RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:
Gord Downie’s impact on the Canadian consciousness didn’t go unnoticed yesterday, as radio stations from coast to coast immediately flipped to pay tribute to the late Tragically Hip frontman upon word that he had quietly passed away. From CBC’s q, which learned of Downie’s passing 20 minutes before air, to rock stations across the country, radio responded. Q104 (CFRQ-FM) Halifax went all Gord Downie all day, with Barney Bentall graciously agreeing to do an impromptu tribute of his own during a pre-scheduled visit to the station. PD Trevor Wallworth writes “When we asked if he would like to do a Hip cover, he didn’t skip a beat and said ‘Can you print out the lyrics to Bobcaygeon?’ He went into the studio and nailed it in one take.” Watch Bentall’s performance here.
KiSS Radio (CKKS-FM) Vancouver has proclaimed itself the first fully interactive radio station in Canada, giving listeners the power to choose what songs go to air through a new online voting system via KiSSRadio.ca and the KiSS mobile app. Songs on the KiSS playlist are pushed up and down in real time through user votes, with the most popular songs going to air. Audiences can sign-up to receive alerts indicating when their favourite song is about to play and share their favourite tracks to social to encourage friends to join in.
Rogers has completed work on brand new studios at Bloor and Jarvis for Toronto stations 680 News (CFTR-AM), KiSS 92.5 (CKIS-FM), and CHFI-FM. Take a tour with 680 News’ business reporter Richard Southern here.
SiriusXM Canada has added 75 new specialty music, talk and sports channels to its SiriusXM Streaming service. Subscribers with access can now listen to new curated music channels including SiriusXM’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Radio, The Covers Channel, and Neil Diamond Radio. SiriusXM is also expanding its suite of Spanish-language and Latin-focused music, news and sports channels, offering American Latino Radio, CNN en Español and ESPN Deportes. See the full lineup here.
Glen Tilley, former executive producer of arts & entertainment at CBC Radio Newfoundland and Labrador, has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Music NL. Tilley was among those honoured Sunday night in St. John’s.
The C95 (CFMC-FM) Saskatoon Radio Marathon raised over $300,000 for breast cancer on Oct. 13, thanks in part to an anonymous $100,000 donation. Total funds raised for the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency amounted to $300,036.
The inaugural Give Thanks To Your Hospital Radiothon in Woodstock, ON raised nearly $37,000 for the Woodstock Hospital Maternal Child Department on Oct. 12. The event was broadcast live on 104.7 Heart FM (CIHR-FM) over 12 hours.
SIGN-OFFS:
John Dunsworth, 71, on Oct. 16. Born in Bridgewater, NS, Dunsworth studied acting at the University of Guelph and after dropping out in his fourth year, started acting in numerous CBC Radio dramas, as well as stage productions at Halifax’s Neptune Theatre. In 1970, he leased an abandoned building on the Halifax waterfront and founded alternative theatre company Pier One Theatre. He went on to start Filmworks Casting. He met director Mike Clattenburg in the mid-1990s and had a small part in short film One Last Shot, eventually developing that character into alcoholic trailer park supervisor Jim Lahey for comedy series The Trailer Park Boys. Dunsworth also appeared as reporter Dave Teagues on supernatural drama series Haven. Other recent film credits include Sleepmurder (CTV), Blessing (CBS), Shattered City: Halifax Explosion for Salter Street Films and Thom Fitzgerald’s Indie film Three Needles. In 2013, Dunsworth was recognized with an ACTRA Maritimes award for his role in Canadian television series Forgive Me and received a 2005 Gemini Award, with the cast of TPB, for Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program.
Joe Carbury, 88, on Oct. 17. Carbury was originally from Winnipeg, but started his sports career at CHAT Medicine Hat in 1948. Carbury was working as a salesman for Monsanto and was running some radio spots at a local station where he started talking sports with the station manager, who offered him a job. He began his on-air career as play-by-play announcer for the Medicine Hat Tigers and would call CFL games in Calgary and Edmonton, as well as boxing matches. After moving to CFAC Calgary, he started calling thoroughbred racing and famously called the chuckwagon races at Stampede Park, until his retirement in July 2008. Along the way he did play-by-play for the Calgary Centennials of the WCHL, along with curling. Carbury was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.
Ken Publicover, 60, on Oct. 6, of cancer. After graduating from Loyalist College in 1979, Publicover went to work as a cameraman at CTV Halifax, eventually shifting into the role of Control Room Director. He played a significant role in the development and launch of CTV Halifax’s Live at 5, the first walk-and-talk news broadcast in Canada. Publicover moved to CBC Halifax in 1989, where he helped launch Newsworld. Up until his death, Publicover had been with the public broadcaster for 28 years, most recently as director and switcher.
TV/FILM/VIDEO:
Ericsson’s 8th annual TV and Media report finds around 70 per cent of consumers now watch TV and video on a smartphone – twice as many as in 2012. Smartphones now make up a fifth of total viewing, with approximately six hours per week spent watching TV and video on the device. Among the report’s other key findings: VR technology will be an essential component of TV and video in the future; and by 2020, only one in 10 consumers will watch TV on a traditional screen. Quantitative data for the study was collected from 13 countries, including Canada.
Bell Media has entered into an agreement with Corus Entertainment to acquire French-language specialty channels Séries+ and Historia. Bell Media currently operates 10 French-language TV channels in Québec, including Canal D, Canal Vie, Cinépop, Investigation, RDS, RDS Info, RDS2, Super Écran, VRAK, and Z. The transaction is subject to approval by the CRTC and the Competition Bureau, and is expected to close in mid-2018.
Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana and Discovery Communications have announced the formation of a new venture to produce content for the kids’ market in Canada, Latin America, and globally. Based in Canada, the yet-to-be named venture will operate independently of Corus, Discovery and Nelvana’s other services. A press release says the venture combines the strength of the Discovery Kids business in Latin America, and Corus’ suite of kids’ channels in Canada – both of whom will commission content from the new production company.
The CRTC has issued notice that it will hold a hearing Apr. 30 on renewing mandatory distribution orders for TV services. The deadline for submitting interventions, comments or answers is Nov. 16.
CraveTV is now available to Cogeco customers in Ontario, further expanding the streaming service’s distribution footprint across Canada.
The Beaverton returns for a second season on The Comedy Network on Nov. 1. The satirical original series now tapes Mondays in front of a live studio audience before premiering Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy. Season 2 will also roll out Fridays on CraveTV, beginning Nov. 3 and Sundays at midnight on CTV, beginning Nov. 5. Full episodes, episode highlights, and exclusive digital shorts will also be available on TheComedyNetwork.ca, TheBeaverton.com, and ComedyGO, following their broadcast premiere.
Super Channel has acquired the exclusive Canadian broadcast rights to critically-acclaimed television series American Gods. The eight-episode first season, produced by FremantleMedia North America (FMNA) and adapted from Neil Gaiman’s best-selling contemporary fantasy novel, will premiere in Spring 2018 and also be available to subscribers on Super Channel On Demand. The first season, partially filmed in Toronto, was a hit with both audiences and critics and has been renewed by Starz in the U.S.
Showcase’s Star Wars movie event over Thanksgiving weekend reached 6.9 million Canadians, according to Numeris PPM data. The network was #1 each night (Ind. 2+ and Adults 25-54) from Oct. 7 – 9, with each movie averaging 328,000 viewers (2+).
CTV is pushing up the air date of Long Time Running, in tribute to Gord Downie. The film, which chronicles The Tragically Hip’s 2016 Man Machine Poem tour and final concert in their hometown of Kingston, will make its commercial-free world television premiere Fri., Oct. 20 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The 95-minute film was previously scheduled to debut in November.
40 years ago this week, the House of Commons entered the television age on Oct. 17, 1977. From the CBC Archives, watch as hosts Peter Kent, John Drewery and reporter John Warren introduce the first live broadcast of Question Period.
Blue Ant Media has officially launched its new animation studio Look Mom! Productions. The Toronto-based unit is producing creator-driven animated content for kids (6-11), teens and adults (18-34), led by creative director Joshua Bowen.
ONLINE/DIGITAL:
Canadian ISPs will not be taxed to prop up Canadian content and news, according to the government response to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage report entitled Disruption: Change and Churning in Canada’s Media Landscape. The Oct. 16 letter, signed by Heritage Min. Mélanie Joly, ISED Min. Navdeep Bains and Finance Min. Bill Morneau, also dismisses making not-for-profit media eligible for charitable status and nixes the idea of diverting funds from the auction of wireless spectrum to Canadian content.
Rogers Media has launched digital news site HalifaxToday.ca, powered by staff from its news/talk station News 95.7 (CJNI-FM) Halifax. Rogers has licensed the platform from Village Media, a digital news network with local sites across Ontario, and is the exclusive advertising representative to sell Canadian advertising inventory on HalifaxToday.ca.
The Canadian Journalism Foundation is bringing together some of the newest entries in the Canadian media landscape together for its Nov. 8 J-Talk in Toronto. Moderated by Catherine Wallace, the former executive producer of the Montreal Gazette’s iPad 6 pm edition, the featured speakers are Dave Bidini, founder and publisher of The West End Phoenix, a community news monthly just launched in Toronto – ad-free and in print; Saleem Khan, science and technology editor with The Conversation Canada, an edition of the Australian website that turns academic research into accessible articles; Erin Millar, editor-in-chief and CEO of Discourse Media, an independent, Vancouver-based website finding success in its collaborative approach to journalism; and James Mirtle, editor-in-chief of The Athletic Canada, a version of a subscription sports website expanding across major North American cities.
CBC Montreal joined the number of stations simulcasting its newscasts on Facebook Live, starting Oct. 13.
BuzzFeed has two new ad products designed to make it easier for TV marketers to run ads. The first product allows brands to weave their messages into a BuzzFeed quiz. The second, dubbed BuzzCuts, turns a TV or print ad into a short video or gif-like visual that translates well to mobile viewing.
GENERAL:
Kantar Media has been selected to assist in the development of a Video Audience Measurement (VAM) solution for Numeris’ members that will bring together linear and non-linear viewing across all platforms and devices. Kantar has partnered with comScore to provide digital measurement expertise as part of the VAM solution. Numeris will be working on a proof of concept over the next several months.
The CRTC has issued a call for comments on Heritage Minister Melanie Joly’s request for a report on future programming distribution models. The commission’s report, due no later than June 1, will cover “how and through whom Canadians will access that programming;” and “the extent to which these models will ensure a vibrant domestic market that is capable of supporting the continued creation, production and distribution of Canadian programming, in both official languages, including original entertainment and information programming.” The commission intends to conduct the proceeding in two phases. The first will accept interventions filed by Nov. 24. Based on the comments received in the first phase, the commission says the second phase could include a public opinion survey and focus groups.
CBC Vancouver picked up three honours at the Jack Webster Awards in Vancouver last weekend, celebrating the work of BC-based journalists. CBC Radio Vancouver won Best Breaking News Reporting – Radio, while Skye Ryan from CHEK-TV Victoria took home the honour in the television category. CBC’s Yvette Brend was named Commentator of the Year, while CTV Vancouver and W5 shared the TV award for Excellence In Feature/Enterprise Reporting for their reportage on the overdose crisis. You can view the full list of winners here.
Michael Landsberg was among six new inductees into Ryerson University’s Radio and Television Arts (RTA) Wall of Fame on Oct. 14, by the RTA Alumni Association. In addition to the longtime TSN personality (Class of ‘82), Toronto photographer and activist Maayan Ziv (RTA 2012) was inducted, and television screenwriters Treena Hancock and Melissa Byer (RTA ‘94), who have credits on CSI, Flashpoint and Crossing Jordan. English filmmaker Alan Clarke (RTA ’61), who pioneered the use of the steadicam, and award-winning television writer Denis McGrath (RTA ’90) were inducted posthumously.
The Ontario Association of Broadcasters has announced Dr. Caroline J. Simard, CRTC vice-chair, Broadcasting, as the keynote luncheon speaker at Connection ’17. The event is Simard’s first public speaking engagement since her term began on Sept. 11. The OAB annual conference and awards gala takes place Nov. 9 at the Marriott Toronto Airport Hotel. Ticket info here.
The entry deadline for the Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB) Awards program is Fri., Oct. 20. The program has added two new award categories: Best In Class Sales Award and Creative Award, in addition to awards for Station Promotion and Community Service. OAB members are encouraged to enter their station and staff’s best work.
The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society (AMMSA) is offering a bursary/internship award in the name of board member and elder Joe P. Cardinal, for students in the second or subsequent years of a degree/certificate program in a multi-media discipline. Applicants must be First Nations, Inuit or Métis, hold permanent Canadian resident status and reside in Alberta. There is also an opportunity for a four-month paid internship for the applicant. Link to the application form here. Completed applications must be received no later than Nov. 30.
Rogers and the City of Brantford have teamed up to connect more than 1,300 subsidized housing tenants in the City of Brantford and County of Brant to low-cost, high-speed internet. The Rogers’ Connected for Success program, which offers high-speed internet for $9.99/month and no contract or credit checks upon sign up, has now connected more than 15,500 homes across Rogers cable footprint in Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland since 2013.
Huawei has announced a three-year strategic partnership agreement with the University of British Columbia (UBC) to support continued research in advanced communications with the Faculties of Applied Science and Science. Huawei is committing to invest between $2.5 and $3M over the next three years to support both new projects and a number of ongoing research initiatives in 5G-related project areas. Over the past year, the private company has made research commitments with the University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, and École Polytechnique, saying it plans to invest over $10 million with Canadian universities in 2017.
Freedom Mobile has launched what it’s calling the Big Gig, a new plan giving customers 10GB of data for $50/month. The plan also comes with no penalties for data overages and will be available starting Oct. 19.
Pelmorex Corp., which operates The Weather Network, MeteoMedia, Eltiempo.es and Clima, has announced its acquired mobile-first data management and media buying platform Addictive Mobility. The move is in line with Pelmorex’s intention to evolve into an information networks and data solutions business.
Corus Entertainment has announced Q4 and Year End fiscal results. Consolidated revenues decreased one per cent for the quarter and increased 43 per cent for the year [down 2% on a pro forma basis for the year(1)]. The company reported net income attributable to shareholders of $28.9 million ($0.14 per share basic) for the quarter and $191.7 million ($0.95 per share basic) for the year, and adjusted basic earnings per share of $0.22 per share for the quarter and $1.10 per share for the year. President and CEO Doug Murphy credits improvement in TV advertising revenues, strong free cash flow and continued advancement of strategic priorities.
SUPPLY LINES:
The original Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) Radio Gets Results jingle package is now available for free download, courtesy of Grace Broadcast Sales. Created by Tuesday Productions 20 years ago, it stands as one of the most widely embraced pro-radio campaigns ever conceived. More info here.
