REVOLVING DOOR:
Brian DePoe has joined JAZZ.FM91 (CJRT-FM) Toronto as its new Program Director, among other changes at the not-for-profit station. DePoe was most recently General Sales Manager at Central Ontario Broadcasting. Also joining JAZZ.FM91 as General Sales Manager is Warren Locke, who was formerly a Senior Account Manager for the past two decades at Rogers Sports & Media. Jonsaba Jabbi joins as Digital Content Specialist. Jabbi has been running her own communications consultancy, with an arts and culture focus, for the last 12 years.
Ronny Guenther, Nicole Klassen and Pam Fedak are all moving on from Golden West Broadcasting’s stations in Winkler, MB. Guenther has been host of The Eagle 93.5 (CJEL-FM) morning show for the past decade, while Klassen was his counterpart on Country 88 (CKMW-FM) mornings. Fedak has been with the company for 25 years and most recently acted as the local morning news anchor, in addition to handling national news for the network. All are leaving to pursue opportunities outside the broadcast industry.
Sean Amato has joined CityNews as a national reporter, based at the Alberta Legislature. Amato recently left CTV Edmonton, where he’d been a journalist for the past 14 years.
Kelly Geraldine Malone is moving with The Canadian Press (CP) from working as a Saskatoon-based National reporter with the Prairies bureau to take on the role of Washington correspondent. Malone, who has previously worked with CBC News in both Manitoba and Saskatchewan, has been with CP since 2018.
Juan “JC” Acosta has been named Head of Mediapro Studio for the U.S. & Canada. Acosta was most recently President of Paramount’s Int’l Networks and Streaming for Southern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, & Africa, as well as President of its Global Studios Division, VIS, where he oversaw international operations across the UK, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Israel, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. With new headquarters in L.A. and offices in Miami and New York, Mediapro says it will expand the development, production and distribution of English-language content including Scripted Series, Non-Scripted Reality and Entertainment Shows, Documentaries, and Feature Films.
Neishaw Ali, the President of SPIN VFX, is the new Board Chair of the Canadian Film Centre (CFC). She replaces longtime Chair Christina Jennings, President and Chairman of Shaftesbury, who has served CFC for over 17 years, 10 as Chair. Jennings will remain on the board until October. Joining the CFC Board of Directors is Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro who will be officially appointed in October at the annual AGM. Also recently joining the board are writer, producer, entrepreneur and investor Mark Sakamoto, EVP for Think Research, and financial services leader Duane Green, former President and CEO of Franklin Templeton Canada.
RADIO & PODCAST:
CBC Radio’s The Current has made the 2024 International Women’s Podcast Awards shortlist. The Current: The Next War, produced by freelancer Sarah Lawrynuik and CBC documentary producer Liz Hoath, explores allegations of sexual violence in wartime Ukraine. The audio doc is nominated for the “Award for Changing The World One Moment at a Time” and “Moment of Compelling Storytelling.” Radio-Canada’s Je demande pour un ami : Parlons sexe avec Varda (Varda Étienne, Stéphanie Mignacca , Sara Hébert, Isabel Tardif, Annie Reeves) also received a nod in the category for “Moment of Podcasting Panache in a Language Other Than English.” This year’s program received over 700 submissions from 34 different countries, of which almost a third were made using the IWPA Bursary Fund. Check out the full shortlist here.
Soundwave Summit, an inaugural event bringing together independent Canadian podcasters, is set to follow Radiodays North America, on June 6. Founded by Michael Mongiardi of Sonar Network, Sherley Joseph of Chonilla Network, and Amanda Cupido from Lead Podcasting, the summit will also include representation from Canadaland, Vocal Fry Studios and Kattie Laur, founder of the Pod The North newsletter, among others. It aims to showcase Canada’s indie podcast scene, with daytime sessions arming creators with information on monetization, pitching, and building community. A separately-ticketed evening lineup will feature four live podcast performances, highlighted by a live recording of The Women of Ill Repute podcast with Wendy Mesley and Maureen Holloway. Read more here.
LISTEN: Amanda Cupido is on the Sound Off Podcast this week talking about the Soundwave Summit. Listen on your favourite podcast app or here:
Lead Podcasting and Sonar Network have launched their first joint podcast called How To Fall Asleep Fast. A podcast “backed by science to inspire sleep” is comprised mostly of ambient music composed by music producer Boris Kurtzman, who happens to be the husband of Lead Podcasting founder Amanda Cupido. She lends her voice to the project.
Vista Radio is celebrating 100 years of radio in Stratford, ON with CJCS 107.1. The company is marking a century of service for the city with a yearlong event under the umbrella of “The CJCS Century of Community.” Most recently, the studios welcomed a visit from former employee and Canadian broadcast legend Lloyd Robertson, who started his career at the station in 1952. Following a studio interview, the Canadian icon credited Vista with “resetting radio on the course for the times.” “CJCS is so well established as an iconic Stratford brand it’s heartening to see dedicated people giving it so much love and care,” remarked Robertson. “Personally, I owe it so much and will always be among the first in line to support it.”
107.9 Go Rock (CFLB-FM), the forthcoming Lunenburg County, NS rock station, is currently offering a digital-only preview at gorock.ca and the Go Rock app, to sample the station playlist before it hits the airwaves. Radio and music industry veteran Scott Clements, who is behind the independent commercial radio station, tells Broadcast Dialogue an air date has yet to be determined.
MILESTONES: Gido Gigliotti, Program Director at Evanov Communications’ Winnipeg Multilingual Station, 92.7 CKJS, is celebrating her 40th anniversary with the station this month. Gigliotti started his career as an operator and producer in 1984. Also celebrating a milestone at the station is morning show personality Donna Arenas, who is marking her 20th work anniversary at CKJS.
Chris Stapleton will launch an exclusive year-round SiriusXM channel, Chris Stapleton Radio, on Thursday, May 23. SiriusXM’s newest 24/7 channel will be available to subscribers across North America in their cars on channel 63 or on the go via the SiriusXM app. The channel will be curated and presented by Stapleton and his band The Honchos, and feature music spanning his career; the stories behind his songs; and music that has influenced his career like Tom Petty, George Jones, John Prine, Lainey Wilson, Mavis Staples, Merle Haggard, Miranda Lambert, Tyler Childers, Bob Dylan, and more.
Canadian Music Week (CMW) has announced multi-platinum, JUNO Award-winning and Grammy-nominated Canadian artist deadmau5 will be inducted into the Music Industry Hall of Fame, during the Canadian Live Music Industry Awards, in partnership with the Canadian Live Music Association. deadmau5, aka Joel Zimmerman, is also a co-founder of gaming venture PIXELYNX and an executive of HD streaming platform StreamVoodoo.
LISTEN: Veteran radio programmer Ronnie Stanton joins Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast to talk about his new gig as Virgin Radio International’s Chief Content Officer and why it’s reinvigorated his optimism about the future of radio. Ronnie also teases two upcoming sessions he’ll host at Radiodays North America in Toronto, June 2-4, highlighting some of radio’s successes in his native Australia.
SIGN OFFS:
Philip Tompkins, 61, on May 18. Tompkins joined Kingston’s CKWS-TV (now Global) right out of Loyalist College in 1983. He went on to a 35-year career with the station as a videographer, editor and producer. Following his retirement from the station in 2017, he became a partner in SpotOn Media, producing video and web content.
Darren Dutchyshen, 57, on May 16. Originally from Regina and raised in Porcupine Plain, SK, Dutchyshen started sportscasting at STV Saskatoon, and then IMTV in Dauphin, MB. From there, he spent seven years as the host of ITV’s “Sports Night” in Edmonton. “Dutchy” as he was known by his colleagues, had been with TSN since 1995, starting as host of the weekend editions of “SportsDesk” and “CFL Live.” He went on to host “Sportscentre” for three decades, often the late-night edition alongside Rod Smith and later Jennifer Hedger. He took Sportscentre on the road as part of the “Kraft Celebration Tour,” in addition to co-hosting boxing show “In This Corner” with trainer Russ Anber, and hosting Olympic Prime Time during the London 2012 and Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. Dutchyshen first announced his cancer diagnosis in September 2021 when he took a break from the network. His family said in a statement issued by Bell Media that he died “surrounded by his closest loved ones.” “His sharp wit remained until his final moments, classically delivering plenty of jokes – most of them pretty good and all of them inappropriate.” Read more here.
Jim Fraser, 75, on May 15, of cancer. Fraser started his broadcasting career at CKAY Duncan, BC in 1969. He eventually moved on to CHUB Nanaimo and by 1973 was hosting the station’s morning show. In 1984, he joined CKWX Vancouver where he was well-known as the host of afternoons on the home of “Real Country.” In 1994, he joined the morning show on CJJR-FM Vancouver where he remained until 1997. Fill-in work followed on CKKS-FM and CKNW, before Fraser departed to the Sunshine Coast and CKAY-FM Gibsons where he hosted mornings from 2006-08.
David Gazer, on May 14. Gazer, who went by the on-air handle of “Dave Melbourne,” started his radio career with a part-time job at CKCY 920 AM Sault Ste. Marie in 1975, while studying journalism at Sault College. From there, he succeeded in landing a news position at CKLW Windsor where he was hired by the station’s legendary news director Byron MacGregor. He wrapped up his 25-year career with stints at AM 640 (CFRB-AM) and 680 News (CFTR-AM) in Toronto.
James “Jim” Farrell, 91, on April 11. Born in Iroquois Falls, ON and raised in Nipigon, Farrell went on to a long career in broadcasting in Winnipeg after his graduation from the Radio & Television Arts Program at Ryerson Institute of Technology. Farrell joined CJAY-TV Winnipeg, which became part of the newly-created CTV network, as a news reporter and co-host of “Your Government” and live outdoor sports show “Manitoba Sportsman.” He went on to become news director at CKRC radio and later co-anchor of CKND-TV’s “First News.” Farrell also served as a track announcer at Assiniboia Downs and served as president of the Manitoba Harness Horseman Association.
TV & FILM:
Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) members have ratified a new Independent Production Agreement (IPA), governing English-language writers, story editors and story consultants through January 2027. Under the newly-ratified agreement, live action script fees will increase by five per cent, four per cent, and 3.5 per cent over the next three years. Animation script fees will increase by five per cent, 11.5 per cent, and 3.6 per cent over the same period. WGC members also won minimum staffing provisions on set that require two Story Editors to be engaged during the bulk of principal photography, starting next year, in addition to Artificial Intelligence (AI) protections. Read more here.
Hot Docs has announced it will temporarily close Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, starting June 12, as its financial situation remains grave despite the success of its recent festival. The organization announced in March it was facing a substantial operating deficit largely due to a slow post-pandemic recovery. It says during the three-month closure, the Hot Docs leadership team will undertake an extensive review of the cinema and its programming to determine a path back to profitability. Refunds will be automatically processed, with the cinema expected to return to operations this fall.
The Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Foundation of BC has announced the 2024 Leo Awards nominees. Feature film Re:Uniting leads this year’s Motion Picture nominations with 12, followed by Les Filles du Roi and Wild Goat Surf, which both secured eight nods. In the TV movie category, Sealed with a List garnered seven nominations, while Monster High 2 scored six nods. Bones of Crows led Dramatic Series nominations with 15, while Our Big Punjabi Family and Reginald the Vampire led nominations for Music, Comedy, or Variety Program series with five apiece. View the full list of nominees here.
LG Channels is the newest platform partner to host Super Channel’s two FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television) properties: Super Channel Hearties, featuring “feel good” series like When Calls the Heart, Heartland and Chesapeake Shores; and Super Channel Uncovered, offering a library of series exploring scientific marvels, historical events and mysteries like Deadly Science, Cruise Ship Killers and Almost Unsolved. The two new FAST channels are also available to viewers as free linear channels and via Video On Demand through Plex, Tubi and Xumo Play.
Global adds Season 1 of Irish/Canadian/Belgian crime drama, Hidden Assets, to its schedule beginning Wednesday, June 5. Starring Angeline Ball and Wouter Hendrickx, the series untangles an international conspiracy involving drugs, terrorism, and corrupt business and political leaders. Co-funded by the European Union, the series is a Saffron Moon, Facet4Media & Potemkino Production for RTÉ, Super Channel and Acorn TV. Global has also announced the return of Big Brother for a 26th Season, kicking off in a two-night premiere Wednesday, July 17 and Thursday, July 18.
TSN will carry the 2024 Memorial Cup live, beginning with the host Saginaw Spirit facing off against the WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday, May 24 at 7 p.m. ET. Play-by-play commentator Victor Findlay delivers the call for all games in Saginaw, alongside analyst Kevin Sawyer, with BarDown’s Julia Tocheri reporting live rinkside. Laura Diakun leads TSN’s panel coverage on-site in Saginaw, alongside analysts Craig Button and Frankie Corrado. TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joins the broadcast team in Saginaw for select games during the tournament. Find the complete broadcast schedule here. French-language coverage of the tournament is available on RDS.
CBC/Radio-Canada’s studio spaces in its main production centres in Toronto and Montreal have been recognized by BAFTA albert’s Studio Sustainability Standard, the first time a Canadian media organization has received the designation. The Studio Sustainability Standard is the first sustainability assessment designed specifically for studio spaces. In its first year of participation, CBC/Radio-Canada was recognized with the “very good” rating for the sustainability of its studio operations in several categories, including energy consumption through studio house lighting conversion to LED and zero-waste goals and recycling programs.
The National Screen Institute (NSI) has welcomed 10 new participants to the 20th anniversary edition of CBC New Indigenous Voices. The training program offers Indigenous creators the opportunity to learn from industry experts and gain hands-on experience in the essential elements of film, TV and digital media in a 14-week, full-time, immersive program with classroom sessions, film production and industry internships. This year’s cohort includes Amanda Wandler (Kamloops, BC); Jerry Wolf (Woodstock, ON); Julia Ross (Winnipeg, MB); Kane Wood (Winnipeg, MB); Kieran Aho (Winnipeg, MB); Matthew Shoup (Winnipeg, MB); Spencer Blyan (Red Deer, AB); Stacy Flett (Winnipeg, MB); Talon Simon (Elsipogtog First Nation, NB); and Viola Bushie (Winnipeg, MB).
ACTRA Toronto has launched the Asian Performers Showcase as part of a revamped Diversity Showcase website. Presented by ACTRA Toronto in partnership with Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival (TRAIFF) and in collaboration with the Casting Directors Society of Canada (CDC), the showcase features 14 established and up-and-coming ACTRA Toronto performers from pan-Asian communities. Showcase participants were unveiled at a live event at TIFF Lightbox on May 17 that opened with a discussion with ACTRA Toronto members Andrew Phung (Kim’s Convenience, Run the Burbs) and Jasmeet Raina (Late Bloomer) about the importance of Asian representation in film, television and digital media.
MTM’s latest TV Distribution report takes a deeper look at paid TV subscriptions. It finds two-thirds of Canadians continue to subscribe to a paid TV service. Fibre optic services now account for more than half of subscriptions (37%), surpassing both cable (20%) and satellite (9%) combined. Francophones are more likely to subscribe to a paid TV service than anglophones (76% vs 63%). While still ahead of paid TV subscriptions, SVOD services saw a slight decline for the first time this year. Overall subscriptions among Canadians declined from 81% to 78%, and the number of households opting in for more than one service has also dropped. Many still use SVOD and paid TV subscriptions in tandem with 51% opting in for both. The average Canadian TV subscriber pays roughly $76 a month for their paid TV service.
ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:
E Dose Daily is a new online platform offering entertainment news and pop culture trends from former ET Canada segment and digital producers Laura Ward and Katie Colley. Based in Greater Toronto, where E Dose has set up a studio for on-site interviews, content will be delivered via Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X and Facebook.
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
The CRTC will step in and arbitrate agreements for Bell and Videotron’s carriage of TVA Sports and RDS, respectively, on the other’s cable service. In a simultaneous decision published last week, the commission says as the ongoing carriage dispute is exclusively monetary, its intervention is the most expedient and effective course of action. Quebecor will submit one offer for TVA Sports and one offer for RDS, while Bell will do the same. The commission will examine the final offers submitted by the parties and select one for each service, in its entirety, with its decision binding on both parties.
Rogers is asking the CRTC to allow it to more broadly serve some western Canadian communities to meet its Canadian content obligations. Its Part 1 application seeks to amend a condition of licence that would pave the way for so-called “Spotlight Channels” to broadcast to four zones, rather than offering standalone content, including Vancouver Island and the Southern Interior of BC, Central Saskatchewan, and Southern Manitoba. Rogers said six of the 24 systems inside these zones have had difficulty meeting the Community TV policy’s local and access requirements, which mandate 60% of a community channel’s weekly schedule be local programming, with 50% being access programming. Rogers says the Spotlight Channels in question have experienced challenges, including a declining subscriber base from changing viewer habits; reduced demand for the broadcaster’s linear channels when other platforms are available; and changes to the Community TV policy which forced broadcasters to shift funding to local news, leading to a reduction in money available for community TV operations. Read more at CARTT.ca (paywalled).
The Michener Awards Foundation (MAF) is awarding Chantal Hébert and Terry Mosher its prestigious Michener-Baxter Award for exceptional service to Canadian public service journalism. The Michener-Baxter Award was established in 1983 and is presented at the discretion of the foundation’s board of directors. Hébert is a freelance political columnist whose work is featured on radio, television and in print in both French and English, while Mosher got his start drawing caricatures on the streets of Quebec City and has been cartooning since 1967 under the pen name AISLIN. Though he has spent most of his career with the Montreal Gazette, his work has been published around the world. They’ll receive their awards at a ceremony to be held in Ottawa on June 14 at Rideau Hall.
The Jack Webster Foundation is now accepting submissions for the 2024 Webster Awards, recognizing the best in B.C. journalism. Among this year’s changes: Best News Reporting of the Year and Excellence in Feature Reporting both return to three distinct categories – one for print/online, one for radio/audio and one for TV/video. Find out more about this year’s categories and upload your submissions for stories published between June 1, 2023 and May 31st, 2024 here. The deadline is July 28.
A bet is a bet.
B.C. Global News Morning anchors @SoniaSunger and @JPiresGlobal suited up in the blue and orange to make good on their deal with their Edmonton counterparts following the Canucks’ loss to the Oilers in round two of the NHL playoffs. pic.twitter.com/b4fQ3ofXWi— Global BC (@GlobalBC) May 22, 2024
Global BC Global News Morning anchors Jason Pires and Sonia Sunger made good on a bet with their Global Edmonton counterparts this week, suiting up in Edmonton Oilers’ jerseys following the Vancouver Canucks game seven elimination, advancing the Oilers to the Western Final. The bet included reading a script written by Edmonton host Erin Chalmers, pledging their support for the remaining Canadian team in the running for the Stanley Cup.
BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:
FEATURE: WABE (Western Association of Broadcast Engineers) staged a Media Meetup in Winnipeg earlier this month where about 40 WABE friends gathered to listen to Roy Folkman from Cinesys talk about AI in Media, ahead of the WABE 2024 Convention in Edmonton in September. “If you think WABE 2024 is only for tech enthusiasts, think again,” writes President Tessa Potter in her May update. Read more here.
ATSC, the Broadcast Standards Association, will host its annual NextGen Broadcast Conference at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C. in mid-June. The program will focus on new opportunities for broadcasting utilizing ATSC 3.0, the next-generation broadcast standard now available to viewers in 75 markets across the U.S., 80% of viewers in South Korea and soon 66% in Jamaica. The two-day conference looking at next-gen broadcast options and devices runs Thursday, June 13 and Friday, June 14, and is open to all.
Avid is introducing a ground-breaking series of micro-certifications through a new collaboration with Post Super, an educational platform specializing in post-production. The Avid/Post Super co-branded courses and micro-certifications, crafted by industry veterans, draw upon real-world experiences and best practices. In addition to technical instruction, the certifications delve into the underlying principles and philosophies that drive effective post-production workflows, from the fundamentals of the cutting room to collaborative editing.
