MTM releases its Sneak Peek Report for the coming season

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 evelynellerman@gmail.com, 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.