REVOLVING DOOR:
BT Update:
Our @FrankFerragine is retiring from BT!
We love you Frankie! ♥ 💐 pic.twitter.com/UHF4LF1AXA
— Breakfast Television (@breakfasttv) May 7, 2025
Frank Ferragine has announced he’s retiring from Citytv’s Breakfast Television at the end of the month. Ferragine has been a weather and gardening specialist with the station for the last two decades. The host says he wants to spend more time with “the things that ground me most” and feels it’s important “for somebody else to shine in this spotlight.”
Rick Zamperin is joining CHCH-TV’s Morning Live as the show’s new co-anchor. A 30-year broadcaster, Zamperin is familiar to Hamiltonians as a constant on 900 CHML, the Corus Entertainment news/talk station that was shuttered last August. With CHML for more than 23 years, Zamperin had hosted Good Morning Hamilton, in addition to The 5th Quarter, which aired following Hamilton Tiger-Cats games. He was also the play-by-play voice of the team for eight seasons. Zamperin succeeds Tim Bolen, who joined Citytv’s Breakfast Television in March. Read more here.
Martin Bonenfant has been named General Manager, Productions at Radio-Canada. Bonenfant, who has been with the public broadcaster for 27 years, had been in the role on an interim basis for the last 10 months. Prior to that, he had served as Senior Director, News Productions, since 2014.
Sue Deyell has joined CBC Calgary. The market veteran had most recently co-hosted Mornings with Sue and Andy on Calgary news/talk station 770 CHQR for the last six years, up until layoffs at Corus Entertainment in February.
Jody Vance will act as the host of “The Daily Show” for International Sports Broadcasting (ISB) coverage of the World Games in Chengdu, China Aug. 7-17. The veteran broadcaster hosted in a similar capacity during the recent Invictus Games in Vancouver and Whistler.
Mike Rocha has joined the membership team at SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) as Director, Film & TV. Rocha arrives from Eggplant Collective, where he’d been a music supervisor for the last seven years.
Deydra Baptiste has joined the Disability Screen Office (DSO) as Programs Manager. She’ll be working on some major projects, including an Industry Resource Hub, Screen Festival Accessibility Program, and other industry partnerships. A Montreal-based writer, director and producer with roots in Toronto, Baptiste has been a past participant in the Disabled Producers Lab.
RADIO & PODCAST:
Radiodays North America officially got underway Wednesday morning as part of the inaugural Departure Festival + Conference, the “reimagined” Canadian Music Week (CMW) experience encompassing music, media, tech, art and entertainment. Randy Lennox, CEO of Loft Entertainment – which acquired CMW alongside Oak View Group last year, reiterated his desire to build community in his official welcome to industry delegates. This year’s sessions kicked off with an exploration of what radio might look like in 2040, featuring radio futurologist James Cridland and market researcher John Parikhal that tackled everything from what kind of shelf life AM radio might have to the need for better measurement and less restrictive regulation. More Radiodays North America coverage to come.
It’s a Podcast Day. 🎙️🔥 pic.twitter.com/kzWYccSkZ6
— sdpn (@sdpnsports) May 6, 2025
Steve Dangle Podcast Network (SDPN) is transforming the SportChek store at Maple Leaf Square into a broadcast destination for hockey fans. Beginning with Game 1 of the Toronto Maple Leafs second round matchup of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, SDPN is providing fans with a live, on-location pre-show content experience. The network’s playoff coverage will bring together live to-tape broadcasts recorded from noon – 2 p.m. the day after each Leafs playoff game, new show formats, and integrated content partnerships. The SportChek partnership was developed by Rogue Sports, SDPN’s sponsorship sales partner.
Signal Hill Insights and Ulster Media have announced expanded video podcast metrics will be added to the Canadian Podcast Listener 2025. This year’s nationally representative report – set for release in November – will break out actual audio and video consumption among genres, top podcasts, and podcast consumers. The 2019 Canadian Podcast Listener (CPL) is touted by Signal Hill as the first research to report on the shift towards video podcast consumption in Canada, when 24% of monthly podcast consumers said they used YouTube most for podcasts. In 2024, YouTube took first place among all podcast platforms, selected as most used by 35% of monthly consumers. CPL 2025 promises to build on these insights, providing a detailed breakdown of how specific podcast content is being consumed on audio, video or both.
SiriusXM Canada has launched Morgan Wallen Radio, a new country music channel ahead of Wallen’s fourth studio album release, I’m The Problem. The limited-run channel is available to subscribers in their cars on channel 57 and on the SiriusXM app through May 31. Morgan Wallen Radio, curated by Wallen himself, features his biggest hits, deep cuts, and all 37 tracks from his new album, in addition to hand-picked songs from musical influences, unexpected favourites and close friends. Listeners will also hear exclusive commentary and behind-the-scenes stories from the making of his new album.
Pro Bono Group has released a ninth PSA under its Pro Radio Project campaign in support of the radio industry. “Summer 25” replaces “Better Weather” until further notice. The spot was produced in collaboration with difuze, BC Productions, and voice talent Carolyn Scott and Noel Johansen.
LISTEN: Michael Osborne, co-host of the podcast Famous and Gravy, exploring the lives of deceased celebrities, is on the latest Sound Off Podcast. Co-created with Ahmed Kapoor during the COVID-19 lockdown, the podcast aims to understand celebrities as symbolic representations of societal dreams and fears. Osborne shares his story from being a PhD student in climate science to becoming a podcast creator and getting picked up by Wondery. He emphasizes the importance of thorough research, engaging storytelling, and maintaining creative control while providing inspiration for emerging podcast creators.
SIGN OFFS:
Peter Coade, 82, on May 3. Born and raised in North End Halifax, Coade’s interest in the weather started early, job shadowing Rube Hornstein at CBC – Nova Scotia’s first TV weatherman – while still in high school. By 1962, he was doing on-the-job training at the Meteorological Service of Canada, posted to Truro, NS, Toronto, ON, and Goose Bay, NL, where he began his first broadcast weather reports, overnight, on CBC affiliate CFLA-TV. He moved to Toronto in 1970 to work as an Environment Canada spokesperson, while also handling weather duties on CFRB. After 20 years, he returned to Nova Scotia in 1990 where he spent the next 17 years as the evening weatherman for ATV’s Live at Five broadcast, in addition to the Atlantic Satellite Network. Upon his mandatory retirement from the station in 2007, he joined CBC Nova Scotia, heard across CBC Radio One in the Maritimes, in addition to the evening news. Coade, who retired in 2016, set the Guinness World Record for the longest career as a weather forecaster in 2013, at 50 years, eight months and 21 days. The record was eventually surpassed by Cleveland TV weatherman Dick Goddard. Read more here.
TV & FILM:
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) and the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) say U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed 100% tariff on foreign-produced films would directly threaten Canada’s media production sector. Film and television production volumes have been down in many centres across North America, driven in part by two lengthy U.S. labour strikes, the recent L.A. fires, a slowdown in commissioning of Canadian content, and other disruptions as the industry adapts to evolving digital monetization models. Total production volume declined by 18.5% in Canada in 2023/24, according to the CMPA’s Profile 2024 report, while foreign local and service (FLS) production volume declined from $6.4 billion in 2022/23 to $4.73 billion in 2023/24. FilmLA’s year-end production numbers were down 5.6% from the previous year and 40% from 2022, making 2024 the second least productive year on record. Read more here.
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) will invest $338M in the Canadian audiovisual industry during the fiscal year that started April 1. CMF President and CEO Valerie Creighton says despite a lower budget, the CMF is implementing a number of initiatives that reflect Canada’s evolving screen industries, including increasing support and flexibility for Children and Youth projects to address the unique pressures faced by producers working in the genre, continuing investment in the Distributor Program, enhancing the Interactive Digital Media programs, and shifting the administration of CMF’s Indigenous Program to the Indigenous Screen Office [ISO].
Banger Films/National Film Board of Canada (NFB) feature-length doc Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, directed by Toronto filmmakers Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee, has won the prestigious Peabody Award in the Documentary category. Winners will be celebrated at a ceremony in Los Angeles on June 1. Any Other Way has now received 22 awards and honours, with 47 festival selections as it continues its international festival run. Any Other Way is currently streaming on Crave in Canada.
CBC has renewed five original dramas, including Allan Hawco detective series, Saint-Pierre, for a second season, police procedural Wild Cards for seasons three and four, Canadian Screen Award-nominated Allegiance for a third season, and long-running series Heartland and Murdoch Mysteries for their 19th seasons. The public broadcaster says over the past year all five dramas were among the Top 20 Canadian programs on television, and within the Top 10 most-streamed series on CBC Gem. Saint-Pierre was CBC’s #1 most-watched new series of the year. Read more here.
Peacock Alley Entertainment and CBC have announced that filming is underway on Big Feminine Energy, a feature doc that takes a bold look at how hotly debated femininity trends are shaping our global world. A 44-minute version will air as part of The Passionate Eye’s upcoming 2025/26 season on CBC and CBC Gem. The doc will feature conversations with Canadian Olympic medalist Alysha Newman, R&B artist Jully Black, music-video vixen Melyssa Ford, culture critic Rayne Fisher-Quann, and Glamour Senior Editor Stephanie McNeal.
CBC and APTN have quietly backed off their support for a previously-announced comedy series about B.C. Indigenous hip-hop duo, Snotty Nose Rez Kids. Originally slated to premiere this year, the half-hour scripted show was set to focus on the rise of Quinton (Yung Trybez) Nyce and Darren (Young D) Metz from their home of Kitimaat Village to global touring musicians.
Hollywood Suite will premiere Hell Motel on June 13, the new eight-episode limited horror series from Slasher creators Aaron Martin and Ian Carpenter. Featuring Eric McCormack (Will & Grace, Departure), Paula Brancati (Slasher), Shaun Benson (The Boys), Atticus Mitchell (The Hardy Boys), Emmanuel Kabongo (Murdoch Mysteries), Jim Watson (Slasher) and Genevieve DeGraves (Slasher), episodes of the Shudder original series will drop weekly on Tuesdays. It follows a group of 10 true crime obsessives, who are invited to the opening weekend of the newly renovated Cold River Motel, the site of a 30-year-old unsolved satanic mass murder. Hell Motel was developed and produced by Shaftesbury, in association with Hollywood Suite, with the financial participation of the Bell Fund.
Accessible Media Inc. (AMI), in partnership with filmmakers Ryan Mah and Danny Berish of Black Rhino Creative, is inviting audiences to reimagine travel through the five senses—smell, touch, sight, taste and sound—with a new season of the Canadian Screen Award-nominated Postcards From. Returning for a sixth season on Wednesday, May 14, host Christa Couture journeys across the country to meet up with local guides as they explore Frelighsburg, Calgary, Gros Morne, Victoria, Ottawa, Prince Edward County, Osoyoos and Saskatoon.
ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:
The National Media Awards Foundation has unveiled the nominees for the 10th annual Digital Publishing Awards. Winners will be announced June 13 at an event at Arcadian Court in Toronto. Emma Gilchrist, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Narwhal, is the recipient of the 2025 Digital Publishing Leadership Award.
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
The Canadian Journalism Collective-Collectif Canadien de Journalisme (CJC-CCJ) has disclosed the initial round of funding distributed to news businesses under the Online News Act. The 108 news organizations securing a share of $22,193,608 in funding up until April 23, include The Globe and Mail ($2,062,409); Metroland Media ($1,953,750); Postmedia Network ($4,268,319); Black Press ($1,371,649); The Canadian Press ($1,355,445); Glacier Media ($397,002); Golden West Broadcasting ($289,838); Vista Radio ($185,394); Castanet ($155,584); Bayshore Broadcasting ($30,482); Community Radio Fund of Canada ($26,639); and Byrnes Communications ($18,542). Part of Google’s five-year exemption agreement that will see $100 million paid out annually to news organizations, the amounts disclosed represent 60% of the estimated total news outlets will receive, calculated according to the total number of hours paid to employees dedicated to the production of online news in 2023. Read more here.
The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) Newsroom Diversity Survey is back for a fifth consecutive year. Last year’s survey gathered data on 5,806 journalists working in 270 newsrooms. The deadline for newsrooms to complete the survey is June 18.
The Michener Awards Foundation has announced the recipients of the 2025 Michener-L. Richard O’Hagan Fellowship for Journalism Education and the Michener-Deacon Fellowship for Investigative Journalism. Chris Arsenault and Josette Lafleur are being recognized in the Journalism Education category for their project “How They Did It,” a multimedia initiative – spanning podcasts and videos – providing aspiring journalists with an insider’s view into the craft of investigative reporting. Katrine Desautels is being award the Michener-Deacon Fellowship for Investigative Journalism for her project “The Impacts of Limited Access to Running Water on Healthcare Delivery in Nunavik’s Indigenous Communities and the Consequences on Public Health.” Read more here.
The Michener Awards Foundation has announced the finalists for the 2024 Michener Award for meritorious public service journalism. They are Global News, The Globe and Mail (two entries), La Presse, Toronto Star, and The Vancouver Sun. The winner will be announced at Rideau Hall on June 5.
World Press Freedom Canada (WPFC) has announced La Presse reporter Daniel Renaud as the 2025 winner of its Press Freedom Award, while longtime newspaper lawyer Bert Bruser is awarded the Career Achievement Award. WPFC recognized Renaud for his fearless reporting on organized crime in Quebec and for demonstrating resilience in pursuing stories that serve the public interest. In 2024, Renaud spent months investigating hitman Frédérick Silva, uncovering his ties to the Montreal mafia. In retaliation, Silva ordered Renaud’s murder. Despite the threat, he missed only one day of work and continued to show up in court for every hearing during Silva’s trial. Bruser was awarded the WPFC Career Achievement Award in recognition of his groundbreaking work as newsroom legal counsel for The Toronto Star.
The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) has unveiled its shortlists for the CJF Jackman Awards for Excellence in Journalism, honouring news organizations that embody exemplary journalism and have a profound positive impact on the communities they serve. The five finalists in the large media category (more than 50 full-time editorial employees) and the stories and/or series shortlisted for the award are: CBC’s The Fifth Estate; Le Devoir; Global News; The Globe and Mail; and CTV’s W5. The five finalists in the small media category are: CBC Manitoba; The Investigative Journalism Bureau; The Investigative Journalism Foundation; The Local; and The Narwhal. CJF has also announced its shortlist for the CJF Award for Climate Solutions Reporting.
BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:
Bell Canada has unveiled Ateko, a new brand set to use AI-driven automation and technology collaboration to serve clients across telecommunications, media, technology, public sector, utilities and finance. Ateko has been formed from the unification of Bell’s acquired tech service providers: FX Innovation, CloudKettle and HGC Technologies. Operating under the leadership of CEO Guillaume Bazinet (co-founder of FX Innovation), Bell says the company will help drive its objective to help transform businesses with end-to-end automated cloud and IT solutions.
