RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:
Corus Entertainment and TPX (The Podcast Exchange) have announced a sales partnership that will see TPX sell Corus podcasts in Canada and the U.S. Corus’ growing podcast network features podcast programming from across its 39 radio stations, and original offerings like The Ongoing History of New Music with Alan Cross. TPX will be working directly with Corus’ recently-appointed director of Podcasting and Streaming Chris “Dunner” Duncombe and his team for all North American sales.
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) says comments made about Indigenous women on Radio X (CHOI-FM) Quebec City in Nov. 2016 breached the Human Rights clause of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ (CAB) Code of Ethics and Equitable Portrayal Code. Speaking on his show about allegations of sex assault against Indigenous women by police officers in remote regions, host Jeff Fillion said that according to an officer he had spoken to young, handsome police officers with attractive wives and young families would not be tempted by “messed up” Indigenous women with “rotten teeth, hepatitis and substance abuse problems.” The CBSC’s French-language Panel concluded Fillion’s characterizations of Indigenous peoples violated the code and that he did not adequately clarify that he was denouncing sexual assault and not intending to stereotype or degrade Indigenous women.
Okanagan Oldies 103.9 (CKOO-FM) held its inaugural Variety Radiothon on June 27. The event raised more than $20,000 for Variety the Children’s Charity to help special needs children in the Okanagan.
Fairchild Radio organized a week-long public service campaign in June in support of animal cruelty and abandonment prevention programs. During Fairchild Radio Animal Well-being Awareness Week, June 9-15, a panel of veterinarians, animal cruelty investigation officers, pet adopters and representatives from the SPCA and Humane Society were invited to guest-host programs in Chinese on AM 1430 and FM 88.9 Toronto; FM 94.7 Calgary; and AM 1470 and FM 96.1 Vancouver. In addition, each city organized their own events to support the cause, including a Vancouver cookie fundraiser that raised $2,052 in four hours for the BC SPCA.
Ross Ingram, owner of Faithway Communications Inc. and CJRI-FM Fredericton, NB, marked 65 years in broadcasting on July 1. Ingram’s broadcasting career started at CJSH-FM Hamilton where he started as a control room operator in 1953. From there, he went to CHVC Niagara Falls; CKEC-FM New Glasgow, NS; CKCL-FM Truro, NS; CHSJ Radio and TV Saint John, NB; CBC-TV Halifax; and CBC Radio and Television in Fredericton where he retired after 30 years with the public broadcaster. For the last 15 years, in addition to managing CJRI, Ingram has been hosting the station’s Daybreak morning program.
SIGN-OFFS:
Les Carpenter, 61, on July 3, after a brief illness. Carpenter started his broadcasting career with the CBC in Inuvik where he hosted many of the North’s most popular programs and earned him the nickname “Mr. Saturday Night.” Carpenter left broadcasting In 1984 and over the next 16 years took on a variety of roles from becoming the first mayor of Sachs Harbour to founding chair of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. He was also a member of the UN Special Task Force on Aboriginal Peoples and special advisor to Australia’s Aboriginal Peoples and the Prime Minister’s Office. In 2000, Carpenter was asked by Northern Native Broadcasting in Whitehorse to step back into his former career as director of radio. In the fall of 2009, Carpenter took over as CEO of Yellowknife-based Native Communications Society, which owns CKLB-FM, which broadcasts in five languages to 30 communities in the N.W.T. and northern Alberta.
Larry Lamb, 83, on June 29 in Peterborough. Lamb had a distinguished career in radio advertising, concluding his career as president of Major Market Broadcasters. Founded by a group of senior sales executives that left Stephens & Towndrow Broadcast Reps in 1966, the company opened offices in Montreal and Toronto with CHUM as its only client. CFPL London and the Moffatt stations were eventually partners. The successor company became known as CHUM Radio Sales after CHUM purchased all of the outstanding shares in the late 1990s. Lamb is remembered as a mentor to younger media buyers, and one of the nicest guys in the business.
Denis Akiyama, 66 on June 28. Akiyama was an actor and voice actor, best known as the voice of the Iceman/Bobby Drake, Silver Samurai and Sunfire characters in the X-Men Animated Series. He also provided the voice of Malachite/Kunzite in the original English version of Sailor Moon. The Toronto-born actor also appeared in Johnny Mnemonic, 2015 action adventure film Pixels, and was a frequent guest star on Canadian TV series Katts and Dog.
Daniel Pilon, 77, on June 26, of cancer. Montreal-born Pilon got his first movie role in Quebec director Gilles Carle’s 1968 drama Le Viol d’une Jeune Fille Douce, which also starred his older brother Donald Pilon. He went on to appear in 1969 British war film Play Dirty, alongside Michael Caine and Nigel Davenport. Pilon is best known for portraying portraying villain Renaldo “Naldo” Marchetta on Dallas and Gavin Newirth on Days of Our Lives, among other roles on daytime soaps Ryan’s Hope and Guiding Light. He also had credits on Hart to Hart, Cagney & Lacey, and Murder, She Wrote.
Robert Asgeirsson, 74, on June 12, following a nine-year battle with prostate cancer. The Vancouver-based cinematographer began his career at CJAY-TV Winnipeg in the 1960s, before moving to Vancouver in 1969 where he worked at BCTV as a documentary and current affairs cameraman. Throughout the 1970s and 80, Asgeirsson worked as both a freelance and staff shooter for CBC Vancouver, Global TV and other clients. His work was nominated for a Gemini Award in 1989. Asgeirsson was also curator of the Icelandic Archives of BC which now reside in the UBC Library Special Collections department, collecting and printing hundreds of still photographs for the “Nordic Spirit” collection.
TV/FILM/VIDEO:
Carolyn Waldo, Olympic gold medalist and veteran CTV sportscaster, former CTV Barrie sportscaster Alastair Connolly, and Ontario Hockey League broadcaster and goalie Emily Fulford are co-hosts of new sports series GO/NITRO that’s been picked up for U.S. syndication. Produced by Ottawa production house SKYCRON for Bell Media, the show has been picked up by New York-based JPI, known for its sports programming with ESPN, Fox Sports and NBC Sportsnet, and is slated to begin airing Nov. 3. The premise of the show, “Every Athlete Has A First Day”, sees Fulford, Waldo and Connolly drafted by teams in the CFL, NCAA, OHL, NASCAR and the Canadian Olympic Team in different sports — and then go through the same training, workouts, diet and competition with the actual athletes of these teams.
The 2018 iHeartRadio MMVAs’ first round of performers includes Alessia Cara, Halsey, and Marshmello ft. Anne-Marie. The awards show returns Aug. 26 at 9 p.m. ET simulcast on CTV, MTV and Much, with a red carpet pre-show on MTV and Much. The awards will also livestream on Twitter, CTV.ca, CTV GO and Much.com, via the iHeartRadio app, iHeartRadio.ca, and across nine Virgin Radio stations in Toronto, Kitchener, London, Halifax, Montréal, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver.
CBC Sports will have daily coverage of the Calgary Stampede beginning Friday across CBC and Sportsnet ONE as well as livestreams at cbcsports.ca and via the CBC Sports app. The CBC broadcast schedule includes an afternoon encore presentation of the Parade and nighttime coverage of the GMC Rangeland Derby on July 7, with live afternoon and evening coverage over the final weekend (July 14-15), and weeknight wrap-up shows recapping the top performances. In Alberta only, CBC Calgary’s Doug Dirks and Angela Knight will anchor parade coverage, while Heartland’s Graham Wardle takes a break from production on Season 12 to undertake the role of reporter along the parade route.
Women in Film & Television – Atlantic (WIFT-AT) is giving emerging female directors a chance to gain TV series experience with their new program The Shadow Project. The program gives female directors the opportunity to “shadow” senior directors on five television series shooting in Atlantic Canada, including Pure, Mr. D, Diggstown, Cavendish and Little Dog.
ONLINE/DIGITAL:
Politico is launching a subscription-based Canadian edition it describes as a “cross-border policy intelligence service for professionals with a stake in the Canada-U.S. relationship.” Politico Pro Canada’s staff will be based in Washington and helmed by editor Alexander Panetta. It’s set to launch in September.
LiveWire Calgary is the latest online independent news site to enter the Calgary market. In his introductory post, editor Darren Krause, former managing editor at Metro Calgary, writes: “LiveWire Calgary believes there’s a large, under-represented group (maybe even a majority?) of Calgarians who have lost their connection to media because it’s not connecting them to their community.”
GENERAL:
CTV Montreal anchor Mutsumi Takahashi and former CBC Radio producer and composer David Jaeger have been named Members of the Order of Canada, among 105 new appointments by the Governor General. Also named a Member is Dr. Yiyan Wu of the Communications Research Centre Canada (CRC) – a leading authority and researcher in digital TV and multimedia communications. Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels has been named a Companion of the Order for his significant influence on North American culture.
The Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel held its first working session June 26-27, under the leadership of chair Janet Yale in Ottawa. The Review Panel will continue to meet over the summer and expects to launch its consultation and outreach plan this September.
BCE Inc. has been awarded a multi-year contract to operate Alberta SuperNet, the government-led initiative providing broadband network connectivity in 429 communities throughout the province. Bell currently owns and operates the SuperNet network assets serving 27 urban centres in Alberta, and will now also operate the network elements connecting a total of 402 communities in rural Alberta. Bell has entered into an agreement to acquire Axia NetMedia Corporation, the Calgary-based operator of SuperNet’s rural assets. Terms of the transaction, expected to close this fall, will not be disclosed.
Anthem Properties Group Ltd. has acquired the former CBC/Radio-Canada site in Calgary. The 2.43 acre site at 1724 Westmount Boulevard in the Hillhurst-Sunnyside neighbourhood is slated for residential redevelopment. The site was home to the public broadcaster for nearly six decades before the local bureau moved into a new, modern facility last fall. Anthem is proposing to develop a townhome community with panoramic views of the river valley and downtown Calgary.
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