The CRTC has set a hearing for Jan. 10 to hear the Nunavut Independent Television Network (NITV) application for mandatory distribution as part of the digital basic service of BDUs across Canada. Uvagut TV launched in Jan. 2021, broadcasting primarily in Inuktitut. The commission will also hear Multicultural Francophone channel Natyf TV’s application for mandatory distribution in Quebec.
Stingray HITS has exceeded 210,000 subscribers for more than three consecutive months and has thus applied for a broadcasting licence to operate the national English-language discretionary service. Devoted to music television programming focusing on popular music videos from the last 20 years, the service has been operating since July 2021.
Paramount Global and Corus Entertainment have announced that Pluto TV, the FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) service, will debut in Canada on Dec. 1. With more than 100 curated channels and over 20,000 hours of content, audiences will be able to enjoy flagship Canadian series from Corus Studios including Love It or List It and Chopped Canada; key series from the popular NCIS franchise, Judge Judy and Hawaii Five-0, as well as curated movie channels programmed by genre, including Pluto TV Comedy, Pluto TV Drama, Pluto TV Action, The Asylum, Christmas 365 and Thriller 365. At launch, Corus will be the ad representative. Pluto TV will be available for free, with no registration required. Canadian users will be able to watch Pluto TV via pluto.tv, the Pluto TV app for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Android TV, Chromecast, Samsung and LG devices. Pluto TV currently has an audience of nearly 70 million monthly active users with its footprint extending across three continents and over 30 countries and territories. Read more here.
CHBC Kelowna (now Global Okanagan) celebrated 65 years on Sept. 21. Founded by the owners of local radio stations, CKOV-AM Kelowna, CKOK Penticton, and CJIB Vernon, CHBC first signed on Sept. 21, 1957. It originally operated as a CBC affiliate. The station remains on its original site in downtown Kelowna.
The 2023 Canadian Screen Awards are now open for nominations. The Canadian Academy’s Equity & Inclusion Fund helps remove financial barriers for underrepresented screen industry professionals to fully participate in the awards, providing financial assistance for submission fees. Learn more about rules and eligibility here.
The HUM Awards, Pakistan’s biggest television entertainment awards show, will be held at the First Ontario Centre in Hamilton on Sept. 24. The gala event’s previous edition, held at the same venue in 2018, received an overwhelming response from Canada’s South Asian diasporas. The event is anticipated to attract the crème de la crème of Pakistan’s entertainment industry, along with local dignitaries.
Sportsnet returns for the 2022-23 NHL regular season delivering exclusive regional TV and streaming coverage of the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, plus the majority of the Toronto Maple Leafs schedule. Sportsnet will serve up national and regional coverage of all 82 Flames, Oilers and Canucks games this season, plus 56 national and regional Leafs broadcasts. New this season, fans will be able to livestream over 1,000 national and out-of-market games, and all Stanley Cup Playoffs matchups, as NHL LIVE moves exclusively to SN NOW PREMIUM.
Sportsnet is gearing up to deliver full-court action throughout the 2022-23 Toronto Raptors regular season. Beginning Oct. 19, Sportsnet will lay-up 41 national broadcasts on Sportsnet, Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet 360 and via live stream on SN NOW. In addition, Sportsnet 590 The FAN will air 41 radio broadcasts. From the booth, veteran play-by-play announcer Matt Devlin will deliver the call, alongside game analyst and former Raptors point guard Alvin Williams. Amy Audibert returns courtside, while Brad Fay is back to anchor pre-, post-, and half-time coverage alongside Sherman Hamilton and Danielle Michaud. In the Radio Booth, play-by-play announcer Eric Smith and analyst Paul Jones will helm live broadcasts on Sportsnet 590 The FAN, while Will Lou and Alex Wong talk all things Raptors on the “The Raptors Show.”
OneSoccer will show live and exclusive coverage in Canada of the three international friendly matches due to be played by Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team (CanMNT) in the lead-up to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The Canadian men will take on Qatar this Friday, Sept. 23 in Vienna and will move on to Bratislava on Tuesday, Sept. 27 to play Uruguay. On Nov. 17 – just six days before their opening match against Belgium in the World Cup – the CanMNT will play Japan in Dubai. OneSoccer personalities Andi Petrillo and Oliver Platt will be onsite in both Austria and Slovakia to cover the matches for Canadian viewers, while former CanMNT players Scott Arfield and Patrice Bernier will provide analysis from the OneSoccer studios in Toronto. Play-by-play commentary will be offered in both English and French. OneSoccer says close to 2 million viewers tuned in to watch CanMNT clinch their World Cup qualification in March. Soccer is now the third most-watched sport on Canadian TV, just below hockey and nearly level with basketball, according to a recent study by The Insights Family.
Access Communications has partnered with the Western Hockey League (WHL) and the Regina Pats to bring 18 Pats home games to AccessNow TV community channels. The first game is set to air Friday, Sept. 23, as the Pats take on the Moose Jaw Warriors. The AccessNow TV broadcasts will showcase all six of the WHL’s East Division teams, four of which are Saskatchewan-based clubs. The broadcasts will feature Ryan McNally, Michael Ball, and Daniella Ponticelli on play-by-play and colour commentary.
Global TV will air one-hour special Landlocked, Canada’s Energy Dilemma on Sept. 23, exploring how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sparked a global energy crisis and shining a spotlight on Canada’s energy future. Featured journalists include David Akin, Eric Sorenson, Anne Gaviola, Crystal Goomansingh, Neetu Garcha, and Heather Yourex-West.
Hollywood Suite will present a full day of programming from Indigenous creators in recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30. Spotlighting the culture, history and perspectives of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, the programming will air on Hollywood Suite’s HS00 channel. The day will mark the broadcast premiere of feature-length documentary The Long Ride Home, telling the story of a courageous group of Indigenous riders who embark on a series of two-week-long horseback journeys across traditional territories to bring awareness to the realities of over-representation of Indigenous children in care and find a shared path forward. The full programming lineup also includes work from Indigenous creators, such as Jeremy Torrie thriller The Corruption of Divine Providence (2020); the box office success Indian Horse (2017); Darlene Naponse’s Falls Around Her (2018), starring Tantoo Cardinal; Every Child Matters: Reconciliation Through Education (2020); Stephanie Joline’s Stream Me (2021); the romance Great Great Great (2017); Abandoned: Angelique’s Isle (2018); and the supernatural drama from Shirley Cheechoo, Bearwalker (2001).
National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is marking this year’s Truth and Reconciliation Week with interactive, virtual and in-person events hosted by the NFB Education team, in addition to a two-day free public event at Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square presented by J’net Ayayqwayaksheelth, the NFB’s Director of Indigenous Relations and Community Engagement, as well as new and updated works by legendary Abenaki filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin and Métis artist Tyler Hagan. The national program is open to schools across Canada. This year’s theme is “Remembering the Children.”
My So-Called Selfish Life, directed by Therese Shechter, will have its Canadian premiere on CBC’s The Documentary Channel on Sunday, Sept. 25. The film weaves together personal stories, pop culture, history and politics, showing the ways society reinforces the idea that motherhood is both duty and destiny, and the deeper cultural implications of this belief. The film is part of Documentary Channel programming until Sept. 2025. A live public screening with Shechter takes place in Toronto on Oct. 26.
TELUS is celebrating the tenth anniversary of maCommunauté, the local channel on Optik TV giving a voice to Rimouski, the Gaspé Peninsula, Saint-Georges, Sainte-Marie, Montmagny, Baie-Comeau, Sept-Îles and the surrounding communities. Since maCommunauté’s launch in 2012, $10 million has been invested in producing over 280 original shows locally by creators from different regions of eastern Quebec. To celebrate the anniversary, the maCommunauté team has released a video featuring some of the producers who contributed to the channel over the last decade. Among the new shows set to debut this fall are Les yeux de mon camion, exploring the Gaspé Peninsula alongside heavy equipment operators; 1001 visages, highlighting unique and colourful people in outlying regions; and children’s show, Papi Toucroche.
The Youth Media Alliance (YMA) is looking for a Canadian student at the university or college level who shows talent and passion for creating innovative children’s content. One outstanding Canadian student planning to pursue a career in children’s television or digital media production will be selected to receive the YMA Andra Sheffer Scholarship. The award will enable the recipient to attend the Kidscreen Summit in Miami, the Banff World Media Festival in Alberta, as well as access to mentorship resources throughout the year offered by YMA staff, board members and industry stakeholders. Learn more about how to apply here.
