Sheldon Mack, the son of former CTV Vancouver Island anchor and news director Hudson Mack, was among the hundreds injured in Sunday night’s mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas. Sheldon, who was celebrating his 21st birthday, was shot twice and underwent emergency surgery for a ruptured colon and broken forearm. Hudson Mack expressed his thanks on Facebook to those who dragged his son to safety and helped get him into an ambulance.
The Minister of Canadian Heritage and Netflix have announced an agreement that will see the company create its first permanent, multi-purpose film and TV production company outside the U.S. and invest a minimum of $500M in original productions in Canada over the next five years. Announced in conjunction with the Creative Canada policy, Melanie Joly also announced that the federal contribution to the Canada Media Fund (CMF) will increase, starting in 2018, to make up for declining private-sector cable and satellite subscription contributions; and $125M over five years to support a new Creative Export Strategy. The CBC’s mandate, Canada’s Broadcasting Act, Telecommunications Act and Copyright Act will all be reviewed, while modernization of the Canada Music Fund and Canada Book Fund is promised. A new partnership between Facebook and Ryerson University was also unveiled, creating the first Canadian digital news incubator. The Coalition for Culture and Media, which counts ACTRA and the CMPA among its nearly 40 members, issued a statement critical of the policy directive, while the CBC, Canadian Media Guild, Writers Guild of Canada and Directors Guild of Canada gave Joly’s proposals the thumbs up.
In response to the federal government deal with Netflix, members of the Quebec legislature voted unanimously for a motion to “ensure the Quebec sales tax (TVQ) is imposed on all foreign companies that offer products and services online, notably in the cultural sector, as soon as possible.” Quebec Finance Minister Carlos Leitao supported the motion, but said the province won’t take steps before seeing details of the agreement.
Ground has been broken at the site of the new Maison de Radio-Canada in Montréal. Federal Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre and CBC president Hubert T. Lacroix were among those on hand at the Oct. 1. ceremony. Expected to be finished by Jan. 2020, the new LEED Silver certified building will feature a four-storey atrium and rooftop patio, to be built at the corner of René-Lévesque Boulevard and Papineau Avenue, previously a parking lot for the existing building.
The Broadcasters Association of Manitoba has announced its Fall 2017 Award Winners. Inducted into the Broadcast Hall of Fame was Beau (Wolfgang Fritzshe), who has spent the last 28 years at Q-94 (CHIQ-FM) and 99.9 BOB FM (CFWM-FM) Winnipeg; Mandy Shew, midday host at 103.1 Virgin Radio (CKMM-FM) Winnipeg, took home the Broadcaster of Tomorrow Award; Rogers’ KiSS 102.3 (CKY-FM) won the Community Service Award for its annual Father Daughter Ball fundraiser; while 92.1 CITI FM won the Promotions Award for the Toys for Boys contest. The inaugural Music Rising Star Award was shared by country duo Petric and 16-year-old pop vocalist Faouzia. The late Kenny Shields of Streetheart was posthumously inducted into BAM’s Music Hall of Fame.
Youth Media Alliance (YMA) will host the seventh edition of the Children, Youth & Media (CYM) Conference Nov. 15-17 in Toronto. On the theme of Survival of the Fittest, CYM 2017 will feature Carlos Pacheco, VP of audience development at Boat Rocker; Laura Clunie, VP of entertainment at Spin Master; Natalie Osborne, chief strategy officer at 9 Story Media Group; Jacqueline Vong, licensing director at Fun to Play Toys; Shaftesbury CEO Christina Jennings; Grainne McGuinness, creative director at Paper Owl Films; Chantal Lafleur, president of Productions Avenida; Marie McCann, senior director at CBC Kids, and panels from Relish Interactive and the YouTube team. More details available here.
Bell MTS has quietly raised rates on its services, roughly six months after Bell’s $3.9B takeover of Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS). Home phone charges are up $1.95/month, TV up $2.95 and internet service up $3.95. Calling features, TV packages, fibre-optic and other services also went up in price. Wireless rates are unchanged, with the company committing to leaving those unchanged for 12 months, as terms of its takeover in mid-March.
Rogers has expanded wireless service and made network improvements at Main and Broadway in Downtown Winnipeg. It’s also constructing a new cellular tower in the residential community of Sage Creek. To meet rising demand for wireless voice and data service in Manitoba, Rogers placed several new wireless sites in Winnipeg earlier this year, including Riverview, Ridgewood, Inkster Industrial Park, McPhillips Ave, and Unicity, as well as Brandon North Hill.
