The Weekly Briefing

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A special announcement from @adamwylde and @jaxonair ❤️

Please join us for 2 more shows before we say goodbye! pic.twitter.com/KxiyBgqGZ9

— Virgin Radio Toronto (@VirginRadioTO) May 31, 2023

Adam Wylde and Jax Irwin have announced that their morning show on 99.9 Virgin Radio (CKFM-FM) Toronto is coming to an end, with this Friday the duo’s last day on-air. Wylde has been juggling the morning show with SPDN, the sports podcast network he runs, which produces The Steve Dangle Podcast, among other shows, which Wylde also contributes to as a co-host. Irwin is set to be married in June and plans to do some travelling. The duo confirmed producer Leah Abrahams will be part of the station’s yet-to-be announced new morning show. Read more here.

Casey-Jo Loos will be joining Kolter Bouchard in afternoon drive on Toronto’s 102.1 the Edge (CFNY-FM). Loos, who arrives from Corus Radio’s CFOX Vancouver, where she’s hosted the weekend show since 2021, steps into the co-host position vacated by Meredith Geddes in April when she left to join 96.9 JACK FM (CJAX-FM) Vancouver. She and Bouchard had been paired together in afternoons since late 2018. Prior to joining CFOX, Loos was heard on Pattison Media’s 102.7 The Peak in various dayparts from 2013-19. Read more here.

Emilie Carbone has been named Directrice Générale, Local Sales, for Montreal and Toronto at Cogeco Media. Carbone arrives from Bell Media where she was most recently, Senior Manager, National Sales. She previously worked with Cogeco from 2012-16 as a National Account Manager.

Michael Woods is leaving CTV Ottawa to join the CBC News Parliamentary Bureau as Digital Senior Producer. Woods has been with CTV Ottawa for the last seven years serving as Assignment Editor and Senior Digital Lead.

Renée Rodgers has announced her departure from CTV Winnipeg after seven years, saying in a post to social media it’s time to move closer to family. Rodgers, who has anchored the 5 and 11 p.m. newcasts since 2019, hails from Ontario. She worked with Global Peterborough as a videojournalist and anchor, prior to joining CTV Winnipeg in 2016.

Dawn Chubai has announced she’s parted ways with Rogers Sports & Media after 19 years. Chubai has been working with TSC (formerly The Shopping Channel) for the last seven years and recently wrapped up a fill-in co-host stint on Breakfast Television Toronto. Prior to that, she was a co-host on Breakfast Television in Vancouver for more than a decade.  

Lauren Fink will be filling in as host of CBC Edmonton News at 11 until the end of September. Fink has been working with the Edmonton newsroom since late 2020.

Sarah Ashley-Hewitson has left her position as Director – Development & Distribution at Serendipity Media to join Kidoodle TV as Content Accounts + Brand Lead. Prior to her role with Serendipity, Ashley-Hewitson was at Harvard Media for seven years, as Director, Interactive, overseeing station websites, apps, streaming, podcasting, texting, and the smart speaker experience for Harvard radio stations. 

Mitch Geddes has left Bell Media to join Neshama Entertainment in the newly-created role of Senior Director of Development and Current Productions. Geddes had been with Bell Media for the last six years, most recently as Production Executive, Original Programming, Drama and Feature Film.

Emma Miller and Carrie Gillogly, co-heads of AMC’s scripted team, have both joined Netflix in positions overseeing series for the U.S and Canada. Miller, who was AMC Networks’ SVP of Development, is now Director of Overall Deals, Series, for Netflix, for the U.S. and Canada, while Gillogly, formerly SVP of Programming at AMC Networks, is the new Director of Drama Series for the U.S. and Canada. They had been with AMC, 11 and nine years, respectively. 

Liz Cowie is joining the National Film Board’s Quebec & Atlantic Studio as Producer. Born and raised in Halifax, Cowie previously worked with VICE Media for over 15 years, collaborating closely with founders Suroosh Alvi and Shane Smith, along with director Spike Jonze and director of photography Lance Bangs (Jackass, Portlandia), overseeing production on various television and digital documentary series, music videos, ad campaigns, and feature-length projects. She also helped produce segments for VICE on HBO and nightly HBO series VICE News Tonight. She was most recently Senior Manager of Development & Alternative Programming, producing the Emmy-nominated Fringe Nation with fellow Canadian Ben Makuch, among other series.

Winnie Luk has been named the inaugural Executive Director of the Disability Screen Office (DSO). A disability advocate and LGBTQ+ activist with experience in the non-profit, film, and public sector, Luk was formerly Director of Operations and Events at the Inside Out Film Festival and more recently served as Managing Director of Rainbow Railroad, a charity supporting LGBTQ+ individuals seeking safe haven from around the globe. Andrew Morris, former Manager, Independent Production, AMI-tv, has been serving as interim executive director for the past year. Read more here.

Bill Killorn will take over as Interim Executive Director of Journalists for Human Rights (CJR) for one-year, starting this August, while current ED Rachel Pulfer pursues the Martin Wise Goodman Canadian Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University. Killorn has been with JHR since 2020 and as Deputy Director has provided leadership to JHR’s South Sudan program, among other projects. Prior to joining JHR, he served as Executive Director of Issues Management & Legislative Affairs to the Premier of Ontario and as a Senior Manager of Issues Management & Media Relations for Rogers Communications.

RADIO & PODCAST:

Jenny West, the co-host of afternoon drive on Pattison Media’s The Zone @ 91-3 (CJZN-FM) Victoria, has been named the 2023 Allan Waters Young Broadcaster of the Year. The 14th year for the award, presented in memory of the late Steve Young, West is currently one-half of the Pol & Jenny afternoon drive show, alongside Pol Plastino. This year’s runners up are Brock Lewis, co-host of the Brock & Dalby Show, which airs on Rogers Sports & Media’s K-Rock (CIKR-FM) Kingston, 92.7 Rock (CJRQ-FM) Sudbury, 101.9 Rock (CKFX-FM) North Bay, and 92.1 Rock (CJQQ-FM) Timmins; and Roxanne Guérin from Torres Media’s Max 103 (CKOD-FM) Valleyfield, Que. Read more here.

Rogers Sports & Media and former 92 CITI FM morning show host Dave Wheeler have settled a $1.4M lawsuit filed following his high-profile dismissal from the company in 2018. The suit claimed Rogers Sports & Media violated Wheeler’s employment contract and publicly defamed him. It sought lost wages – based on the morning show host’s $355,000 annual salary – plus $80,000 in bonuses and benefits he would have received had his contract not been cancelled. Winnipeg Court of King’s Bench documents show Wheeler’s lawyer filed a notice of discontinuance last week, with the dispute recorded as “settled” earlier in the month. Rogers Sports & Media confirmed to Broadcast Dialogue that the matter is now closed. Wheeler is currently heard in mornings on Evanov Communication’s Energy 106 (CHWE-FM) Winnipeg, alongside Jasmin Laine and Tyler Carr. Read more here.

University of Ottawa assistant professor Dr. Jada Watson has co-authored recent study “They Won’t Play a Lady-O on Country Radio: Examining Back-to-Back Plays by Gender, Race, and Sexual Orientation” with Texas-based journalist Jan Diehm showing country radio is still reluctant to play songs by women, especially back-to-back. The study analyzed 24-hour daily logs from Mediabase for 29 major market country stations in the U.S. throughout 2022, corresponding to release dates for songs by women artists that charted in the same year. Of 6,474 songs, the study found only 64 (0.99%) were back-to-back songs by women. Back-to-back songs by men amounted to 4,231 (65.53%). Data from the 29 stations shows that women artists are often played during the evening (7 p.m. – midnight) and overnight (midnight – 6 a.m.) hours. Just under 80% of songs by women played back-to-back were “gold” or “recurrent” songs. 

The Sound Off Podcast Network, in collaboration with executive producer Sarah Burke, has launched Trust Me…I’m a Decorator, a new podcast from designers Debbie Travis and Tommy Smythe. Both well-known television personalities, their foray into podcasting is an extension of a weekly Instagram series begun out of boredom during the pandemic, with Smythe in Toronto and Travis in Tuscany, where she’s now primarily based. The podcast will go beyond decorating, discussing travel, relationships, food and health and wellness, featuring special guests along the way. It will also pick up on themes from Travis’ 2018 book, Design Your Next Chapter, in which the veteran host explores her decision to take the leap to leave television to buy a rundown, 13th century villa, renovate it into a hotel, and begin running retreats where visitors absorb the Italian lifestyle. Read more here.

Deadman’s Curse: Slumach’s Gold, a follow-up to The HISTORY Channel original series, Deadman’s Curse, drops June 6. The historical true crime podcast investigates the curse and legend surrounding the lost gold mine of Pitt Lake in British Columbia. Hosted by The HISTORY Channel’s Kru Williams, and featuring members of the the Stó:lō and Katzie First Nations, historians, and cultural experts, listeners will be taken on a journey through Slumach’s past – an Indigenous prospector and accused murderer, who set a curse on his hidden gold. Produced by GPM, Curiouscast and Corus Entertainment, new episodes will be available every Tuesday.

TPX (The Podcast Exchange) says French-language podcast Sexe Oral is the best-kept secret in Canadian podcasting. Touting data from the 2022 Canadian Podcast Listener, TPX says with more than half a million monthly downloads in Canada alone, Sexe Oral is the #1 podcast in French Canada, the #1 women’s podcast in the country and the #2 podcast among 18-34 year olds. It features co-hosts Lysandre Nadeau and Joanie “Dre Point G” Grenier – who also boast a large following on TikTok and Instagram – discussing sexuality from all angles. It’s produced by Studio SF, which also publishes the popular Sans Filtre.

Stingray’s Ocean 100 (CHTN-FM) and HOT 105.5 (CKQK-FM) Charlottetown broadcast live from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation’s Big Day of Giving from early morning until evening May 24, raising more than $861,000. Donations to the QEH Foundation directly support the purchase of priority medical equipment for the Island’s largest hospital, including the PEI Cancer Treatment Centre, provincial NICU, and soon, the Island’s new Mental Health & Addictions Emergency Department and Short Stay Unit. 

ReelWorld has announced the recipients of its scholarship program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT). Excelling in the highly-competitive Radio, Television & Broadcast News program, ReelWorld says Riley Martens and Gavin Anshelm were selected from a vast group of graduates representing the next wave of new talent.

The Jim Beam National Talent Search, presented by Canadian Music Week (CMW), has revealed the five finalists for the 2023 Jim Beam Showcase on June 6 at the Drake Underground in Toronto. The five finalists are Reini B (Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC), A Short Walk to Pluto (Toronto), FKB (Edmonton), Cody Lawless (Mission, BC) and Nicolina (Toronto). Selected from their virtual submissions by a panel of Canadian industry professionals, they’ll receive a paid trip to CMW. One winner will be determined and play the 2023 Jim Beam INDIES on June 8 at HISTORY.

LISTEN: On a special edition of Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast, listen in on a conversation from the recent BC Association of Broadcasters (BCAB) Conference between Pattison Media President Rod Schween and Jimmy Pattison, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Jim Pattison Group. Now 94, Pattison still goes into the office six to seven days a week, overseeing one of Canada’s largest privately-held companies, which in addition to 48 radio and three television stations, encompasses automotive, grocery and entertainment, among other ventures. In this abridged conversation, the business magnate talks about his journey to becoming Canada’s third-richest man, addresses some urban legends, and more.

LISTEN: If you’ve ever been in radio in North America, either as a producer or as talent, you’ve probably heard about Morning Show Boot Camp, which has been training radio talent since the ‘80s. One of its founders, Don Anthony, is on the latest Sound Off Podcast talking about how the program has evolved and why it’s still relevant. Among other things, he discusses the draw of radio in 2023, the importance of a good host, and shares some of his favourite experiences from the last 35 years.

TV & FILM:

Alanis Obomsawin, Jennifer Podemski, and Sphere Media are among those set to be honoured during the Banff World Media Festival (BANFF). Set for June 13, this year’s Rockies Gala will be hosted by actor, singer and comedian Craig Robinson (The Office, Ghosted). Obomsawin (Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, Rocks at Whiskey Trench) is receiving the Career Achievement Award, recognizing the extraordinary career of someone who has had a significant impact on the screen-based industries. Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato of Los Angeles-based prodco World of Wonder (RuPaul’s Drag Race, Andy Cohen’s Then & Now) will be presented with this year’s Impact Award, while Montreal-headquartered Sphere Media will be honoured with the Innovative Producer Award, which recognizes the entrepreneurial excellence and achievements of an independent producer in TV/digital media. Read more here.

The Banff World Media Festival, in partnership with the Director’s Guild of Canada (DGC) and Warner Bros. Discovery Access Canada, has announced Elza Kephart of Midnight Kingdom Films as the first recipient of the Jean-Marc Vallée Bursary offering a Québec-based director an opportunity to attend the festival to showcase their work, and gain industry profile. Announced during the 2022 Rockie Awards Gala, the annual bursary honors the legacy of Québec filmmaker, Jean-Marc Vallée (Big Little Lies, Dallas Buyers Club). In addition to providing recipients with a pass to BANFF and a $5,000 professional development award, the bursary also supports travel and professional development opportunities.

The Canadian Cinema Editors (CCE) have handed out their 13th annual awards. Among this year’s winners, Dev Singh won Best Editing in TV Drama for The Porter, while Sophie Leblond claimed the Feature Film award for Viking. The late David B. Thompson was posthumously honoured with the CCE Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) has committed $1M to the building of a film and television production studio in Iqaluit, Nunavut. ISO was first-in-funder for the studio initiative, led by Red Marrow Media, which triggered a private partnership investment from Inuk entrepreneur Cody Dean. ISO says the studio is part of a larger investment in Nunavut through its Sector Development program, which also includes support for Inuit TV and Uvagut TV. The capital contribution ensures Red Marrow’s as-yet untitled scripted series created and written by Inuit writers and producers Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril will be shot in Nunavut rather than in the south, maximizing the benefits of the project for the Inuit production community. The project is majority produced by Red Marrow, in partnership with Miranda de Pencier’s Northwood Entertainment and is the first ever CBC/APTN/Netflix collaboration.

Thunderbird Entertainment Group has formalized its consumer products operations under the new Thunderbird Brands banner. Led by Thunderbird President of Global Distribution and Consumer Products, Richard Goldsmith, Thunderbird Brands represents product, experience and service licensing rights for the production company’s original series from Atomic Cartoons (animation, kids and family), Great Pacific Media (unscripted) and Thunderbird Scripted (comedy, drama) labels and select third-party properties under the company’s management. Thunderbird Brands will make its industry debut at Licensing Expo in Las Vegas, June 13-15, where it will present Mermicorno: Starfall, Mittens & Pants, The Last Kids on Earth, and Highway Thru Hell to the consumer products market.

Youth Media Alliance (YMA) has announced the winners of the first edition of the YMA Steven DeNure Children’s Content Internship, launched to enable members to offer students or emerging producers an immersive paid work experience with a production company or broadcaster working in children’s content. The YMA will provide $4,500 for a 12-week internship, to be matched by the mentor company. A committee of youth media professionals has selected Toronto-based studio BP Solarpunk Media, mentoring Centennial College Film & Television – Business student Shanelle Simms, and Little Engine Moving Pictures, mentoring Humber College Film & TV Production student Tania Goncalves, as the recipients. 

Entertainment One (eOne) has entered into a multi-year first-look deal with Canadaland to adapt its original podcasts for scripted and non-scripted television, limited series and documentaries. All projects would be co-produced by eOne and Canadaland, with eOne serving as international distributor. The agreement builds on eOne’s previous collaboration with Canadaland and journalist Ryan McMahon on the Thunder Bay docuseries.

OUTtv has announced its first original UK commissions, with unscripted interactive comedy series Rosie Runs Riot (6×15’) and stand-up comedy series Live at the Queer Comedy Club (6×22’) joining the service. The series will both launch on OUTtv globally later this year, and simultaneously on its UK channel Froot.tv.

Eagle Vision and PSA Productions have begun production in Winnipeg on highly-anticipated action comedy DEANER ‘89 from writer/producer Paul Spence (Fubar), director Sam McGlynn (Method Studios, Electronic Arts) and producer Kyle Irving (Orphan: First Kill). The all-star cast includes Spence, Will Sasso (MADtv), Star Slade (Burden of Truth), Maddy Foley (The Boys), Mary Walsh (This Hour Has 22 Minutes) and Kevin McDonald (The Kids in the Hall). Spence has created a standalone feature inspired by his original character, Dean Murdoch, whose fictional life was previously documented in two films and a TV series. In DEANER ‘89, Murdoch blasts back to high school to star in “the greatest heavy metal origin story ever told.” 

The Marilyn Denis Show is heading into its final week of episodes after 13 seasons on CTV, with the farewell episode airing Friday, June 9 at 10 a.m. ET. Among next week’s special guests are Jann Arden, Denis’ former CHUM 104.5 co-host Roger Ashby, contractor and TV personality Sebastien Clovis, House & Home magazine founder Lynda Reeves, and designer Brian Gluckstein, in addition to numerous celebrity farewell messages.

The 2023 Canadian Championship Final will be broadcast live on OneSoccer on June 7 from Vancouver, where the Vancouver Whitecaps will take on CF Montréal to determine the winner of the Voyageurs Cup and a ticket to the 2024 Concacaf Champions League, the highest  tournament for clubs in the Concacaf (North and Central America and the Caribbean) region. The match will kick off at 7 p.m. PT on OneSoccer and will be topped and tailed by live studio coverage hosted by Andi Petrillo, alongside pundits Gareth Wheeler and Jordan Wilson. Adam Jenkins and Jimmy Brennan will provide commentary in English, while Matt Cullen will call the game in French and Oliver Platt will be onsite to add colour as pitch-side reporter.

InterINDigital has announced the Season 2 premiere dates of original documentary series, Crazy Like A Lynx, which will air on APTN in Ojibwe on June 5 and in English on June 9. The series takes viewers behind-the-scenes of some of Canada’s most successful and unique Indigenous organizations, businesses, programs, and people, following co-hosts Don Kelly and Dakota Ray Hebert as they travel across Canada meeting Indigenous entrepreneurs.

REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:

Corus Entertainment says its Global television stations across the country will be left “in a precarious and unduly disadvantaged position” as Rogers Communications moves to redirect $13 million in local expression funding to its Citytv stations. In a letter to the CRTC, Corus requests confirmation of its eligibility to participate in the Independent Local News Fund (ILNF), funded by licensed broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), which are required to contribute 0.3% of gross revenues from the previous broadcast year. Corus – which is effectively controlled by the Shaw Family Living Trust – says given Rogers recent acquisition of Shaw Communications, Rogers has confirmed it will redirect Shaw’s approximately $13 million annual local expression funding from 15 Corus-owned Global stations to six competing Rogers-owned Citytv stations. Corus says traditionally, over-the-air stations were able to deliver news as a public service based on internal cross-subsidies, but that’s no longer the case with the sharp decline in television revenues, noting a nine per cent dip in ad revenue, year-over-year, in the period from Sept. 1, 2022 to Feb. 28 of this year. Read more here.

Eastlink cable subscribers soon won’t be able to watch HGTV Canada, W Network, and Showcase, among 34 other channels on the service, as the telecom provider says it’s been unable to reach a carriage agreement with Corus Entertainment. Eastlink began sending notices to its cable subscribers last week alerting them to removal of the channels from their offerings, as of June 27. In addition to the aforementioned, Corus-distributed specialty channels like Food Network, History, Slice, National Geographic, CMT, OWN, Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, YTV, Cartoon Network, Treehouse, Movie Time, BC1, Global on Demand, DejaView, DTOUR, Magnolia Network, Crime Investigation, Lifetime, History 2, National Geographic Wild, ABC Spark, Cooking Channel, Adult Swim, Nickelodeon, Boomerang, Series Plus, Historia, Disney La Chaine, and Teletoon French, are also slated to disappear. Read more here.

The Federal Court has ruled in favour of Videotron in a dispute over the illegal retransmission of TVA and TVA Sports by Konek Technologies Inc., Coopérative de câblodistribution Hill Valley and Libéo inc. In a decision handed down May 26, the court ordered the three companies, as well as Jean-François Rousseau, a shareholder in two of the ventures, to pay $553,000 in joint and several damages for copyright infringement. The court also issued a permanent injunction requiring the defendants to immediately cease carrying TVA Sports. The defendants were behind a technology that provided hotel guests with a variety of telecommunications services, including unauthorized access to the TVA and TVA Sports channels. A defamation suit brought by Videotron against the same companies is still before Superior Court.

ACTRA’s Hair and Makeup grievance against the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) and the Association Québécoise de la Production Médiatique (AQPM) has been settled. Intended to bring about systemic change in the industry, one of the key terms of the settlement is five full days of pre-bargaining on hair and make-up issues prior to the renewal of the Independent Production Agreement (IPA). The settlement also includes: creation of a recommended standard of products and equipment necessary for the provision of hair and makeup services to BIPOC performers; creation of a tool to help producers ascertain the skills and competencies required to work with BIPOC cast; commitment to work with industry partners to support the development of existing training initiatives to address equity in the provision of hair and makeup services; and addressing allegations of discrimination and harassment expeditiously.

CBC/Radio-Canada has launched its 2023–25 National Accessibility Plan, a three-year framework outlining how the public broadcaster plans to better serve and represent Canadians with disabilities. At the completion of the 2021-22 fiscal year, 4.0% of CBC/Radio-Canada’s workforce self-identified as having a disability, compared to a labour force availability of 8.2%. Among other recommendations, the public broadcaster says it heard from a series of cross-country consultations that it needs to be more intentional in its outreach to people with disabilities as part of hiring efforts and that employees with disabilities perceive fewer opportunities for advancement and professional development compared to their non-disabled colleagues.

RTDNA in the U.S. has announced this year’s Regional Edward R. Murrow winners. CityNews Vancouver was a big winner, coming away with four awards, including Best Breaking News Coverage and Best Continuing Coverage for its work on a deadly Christmas Eve bus crash on the Okanagan Connector. CityNews 680 (CFTR-AM) Toronto claimed the award for Overall Excellence, in addition to Best Newscast. Find the full list of Region 14 winners here.

RTDNA Canada holds its next webinar on Monday, June 5 at 2 p.m. ET, hosted by Laura Lynch, host of weekly CBC Radio show What on Earth. In Making it Matter: How to cover the climate crisis, Lynch will draw on her climate reporting experience. Register FREE here.

The Trust Project, a global non-profit network of news organizations working to affirm journalism’s commitment to transparency, accuracy, and inclusion, was honoured with the Digital Media Americas Award for Best Credibility Initiative for Local Journalism in the Americas during the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) Latin American conference in Mexico earlier this month. The Trust Project’s Trust Indicators were featured in the award, along with case studies, including Canada’s Francopresse.ca, which reported that since they earned the Trust Mark, they have seen significant interest from advertisers and funders and a higher open rate for their newsletter.

BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) will host a live interoperability demonstration of Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX) — a set of open standard-based protocols designed to ensure interoperability for AV-over-IP systems in the media, entertainment, and Pro AV industries — at InfoComm 2023, June 14-16, in Orlando, Florida. AIMS will also be highlighting and discussing the recently released, initial drafts of the Video Services Forum’s (VSF) TR-10 suite of Technical Recommendations for IPMX. IPMX implements a standards-based approach based on SMPTE ST 2110 with capabilities that target the Pro AV industry, including AMWA NMOS IS-04 and IS-05 for discovery, registration, and connection management, as well as specifications for copy protection and security.

Anton/Bauer has announced the launch of Salt-E Dog, a sodium-based 9kWh mobile power source designed specifically for motion picture and television production. The industry-first power source delivers consistent and reliable energy and addresses the issue of carbon emissions associated with traditional fossil fuel or lithium generators. Utilizing sodium-based power, the Salt-E Dog produces no harmful CO2 or NOx emissions, resulting in cleaner air and a safer production experience, in addition to near-silent operation, eliminating lengthy and hazardous cables and reducing time-consuming ADR work.