RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:
Golden West Broadcasting celebrates 60 years on March 13. Golden West took to the airwaves at 8:01 pm on March 13th, 1957 with the launch of CFAM 950 in Altona, MB. At the time, the community had a population of just 1,800 and the entire company a staff of 11. The company now encompasses 41 stations in 25 communities, between southwestern Ontario and Alberta, as well as 18 community websites. The station’s 60th anniversary booklet can be viewed at https://online.flippingbook.com/view/1665/. Of note, Golden West CEO Elmer Hildebrand, one of the company’s original employees, celebrates his 80th birthday on March 10.
TSN Radio Vancouver will continue to be home to the Vancouver Whitecaps FC for the next three seasons. All 34 matches will be carried on either TSN 1040 (CKST-AM) or TSN 1410 (CFTE-AM), including one-hour pre-game and one-hour post-game shows. Peter Schaad returns to provide play-by-play for Whitecaps FC matches on TSN Radio Vancouver – when not calling matches on the TSN TV broadcast. Spelling Schaad on play-by-play this season is Joey Kenward. Colour commentary will be delivered by former Canadian men’s national team and Vancouver 86ers goalkeeper Paul Dolan, who returns to his original post from 2011. Dolan played 10 seasons with Vancouver and is the club’s all-time leader in goalkeeping appearances and victories.
SIGN-OFFS:
Tom Young, 75, on March 6 following complications after knee surgery. Young’s 50-year career in broadcasting began in 1961 while stationed in West Germany with the Canadian Armed Forces. He was best known as the host of the long-running show ‘Talk of the Town’ on CFBC-AM Saint John, NB. In 2005, Young joined the Rogers Radio network in the Maritimes as host of ‘The Afternoon News’ heard on News 88.9 (CHNI-FM) Saint John, News 91.9 (CKNI-FM) Moncton, and News 95.7 (CJNI-FM) Halifax. He went on to host the program for nearly seven years. Young’s lifelong interest in politics also led him to spend time in municipal government, serving as the mayor of Renforth, NB from 1989 to 1992. He also served several terms as a Rothesay, NB town councillor. Young moved to St. John’s, NL with his wife after signing off from Rogers in 2011 to be closer to their grandchildren.
Grant Ullyot, 81 on March 3 after a brief illness. Ullyot’s radio career started in 1957, while serving in the military and stationed in Germany, He was recruited as a volunteer and did play-by-play for the RCAF Flyers Europe hockey team. Upon his return to Canada, he was posted to Edmonton where his first commercial broadcasting job after leaving the military was with CHCA-TV in Red Deer where he anchored the evening news and sports. Ullyot went on to work at radio and television stations in Saskatoon, Melfort and Prince Albert, SK before he was hired as news director at 1270 CHWK-AM in Chilliwack, BC. He remained at the station for 27 years, and was the play-by-play voice of the Chilliwack Bruins among other on-air duties. After his retirement, Grant wrote for The Westcoast Farmer for the Chilliwack Progress. He passed away one week shy of his 82nd birthday.
Jon Holland, 50, suddenly on Feb. 19. Holland attended the radio broadcasting course at Loyalist College from 1986 to 1988 and went on to work at CHUC-AM in Cobourg as well as The New Classical 103.1 FM (CFMX-FM). Most recently, he was an on-air host at Northumberland 89.7 (CFWN-FM). Holland was an enthusiastic volunteer and tireless champion of local causes.
TV/FILM/VIDEO:
Wendy Mesley took home the Canadian Screen Award for Best Host or Interviewer in a News or Information Program or Series at Tuesday night’s gala honouring excellence in non-fiction programming. Among the night’s other big winners were CBC News: The National for Best National Newscast and CBC Newfoundland & Labrador which won Best Local Newscast for CBC News: Here & Now. CTV’s Lisa LaFlamme won Best National News Anchor, while CTV News Edmonton’s Darryl McIntyre took home the award for Best Local News Anchor. You can view the complete list of winners here.
The CRTC has split the difference in a MusiquePlus dispute with Bell over packaging. MusiquePlus and Musimax complained Bell had removed the channels from its first-tier package in Quebec and was only including them in its highest-tier package, violating sections of the code. In its decision, the commission found the proposed repackaging for Max violates section 9 of the Code, but that the proposed repackaging for MusiquePlus does not.
The Arkells and this year’s Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Sarah McLachlan have been added to the lineup of performers confirmed for the 2017 JUNO Awards on April 2. They join previously announced performers A Tribe Called Red, Alessia Cara, Ruth B, Shawn Mendes and The Strumbellas. CTV has also announced it will air the live broadcast in 4K on CTV and CTV GO.
Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) will air a 13-part television series this summer focused on home improvement and do-it-yourself projects with an accessibility twist. Produced by Clerisy Entertainment, Eyes for the Job is currently in production in Nova Scotia and will feature hosts Chris Judge and Rebekah Higgs. A lifelong handyman and do-it-yourself enthusiast, Chris brings a unique perspective to the program as he is blind. He’ll work alongside Rebekah, who is fully sighted and runs her own web series DIY MOM.
ONLINE CHANNELS:
RBC is the first Canadian bank to launch Interac e-transfer using Siri. The money transfer solution is now available through an update to the RBC Mobile app for iPhone and iPad. Once you give the voice command, the Siri feature confirms the name from your payee list and the RBC Mobile app automatically debits your chequing account and sends the payment, protected by TouchID.
TVO is partnering with the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) to bring discussions of the latest discoveries in brain science to a wider public via livestreaming on tvo.org. The first live webcast kicked off Tuesday evening with Bruising Your Brain: What Science and Sport Say About Concussions. Speakers included Hockey Hall of Fame honouree Eric Lindros and concussion experts Dr. Carolyn Emery and Dr. Roger Zemek. In the months ahead, OBI plans to hold free public talks in Toronto and around Ontario related to neuroscience and brain health, which will be live-streamed on TVO.
Corus is the first major Canadian broadcast publisher to offer first-party data to advertisers. The standalone data sets will be available for buyers to purchase via their digital programmatic platforms. Through integrations with leading demand-side platforms, Corus is allowing buyers to target audiences based on anonymous cookie data. Corus is currently running data sharing tests with two partners, Amnet and Cadreon. Corus is also exploring other data offerings including cross-platform audience targeting – a combination of TV and digital ad inventory delivered to specific audiences.
Much Digital Studios has announced its first-ever original series Dan For A Week, set to launch on YouTube and Much.com this spring. The six-episode series follows Much Creator Dan James, a.k.a. The Danocracy, as he tries to spend a whole week governed by somewhat unusual conditions. Dan For A Week, which is produced in-house by Bell Media’s digital video team, is currently in production in Toronto. Much Digital Studios’ leap to series production comes as the multi-channel network hits the 6.4 million combined subscriber mark. Much Digital Studios now generates more than 6.8 million combined views weekly.
GENERAL:
The deadline to apply for all four vacant CRTC openings has been extended to March 15. Vacancies include the regional members for Manitoba/Saskatchewan and Ontario, chairperson and vice-chairperson (broadcasting).
The Radio-Canada ombudsman is accusing the ICI RDI channel of breaching its obligations by broadcasting content in English without simultaneous translation. In his decision, Guy Gendron, a former reporter himself, calls on RDI to ensure the practice is minimized. The decision stems from a complaint filed in January by a viewer unhappy about the lack of French translation of portions of interviews broadcast on ICI RDI. RDI says it is reviewing the decision.
The CRTC says Canadian telcos made $37.7 million last year charging customers to unlock their cellphones. That’s a 75 per cent jump over 2014. The CRTC would only reveal that the tally includes up to seven providers and didn’t provide a breakdown. The controversial charge, usually $50, was hotly debated at a CRTC hearing last month with consumer groups arguing customers shouldn’t be charged for the service, especially if they’ve paid off their phone. Telus and Bell argued the practice stops third party dealers from re-selling phones overseas and protects telecoms against customers walking away from their contracts.
Quebecor Media Inc. has struck a partnership with Tuango Inc. that gives the e-commerce/ bulk sales company access to its audience base in return for its email list. The Montreal-based broadcaster and publisher will allow its advertisers to sell products through the group-buying site.
In one of the largest Canadian charitable donations aimed at Indigenous communities, The Slaight Family Foundation will donate more than $12 million to 15 not-for-profit organizations. Among those receiving funding is Indigenous-led registered charity Indspire which works toward the goal of closing the gap in Indigenous education.
Lynn Burry, senior producer and co-host of NTV Evening Newshour, and Anthony Germain host of CBC St. John’s Morning Show, will be the Masters of Ceremonies for the Atlantic Journalism Awards. This year’s event happens May 6 at the St. John’s Convention Centre. Finalists for the AJAs will be announced in early April.
SUPPLY LINES:
Burk Technology is introducing a new Captures feature for its ARC Plus Touch and SL remote control systems for the broadcast industry. The new feature stores months of channel readings for later download and analysis, allowing station engineers to track changes in critical site parameters over time. Captures can also be triggered by events, creating a permanent record of site conditions at the time. The company is also introducing a BTU-4D Digital Temperature Unit which connects as many as four digital temperature sensors to the ARC Plus or ARC Solo remote control system.
Veteran voiceover artist Howard Cogan, best known as the voice of JACK FM, is expanding his voiceover services to additional formats. Cogan will continue to work with JACK FM stations in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Baltimore, and other markets. In addition to voiceover services, Cogan’s production company HOCO Productions is offering writing services to stations with limited resources and budgets. Cogan has partnered with Benztown.com to offer voiceover and production services for barter.
