (2 years); VFS Acting for Film and Television (1 year) → CapU Bachelor of Performing Arts (2 years); VFS Writing for Film, Television & Games (1 year) → CapU Bachelor of Performing Arts (2 years); VFS Film Production (1 year) → CapU Bachelor of Performing Arts (2 years). These degree pathways also provide international students the opportunity to apply for a work permit in Canada following their studies.

GENERAL:

Statistics Canada says according to its Consumer Price Index, Canadians paid less for telephone services, but more for devices in July. Consumers paid 2.5% less for telephone services in July, compared to June, following an industry-wide shift in the pricing structure of cellular data plans amid intensifying competition among wireless providers. StatsCan says the widespread introduction of unlimited data plans coincided with a reduction in the subsidies for wireless devices, shifting more of the cost of devices to consumers. Consequently, the multipurpose digital devices index, which includes prices for tablets and smartphones, rose 42.5% month over month.

Canadian Heritage has announced an investment of more than $8.7 million over two years in Indigenous languages and cultures in Quebec. Provided through the Aboriginal Peoples’ Program and the Museums Assistance Program, the funding will support 48 community-based projects that promote Indigenous cultural heritage, including the production and broadcast of culturally relevant radio and television programming in Indigenous languages, as well as the development of mobile web applications. The funding is in addition to the $691,482 provided to support three community-based projects in Montréal, Kahnawake and Gaspé, announced in Nov. 2018 and July 2019.

Videotron has unveiled new entertainment and home management platform Helix. Powered by voice remote, Helix can perform a centralized search and bring up a list of content from multiple sources in a unified catalog from recordings, TV channels, On Demand content or content from online streaming platforms like Club illico or Netflix. Available to Quebecors in both French and English, Videotron says it worked with its teams and partners to teach Helix how to recognize French from Gatineau to Rivière-du-Loup, and Saguenay to Montréal.

Connect to Innovate funding will help bring new or improved high-speed internet access and capacity to the Northern Ontario communities of Dubreuilville, Brunswick House First Nation and Red Rock Indian Band. Connect to Innovate will provide $1.3 million, with $763,308 coming from Bell Canada.

 

Nahlah Ayed, host and producer of CBC Radio’s Ideas and former CBC foreign correspondent, will be the special guest at the 2019 Jack Webster Awards. Happening Nov. 7 at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver, the awards recognize excellence in journalism in B.C. Tickets are on sale now here.

The Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB) Connection 2019 Sales Session will feature Pat Bryson, CEO of Bryson Broadcasting International. Bryson’s Fine Art of Asking Questions will explore the “Buy Cycle” of all prospects. What are the stages they go through? How do you identify them? And how do you sell a prospect in each stage? She will also cover how asking the right questions can help overcome objections and close more sales. Register here. All Sales Session registrations include a ticket to the Awards Luncheon.

Vividata has announced its partnering with market research tech company RealityMine, Ipsos, and digital data collection expert Delvinia, to launch the first passive panel of its kind in Canada. The passive panel collects mobile behavioural data from Canadian consumers with their informed consent. Equipped with RealityMine’s passive metering technology, RealityMeter, the panel will provide insight into mobile search, browsing, app use, ecommerce, and audio/video streaming with real-world location data. Rob Young, SVP at PHD Canada, says passive measurement has the potential to address the struggle to measure the challenge of complex media behaviour, in addition to the prohibitive cost of subscribing to multiple specialized media studies. The panel will offer detailed media and consumer behaviour. Panel data will be integrated with Vividata’s Survey of the Canadian Consumer and an expanding portfolio of specialized studies from Vivintel, including cannabis, esports, ethnicity, and others in development.

SUPPLY LINES:

David Stanger & Associates, more commonly known as DSA Media, has been sold to Chickadee Media Inc. David and Mary Stanger co-founded the company in 1997, growing DSA into a successful media planning and buying business with offices in Langley, Victoria, Calgary and Regina. Chickadee Media is a limited partnership created by DSA President Samantha Richardson, who has been with the agency since 2007 and served as its president since 2017. Earlier this month, DSA went from sole proprietorship to a partnership of five that includes Richardson, Lynn Hoffman, Shannon Schafer, Zac Goodman and Tom Shipman. The agency will continue to operate under the DSA Media banner.

Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) is using Embrionix emMODULAR, emFUSION, and miniaturized emSFP IP-processing modules to realize the benefits of real-time media over IP to deliver content. The Embrionix solutions have been installed as part of CPAC’s shift from an aging CWDM system to a modern and more efficient IP-based video transport system. With CPAC’s studios located just two blocks from Parliament Hill, CPAC’s CWDM system, previously used for daily live HD production, connects CPAC studios to the Parliament Buildings over a single dark fiber pair. The new IP-based video transport solution is non-blocking with inherent routing capability, and it boosts capacity from eight signals in each direction to a maximum capacity of 50 signals in each direction over the existing single dark fiber pair. As built, the system uses only one of the eight 100 GE aggregation ports on the switches and only uses 14 of the 48 ports on each switch.

Hitachi Kokusai Electric Comark LLC, manufacturer and supplier of DTV transmitters, encoding systems, and associated field services, has signed a partnership agreement with BitRouter. The agreement appoints Comark as an authorized reseller and service provider of BitRouter’s ATSC3pro Linux based ATSC 3.0 professional receiver product line. Tim Hosmer, director of Comark Digital Services, says with a scarcity of available commercial off-air DTV receivers on the market, the ATSC3pro fills a void for end-user reception devices for over-the-air technology trials, lab testing, and early adopters of ATSC 3.0 technology. The ATSC3pro device runs BitRouter’s ATSC3pak middleware, which can integrate the functionality of multiple ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 tuners, OTT, interactivity, and mobility. The professional receiver is a versatile video and data distribution solution that uses HDMI and wi-fi connectivity for both legacy DTV sets, smartphones and tablets.

Lawo will debut its AES67 Stream Monitor, a new software product for Windows PCs at IBC 2019. AES67 Stream Monitor displays detailed information for as many as 16 user-definable audio streams, each of which can contain multiple audio channels. The main display presents audio levels and alarm indications at a glance for all monitored streams, while selecting an individual stream display allows users to do a “deep dive” to discover detailed stream information. Functions include the ability to audition AES67 streams on-demand using the PC sound card; monitoring of two Ethernet NICs simultaneously for true ST2022-7 compatibility; a Stream Health Monitor that keeps track of jitter, dropped packets and data errors; and alarms for silence-sensing, under-level or over-level alerts, with user-definable thresholds. The program runs on standard Windows 10 PCs, and is VMWare compatible, allowing multi-instance deployment on virtual machines to facilitate high-density stream information.

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has released a significant update to the AIMS roadmap for a standards-based approach to applying IP technologies in broadcast operations. It includes the addition of JT-NM TR-1001-1, also known as the JT-NM Tech Stack Part 1. Developed by the Joint Task Force on Networked Media (JT-NM) to automate installation and eliminate complexity, JT-NM TR-1001-1 provides specifications and guidance designed to make SMPTE ST 2110-based systems easier to deploy and operate, leading to greater efficiencies for broadcasters. JT-NM TR-1001-1 enables the creation of network environments in which end users can take delivery of new equipment (compliant to the recommendation), connect it to their networks, and configure it for use with a minimum amount of human interaction. The update will be highlighted as part of the IP Showcase at IBC 2019, Sept. 13-17, at the RAI Amsterdam.

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