Thanks a bunch for coming out, eh!

Thanks to everyone who attended NAB Show tradition The Great Canadian Suite!

We were thrilled once again to host Canada’s finest in visual, audio, and production talent.

On behalf of Broadcast Dialogue and Cartt.ca, many thanks to our sponsors for making this annual gathering possible. See you again next year!

REVOLVING DOOR:

Rogers Sports & Media has made changes at JACK FM (CJAX-FM) Vancouver that see the Drex on JACK morning show come to an end and Assistant Content Director Corbet Rutzer depart the company. Drex took the helm of the morning show in December 2020, following a three-year run as the host of Corus Radio late night network show, The Shift with Drex. He was accompanied on JACK FM by his former The Shift producer Bob Addison, who went by the moniker “No Fun Bobby,” and Lena Schulman, who was formerly heard on Byrnes Communciations’ stations in Niagara Falls. Read more here.

Brent Williamson is joining Global Edmonton as News Director and Station Manager, starting Monday, April 22. Williamson, who most recently served as Regional News Director and Station Manager for Global Manitoba and Saskatchewan, has been with the organization since the mid-’90s when he started as a cameraman with Global Winnipeg. He went on to work as a producer and then served as News Director for Global Regina for six years, before returning to Winnipeg as Station Manager and News Director. Read more here.

Melissa Duggan has left CityNews Toronto after 11 years. Duggan joined the station as an associate producer on Breakfast Television in 2013. Since, she’s held roles including anchoring and reporting with a focus on international news.

Sijia Liu is joining CP24 Toronto as a reporter and anchor. Liu arrives from CTV Kitchener where she’s been an anchor and reporter for the last 10 months. Prior to that, she held the same role with CTV Windsor. Her last day at CTV will be April 26.

 

Shirley McQueen is joining Vista Radio’s 91.7 ICON Radio (CKAY-FM) Sechelt, BC. The former host of afternoon drive on 95.7 CRUZ FM (CKEA-FM) Edmonton, McQueen has also been heard on Q107 (CILQ-FM) Toronto, JACK FM (CKCK-FM) Regina, and Rock 101 (CFMI-FM) Vancouver, among other stations.

Pete Quinn has parted ways with Rogers Communications in Halifax after a round of cuts in March. Quinn had been a Network Technician for the last two years. Prior to that, he was a Broadcast Engineer with Stingray/Newcap, based in Halifax, for a decade.

Lina Khalifeh has been hired as Philanthropy and Partnerships Manager at Pink Triangle Press (PTP). Khalifeh is the founder of SheFighter, the first self-defense program for women in the Middle East and the author of a book of the same title centered around diversity, gender equality, and entrepreneurship. An internationally-recognized public speaker, she has been featured at more than 150 conferences and events including the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Neil Duffy has been appointed Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for the Americas at OverActive Media. Duffy previously served as the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at gaming software developer eFuse, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at CSL Esports, the premier collegiate esports league and tournament operator, and VP, Business Development for WorldGaming which was sold to Cineplex Entertainment in 2015.

RADIO & PODCAST:

CBC/Radio-Canada has been recognized in half a dozen categories at the New York Festivals Radio Awards. Gold Award winners include The World at Six coverage of the Israel Massacre (News Program), Q with Tom Power’s interview with Mick Jagger (Craft: Interview), and Ici Musique music special Entre Carole et Lewis (Entertainment: Music Special). Canadian Raina Douris also secured a Gold Award in the Craft: Interview category for her World Cafe interview with Weird Al Yankovic, distributed nationally by NPR and produced at WXPN-FM Philadelphia. Read more here.

Ivana Bombardieri, who has been a presence on Montreal’s CFMB AM 1280 for more than five decades, is the recipient of this year’s Rosalie Award, annually presented by the Radio Trailblazers recognizing a woman who has blazed new trails in radio. Bombardieri first joined the multilingual station, which is now owned by Evanov Communications, at the age of 15. Born in Turin, she has hosted Italian-language program “Buon Pomeriggio” since 1972. Read more here.

Harvard Media has announced Dave Thomas as the new play-by-play voice of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. In addition to Thomas, 620 CKRM Regina’s SportsCage is welcoming a refresh to the show’s image, website, and lineup. Former Saskatchewan Roughrider and 2007 Grey Cup Champion Luc Mullinder returns for his seventh year as colour analyst as part of the Roughrider Game Day Broadcast Team. Justin Dunk of Three Down Nation joins as the host of pre-game, halftime, and post-game coverage. Former Rider and CFL All-Star Wes Cates will join Dunk, along with appearances from three-time CFL All-Star and 1989 Grey Cup Champion Glen Suitor and ‘89 Grey Cup Champion and Roughriders Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Fairholm. The all-new SportsCage airs live Monday through Friday from 3 – 6 p.m. with lead host Barney Shynkaruk and commentary from Suitor, Sportsnet’s Arash Madani and TSN’s Farhan Lalji.

Golden West Broadcasting’s AM 1250 (CHSM-AM) Steinbach, MB is celebrating 60 years of broadcasting this week. Serving southeastern Manitoba, the station went on-air April 16, 1964. CEO Elmer Hildebrand says a licence for the region was initially pursued due to a weak signal from Golden West sister station CFAM 950 Altona, which began broadcasting in 1957. Separate programming for both stations followed a few years later, in addition to CJRB 1220 Boissevain in 1973, serving western Manitoba.

SiriusXM Canada and the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) have announced the finalists for the sixth annual SiriusXM Top of the Country competition: Robert Adam – Bonnyville, AB; Zach McPhee – Vernon, BC; and Trudy – Montreal, Que. The finalists now prepare to make their mark in Nashville at CMA Fest, where they’ll gain once-in-a-lifetime mentorship and networking opportunities. From there, they perform at Lasso Montréal in mid-August. The competition peaks at the live finale during Country Music Week 2024 in September, broadcast live on SiriusXM’s Top of the Country Radio (Ch. 171).

LISTEN: Roz & Mocha will celebrate 15 years on-air together this August. Originating from Toronto’s KiSS 92.5 (CKIS-FM) and heard across Rogers Sports & Media’s KiSS radio network, we welcome the morning duo to Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast to talk about The History of Roz & Mocha – a new audio docuseries exploring their origin story. Among other topics, we dive into their on-air relationship and staying power, and why as a networked show they’re fighting the live and local philosophy. Listen on your favourite podcast app or here:

LISTEN: John “The Milkman” Mielke is on the latest Sound Off Podcast. He and Matt Cundill discuss his 24-hour online radio station, BlastTheRadio.com, his public battles with depression and anxiety, and his forthcoming book.

Pro Bono Group has released another PSA in its series benefitting Feed Ontario. The new PSA, titled “SAMIR”, features Toronto-based voice and screen actor and author Ruth Marshall. Learn more about Pro Bono Group and download more PSAs for air on your station, here.

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SIGN OFFS:

Robert MacNeil, 93, on April 12. Born in Montreal and raised in Halifax, MacNeil graduated from Carleton University in 1955. He worked at CBC throughout the ‘50s as both a radio and television host, including weekly children’s show “Let’s Go To The Museum.” From there, he joined ITV London, then Reuters and NBC News as a correspondent in Washington, D.C., and New York City, and eventually began covering American and European politics for the BBC. In 1971, MacNeil started hosting Washington Week in Review on PBS. He won an Emmy Award for his coverage of the Watergate hearings. Alongside Jim Lehrer, he analyzed some 250 hours of hearings, leading to the creation of The Robert MacNeil Report in 1975, later renamed The MacNeil/Lehrer Report and The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. MacNeil retired from the nightly program in 1995 after 20 years to write full-time, but remained involved with the program until 2013 under the banner of MacNeil-Lehrer Productions. MacNeil was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1997, was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999, and made a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 1991. He received the RTDNA’s Paul White Award in 1990 and the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism in 2008.

Lou Cooper, 83, on April 10, at Prince County Hospital in Summerside, PEI. Cooper began his 50-year career as a journalist and news producer in Australia. A Melbourne native, he started his career in 1955 as a cub reporter for The Sun in Sydney, a reporter for TV Week, and a writer for ABC Television (Australia Broadcasting Corporation) in Tasmania. He began directing newscasts for ABC TV in Melbourne before leaving Australia in 1970. He joined CBC Toronto as a news production manager and assignment editor for a decade, before heading stateside to CBS News where he worked as a senior foreign producer in New York, as well as assistant bureau chief for CBS’ London bureau. From 1987-97, he held roles with both CBC and CTV, based in Toronto, as a foreign news editor, news producer, and resources manager. He went on to serve as president of News World International until 2004 when he and his wife retired to Prince Edward Island.

J.R. Reid, 74, on April 10. Reid is best known as one of the longest serving announcers on the original CFNY 102.1 in its Spirit of Radio era. Reid hosted middays on the station from 1978 to 1987, eventually falling to a round of budget cuts. Following CFNY, Reid was heard on Mix 99 (CKFM-FM) Toronto, where he worked part-time until 1992. 

 

 

TV & FILM:

APTN is introducing a 30-minute midday edition of APTN National News as part of a refreshed spring lineup. The network says the midday cast, airing at noon CT beginning May 6, will give viewers a quick overview of key stories impacting First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities. The spring schedule also includes several new Indigenous-language series, alongside the network’s offerings in English and French. New kids and youth series joining the programming lineup include animated series Chums, offered in Ojibwe, Cree and English, and La brigade, a French-language series inspired by Franco-Métis heritage, centered around a group of students at the Louis-Riel school defying authority and questioning the rules. Read more here.

CBC says its live CBC News Special: The Eclipse in Canada on April 8, hosted by Heather Hiscox in Niagara Falls with Andrew Nichols in Toronto, was the most-watched daytime program on television in both the 2+ and 25-54 demos, with a total audience of 3.4 million and a combined average audience of 730,000 viewers for the entire afternoon special. TV audiences peaked at 3:28 pm ET, with 1.4 million viewers watching a clear camera shot of totality from Sherbrooke, Que. live on CBC and CBC News Network. Digital audiences included a combined 3.3 million unique visitors on CBC.ca and the CBC News app, resulting in the largest number of video views and total hours consumed on the app this year. The CBC News YouTube channel attracted 1.5 million unique visitors and 2 million video views, an increase of 63% and 28%, respectively compared to the last three months with a total of 219,000 hours watched, up 121%. CBC News also offered a live two-hour special on TikTok that reached an audience of 200,000 users on the social network. 

CBC/Radio-Canada has announced highlights of its upcoming XXXIII Olympiad Paris 2024 coverage, July 26 to Aug. 11. CBC’s coverage will feature live broadcasts from every venue, totalling more than 3,000 hours of live content across the public broadcaster’s platforms. In addition to TV broadcasts on CBC and partner networks TSN and Sportsnet, audiences will be able to watch live events daily on CBC Gem, CBC’s Paris 2024 website and the CBC Paris 2024 app. The broadcast team includes Anastasia Bucsis, Rob Pizzo, Scott Russell, Julie Stewart-Binks, Andi Petrillo, Waneek Horn-Miller, Perdita Felicien, Craig McMorris, Devin Heroux, Adrienne Arsenault, Heather Hiscox, Salimah Shivji and Sarah Leavitt. Audiences can also tune into CBC Radio weekday mornings to hear the latest from Paris with Scott Regehr.

Screen Nova Scotia has announced the nominees for the annual Screen Nova Scotia Awards Gala, which will take place May 11 at Casino Nova Scotia. New 2024 awards include Outstanding Achievement in Screenwriting and the addition of a new category from ACTRA Maritimes for Series Ensemble. The event will be hosted by Jonathan Torrens. This year’s Industry Champion Award will be awarded posthumously to visionary television producer David MacLeod, instrumental in the early success of Screen NS as a founder and longtime board member. The winners of the Community Recognition Award and the Film Crew Excellence Award will be announced live during the event. 

Canadian Cinema Editors has announced this year’s nominees ahead of the 14th Annual CCE Awards on June 14. Productions garnering multiple nods include Canada’s Drag Race, nominated twice in the Best Editing in Lifestyle/Reality/Competition, and The Changeling in Best Editing in TV Drama.

Drew and Jonathan Scott’s new HGTV Canada series Backed By The Bros premieres June 5, available to stream the same day on STACKTV. The 10-episode season will see the brothers relinquish total control of renovations to advise entrepreneurs, short-term rental owners and residential developers on high-stakes investment properties. To get each project across the finish line in an unforgiving housing market, the twins will back investors with their expertise, insights, and top-notch resources. Backed By The Bros is produced by Scott Brothers Entertainment with Drew and Jonathan serving as executive producers.

Blue Ant Studios’ rights business has obtained worldwide licensing rights for the documentary Stormy, an unvarnished look into Stormy Daniels, as the porn actress and former stripper shares her account of her alleged affair with former U.S. President Donald Trump. The film is executive produced by Emmy-winner Judd Apatow alongside Sara Bernstein and Meredith Kaulfers from Imagine Documentaries (The Super Models, Judy Blume Forever). Stormy is currently streaming on Peacock in the U.S.; with Blue Ant Studios’ rights business overseeing international licensing. 

OUTtv has come on board as the new exclusive global SVOD rights holder, excluding the UK, for hit BBC series Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make Up Star. Originally a BBC Three and Netflix co-production, the competition reality series is the ultimate make-up showdown and for its fifth series welcomed new host, supermodel Leomie Anderson. Produced by Wall to Wall Media for the BBC, Season 6 will launch on OUTtv channels and SVOD services this spring.

ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:

Overstory Media Group has been ordered to pay more than $270,000 in unpaid wages to a group of nine former employees of Vancouver alt weekly The Georgia Straight. An Employment Standards Branch ruling published this month compels Overstory to pay the sum, in addition to a $500 administrative penalty, for wages, vacation pay, length of service compensation and interest. Employment Standards says that when Overstory bought the Vancouver Free Press (VFP), parent company of The Georgia Straight, in Sept. 2022, VFP was never formally dissolved or wound down and therefore Overstory is required to compensate the former staffers.

Postmedia has launched a new app offering subscribers what Chief Content Officer Duncan Clark bills as “an intuitive design that makes it easier than ever to engage with our journalism.” Postmedia brands now available on both iOS and Android include: Montreal Gazette, Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, Ottawa Citizen, Edmonton Journal, The London Free Press, Regina Leader-Post, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Windsor Star, National Post and Financial Post. Postmedia says the app keeps user preferences and convenience top of mind with a customized news feed based on preferred publications, categories, and authors, and a “discover” section that surfaces trending content from across the Postmedia network of titles New ad capabilities include enhanced targeting based on key values and optimized ad placement for improved visibility and user experience.

REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:

CBC/Radio-Canada received an additional $42 million in support in the 2024 federal budget, on top of its $1.4-billion public funding allocation. CBC President and CEO Catherine Tait said in a statement that the one-time funding would help the corporation “manage its financial challenges in a more stable manner.” Since the corporation announced in December that it would be cutting 600 positions and leaving another 200 vacancies unfilled due to a $125 million shortfall, Tait says the public broadcaster has reduced its workforce by 141 employees, and cut 205 vacant positions. Tuesday’s federal budget release also included a $15 million investment over two years in public interest programming services, including Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC), APTN, Accessible Media Inc. (AMI), ICI Television, and TV5. That includes $5 million in 2024-25 to support capital renewal at CPAC. Read more here.

See more

I had a heated exchange with Bell Media President and CEO, Mirko Bibic today. The Liberal government gave Millions to Bell Media and then Bell goes and unnecessarily kills off local journalism and spends Billions in American programming.#skpoli #cdnpoli #cdnpolitics #yxe pic.twitter.com/ddwatZezHR

— Kevin Waugh (@KevinWaugh_CPC) April 11, 2024

BCE did not give the federal government advance notice of its intention to layoff 4,800 employees in February. Despite legislation compelling companies to give the government 16 weeks working notice, Bell told the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage that it relayed its intention on Feb. 8, the same day it told the public and began laying off staff. In the company’s long-awaited appearance before the committee, CEO Mirko Bibic maintained that Bell was still in full compliance with federal labour standards because it had provided impacted staff with a minimum 16 weeks pay. Bibic blamed a shift toward digital advertising, difficult operating circumstances and a general economic downturn, along with competition from streaming giants like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon for the layoffs, asserting that Bell Media is now producing more news than it ever has before, albeit in a “different way” as appointment tuning becomes less relevant. Read more here.

Corus Entertainment has reported its fiscal Q2 2024 results for the three months ended Feb. 29. Revenues declined 13% compared to the same quarter last year, with the television segment seeing 14% less revenue this quarter at $278 million, versus the comparable period, while radio saw a four per cent decline to $21.5 million over the same period. Profit was $52.7 million in the quarter, a decrease of 11% compared to the same period last year, driven down by television advertising and subscriber declines. That was offset by a 145% jump to $857,000 in radio profit, attributed in part to lower expenses.

Cogeco Communications has announced its financial results for the second quarter ended Feb. 29. Revenue decreased by 0.8% to $730.5 million. Canadian telecommunications’ revenue increased by 1.4%, mainly driven by the oxio acquisition completed in March 2023 as well as the cumulative effect of high-speed internet service additions over the past year. American telecommunications’ revenue decreased by 3.1%, mainly due to lower video subscriptions and a lower customer base over the past year with an increasing proportion of customers only subscribing to internet services, partly offset by higher revenue per customer and a better product mix resulting from customers subscribing to increasingly fast internet speeds.

The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) has announced finalists for its 2023 awards competition. Winners will be announced at the CAJ awards gala on June 1 at the Toronto Public Library’s Bram & Bluma Appel Salon, which will conclude the CAJ national conference: Journalism and How To Survive It. Among the outlets with multiple nominations are APTN; The Local, Toronto; The Narwhal; CBC News; Radio-Canada; The Tyee; IndigiNews; Cabin Radio; Toronto Star, Globe and Mail; and La Presse.

Paige Taylor White, a Toronto-based freelance  photojournalist and videographer, is the recipient of the 2024 Tom Hanson Photojournalism Award, presented by The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) and The Canadian Press (CP). The award was established in memory of the late, prize-winning CP photographer to allow an early-career photojournalist to work at CP’s Toronto head office on a six-week internship. Taylor White’s portfolio was selected among submissions from students and early-career photojournalists from across the country.

 

Western Association of Broadcasters (WAB) has announced more speakers set to address its upcoming conference at the Banff Fairmont Springs, June 5-6. In addition to previously-announced headliner Conrad Black, broadcast/podcast coach and author Valerie Geller, and programming consultant Tracy Johnson, those joining the lineup include David Leis, Vice President at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, radio sales veteran Pat Bryson, and updates from the CRTC and Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB). Find the full lineup here.

BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:

Futuri unveiled its AI in Media study at NAB Show which revealed, among other insights, that an overwhelming majority of TV viewers want clear disclosure when content or hosts themselves are powered by AI. Co-presented by Futuri CEO Daniel Anstandig and Ameca, an advanced AI-powered humanoid robot, the study is billed as the most comprehensive ever conducted on AI’s role in media. Among its key insights are that 59% of respondents have knowingly used AI and the vast majority are using at least one AI-powered solution in a typical week, ranging from virtual assistants like Siri, Google, and Alexa to traffic, health and fitness apps, search engines, and social media platforms that personalize or customize content. The study found audiences are more receptive to AI-generated content in certain news categories, including entertainment, technology, sports, and local news. Regular local TV news viewers demonstrated a seven to 12% higher favourability towards AI news anchors compared to those who don’t frequently watch television news. Read more here.

NAB Show organizers have chosen a Sustainability Donation Honoree for a second year in a row, recognizing an outstanding not-for-profit. This year’s Honoree is the Sustainable Entertainment Society, the Canadian organization behind the Sustainable Production Forum (SPF), focused on accelerating sustainability and decarbonization in arts & entertainment. The Society will be the recipient of proceeds from this year’s Excellence in Sustainability Awards Program.