Christa Dickenson will be moving on from her Executive Director and CEO role at Telefilm Canada in September. Dickenson has been with the Crown corporation since July 2018, arriving from Interactive Ontario where she served as President & CEO. Her three decades in media and telecommunications, include 15 years with Rogers, where she ended her tenure as Managing Director, International Client Relations & Events. She started her career behind-the-scenes with CTVand CPAC. Read more here.
Dustin Collins & Russell James
Russell James has been announced as the new Program Director of 93.7 JR Country (CJJR-FM) and 102.7 The Peak (CKPK-FM) Vancouver, succeeding the exiting Dustin Collins. Russell comes to Vancouver from Kelowna where he is Senior Program Director with Pattison Media in Kelowna and Vernon. His first day in Vancouver is May 2. Collins will return to Corus Entertainment this summer as Program Director-Classic West, overseeing Rock 101 (CFMI-FM) Vancouver, Q107 (CFGQ-FM) Calgary, and 92.5 The Chuck (CKNG-FM) Edmonton. His last day with Pattison is April 29.
Luke Rodriguez
Luke Rodriguez is joining Virgin Radio (CFMG-FM) Edmonton as afternoon drive host and Assistant Program Director, starting May 2. Arriving from Virgin Radio (CKFM-FM) Toronto, where he’s most recently been a network announcer and member of the national Virgin music team, Rodriguez has been with Bell Mediasince 2014. He’s held various on-air roles, including mornings at Virgin Radio(CFCA-FM) Kitchener and swing at KOOL 105.3 (CFCA-FM) Kitchener and Virgin Radio (CIQM-FM) London, among other stations.
Jess Jackson
Jess Jackson is taking on the Assistant Program Director role at 100.3The Bear (CFBR-FM) Edmonton. Jackson has been the station’s midday host since 2013, in addition to handling Music Director duties for the past several years. She’ll continue to be heard in middays.
Creeson Agecoutay
Creeson Agecoutay is joining CTV Atlantic as the new Bureau Chief for CTV National News, based in Halifax. The First Nations University and University of Regina Journalism grad has been with CTV since 2008, starting out as a host and producer in Regina. For the last year and a half, he’s been a reporter with the Parliamentary bureau.
Paul Creelman
Paul Creelman has retired from CTV Atlantic after a 43-year career as a camera operator. Creelman first joined CTV in 1979, holding roles as a cameraman, editor and technical producer for news and current affairs. Among other career highlights, he’s covered three Olympic games, including the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, 2012 London Summer Games, and 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Maria St. Aubin
Maria St. Aubin has parted ways with Sportsnet 590 The Fan (CJCL-AM) Toronto after more than seven years. St. Aubin has joined Vancouver-based branded podcast studio, JAR Audio as Project Lead. St. Aubin started with The Fan as an intern in 2014, working her way up to editor, weekend sportscaster, and most recently Managing Editor, assisting with podcast uploading and social strategy.
Evy Kwong
Evy Kwong is joining VICE as Manager of Social, Americas. Kwong has been with the Toronto Star for the last seven years, most recently as Editor, Social and Audience. She previously worked for VICE Media’s Noisey as a staff writer.
Beth Janson
Beth Janson has left her CEO role with the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television to join TIFF as Chief Operating Officer. The Academy’s Board of Directors has named current Vice President, Programming & Awards, Louis Calabro, as interim CEO, effective May 20. Janson had been CEO since July 2016. TIFF has also appointed Anita Lee, Executive Producer of the National Film Board’s Ontario Studio, as Chief Programming Officer, and promoted Laura Ryan to Chief of Staff.
Beth Illey
Beth Iley has been hired by Amazon Studios as Senior Scripted Development Executive, Canada, working with the Canadian Originals team. Illey was formerly Director of Development for New Metric Media for the last three and a half years. She’s also worked in scripted programming for Temple Street Productions, and as a producer on Killjoys.
Nancy MacLean
Nancy MacLean has joined Scott McGillivray’sMcGillivray Entertainment Media as the prodco’s first Chief Operating Officer. The former President of Pinewood Toronto Studios and Vice-President, Bell Media Studios, up until early 2021, MacLean has been with MBS Equipment for the last eight months, serving as Vice President, Studios and Sustainable Production Services.
Stephanie Fast
Stephanie Fast is now President of Frantic Films. Fast has been with the Winnipeg and Toronto-based prodco since 2011, working her way up from Post Production & Operations Manager. For the past six years, she’s been VP, Production & Post Production.
Magali Simard
Magali Simard has joined Cinespace Studios as Director of Industry & Community Relations. Simard was previously Program Manager, Film Sector Development for the City of Toronto. Prior to that, she was a programmer with TIFF for 12 years.
David Grindle
David Grindle will serve as the next Executive Director of SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers). Grindle will formally join SMPTE in July after concluding a 12-year tenure as Executive Director of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology. In addition to his experience in non-profit leadership, Grindle is a Fulbright specialist with the U.S. State Department. He started his career as a Production Manager for the Atlanta Opera.
RADIO & PODCAST:
800 CHABMoose Jaw, SK marked a milestone on April 23, celebrating its 100th anniversary. CHAB’s history is rooted in community radio, launching in 1922 as 10AB. The Moose Jaw Amateur Radio Associationoriginally planned to operate the station, but short on funds, handed it over to the area Kiwanis Clubwhich broadcast from the local YMCA. The 50-watt, non-commercial station was handed back over to the association two years later. Struggling to garner financial support, 10AB went off the air in November 1933, with CHAB signing on one month later with a commercial licence, increasing its power to 100 watts. In 1947, CHAB was sold to John E. Slaight, then Manager of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald, and Bill Davis, who was involved with the Prince Albert Daily Herald. By 1952, Davis had taken sole ownership of the station. A CBC affiliate through most of the 1940s and ’50s, that affiliation ended in 1958 when CHAB was acquired by Jack Moffatt. The Moffatt family continued to operate CHAB until 1992 when Moffatt Communications sold to Golden West Broadcasting. Announcers who have come through the CHAB studios notably include media mogul Allan Slaight, who started his broadcasting career there in 1948, working for his father, in addition to Spence Bozak, Earl Cameron, Mal Faris, Barry Nesbitt, and Ken Newans. Read more here.
BCHL and Alberni Valley Bulldogs statement regarding a racist comment on tonight’s broadcast. pic.twitter.com/X23QvZYnaF
Pattison Media and the Alberni Valley Bulldogs have released colour commentator Bruce MacDonald after he made a racist comment while calling a B.C. Hockey League (BCHL) game against the Langley Rivermen. During 93.3 The Peak’s (CJAV-FM) April 23 broadcast, MacDonald made a disparaging remark about Rivermen forward Owen Kim, who is of Asian descent. Kim, who is 5’7″, was involved in an altercation with Bulldogs defenceman Logan Holm when MacDonald suggested Kim “Get on a ladder and talk to him,” followed by “Does he speak English? Maybe that’s the problem.” Play-by-Play announcer Evan Hammond immediately checked MacDonald on the comment, who was removed at the end of the period, and subsequently banned by the BCHL from participating in future broadcasts.
The New York Festivals Radio Awardshas announced its 2022 Storytellers Gala award-winners, celebrating audio creators from 24 countries. This year’s Gold winners from Canada include CBC Radio’s The Doc Project – The Skyluck Journals, which won in the Documentary History category. Toronto’s JAZZ.FM91 (CJRT-FM) won Best Jazz Format, while Radio-Canada’sInterprètes afghans: partir ou mourir (Afghan Interpreters: Leave or Die) won Best Narrative/Documentary Podcast. CBC productions claimed another two Silver awards – one in the Science & Technology category for Quirks & Quarks’ Black in Science Special, and another for Best Music Program Host for CBC Reclaimed’sJarrett Martineau. Radio-Canada’s Enoch Arden, From the Balcony of ICI Premiere also won Silver for Best Drama Special. Read more here.
Benztown Radio’s annual “Ones to Watch in Voiceover” includes Canadians Sherri Drewe (Edmonton) and Matt Fogarty (Nanaimo). Benztown has also released its “Benztown 50” comprised of the top voiceover professionals. Among those making the list are Amanda Madi (Toronto), David Kaye (Los Angeles), Erin Setch (Nanaimo), and Lisa Keys (Parksville).
Nails Mahoney and Tracey Lee, the team behind OnAirCoach, have launched a new social site for radio, dubbed The Radio Space. The ad-free space is aimed at connecting radio professionals from around the world. Learn more here.
SiriusXM and I Am Athlete, the athlete-led media network founded by former NFL All-Pro receiver Brandon Marshall have a new content deal that includes a live nightly radio show on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio (channel 82 on SiriusXM radios and the SXM App). Debuting this past Wednesday, I Am Athlete Tonight will air live every weekday from 7-9 pm ET/4-6 pm PT, with former NFL defensive end Leger Douzable leading a cast of rotating co-hosts that will feature Marshall, former NFL players LeSean McCoy, Brandon Flowers and Adam “Pacman” Jones, former NBA player Antoine Walker, former WNBA player Chantel Tremitiere and journalist Omar Kelly as they engage in the type of thoughtful, unfiltered discussions the I Am Athlete podcast is known for. I Am Athlete Tonight episodes will also be available as podcasts after they air on SiriusXM.
eMarketeris forecasting U.S. podcast ad spending to surpass $2 billion next year and $3 billion by 2026. It says podcasts will account for over a quarter of digital audio services ad spending in 2022 and account for more than a third of spending by the end of 2026. More than half of advertisers said they planned to increase their podcast ad budgets in 2022, according to a poll of 255 U.S. advertisers conducted by Advertiser Perceptions in August.
LISTEN:Brady Kingsbury, morning host on 96.7 CHYM Kitchener, is Matt Cundill’s guest on the Sound Off Podcast. He discusses how he went from working at a mall to programming JACK FM (CHST-FM) London, ON in just seven years, his love of audio editing, and the friends he made along the way who helped jumpstart his career. Listen on your favourite podcast app or here:
SIGN OFFS:
Hugh Fraser
Hugh Fraser, 54, on March 18, following a heart attack. Fraser started his journalism career as a summer sportswriter at The Chronicle Herald in Halifax. He joined the morning show at CBC Newsworld in 1992, as a lineup editor, news writer and producer. After a brief foray into communications for the Nova Scotia government and Health Canada, he returned to CBC as a show producer for both radio and TV, working on programs including The Docket, Canada Now, and Information Morning. In 2004, he was appointed Press Secretary to Nova Scotia Premier John Hamm. In 2006, he transitioned to Bristol Communications as Senior Public Relations Counsel, going on to found his own consultancy, Fraser + Sons Communications in 2010. In late 2019, he joined client, Property Valuation Services Corporation, full-time as a Senior Advisor. Since Jan. 2022, he’d been Vice President, Stakeholder Relations and Communications.
TV & FILM:
The Directors Guild of Canada, BC District Council (DGC BC) has issued strike notice to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and the Canadian Media Producers Association-BC (CMPA-BC). The announcement comes following the labour organization’s first-ever strike vote earlier this month, in which members voted 92.2% in favour of a strike mandate. The DGC BC Collective Agreement covers thousands of film and television workers, including the categories of Director, 2nd Unit Director, Production & Unit Manager, plus those employed in various Assistant Director and Locations Departments, including entry level Production Assistants. The union says at a meeting it requested with the employers on Monday, April 25, no progress was made towards reaching a deal. Read more here.
The Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA) and the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) have reached a new one-year agreement that provides an increase in pay and gives the parties a window to jointly work towards modernizing and simplifying the existing agreement, following a recent deal between advertisers and the Screen Actors’ Guild in the U.S. The Institute of Canadian Agencies (ICA) will not join ACA as co-administrator of the agreement since, under their current CEO, the ACA says ICA was seeking terms unacceptable to the other parties. The new terms will now be put to the ACA Board and to ACTRA members for ratification.
The 26th annual Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) Screenwriting Awards were handed out virtually on April 25. Among those claiming wins were CBC comedy Sort Of, which was named Best Comedy Series, and Super Channel’sThe Parker Andersons and Amelia Parker, which won in the Teens & Tweens category. Both series had led nominations heading into this year’s awards. Additionally, The Parker Andersons/Amelia Parker showrunner, producer and writer Anthony Q. Farrell was honoured with the Showrunner Award. Find the full list of winners here.
Sphere has announced the opening of a new office in downtown Ottawa on May 1. Following the recent announcement of two new original animated series, including Riley Rocket, Sphere is increasing its production capacity with the opening of the new Ottawa location, hiring more than 100 employees. The company already has existing teams in Montreal and Toronto.
Discovery takes viewers on a mission to help animals in need with new Canadian original series Pets & Pickers, premiering May 12 at 9 p.m. ET. The eight-episode docuseries follows the Regional Animal Protection Society (RAPS) Animal Hospital, which works to offer low-income pet families access to top healthcare. To fund these treatments, RAPS runs a thrift store where a dedicated group of animal loving “pickers” comb through donated mystery bins.
Insight Productions is working on a Canadian spinoff of the Eurovision Song Contest with a broadcaster and host to be announced in the coming weeks. Based on Italy’s Sanremo Music Festival, Eurovision has been held annually since 1956, making it the longest-running annual international televised music competition and one of the world’s longest-running television programs. Celine Dion famously won the multi-national competition in 1988, while representing Switzerland.
Hulu has acquired U.S. streaming rights for Overlord and the Underwoods (20×30). The original live-action, single-camera family comedy from Canadian writer Anthony Q. Farrell (NBC’s The Office, CBBC’s Secret Life of Boys, The Parker Andersons/Amelia Parker) and co-creator Ryan Wiesbrock (Buddy Thunderstruck, Holly Hobbie), will land on Hulu this summer. Overlord and the Underwoods follows a family whose life is turned upside down when their distant cousin, Overlord, the second most-wanted villain in the universe, seeks refuge in their home after being forced into intergalactic witness protection. Produced by marblemedia and Cloudco Entertainment, the series features an ensemble cast including Patrice Goodman (Slasher, Sunnyside), Darryl Hinds (Second City, Little Mosque on the Prairie), Ari Resnick (Odd Squad, Clearwater Kids), Kamaia Fairburn (Holly Hobbie, Endlings, Starfalls), Jayne Eastwood (Hey Lady!), Troy Feldman (Lord of the Rings musical) as “Overlord”, and Jann Arden (Jann) as the voice of “R0-FL” — a droid that has spent most of her life by Overlord’s side.
Corus Entertainment’s Télétoon is bringing cult Quebec comic book hero Red Ketchup to life in a new animated series inspired by the comic book, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Produced by Jacques Bilodeau of Sphère Animation, directed by Martin Villeneuve and based on the hit comic by Pierre Fournier and Réal Godbout, 20 half- hour episodes will start airing in winter 2023 on Télétoon la nuit. The series will also premiere in English on Adult Swim.
Siobhan Detkavich
Gusto TV has announced its newest original series, Dine Your Sign (12×30), produced in association with Bell Media. Hosted by chef Siobhan Detkavich, the 12-episode project focuses on each of the 12 Zodiac signs and their connection to food. Detkavich is a Kelowna-based chef of Indigenous heritage who, at 21-years-old, is the youngest-ever contestant on Season 9 of Top Chef Canada. In addition, she is a chef de partie at Mission Hill Winery, earned a third-place finish in the Skills Canada National Competition, competed in Culinary Apprentice of the Year, and was a part of Team B.C. in the 2018 Gold Medal Plates.
Bell has announced that AMC Networks’ Acorn TV, IFC Films Unlimited, Shudder and Sundance Nowprogramming is now available on Fibe TV. Customers in Ontario, Québec and the Atlantic provinces can now watch shows and movies on demand from the streaming channels by subscribing via Bell Fibe TV or the Fibe TV app.
TELUS has introduced Stream+, combining Netflix Premium plan, Apple TV+, and discovery+ on a single bill for $25 per month. Stream+ is available to new and existing TELUS Mobility customers. A recent Angus Reid survey commissioned by TELUS, found that close to half of Canadians use three or more streaming platforms and that 90% of Canadians would bundle streaming services together to save money if they could.
Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell will join the Canada’s Got Talent judges panel alongside Howie Mandel, Lilly Singh, Trish Stratus, and Kardinal Offishallfor the live two-hour finale of the show on May 17 on Citytv and Citytv.com. Created by Cowell, the Got Talent franchise is the most successful reality TV format ever, airing in 194 territories worldwide and holding the Guinness World Record for the highest number of adaptations, having been commissioned in over 72 territories.
(l-r) Gabriel Daniels, Avery Sutherland, Roseanne Supernault, Tina Keeper, Paul Rabliauskas, Cheyenna Sapp, director Michael Greyeyes, Jason Mason
CTV Comedy Channel has announced that award-winning actor, director, and choreographerMichael Greyeyes has been tapped to direct five episodes of new original series, Acting Good. Loosely based on the life of Anishinaabe stand-up comedian and series co-creator, Paul Rabliauskas, production on the half-hour scripted comedy is currently underway in Winnipeg and set to premiere later this year. Joining Greyeyes as directors for the debut season are writer, director, and video artistDarlene Naponse, as well as series co-showrunnersAmber-Sekowan Daniels and Eric Toth. Acting Good stars Rabliauskas as a comic who returns home to the fictional Grouse Lake First Nation after a botched attempt to move to the big city.
MEDIAPRO Canada has sealed a partnership for the exclusive media rights in Mexico to a wide-ranging package of Canadian soccer with new sports broadcaster Hi! Sports TV, carried nationwide on TotalPlay, the IPTV pay-TV platform controlled by the Grupo Salinas conglomerate, owner of Mexican network TV Azteca. The deal gives over three million TotalPlay subscribers access to live coverage of the Canadian Premier League(CPL), airing all 117 games in the CPL, as well as 12 Canadian Championship matches and up to eight home friendly matches of Canada Soccer’s Men’s and Women’s National Teams. Hi! Sports TV is promoting its Canadian soccer coverage under the #OlaGélida (#FrozenWave) hashtag. The presence of Mexican and Central American talent in the CPL, includingAlejandro Diazof 2021 CPL champion Pacific FC, is an added attraction for Mexican fans.
Youth Media Alliance, along with partners Radio-Canada, Télé-Québec, TFO and APTN, is offering four scholarships per year over three years that will place applicants from diverse or Indigenous communities with French-language youth production companies to gain on-set experience. The winners will be placed on a crew of a show currently in pre-production or production (fiction, live-action series, youth news or magazine, intended for ages 2-17). Applications are being accepted until May 31.
CaribbeanTales, founded by award-winning filmmaker and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciencesmember Frances-Anne Solomon, has launched its Micro-Credential Certificate Program. The program harnesses the expertise of selected media industry professionals to mentor program participants. From film directing to composing, the courses will be released monthly starting in May.
ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:
TVO Today is TVO’s newly-launched website and mobile app redesign. The paywall-free and ad-free, digital-first user experience is aimed at increasing engagement with articles, videos and podcasts, with an emphasis on discoverability. TVO says it also wants to enhance the way visitors connect with a diversity of perspectives and stories through initiatives like Indigenous journalism and Ontario Hubs, offering improved navigation, recommendations and an ability to play video and audio while multitasking on devices.
Narcity Media has signed a year-long agency agreement with Cossette Media. Narcity has been working with Cossette for numerous years and through a formalized agreement, will now be providing a year-long partner preferred rate on branded content activations for a number of clients, as well as digital display and video advertising. The agreement will also cover regular business reviews, charity considerations and new product offerings. Cossette Media is based in Quebec City, with offices in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Halifax.
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) and Canadian not-for-profit Aman Larasay they’ve been able to evacuate close to 2,000 Afghan journalists, interpreters, and human rights defenders with the support of private donations. Approximately 700 of those are now permanently resettled in various countries, including Canada. The organizations say since the Taliban takeover in August of last year, travel has become almost impossible. They’ve issued a call for donations as they prepare to move another 500 Afghans, with the support of the Canadian government.
The Michener Awards Foundation has announced the finalists for the 2021 Michener Award for meritorious public service journalism. This year’s finalists are: CBC News for the Fifth Estate investigation into Peter Nygard; CBC Saskatchewan for reporter Geoff Leo’s investigation into the Indigenous ancestry claims of Canadian Institutes of Heath Research Director, Dr. Carrie Bourassa; CBC Saskatoon and The Globe and Mail for their work on residential schools, Catholic Church assets and survivor payouts; Global News for its work to expose sexual misconduct among top military commanders; Kamloops this Week for pursuing spending misconduct within Thompson-Nicola Regional District; and The Globe and Mail for its reporting on athletes and eating disorders.
The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) has announced the shortlist for the annual CJF Award for Climate Solutions Reporting celebrating a working journalist or team shining a spotlight on climate change and innovative solutions. The five finalists for the $10,000 prize are: Joel Balsam and photojournalist Stephanie Foden for their Globe and Mailreport on an Innu band council and regional municipality’s attempt to declare Quebec’s Magpie River a legal person; the team behind CBC Radio series What on Earth for stories highlighting the human and natural costs of rising emissions; The Globe and Mail’s team of climate journalists, including Ryan MacDonald, Kathryn Blaze Baum, Jeffrey Jones and Adam Radwansk; the team behind CBC’sThe Doc Projectpodcast for “Big Tree Hunt,” an episode exploring the issue of ancient tree logging in B.C.; and the National Observer’s Race Against Climate Change miniseries, which included Shaghayegh Tajvidi, Polly Leger and Linda Solomon Wood.
Renée Lilley & Erin Blondeau
Renée Lilley and Erin Blondeau are the recipients of this year’s CJF-CBC Indigenous Journalism Fellowships, which provide two early-career Indigenous journalists with the opportunity to explore issues of interest while being hosted for one month at the CBC News Indigenous Unit in Winnipeg. Lilley, a Red River Métis from Portage la Prairie, MB is a reporter and producer with CBC Indigenous. She plans to explore the issue of who should officially represent the Métis nation on a national level –the Métis National Council or the Manitoba Métis Federation. Blondeau, from the Métis Nation of British Columbia (MNBC) and Cowichan Valley Métis Nation, is a writer and researcher at MNBC and communications coordinator with Indigenous Climate Action. She plans to work on a series expanding on a 2021 University of Toronto study that found higher levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in homes located near natural gas wells in B.C.’s Peace River Region.
Western Association of Broadcasters (WAB) 86th Annual Conference, taking place in Banff, Alberta at the Fairmont Banff Springs, June 8-9, will be welcoming CRTC Chair Ian Scott, alongside other commissioners, who’ll provide an update to members on the commission’s activities, in addition to an informal meet-and-greet following the conference. Find further details on the golf tournament, speakers lineup and registration at wab.ca. Organizers say Banff is going to be very busy in June, so don’t delay booking your hotel room.
BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:
NAB Show, which is underway in Las Vegas, has announced the winners of the fourth annual Product of the Year Awards during a live awards ceremony on April 26. The awards recognize the most significant and promising new products and technologies exhibited for the first time at the 2022 NAB Show. Among this year’s winners are Sony Electronics which won Best Overall – Create for its Venice 2 cinema camera; Voice Interaction for its automated media transcription and monitoring system (Best Overall – Connect); and AnyClip for its video and AI proprietary Visual Intelligence Technology (Best Overall – Capitalize). Meanwhile, Advanced Image Robotics (AIR) is the recipient of NAB’s annual Technology Innovation Award, recognizing one organization per year that exhibits advanced technology and demonstrations of significant merit at NAB Show. AIR, one of several SPROCKIT-affiliated startups exhibiting at NAB Show, received the award for demonstration of its cloud-native, integrated remote camera control and video production platform.
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) has announced the recipients of the 73rd Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards, recognizing a living individual, company, or scientific or technical organization for developments and/or standardization involved in engineering technologies that either represent so extensive an improvement on existing methods or are so innovative in nature that they materially have affected television. Among those recognized were Claudio Lisman, founder of Primestream, along with Jeff Moore, Executive Vice President and CMO of Ross Video — who acquired Primestream in 2021, for pioneering work on “Cloud-Enabled Remote Editing and Project Management.” Find the full list of recipients here.
Firstlight Media says it’s collaboratively working across a suite of Google Cloud products to innovate new, cloud-native monetization, personalization and content delivery capabilities – most notably Free Ad-Supported Television (FAST) – for the next generation of OTT platforms. As part of its expanding relationship with Google Cloud, the Toronto-headquartered OTT solutions provider says its research and development team is driving creation of three new opportunities for the industry: the ability to bring FAST services to Google Cloud; the use of Google Cloud data and business intelligence tools to drive real-time OTT data and recommendations; and the use of Google Cloud’s Media CDN to support the high-quality, low latency video delivery demanded by consumers.
