REVOLVING DOOR:
Perry Macdonald is set to depart Bell Media, where he’s held the title of Vice-President, Advertising Sales and Partnerships since 2015, leading sales and operations teams across television, digital, radio, and Astral Out of Home. Prior to that, he served as VP of Sales for CTV for five years. The move comes amidst structural changes within Bell Media. Stewart Johnston, SVP of Sales and Sports, will step into MacDonald’s role in the interim.
Carly Meyers has joined Pattison Media’s 101.5 TODAY Radio (CKCE-FM) as afternoon drive host. Meyers joins the Hot Adult Contemporary station after a five-month hiatus from radio after getting swept up in changes at Rogers Sports & Media in Vancouver last September. She was most recently heard on the drive home show on Vancouver’s JACK FM, alongside co-host Jay Brody. The on-air duo were initially part of the launch lineup on sister station SONiC RADiO (CKKS-FM) in June 2022. Read more here.
Kieran Wilkie, aka Big Ginger, is headed to Edmonton where he’ll be helming afternoon drive on Virgin Radio (CFMG-FM). Wilkie had been hosting afternoons on Pattison Media’s Beach Radio 103.1 (CKQQ-FM) Kelowna, and was also heard on the Beach Radio stations in Prince Albert, Melfort, and North Battleford, SK, up until this past November. Blair Gaboury, who has been hosting afternoons on Virgin Radio in both Calgary and Edmonton for the last eight months, will continue in afternoon drive on Virgin Radio Calgary. Read more here.
Basem Boshra has been named the new Senior Director of Journalistic Standards & Public Trust for CBC News. An almost 30-year journalist, Boshra has been CBC Quebec’s Senior Managing Editor since 2022, overseeing journalism and programming, while also managing the CBC North Cree Unit for the past year and a half. He’ll transition into his new role in Toronto at the end of March. It was previously held by George Achi, who has joined the BBC as Head of Editorial Quality and Compliance, World Service. Read more here.
Jean Laroche has announced his retirement from CBC after almost four decades with the public broadcaster. Laroche has been a reporter with CBC Halifax since 1987. He got his start at CBC Montreal, while still studying journalism at Concordia University, working as a chase producer on Daybreak.
Hana Mae Nasser has joined CBC Vancouver. Nasser was previously with CityNews Vancouver for almost eight years, up until last September, where she most recently had held the title of Managing Editor.
Cathy Paine has joined CBC Toronto as a Senior Communications Officer. Paine was formerly a Communications Specialist at Corus Entertainment for the past three years, up until last November, overseeing media relations and audience relations for Global News and Corus Audio.
Manisha Krishnan is joining Wired as Senior Culture Editor. Krishnan was a senior reporter for VICE Media for the last nine years, up until March 2024
Darcy Matheson is moving into the role of Editor-in-Chief of BC Business and Vice-President of Digital at parent company, Canada Wide Media, which also publishes Vancouver Magazine, Western Living and BC Living. Matheson was formerly Editor-in-Chief of Daily Hive and did a brief stint at ZoomerMedia’s digital network. She’s also worked with CTV Vancouver as a Supervising Producer.
Toby Tannas, the morning show co-host on 103.1 Beach Radio (CKQQ-FM) Kelowna, is seeking the federal Conservative nomination in Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee. Tannas was an anchor and producer with Global Okanagan for 20 years, prior to joining Beach Radio in 2018.
Marci Ien has announced she won’t be re-offering for the Liberals in the next federal election. Ien was elected in Toronto Centre in October 2020 after 23 years as a host and reporter for CTV. She’s served as the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth since 2021.
Jason Lee has been promoted to Managing Vice-President, BC Producers Branch and Industrial Relations, at the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA). In the new role, he’ll oversee daily operations of the CMPA-BC Producers Branch and continue to manage the office of BC Industrial Relations. Since joining CMPA in 2017, Lee has served as the lead negotiator in collective bargaining on behalf of the BC Branch Council and supported BC members in various labour matters. Prior to joining CMPA, he was Vice-President of Business and Legal Affairs with SEVEN24 Films. The position of Managing Vice-President of the BC Branch was formerly held by Tracey Friesen, up until her passing in January.
Brad Horvath has been appointed Vice-President, Content Sales at Toronto-based producer/distributor Boat Rocker. He’ll lead distribution of scripted and feature documentary content across the U.S. and Latin America, and support overall sales strategy. Horvath has been with BBC Studios in Los Angeles for the last 11 years, most recently holding the title of VP, Content Sales & Distribution.
Sarah Timlick has joined Amazon MGM Studios, where she’ll oversee Canadian distribution. Timlick has been with Elevation Pictures for the last decade, where she was Head of Theatrical Sales Distribution.
Lowell Schreider has been appointed Division Director of CK Talent Management’s new Canadian operation. The entertainment industry veteran has previously served as Director of Marketing and Communications for William F. White International and Comweb Group, among other communications work.
RADIO & PODCAST:
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) and 25 of its radio members – including Rogers Sports & Media, Bell Media, Cogeco, Stingray, Pattison Media and Corus Entertainment – have written to the CRTC asking the commission to tear up its recent notice of consultation on updated rules for the radio and audio sector and start over. The CAB’s letter takes issue with what it interprets as the CRTC’s intention to maintain existing music quotas on commercial radio stations while proposing additional obligations with respect to emerging and Indigenous artists, and potentially news. At the same time, the CAB says the notice suggests online undertakings will not be subject to similar content quotas, deepening a “competitive imbalance between traditional and digital platforms.” Read more here.
The CRTC has approved an application by Arsenal Media to take ownership and control of Bell Media French-language commercial stations CFEI-FM Saint-Hyacinthe, CFVM-FM Amqui, CFZZ-FM Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, CHRD-FM and CJDM-FM Drummondville, CIKI-FM Rimouski and its transmitter CIKI-FM-2 Sainte-Marguerite-Marie and CJOI-FM Rimouski. The purchase price for the assets is $6.5 million.
The CRTC has issued a call for comments on market capacity in Wingham, ON and surrounding areas after receiving an application from Blackburn Media to operate a new commercial FM station at 104.3 MHz (channel 282B) with an average radiated power (ERP) of 16,700 watts (maximum ERP of 28,000 watts). The deadline for submissions is April 7.
The CRTC has approved an application by Joel Lagacé, on behalf of a not-for-profit corporation to be incorporated, for a broadcasting licence to operate a low-power, English-language developmental community FM radio station in Cochrane, ON. The proposed station will operate at 104.7 MHz (channel 284 LP) with an average and maximum effective radiated power (ERP) of five watts. Lagacé is proposing to revive community station CFDY-FM, which was on-air from 2009-19, operated by the Cochrane Polar Bear Radio Club. The new station would broadcast 126 hours of local programming per broadcast week, airing a mix of popular music, in addition to news, weather, sports, and programming from local community groups. About 15% of station programming will be in French.
Corus Entertainment is reintroducing a late night talk show across the Corus Talk Radio network. The Last Show with David Cooper will make its debut Monday, March 10 and be time- shifted across the country, airing weeknights on 640 Toronto and 980 CFPL London from 10 p.m. – midnight ET; 680 CJOB Winnipeg from midnight – 2 a.m. CT; 880 CHED Edmonton and QR Calgary from 11 p.m. – 1 a.m. MT, and 730 CKNW Vancouver from 11 p.m. – 1 a.m. PT. The network was previously airing “best of” content from its daytime programming in those timeslots. Read more here.
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Tara Slone’s new show No Filter has premiered on SiriusXM Canada’s Canada Talks (Ch. 167). Airing every Saturday at 2 p.m. ET, the show promises to “get real” about womanhood, covering topics from body image to dating.
Elbows Up is a new podcast from former Frequency Podcast Network Executive Producer and host Jordan Heath-Rawlings (The Big Story, The Gravy Train), producer Laura Palmer (Island Crime), and sound designer and recording engineer Mat Keselman. Elbows Up is a timely discussion of what you can do for your country in tough times.
The Pro Bono Group has released fresh creative for the “Pro Radio Project,” titled “Better Weather.” It’s designed to help drum up new business into spring, replacing the previous PSA “Winter.” The new creative features Canadian actor and voiceover performer Noel Johansen, and award-winning Canadian actress Kathy Greenwood. Another fresh-up will be released to stations in late spring.
Hockey Hall of Famer Hayley Wickenheiser, improv legend Colin Mochrie, and actress and comedian Debra McGrath are the latest Canadians to lend their voices to the Pro Bono Group’s Pro Canada Project. With the push to support Canadian businesses and products gaining momentum in the wake of U.S. tariffs, the two latest radio PSAs in the campaign follow spots released last week voiced by comedians Ron James and Rick Mercer. Read more here.
Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio (MIW) has released its latest Gender Analysis Study, which finds getting hired in Program Director and Brand Manager roles continues to be the biggest challenge for women in radio. The non-profit’s study, released in advance of International Women’s Day, found women in the U.S. currently program just 12.38% (1,242 stations), a slight gain from 11.50% in 2023. The study finds Sales Manager roles are still the best management opportunities for women in the industry with 35.67% (3,663 stations) helmed by a woman Sales Manager in 2024, up more than a percentage point from 2023. Read more here.
The Winnipeg Radio Reunion will bring together broadcasters who’ve worked in the city, past and present, this summer to reminisce and reconnect. Led by Ralph “Racoon” Carney – an alum of CKRC and 1290 AM (CFRW-AM) Winnipeg – a group of volunteers are planning a slate of events, June 12-14, highlighted by the WPG Radio Reunion Gala on the Friday night. Read more here.
LISTEN: On the latest Sound Off Podcast, Ashley Greco discusses her career journey from high school to morning host at Pure Country (CKKL-FM) Ottawa. Greco details her career progression, from internships at Kiss 92 (CKIS-FM) Toronto and Skywords Media to co-hosting at Z103.5 (CIDC-FM) and CHUM.
TV & FILM:
CBC News is reporting another viewership bump as the Canada-U.S. trade war continues to fuel Canadian appetites for news. The public broadcaster says as U.S. tariffs took effect on Tuesday, March 4, 2.4 million Canadians tuned in to CBC and CBC News Network for its Canada-U.S. trade war special, hosted by Chief Correspondent Adrienne Arsenault. The special was the most-watched primetime program in Canada that day, drawing a combined average minute audience of 848,000, with significant audiences also visiting CBC’s digital, streaming and audio platforms. cbcnews.ca and the CBC News App, drew 3.73 million unique visitors, a 57% increase over the previous 90-day average. Read more here.
The CRTC has received an application from Rogers Communications Inc. to acquire control of the NBA TV (Canada) discretionary service from BCE. The application is part of a larger transaction to acquire operations not regulated by the commission, including Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. Rogers is proposing a tangible benefits package of $3,710,952, which represents 10% of the proposed value of the transaction ($37,109,518).
B.C.’s Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs have been updated. The Film Incentive BC (FIBC) basic credit moves from 35% to 40% for productions that start principal photography on or after Jan. 1, 2025. The Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) basic credit moves from 28% to 36%, with a new major production tax credit available to production services tax credit claimants with B.C. production costs greater than $200 million, equal to 2% of a corporation’s accredited qualified B.C. labour expenditure.
The Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) has announced Keith Le Goy, Chairman of Sony Pictures Television, as a keynote speaker for its 2025 BANFF Summit Series. The 46th annual event will take place June 8–11 at Fairmont Banff Springs. The BANFF Summit Series, launched in 2019, has become the festival’s flagship program, spotlighting transformative thinkers and leaders shaping the future of media and entertainment. Anjali Sud, CEO of Tubi, has also been confirmed for the 2025 event.
Super Channel is doubling down on its roots, unveiling a new logo featuring the iconic maple leaf and the tagline, “Canadian, Always.” This month, the broadcaster is boasting 100% Canadian content on its Super Channel Quest lineup, 81% Canadian content on Super Channel Fuse, and 65% Canadian content on Super Channel Heart & Home. Read more here.
Crave is serving a second season of its original series, Slaycation, with production currently underway in Alberta. Produced in partnership with World of Wonder and Blue Ant Studios, the reality series follows six queens from across the international Drag Race family as they vacation together at a Canadian winter cabin. Their escapades culminate in a performance for the local community. Joining Season 2 are: Alyssa Edwards, Miss Fiercalicious, Nicky Doll, Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Tessa Testicle, and Xana.
CTV and Crave original reality series The Traitors Canada is returning for a third season. Hosted by Karine Vanasse, Canadians can apply for Season 3 at TheTraitorsCanadaCasting.ca. The French-language Québécois edition, Les Traîtres, also returns for Season 3, with the second season premiering March 24 on Noovo and Crave
W Network’s spring schedule welcomes new comedies Laid and Small Town, Big Story, as well as Hallmark family drama The Chicken Sisters and unscripted series Small Town Setup. Peacock romantic comedy, Laid, starring Stephanie Hsu and Zosia Mamet, premieres Monday, March 24, with Hsu playing a woman who finds out her former lovers are dying in unusual ways. Dramatic comedy Small Town, Big Story debuts Thursday, March 27. Created and directed by Chris O’Dowd (Moone Boy), the series stars Christina Hendricks (Good Girls, Mad Men) and Paddy Considine (House of the Dragon, The World’s End), looking at the untold chaos caused when a big budget Hollywood production rolls into a rural Irish town. The Chicken Sisters, based on the Reese’s Book Club selection, premieres Sunday, March 30. The family drama follows a generations-old rift between dueling fried chicken restaurants that heats up when a cooking competition show comes to town. Small Town Setup also debuts March 30, a docu-style dating series, hosted by Ashley Williams, featuring parents with successful adult children living far away in a big city, who are still single, gathering neighbours to help play matchmaker. All series are available to stream on STACKTV.
USA Network premieres The Death Coast on Tuesday, April 8, with new episodes streaming next day on Crave. Nova Scotia’s infamous “Death Coast” is the most treacherous stretch of the North Atlantic, with a staggering estimate of 25,000 shipwrecks—the highest concentration in North and South America. The docuseries follows Cape Breton’s Captain Jeff MacKinnon, a third-generation shipwreck salvager, and his elite team of ex-FBI, military, and police divers who risk everything to uncover lost artifacts and hidden treasure beneath the rough waters of the North Atlantic.
Bardel Entertainment is partnering with 3D art school, Think Tank Training Centre, to launch Imagination in Motion: A CG Arts Scholarship. Starting in June 2025, the scholarship will award five under-represented local Canadian students with $4,250 CAD towards covering their tuition for the 16-week CG Fundamentals Certificate Program at Think Tank. The program offers hands-on training in the fundamentals of computer graphics for students working toward a career in the 3D graphics, animation and visual effects industry. Applications open March 17.
ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:
Unrigged.ca has announced an expansion of its independent community journalism hub with three new outlets joining its community of 25 publishers, which includes Pivot, The Rover, Press Progress, Briarpatch, The Breach, and The Maple. The new publications include French-language non-profit journal L’Esprit Libre, Montreal-based francophone investigative journalism outlet La Converse, and journalist Rachel Gilmore’s Bubble Pop newsletter.
The JUNOS | Skip Orange Carpet will be broadcast live on TikTok ahead of the JUNO Awards, March 30, in a first for the app. For the TikTok LIVE experience, Skip is partnering with Canadian actor, creator, producer and host Boman Martinez-Reid (@bomanizer), who boasts more than 2.5 million TikTok followers.
MTM Junior’s latest report provides an overview of YouTube viewing among kids under 18. It finds more than four in five kids, 2-17, watch YouTube in a typical month and one in five view it on a daily or near daily basis. MTM also found YouTube viewing tends to increase as kids age, with teens watching nearly two more hours of content weekly than those aged 2-6. Boys are more likely than girls to say they watch the platform daily. Among anglophone children, cartoons and anime constitute the most popular genre. Gaming content and influencer videos are also popular, with a quarter of kids reporting that they watch them. Among French-speaking children, content from influencers is the most popular genre. Video game-related content, such as commentary videos, is also widely watched.
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
The CRTC has released the 2025 Canadian Telecommunications Market Report (CTMR). According to the first-of-its-kind data and insights release, the Canadian telecom sector generated $59.6 billion in total revenues in 2023, a 4.3% year-over-year increase, credited mainly to a $2.1 billion increase in cellphone revenues, up 6.7% over 2022. Investment in both internet and cellphone services remains high at $9.7 and $3.7 billion, respectively, but declined slightly from their most recent peaks in 2022. Read more here.
Xplore Inc. has announced the launch of 5G Ultra wireless home internet, offering speeds up to 500 Mpbs to Canadians in small towns and rural communities. The new service has launched in select regions of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and all four Atlantic provinces. Xplore says its 5G Ultra footprint will continue to expand throughout the country. The introduction of 5G Ultra is part of the company’s plan to invest $1.6 billion in expanding and upgrading its fibre and wireless networks to serve Canadians in rural communities.
The Delegation of the European Union to Canada and the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) have opened submissions for the 2025 edition of the European Union-Canada Young Journalist Fellowship. The deadline to apply is May 6. The study tour to Brussels will take place in November 2025.
Stingray Advertising is matching every dollar invested in an audio campaign on its retail media network that communicates a “Support Canada” message. Available until the end of May, Stingray says the initiative is designed to amplify brand voice and ensure special messages are heard by consumers at the point-of-sale.
ZoomerMedia has launched a new campaign across its media properties entitled “Buy Canadian Means Media Too!” It reminds viewers that buying Canadian also extends to local media with an advertiser call to action. The campaign was launched last week on VisionTV with a special episode of its flagship current affairs show, theZoomer, featuring Postmedia President Andrew Macleod, National Post columnists Conrad Black and Diane Francis, and ZoomerMedia Chief Technology Officer Dustin Titus. The spots are airing on The New Classical FM, Zoomer Radio, VisionTV and ONETV.
BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:
LISTEN: NAB Show returns to the Las Vegas Convention Centre, April 5-9, with this year’s event bringing an expanded focus on hot topics like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on media and entertainment. On this episode of Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast, we speak with the National Association of Broadcasters’ EVP of Global Connections & Events, Karen Chupka, about what’s new at this year’s show, the potential impact of the U.S.-Canada trade war, and an increased desire to gather again in 2025.
Bell Media has launched live CoTV inventory on TSN, digitizing a portion of the sports network’s linear advertising inventory, making it available to advertisers who want to reach Connected TV audiences. TSN joins Bell Media’s existing portfolio of live CoTV-enabled brands including CTV, CTV2, English and French Specialty channels, and Noovo, with RDS integration coming later this year. Bell says the offering combines the reach of traditional television with the precision targeting of digital advertising. Read more here.
Futuri Media has launched FuturiBooks, an AI-driven tool that helps authors and publishers quickly turn books into high-quality audiobooks. FuturiBooks offers authors broadcast-grade AI voices, with options for custom voice cloning and the ability to create audiobooks in multiple languages, among other features. Futuri says the new solution responds to demand with audiobook revenue projected to grow at an annual rate of 26.2% through 2030 and just a small fraction of published books converted into audiobooks.
