RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:
The first-ever study looking at how Canadians consume all forms of online and offline audio has found AM/FM radio still accounts for 72 per cent of morning drive listening. Commissioned by Radio Connects and conducted by Edison Research, the Share of Ear Canada survey sampled 1,022 Canadians 13+, who accounted for 24 hours of listening. The study reveals Canadians spend an average of four hours and 14 minutes each day consuming audio, and more than 61 per cent of that time goes to broadcast radio on all its various platforms. Nine per cent is spent with streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play. More details are available through Radio Connects.
The 2017 Caring for Kids Radiothon, airing May 31 on CJAD 800, Virgin Radio 96 (CJFM-FM), CHOM 97.7 and TSN Radio 690 (CKGM-AM) raised $1.2 million for the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation. In 14 years, more than $22 million has been raised.
In its 12th year, Spirit Day raised $70,801.30 for the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation on June 1, supported by Jim Pattison Broadcast Group stations 101.3 The River (CKKN-FM), 99.3 The Drive (CKDV-FM) and CKPG-TV Prince George. The money will go towards purchasing a suite of ultrasounds with ECHO capabilities at a Regional Cardiac Centre.
iHeartRadio Canada has now surpassed one million app downloads. Launched in October 2016, the milestone makes it a Top 10 free music/audio app in the Apple and Google Play stores, and the #1 Canadian-made music app.
Newcap Inc. has received CRTC approval to acquire 100 per cent of the shares of NL Broadcasting Limited, which owns and operates the radio broadcasting licences CHNL-AM, CJKC-FM, and CKRV-FM Kamloops. This transaction, previously announced May 10, is expected to close within 30 days.
Winners for the 2017 Radio Mercury Awards were announced June 1 at the 26th annual awards presentation in New York. This year’s $50,000 Best of Show award was given to The Richards Group for their Motel 6 Campaign. You can listen to this year’s winning creative here.
CBC Radio One took home two honours at the 2017 Gracie Awards Gala on June 6 in Los Angeles, celebrating outstanding programming created by, for and about women. Benztown and vCreative were on hand at the Alliance For Women In Media event, joining forces to sponsor the reception suite at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. You can view the full list of winners here.
SIGN-OFFS:
Clint Nickerson, 66, in Victoria of lung cancer. Nickerson got his start in broadcasting in the early 1970s at CJVI-AM Victoria. He moved on to CKDA-AM Victoria and CFUN-AM Vancouver before heading to Toronto in the mid-70s where he anchored news at CFTR-AM and then moved into television. He returned to CFTR to produce weekly public affairs show Sunday Sunday, then CJCL-AM, before going back to CityTV where he was the longtime senior news producer of City Pulse. In 2000, he left to become news director at CIVI-TV Victoria.
Fred Engel, 85, on May 23. Engel was a longtime CBC Vancouver staple, starting as a film editor and promoted to manager, Film Services, then TV production manager and producer. He retired from CBC in 1984.
Joe Gaughan, 38, May 29 of lung cancer. Gaughan, originally from Windsor, ON, made his way to North Bay in 2012 where he worked as a remote technician, board operator, Battalion OHL analyst and evening and weekend swing announcer for Rogers Radio. Most recently, Gaughan had been hosting a show Thursday and Friday nights for Rogers’ rock stations in North Bay, Sudbury and Timmins.
TV/FILM/VIDEO:
The CRTC has given Bell until July 1 to offer more than one 10-channel package to subscribers. In December, the CRTC mandated that all TV providers let subscribers top up their plans with extra specialty channels. The commission received a complaint from a Bell customer in Ontario, questioning if the company’s practice of limiting subscribers to only one package of 10 channels for $20 a month defied CRTC regulations. The commission has ruled it does and found the company in non-compliance.
Quebec’s Minister of Culture and Communications Luc Fortin has asked the federal government to review the CRTC’s rulings on the renewal of television licenses for major French-language property groups. Fortin argues the decision to remove certain license conditions around original French-Canadian programming could prompt ownership groups to do more dubbing of English-Canadian programs to feed their French-language specialty channels, to the detriment of original French-language Canadian productions.
CTV will expand local news starting this fall, delivering 5 p.m. weekday news broadcasts on all of its stations across the country. Joining the six CTV stations already airing CTV News At Five (CTV Vancouver, CTV Calgary, CTV Red Deer, CTV Edmonton, CTV Lethbridge, and CTV Atlantic) are CTV Saskatoon, CTV Regina, CTV Prince Albert (simulcast), CTV Yorkton (simulcast), CTV Winnipeg, CTV Northern Ontario, CTV Kitchener, CTV Ottawa, and CTV Montreal. Beginning this summer, both CTV Toronto and CP24 will air CP24 Live @ 5 and CP24 Live @ 5:30, while continuing to cross-simulcast CTV News At Six.
Rogers Media will expand CityNews across Canada, starting this fall. Currently airing in Toronto and the GTA, the expansion will see locally-produced, daily versions of CityNews in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Montreal. The one-hour CityNews at Six broadcasts and CityNews Tonight at 11 p.m. will debut in Edmonton and Winnipeg on Sept. 4 and expand into other markets in Winter 2018. Dave Budge, VP, News and Information, Television for Rogers Media, says the focus will be on viewer-driven, original stories introduced by local reporters. Stories from Rogers Media sister brands Maclean’s, Breakfast Television, and Sportsnet will also be featured.
Rogers Media has signed deals with Hearst, Graham, Raycom, and Weigel media groups to air Cityline in syndication in the U.S., starting this fall. The long-running, weekday talk show, hosted by Tracy Moore and covering fashion, home decor, parenting, food and beauty, will be available to more than 10 million American households in Chicago, Kansas City, Jacksonville, and Birmingham, among other markets.
CraveTV says the video-streaming platform set a record for new subscribers Victoria Day weekend with the launch of the Showtime series Twin Peaks. May 21 saw the site’s single-day subscriber increase percentage triple. The David Lynch and Mark Frost collaboration is the most-streamed title on CraveTV since its debut and after one week of data is the most-streamed launch of a Showtime series ever.
Sportsnet remains the country’s #1 specialty network for the third year running. Announced as part of the annual Rogers Media Upfront, Sportsnet was also #1 for male, female and millennial audiences in all core demographics.
While Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole don’t make their official return to TSN until September, Bell Media has announced that Tim Hortons will be the show’s title sponsor. SC With Jay and Dan – Presented by Tim Hortons will include brand integration in-show and set, as well as inclusion in digital and social media. A social media presence for the new show, marking the duo’s return to the network after a four-year run with FOX Sports 1 in L.A., is already being established at TSN.ca/JayandDan, Twitter and Facebook.
Global has unveiled its 2017/18 lineup featuring six new dramas and four new comedies. New dramas joining the fall schedule include Wisdom of the Crowd, starring Jeremy Piven (Entourage) as a visionary tech innovator who creates a cutting-edge crowdsourcing app to solve his daughter’s murder; and Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders starring Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie) as lead attorney Leslie Abramson. The network’s comedy slate is headlined by the return of one of the most successful comedies in TV history, Will & Grace.
City’s 2017/18 programming lineup includes 12 new titles. Canadian cult classic Fubar moves to the small screen; City original Bad Blood follows the true-crime saga of one of Canada’s most notorious mob families. Coming in 2018, Versailles is a lush, Canadian drama about Louis XIV; The Resident, focusing on a young doctor whose ethics are tested, stars Canadians Emily VanCamp and Bruce Greenwood and will join City’s schedule mid-season.
The Youth Media Alliance 2017 Awards of Excellence were handed out May 31 at the CBC Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto. The Grand Prize for Best Production, All Categories went to The Incredible Tales of Weirdwood Manor, produced by All Play, No Work and sister company Relish Interactive. Weirdwood Manor also took home the award for Best Original Interactive Content. Steven DeNure, president and CEO of DHX Media, was honoured with this year’s Outstanding Achievement Award. You can view the full list of winners here.
Global News Edmonton anchor Gord Steinke has been awarded with a Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers from the Governor General of Canada. Steinke was recognized for his extensive community volunteering including his work as Honourary Lieutenant-Colonel of the 15 Edmonton Field Ambulance, part of the 41st Canadian Brigade Group, the TELUS Motorcycle Ride for Dad and the Kids with Cancer Society.
A record-breaking $6.46 million was raised during the 33rd Annual IWK Telethon for Children in Halifax. The two-day fundraiser was broadcast live June 3-4 on CTV Atlantic.
Hockey Night In Canada reporter Scott Oake talked to the Winnipeg Free Press about his family’s mission to raise $14-million for a drug treatment centre in Winnipeg following his son’s heroin overdose death. You can read more here.
Curling Canada has launched #notasportsbar on social media as part of its protest targeting Bell Media and Rogers over new fees that will be charged to curling club lounges when Sportsnet and TSN broadcast fees for licensed establishments increase next year. The clubs argue they are not profit-driven sports bars and small, volunteer-run organizations that can’t afford the hefty increase. Curlers are being encouraged to lobby federal Sport Minister Carla Qualtrough, Rogers and Bell.
Bell Media and the National Football League (NFL) have extended a multi-year rights agreement that makes Bell Media the exclusive broadcast partner of the NFL in Canada. The partnership includes expanded digital opportunities and syndication rights for NFL highlights in Canada, as well as expanded footage and programming rights. The expanded agreement also includes the NFL’s Thursday Night Football package, which will air on TSN and CTV Two for the first time, and return to RDS, beginning with the 2017 season.
ONLINE/DIGITAL:
The 2017 Digital Publishing Awards were announced June 1. The Globe and Mail took home 12 awards, including Best Social Storytelling, while Canadian Art and CBCNews.ca won for General Excellence in Digital Publishing. HuffPost Canada’s Kenny Yum was the inaugural recipient of the Digital Publishing Leadership Award. You can view the full list of winners here.
Google Chrome plans to start blocking ads on websites with a large number of bad quality ads. Based on standards set by the Coalition for Better Ads, which counts Google and Facebook among its members. Publishers with a significant portion of ads in violation would be blocked when viewed in Chrome, starting in early 2018.
GENERAL:
Rogers Media is launching cross-platform Canada 150 content dubbed The Canada Project. A survey of nearly 100 questions, put to more than 1,500 Canadians, is at the centre of the project that covers everything from political issues and values to lifestyle and leisure. Results will be showcased on Macleans.ca, with stories and anniversary content featured throughout June and July across Rogers broadcast and digital platforms, including CityNews, Breakfast Television, OMNI Television, FLARE, HELLO! Canada, Chatelaine, Today’s Parent and Sportsnet.ca.
Bell has announced it will launch an LTE-M (Long Term Evolution, category M1) network in 2018 to support the rapidly increasing use of IoT devices on low-power, wide-area networks (LPWANs) in Canada. LTE-M improves the operating efficiency of IoT devices by enabling low power consumption and better coverage in underground and hard to reach locations, supporting IoT solutions like smart metering, asset tracking and alarm monitoring.
The federal government made a move this week indicating it will push for lower telecom bills for consumers. Innovation Min. Navdeep Bains has directed the CRTC to reconsider a March decision to exclude small, Wi-Fi-based service providers, like Sugar Mobile, from access to roaming services provided by Rogers Communications Inc., Telus Corp. and BCE Inc. Bains wants to encourage competition from new technologies that could help connect low-income Canadians at less expensive rates.
SUPPLY LINES:
Rogers Media Sales has announced a new collaboration with The Weather Company (an IBM Business) and an extended deal with Meredith, which includes Canada’s #1 digital food site allrecipes.com. The Weather Company will provide in-depth weather data and forecasts, as well as curated content, across Rogers Media properties. In turn, Rogers Media will provide locally relevant articles, photos and video content across the Canadian versions of The Weather Channel app and weather.com. The Weather Company and Rogers Media Sales will also work together to enhance advertising across both companies’ properties. Building on an already successful collaboration with MarthaStewart.com, Rogers’ renewed deal with Meredith includes sales representation for allrecipes.com, joining other Meredith lifestyle brands Parents, Parenting, and Better Homes & Gardens.
