RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:
Sportsnet 650 (CISL-AM) Vancouver has released its full lineup, ahead of the all-sports station’s Sept. 4 launch. In addition to the previously announced Sportsnet’s Starting Lineup with James Cybulski, Steve Darling and Mira Laurence, Satiar Shah and Jawn Jang will host The Playbook weekdays from 9 a.m. to Noon PT. Shah, is the former TSN 1040 morning show producer, while Sportsnet marks Jang’s first foray into sports after three years at 102.7 The PEAK (CKPK-FM) and 93.7 JRfm (CJJR-FM) Vancouver. Shah continues hosting into the noon hour with Canucks Central at Noon, featuring regular contributors Brendan Batchelor, John Garrett, Corey Hirsch, Dan Murphy and John Shorthouse. From 1 – 4 p.m., former CTV Vancouver sports director Perry Solkowski and Hockey Night In Canada: Punjabi Edition colour analyst Randip Janda host On Point. Andrew Walker and Scott Rintoul round off afternoons with The Program from 4 – 7 p.m. PT.
TSN 1040 (CKST-AM) has released the lineup they’ll be putting up against new competition from Sportsnet 650 (CISL-AM). The Bro Jake Show will continue to wake up listeners, but starting a half-hour earlier, from 5:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. PT. Donnie & The Moj move to an earlier noon – 3 p.m. PT time slot. Matt Sekeres and Blake Price will anchor a new drive-home show from 3 – 7 p.m. dubbed Sekeres And Price. Mike Halford and Jason Brough are also being added to the weekday lineup with new, mid-morning show Halford & Brough, airing 9 a.m. – noon PT.
With CISL 650 (CISL-AM) Vancouver set to relaunch as Sportsnet 650, Vancouver radio legend Red Robinson wraps up a six-decade broadcast career on Sunday with a final show. Starting at noon PT, Robinson will be joined by special guests Bruce Allen and Seattle radio legend Pat O’Day. Robinson plans to continue to entertain online at redrobinson.com, and via his YouTube and SoundCloud channels.
Country 103 (CJKC-FM) Kamloops has been rebranded New Country 103.1. All of the station personalities has been retained, with morning host Jody “Teddy” Tedford and afternoon host Louis “Big Rig” McIvor, joined by Casey Clarke and Roo Phelps’ syndicated show in the evenings. “New Country” is a national brand of Newcap Radio, which recently acquired CJKC-FM and sister stations Radio NL (CHNL-AM) Kamloops and 97.5 The River (CKRV-FM) Kamloops.
CHOE-FM 95.3 Matane, Que. has rebranded TO O 95.3. The moves sees the station join fellow Top 40 sister stations O 101.5 (CHEQ-FM) Sainte Marie and O 97.3 (CFJO-FM) Thetford Mines.
The CRTC has renewed the broadcast licence for CJSO-FM Sorel-Tracy, Que. for a two-year period, but has ordered the station to broadcast announcements regarding its non-compliance. The commission says given this is the third consecutive renewal the station is in non-compliance, surrounding its French-language vocal music requirement, it’s ordered Radio Diffusion Sorel-Tracy Inc. to air an announcement three times daily, between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. or between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., for five consecutive days.
SiriusXM Canada is launching two new channels: Turbo and PopRocks, starting Aug. 17. Turbo (ch. 41) showcases hard rock from the 1990s and early 2000s from artists like Linkin Park, Korn, Papa Roach, Godsmack, System Of A Down, Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Limp Bizkit and Disturbed. PopRocks (Sirius satellite & SiriusXM streaming ch. 17) will feature pop rock from the ’90s and 2000s, including The Killers, Coldplay, Sheryl Crow, Goo Goo Dolls, Train, No Doubt and Matchbox 20.
CBC Ombudsman Esther Enkin has responded to a complaint about the Sept. 2, 2016 broadcast of As It Happens on CBC Radio. The complainant thought calling anti-gay statements “homophobic” was taking sides and showed bias. The story surrounded a student who played her bagpipes while a man was preaching and condemning homosexuals on a Florida campus. In her decision, Enkin writes “As many of my colleagues have been pointing out in the wake of the events of the last week, there is a difference between ensuring that facts are reported fairly, that one’s personal views do not distort them and some notion of equivalence; that all views and statements are equal and must be balanced out…The words and message were profoundly anti-gay, and that is homophobic. There is nothing in CBC’s journalistic standards and practices that says journalists must treat every view in the same way.”
Arlene Dickinson is hosting a new CBC podcast on the highs and lows of being an entrepreneur, called Venturing Out. Launched last month, guests so far include entertainer Jann Arden, IBM Canada president Dino Trevisani and CBC Radio host/serial entrepreneur Terry O’Reilly.
Podcast listenership is making gains with the latest Nielsen Insights research showing half of U.S. households are now podcast fans – equalling more than 60 million homes. Half of these households are fans of at least one podcast, while 22 per cent consider themselves “avid” fans, defined as someone “extremely interested” in a certain genre of podcast. Nielsen’s research looked at the value of the podcasting audience by cross-referencing the consumer spending of listeners in its Homescan Panel, across more than 300 key advertising categories.
SIGN-OFFS:
Rina Steuerman, 70, on Aug. 17 in Toronto. For many years, Steuerman was the manager of satellite services at Broadcast News, before retiring in 2004. Steuerman was the principal person who looked after satellite distribution for many of the broadcasters and as consultant Jean-Marie Heimrath shares with Broadcast Dialogue: “She was able to pull rabbits out of her hat many times when everyone said it wasn’t possible.”
Larry Broadley, 67, at South Huron Hospital in Exeter, ON, after a brief illness. Broadley was a DJ, news and special events broadcaster in the 1970s with CJOE-AM and CJBK-AM London, before leaving the industry. Broadley went on to become regional manager for Sifton Properties, owned and operated the Grapevine Bar in Grand Bend, and was also Grand Bend Harbour Master, eventually delving into real estate.
TV/FILM/VIDEO:
A Global News cameraman and reporter were targeted during an alt-right counter protest in Quebec City on Aug. 20, with one protestor destroying a camera. The demonstration turned violent after protesters clashed with police. During the chaos, cameraman Jean-Vincent Verveille was assaulted by protesters and shoved by a masked assailant, who smashed his camera to the ground, totalling it. Reporter Mike Armstrong was shoved down some stairs in the incident. Neither was injured. Armstrong later Tweeted that their attackers were from “a violent faction of anti-racists.”
Videotron is set to launch independent French-language horror channel Frissons TV on Sept. 1. The channel is the brainchild of Callisto Television Corp. president Sylvain Gagné, who hopes to fill the void left by the demise of Corus’ Dusk channel in 2012. Gagné is hopeful English-language version Terror TV will be picked up by a distributor for 2018.
Bell Media has struck a deal to license its original series Just Like Mom to Canadian production company marblemedia. Yes TV and BYU TV have greenlit the show for re-launch in 2018, which will be modernized and renamed Just Like Mom And Dad. The original children’s game show was commissioned for CTV’s flagship station CFTO-TV and ran for more than five seasons between 1980 and 1985, before going into syndication.
CMT Canada officially drops playing music videos as part of its licence conditions, starting Aug. 27. The Corus-owned specialty channel, licensed as Country Music Television in 1994, was originally required to play a minimum of 90 per cent country music videos. That was reduced to 50 per cent in 2006, on the condition the channel create more original content. CMT Canada will still be required to allocate no less than 11 per cent of the previous year’s gross revenue to the development and production of Canadian music videos. It’s also required to air Canadian programming during at least 60 per cent of the broadcast day and no less than 50 per cent of the evening broadcast period.
The CRTC has approved the broadcasting licence for the previously-exempt Bloomberg TV Canada. Entering its third broadcast year of operation on Sept. 1, Channel Zero confirmed last Spring that the channel had exceeded the subscriber threshold for the operation of an exempt service.
The CRTC has found that neither CTV News Channel nor CITV-DT Edmonton breached industry regulations and standards following a Jan. 2016 complaint over the use of the term “service dog” in the story of a Canadian Forces member with post-traumatic stress disorder. The complainant argued the dog in the story should not have been called a “service dog” in the reports because it did not meet the definition of “service dog” as set out in Alberta’s Service Dog Act, and further argued that CTV News Channel should not have referred to the story’s subject as a “veteran” since although transitioning out of the military, he was still an active member. While the Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council (CBSC) issued a decision in Nov. 2016, the complainant had asked the CRTC to review it.
CTV Your Morning meteorologist Kelsey McEwen took to the airwaves last week to react to pregnancy body shamers. McEwen, who is eight months pregnant, used the CTV daily news roundtable to address harsh online commentary about her pregnancy wardrobe. McEwen isn’t the first pregnant, Canadian broadcaster to receive viewer criticism. Global BC meteorologist Kristi Gordon appealed to viewers to be kind in 2015, during her second on-air pregnancy, but still was on the receiving end of hostile online comments.
Dennis Heaton has been named the executive producer in residence for the 2017 Bell Media Prime Time TV Program, presented in association with ABC Signature Studios. From Sept. to Dec. 2017, Heaton will lead the story room and soon-to-be-announced television writers selected to participate in this year’s program as they work together to develop Heaton’s original series. Heaton is currently executive producing and writing for Ghost Wars, a new horror series for SyFy and Netflix, and recently completed showrunning police procedural Motive. His additional live-action credits include Call Me Fitz, The Listener, JPod, Blood Ties and the feature film Fido.
City is debuting its original series Bad Blood with a world premiere screening at Fan Expo Canada on Sept. 1. The six-part series stars Anthony LaPaglia (Without A Trace) as Montreal mobster Vito Rizzuto, who watches from prison as his friends and family members are murdered, culminating in a revenge mission upon his release. Fan Expo Canada will also host the premiere of City’s new, live-action comedy Ghosted, starring Craig Robinson (Mr. Robot, Hot Tub Time Machine) and Adam Scott (Parks and Recreation). The pair play believers in the paranormal recruited by a secret government agency to save the human race from aliens.
ONLINE/DIGITAL:
The Rebel had a tough week with continued fallout from its controversial Charlottesville protest coverage, capped by the site temporarily losing its domain provider. In a post entitled “Stand With The Rebel,” Rebel Commander Ezra Levant isn’t going down without a fight, saying more management will be brought in to help run the business side of the site, while a managing editor will also be hired to focus on content. Levant is also vowing for more transparency in crowdfunding.
Google and Deezer are following Spotify’s lead and removing racist music from their sites. Spotify began removing racist content after Digital Music News published the names of 37 white supremacist bands on the platform. While Google isn’t actively reviewing its playlists, it says it will remove any YouTube or Google Play Music content reported by listeners, that violates its hate speech or incitement to commit violence policies.
GENERAL:
Quebecor has formed a strategic partnership with the non-profit organization that owns Montreal’s Imperial Theatre to ensure the historic building is preserved and developed as a cultural venue. Quebecor has acquired the property’s substantial mortgage debt, thus stopping repossession proceedings. The partnership makes it possible for the non-profit to retain ownership, while Quebecor will have priority rental rights. The Imperial Theatre’s board of directors will now have six members including Quebecor CFO Jean-François Pruneau and Marc M. Tremblay, senior VP, Chief Legal Affairs and Public Affairs and Corporate Secretary.
The CN Tower says the cable that sparked a smoldering fire inside the broadcast antenna Aug. 16 has been removed. Tests continue to be run to determine what caused the plastic casing around the single coaxial cable to melt.
SUPPLY LINES:
Dejero and Intelsat have collaborated on a new blended cellular and Ku-band IP solution for live television coverage from remote locations. Dejero CellSat promises the required bandwidth to go live from virtually anywhere, without having to schedule satellite time. If bandwidth available from cellular connections dips due to network congestion or other factors, CellSat automatically blends in Ku-band IP satellite connectivity to boost bandwidth to the requested level for the live shot. Most satellite vehicles with existing Ka-band or Ku-band satellite equipment can be upgraded for compatibility with Dejero CellSat. The tech is available now in the U.S. and Canada, with rollout to other regions planned for 2018.
MILESTONES:
Louis Potvin celebrated his 93rd birthday on July 19. It was Potvin, and his partner and late wife Carol, who launched and developed the Sea to Sky’s first radio station Mountain FM (CISQ-FM) Whistler, back in 1981. Potvin continues to reside in Lillooet Lake, BC.
