TV & Film News – DGC BC members negotiate new collective agreement

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the Canadian Media Producers Association – BC Producers Branch (CMPA-BC), and the Directors Guild of Canada BC District Council (DGC BC) have successfully negotiated a new collective agreement, setting updated terms, conditions and rates for directors and other DGC-represented crew members engaged in film, TV and digital media productions in B.C. Also covering production management, assistant directors, locations and production assistants, 50.3% of eligible DGC BC represented crew voted 90.9% in favour of the deal. The new agreement sees the minimum scale wage rate increase 5.5% in the first year, with an additional 4% increase to go into effect on March 29, 2026, and a final 3.5% increase effective April 4, 2027. Retirement contributions increase 0.5% effective March 29, 2026, with a further 0.5% increase to take effect April 4, 2027. Those contribution increases will not apply to longform television productions under $5.3M. 

Bell Media says Sunday’s Grey Cup broadcast drew an average audience of 3.6 million across CTV, TSN and RDS. That marked a 19.9% year-over-year increase in English audience with the addition of the CTV broadcast, but a 79% drop in viewership on RDS, with last year’s Grey Cup drawing more interest in Quebec with the Montreal Alouettes in the final. Heading into the 111th Grey Cup, the Eastern Final was watched by an average audience of 1.7 million viewers on TSN, CTV, and RDS, and the Western Final watched by 1.2 million viewers on TSN and RDS, together marking an increase of 24% compared to last year.

Kenzie Lalonde has made history as the first female play-by-play announcer to call a game for a Canadian NHL team. Lalonde has been with TSN since 2021 and called Montreal Canadiens games in the past for TSN 690 (CKGM-AM) in Montreal. Lalonde was also the first woman to do play-by-play for the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) during her time at Eastlink TV in Halifax.

Pierre Houde has been recognized with the Foster Hewitt Award by the Hockey Hall of Fame. Houde, 67 has been the Montreal Canadiens French-language play-by-play voice for RDS since 1989. Houde started his broadcasting career at the age of 21 in 1978, hosting a sports program on Radio-Canada, while still a student.

The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) has announced this season’s Canadian broadcast partners, including the return of TSN, RDS, and CBC/Radio-Canada, while welcoming Prime Video. They’ll collectively deliver all 90 games of the upcoming regular-season, including French-language coverage of all 30 Montréal Victoire games. PWHL coverage begins Saturday, Nov. 30, when the puck drops between the Toronto Sceptres and the visiting Boston Fleet live on CBC, CBC Gem and cbcsports.ca. The opening contest marks the first of 17 weekly Saturday afternoon games on the CBC schedule. Later that afternoon, the Montréal Victoire will host the Ottawa Charge on TSN and RDS, the first of 57 to be carried by TSN. Prime Video will have exclusive Canadian coverage of all 16 Tuesday night PWHL games, beginning Dec. 3. Canadian coverage of the semifinal round of the PWHL Playoffs will be split exclusively between TSN/RDS and Prime Video. TSN and RDS are the exclusive home of the PWHL Finals.

A GoFundMe in support of Global BC ENG photographer Todd Gilchrist has raised more than $23,000 so far. Gilchrist was recently diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and has been undergoing treatment at Vancouver General Hospital. He had been working with Global BC since 2017 and prior to that, was an ENG photographer at CTV Vancouver.

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TVOkids has launched Happy Place (43 x 3), a new series teaching kids manners and kindness featuring real-life guinea pigs. The preschool series is being co-produced with Imagine Create Media and is now available for streaming on TVOkids.