REVOLVING DOOR:

Don Ioi is the new president of the Canadian Association of Broadcast Representatives’ board of directors. Ioi is currently an account executive with Bell Media and was previously associate director of National Sales for CBC Television, based in Toronto.

Shannon Havard has been promoted to VP of Sales, Metro Markets with the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group. Havard will continue to lead the Sales Management Teams in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Victoria, in addition to retaining her current GSM position in Edmonton.

Randi Chase is the new morning co-host of The Real Wake-up with Vinnie and Randi on Real Country 95.5 (CKGY-FM) Red Deer. Chase was most recently part of the KiSS (CKKS-FM) Vancouver morning show, up until Nov. 2016.

Jesse Wente has been appointed the first director of Canada’s new Indigenous Screen Office. Wente has been a film program director at TIFF Bell Lightbox, a CBC culture columnist, and has worked on numerous boards including Toronto Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, and the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival.

Whitney Stinson is Global News Saskatchewan’s new managing editor. Stinson joined Global Regina as a reporter in 2012, before moving over to the evening anchor desk.

RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:

The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) says open-line show Doc Mailloux et Josey, airing on Cogeco stations FM 93 (CJMF-FM) Quebec City and 106.9 FM (CKOB-FM) Mauricie, should not have broadcast sexually explicit dialogue and coarse language during the day. In the episodes in question, the talk show discussed a study surveying young men about sexual assault, a controversial speech by a female artist at the ADISQ gala, and women’s sexual satisfaction. One listener complained that Mailloux had made sexist comments about women, while another listener complained about sexually explicit descriptions. The CBSC’s French-Language Panel concluded that Mailloux’s comments didn’t violate code, but the content should not have been aired during daytime radio hours.

The Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Radiothon raised $618,000 over the three-day broadcast on Saskatoon Media Group’s radio stations. The funds will be used to purchase equipment for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Since it started in 2003, the radiothon has raised over $5.7 million.

Isabelle Racicot, co-host of CBC Montreal podcast Seat at the Table, has won the Dynastie Gala’s anglophone radio personality of the year award. Racicot is a former host on both MusiquePlus and FLASH, a French daily entertainment magazine. The Dynastie Gala recognizes members of the Black community in media, sports, business and the arts.

The Podcast Exchange (TPX) has been launched by industry veterans Jean-Marie Heimrath, former president of Standard Broadcasting’s Sound Source Networks; Jeff Ulster, former director of Digital Talk Content for CBC; and Bob Kane, former senior manager of Brand Partnerships for CBC. TPX aims to help content creators monetize their podcasts through branding opportunities and advertising and marketing partnerships. The venture has the backing of Slaight Communications Inc.

SOCAN realized a record $350 million in revenues in 2017, a 6.4 per cent increase over last year, but the organization says it did so with a large dose of realism, revealing the vast majority of members who received payment for their streamed music in 2017 earned an average of just $38.72 despite 46 per cent growth in Internet-based revenues. Domestic revenue increased 4.5 per cent over last year to $274 million, while royalties from non-Canadian sources are at more than $75 million, marking a 60 per cent increase since 2012.

Christopher Ward and Tom Jokic, longtime producer of CHUM-FM’s Roger & Marilyn Show, are co-hosting podcast Famous Lost Words, which delves into the CHUM Radio archives. Available through the iHeartRadio app and iTunes, the podcast features classic interviews with John Lennon and Prince, among others. It’s also airing as a weekly show on Newstalk 1010 (CFRB-AM) Toronto and CJAD-AM Montreal.

SIGN-OFFS:

Dave Barrett, 87, on Feb. 2, in Victoria, after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s. Barrett is best known for leading British Columbia’s first NDP government from Sept. 1972 to Dec. 1975. Under Barrett, the province’s Agricultural Land Reserve, public auto insurer ICBC, a provincial ambulance system, Pharmacare, and French immersion in B.C. schools were all instituted. After just three years forming government, Barrett called a snap election and the Social Credit party swept back into power. The flamboyant and wise-cracking Barrett went on to take a turn as host of the CJOR-AM Vancouver morning talk show from 1984-87, before re-entering politics as the MP for Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca in 1988. He held the riding until 1993, then took up leadership of the commission investigating Vancouver’s leaky condo issue. Barrett was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 2005 and a member of the Order of B.C. in 2012.

Manfred Joehnck, 64, on Feb. 5, in North Battleford. Joehnck was a Saskatchewan news veteran, working over the years as the longtime news director at CKRM-AM Regina and as a news anchor on CTV Regina from 2001 to 2011. He had been with MBC (Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation) since 2012, where he served as the network’s legislative correspondent and covered current affairs. Joehnck died suddenly while covering the murder trial of Gerald Stanley in the Battlefords.

TV/FILM/VIDEO:

CBC’s extensive coverage plans for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, Feb. 9-25, include 21 hours of daily broadcast coverage, web, podcast offerings and a CBC Olympics Virtual Reality app that will live stream events. CBC Radio’s Olympic Games Report will feature hosts Scott Regehr, Martina Fitzgerald and Jill Dempsey, while Jamie Strashin is the main CBC Radio reporter on the ground in Pyeongchang. Additionally, CBC Kids is offering a dedicated Olympic Games website; while CBC Music is streaming playlists like K-Pop Idols and a special Olympic Games playlist, where athletes talk about their favourite Canadian songs.

The CRTC has approved a share buyback plan by CHEK-TV Victoria that would result in the Sampson family move from minority shareholder to own more than 50 per cent equity in the station. Under the shareholder’s agreement, CHEK employees will retain effective control of the company. CHEK employees and local investors purchased the station in 2009 from Canwest Global, when it made the decision to shut down its secondary E! Network, CHEK was part of.

The CRTC has approved the acquisition of IPTV provider Zazeen by Distributel, which will pay Zazeen’s three founders $1 each. Distributel is a major creditor to Zazeen, according to the application.

The CRTC is asking a number of companies, including Netflix and Google, for information on its subscription, ad and other revenues in Canada. During the Let’s Talk TV proceedings in 2014, both companies refused which led former chair Jean-Pierre Blais to threaten revocation of Netflix’s operating exemption. The CRTC’s most recent request says the information would be designated confidential, which the commission was previously not willing to guarantee back in 2014.

Netflix has picked up Quebec zombie film Les Affamés (Ravenous) and is talks on possible future projects with its Quebec-based director Robin Aubert and other Quebec artists as part of the company’s $500-million investment in Canada. Les Affamés won the award for best Canadian feature film at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. It will start streaming in most countries this March, and in Canada next year.

The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) says Canadian production volumes soared to an all-time high of $8.38 billion in 2016-17, up 24 per cent over the previous year. The CMPA’s annual report Profile 2017: An Economic Report on the Screen-Based Media Production Industry in Canada, says record growth helped generate 171,000 full-time jobs and added $12 billion to the country’s GDP.  For the first time, B.C. has surpassed Ontario as the country’s top locale for film and television production with volumes hitting $2.99 billion, just ahead of Ontario’s $2.97 billion. Quebec was third with $1.75 billion.

CHCH and Motion Content Group have announced a development partnership to invest in the creation of original Canadian programming with international appeal. Together, the companies will work directly with writers, as well as third party producers, to secure premium returnable series and build international co-productions. The initiative is being led by Jennifer Chen, VP of Programming for CHCH, and Tony Moulsdale, Global Director of Programming for Motion Content Group.

DHX Media will produce 26 more episodes of the hit animated comedy series Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs with Sony Pictures Animation, in association with Corus Entertainment. Following the international launch of season one last year, Turner has now picked up Season Two of the series for its Cartoon Network and Boomerang channels across Europe, Middle East & Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, where it will premiere later in 2018. In addition, DHX has signed new deals for Season One with France Télévisions, Disney Channel GSA (Germany, Switzerland and Austria), RTL in the Netherlands, ABC Australia, RTP Portugal, and TV3 in Ireland.

Bell Media’s Harold Greenberg Fund has announced its support for 17 Canadian film projects through the fund’s Script Development Program. The slate includes films in all stages of script development, from story optioning and first and second drafts, to third drafts, polish and packaging. Highlights include My Salinger Year from Oscar-nominated director Philippe Falardeau (Monsieur Lazhar); How Black Mothers Say I Love You from director Clement Virgo and based on the play by Trey Anthony (Da Kink In My Hair); Cam Baby from director Nathan Morlando (Mean Dreams) and based on the play by Jessica Moss; and Come Home Year, the latest screenplay from Mary Walsh. Find the complete list here.

TVO says Steve Paikin will continue to host The Agenda in the wake of sexual harassment allegations from former Toronto mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson. TVO CEO Lisa de Wilde says the station has launched an independent third-party investigation into the allegation and “evidence to date” does not justify removing Paikin, pending the outcome. Paikin took to Facebook this week, calling the allegations “100% false.”

Daniel Caesar, Hedley and singer-songwriter Jessie Reyez, who is nominated for an impressive four JUNO Awards, are all set to perform on The 2018 JUNO Awards Broadcast. The show will air live from Vancouver’s Rogers Arena on Sunday, Mar. 25 on CBC, CBC Radio and cbcmusic.ca/junos. More broadcast details will be released in the coming weeks.

CTV has released more of its spring schedule, including the return of The Voice to its lineup. Joining Deception, For The People, The Crossing and Grey’s Anatomy spinoff Station 19, is one-hour detective drama The Detail, Masterchef Canada and the revival of Roseanne. The network has also confirmed premiere dates for new CTV Two comedies Living Biblically (Jay R. Ferguson), Splitting Up Together (Jenna Fischer, Oliver Hudson) and Alex Inc. (Zach Braff).

Corner Gas Animated comes to life on The Comedy Network beginning Apr. 2. Created by and starring Brent Butt, the 13-episode, half-hour reboot of the Canadian series sees the return of characters Brent, Lacey (Gabrielle Miller), Oscar (Eric Peterson), Hank (Fred Ewanuick), Davis (Lorne Cardinal), Karen (Tara Spencer-Nairn), Wanda (Nancy Robertson), and Emma (Corrine Koslo), who all get a cartoon makeover in the all-new comedy.

Bell Media says Sunday’s Superbowl attracted an average audience of 4.45 million viewers on CTV, CTV Two and TSN2. Comparable to the 4.47 million viewers the big game drew in 2017, those numbers are down 40 per cent from the 7.32 million viewers who watched in 2016 – the last broadcast prior to the CRTC simsub ruling taking effect that allows U.S. ads to air during the game in Canada.

ONLINE/DIGITAL:

YouTube is adding a label to videos originating from state-funded media outlets, including the CBC, PBS, Radio Free Asia and Russia’s RT. A notice will appear under videos from outlets that receive some level of government or public funding. It will also include a link to the Wikipedia article about that broadcaster, so viewers can have more information about the news source.

Tow Center research suggests more than half of Facebook’s 72 launch partners on Instant Articles have abandoned the format. Launched in 2015, Facebook touted Instant Articles as an initiative to help publishers monetize journalism distributed via its platform by offering mobile content at lightning speeds hosted on Facebook servers.

Bell Media has officially launched new mobile-first, short form video app SnackableTV,  available for iOS and Android users. In addition to offering short form content from HBO, Comedy Central, Just For Laughs, ETALK and Gusto, SnackableTV will release its first original series, a short-form extension of CraveTV series Letterkenny. SnackableTV will also become the Canadian home for the Laugh Out Loud comedy network, a partnership between comedian Kevin Hart and Lionsgate, featuring original, scripted, and unscripted comedy series, stand-up specials, licensed programming, and live broadcasts.

GENERAL:

The Media Technology Monitor (MTM), a research product of CBC/Radio Canada, has released its Sneak Peek Report for the coming season. Key findings show 94 per cent of Canadians surveyed are still watching television, but with a marked shift to online viewing. Over half of Canadians are currently subscribing to at least one OTT service, such as Netflix. Asked to rank devices and services they couldn’t live without, Canadians 18+ rank home internet connection as their number one, with millennials (18-37) valuing their cell phone as their number one device. Access the report here.

Mélanie Joly, Min. of Canadian Heritage, and Luo Shugang, Min. of Culture of the People’s Republic of China, co-chaired the inaugural meeting of the Canada-China Joint Committee on Culture in Ottawa on Feb. 1-2. With an aim to strengthen cooperation in the areas of culture, creative industries, heritage and the arts, a signing ceremony resulted in Memorandums of Understanding between Toon Boom Animation Inc., WeKids Time Culture (Shenzhen) Ltd.; and Nelvana Limited. Canada’s first creative industries trade mission to China will be led by Joly Apr. 9-13.

Bell Let’s Talk Day 2018 set new records as the world’s biggest ever conversation about mental health. Based on the level of engagement, Bell’s donation of $6,919,199.75 brings the total Bell Let’s Talk commitment to $93,423,628.80 so far. From midnight in St. John’s to midnight in Victoria on January 31, 138,383,995 total messages of support were sent, up over five per cent from 2017. Social media engagement increased more than 10 per cent from last year.

Bell says its LTE Advanced (LTE-A) wireless network has delivered data speeds of a Gigabit per second (Gbps) in recent deployment testing, a first for a Canadian network. Bell says it’s successfully tested Gigabit LTE-A in Mississauga and will roll out its enhanced network to locations throughout the country in 2018 as smartphones that support advanced speeds come to market. To boost LTE-A speeds to the Gigabit level, Bell is employing a combination of carrier aggregation and 4X4 MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology to increase spectrum efficiency and multiply capacity.

Telus is the third Canadian telecom to be sued by TiVo Corp. alleging its Optik TV infringes on six of its patents, including the ability to pause, rewind and record live TV. TiVo has filed similar claims against BCE Inc. and Videotron. The suits seek damages and a ban on use of the patents without a licence.

The Canadian Communications Foundation is inviting applications to serve on its board of directors. The foundation is seeking individuals in the broadcast industry, research, and education for two-year terms to assist in exploring an extended mission and possible new direction for its work. For the past 25 years, the foundation’s website has established and maintained an up-to-date online resource for the study of Canadian broadcast history. Those interested can send an email to foundation president Dr. Evelyn Ellerman at [email protected], with some indication of your background and what you feel you would bring to the foundation’s work.

Bell Media has signed on as the national media sponsor of the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) Canada campaign. Winnipeg-born NHL’er Max Domi, 22, is the new face of the marketing campaign. Domi was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 12.

Concordia University is establishing an intensive sports journalism course that will be offered May 7-25, starting this spring. The 400-level course is being funded by donation from Sportsnet, following a CRTC request that the network spend 10 per cent of the purchase price to acquire rival network The Score on donations to programs and initiatives benefiting the Canadian broadcast system.