REVOLVING DOOR:
Ian “The General” MacArthur is leaving 98.1 CHFI Toronto after 34 years. MacArthur has been a Senior Producer and On-Air Contributor with the station since his start as an intern in 1987. His last day with the Darren & Mo morning show will be Aug. 6.
Jeremy White is being heard on the airwaves of Energy 95.3 (CING-FM) Toronto, as of July 19. For the last six and a half years, White has been heard on Cogeco’s The Beat 92.5 (CKBE-FM) as host of the weeknight The Jeremy White Show, The Friday Party Jam, and The Montreal Hit 40. White will take over swing on Energy 95.3, weekdays from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET. An independent contractor, he’ll do double-duty on both stations. Hailing from Kahnawake Mohawk Territory on Montreal’s South Shore, White started his broadcast career at age 15 at Kahnawake community station K103.7 (CKRK-FM). Read more here.
Joy Tamke becomes the second Sales Manager in the 15-year history of Harvard Broadcasting in Calgary. Tamke will be responsible for X92.9 (CFEX-FM) radio/interactive sales, along with all digital sales for Harvard Media in Calgary. Tamke has been in the Calgary media industry for 25 years, much of that with Rogers as National Account Director and then Retail Sales Manager. Most recently, she was the Assistant Regional Director at Golden West.
Carl Garnich has announced his transition from broadcasting to public relations, with a new gig as a PR Specialist at Business Instincts Group. Garnich had been a multimedia journalist with Toronto’s 680 News (CFTR-AM) for the last four years and prior to that was with London’s AM 980 (CFPL-AM).
Kierstyn Paré will be joining Harvard Broadcasting’s Play 92 (CHMX-FM) Regina as Midday Host and Music Assistant. She was most recently the Afternoon Drive Announcer and Music Director at Harvard’s Mix 103.7 (CFVR-FM) Fort McMurray. Her first day in Regina will be Aug. 9.
Henna Saeed has joined CityNews Calgary as a videojournalist. Saeed has production and multimedia journalism experience abroad, including working for BBC News and Channel News Asia (CNA) Singapore, based in Lahore, Pakistan.
Anthony Busse is joining Toronto’s Firstlight Media as Head of Sales, Americas. Busse will spearhead direct-to-consumer success for Tier 1 content providers and distributors and work with the company’s global sales team. Busse joins Firstlight Media after more than a decade with the Verizon organization. He most recently had served as Director of Sales, Media and Entertainment Strategic Accounts, North America, leading a team focused on the company’s highest-value customers and prospects.
RADIO & PODCAST:
Acadia Broadcasting introduced a new Modern Rock station to Halifax on Monday morning. CKHY-FM is now Surge 105, launching with the Black Keys tune “Gold On The Ceiling” at 8 a.m. AT. Surge 105 “Where Halifax Rocks” will feature artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Arkells, Foo Fighters, Sloan, and City and Colour. Acadia says the blend of new music and ’90s-based rock is aimed at drawing in listeners in the coveted 25-45 demo. For now, the station is airing music only with Station Manager Scott Pettigrew indicating they’ll announce a new on-air team “in the near future.” Acadia Broadcasting took over operation of CKHY-FM and CKHZ-FM (Hot Country 103.5) from HFX Broadcasting (a subsidiary of Evanov Communications) this spring. Carrying Evanov’s Jewel 105 branding since Jan. 2019 and playing Soft AC, the station briefly operated as Active Rock station Rock 105 in an attempt to go head-to-head with local ratings powerhouse Q104 (CFRQ-FM). Prior to that, it broadcast as the alt-leaning Live 105, which attracted a loyal base of listeners, but was not a ratings performer, finishing its final ratings period with a 3.3 share (12+). With the rebrand, former Jewel 105 morning show host Barry Rogers makes his exit, in addition to production manager/announcer Lee Rodgers. Read more here.
Evanov Communications has introduced the Lite format on CJGB-FM Meaford. Formerly branded as Jewel 99.3, the new Lite 99.3 is the latest station to move away from the Jewel easy listening format, in favour of playing more current hits. Evanov rebranded four of its Jewel stations in Ontario and Quebec in May and flipped its Jewel station in Brantford to Lite 92 in June. Evanov Director of Operations Gary Gamble says the addition of the Lite format to the South Georgian Bay area “is a natural progression in how many of our stations are getting refreshed and being fashioned to be more relevant to the communities they serve. Like the recent launch in other markets, Lite 99.3 will not only retain its current audience base but find new listeners who are looking for a local station to engage with.”
Corus Entertainment plans to bring featured podcasts to radio with a new weekly, national show, debuting Saturday, July 24. Hosted by Chris “Dunner” Duncombe, Corus’ Director of Podcasting and Streaming, The Curiouscast Podcast Hour will feature a different podcast episode each week. The show will be heard weekends in varying evening and afternoon time slots on 980 CKNW Vancouver, 770 CHQR Calgary, 630 CHED Edmonton, 680 CJOB Winnipeg, 900 CHML Hamilton, 980 CFPL London and Global News Radio 640 (CFMJ-AM) Toronto. Read more here.
WordPress parent company, Automattic, has acquired podcast app Pocket Casts. Automattic says it will be exploring “building deep integrations” with WordPress and Pocket Casts. Co-founders Russell Ivanovic and Philip Simpson will continue to lead Pocket Casts as part of Automattic. The company, which operates 34% of the world’s websites, also recently purchased Tumblr.
Substack is funding the launch of new podcast network Booksmart Studios, according to a report by Axios. The newsletter company’s first major investment in podcasting, the network is being overseen by Michael Vuolo, the former producer of WNYC’s On The Media, and NPR contributor Matthew Schwartz. Like its newsletter, Substack will take a 10% cut of podcast revenues with subscriber options offering extra content and other member perks. Among the network’s inaugural shows are “Banished” with Carleton College history professor Amna Khalid, “Lexicon Valley” with Columbia University prof John McWhorter and “Bully Pulpit” with former WNYC commentator Bob Garfield.
LISTEN: Lena Shulman of JACK 96.9 FM (CFAX-FM) Vancouver joins the latest Sound Off Podcast. Schulman’s broadcast career started on campus at the University of Toronto where she was studying history. From there, she joined Corus Radio Toronto as a producer, making her way across Canada to Lloydminster, Saskatoon, Niagara and now JACK FM where she co-hosts the morning show with Drex and Bob Addison, aka No Fun Bobby. Listen on your favourite podcast app or here:
LISTEN: By day, Randy Jacobs is a veteran producer and voiceover talent at Corus Radio in Vancouver. In Jacob’s off hours, his alter ego RC Weslowski is an award-winning slam poetry champion, spoken word artist and community arts organizer. We welcome him to Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast to talk about his love for all things spoken word and audio, and his newly-released book of poetry “My Soft Response to the Wars.” Listen on your favourite podcast app or here:
100.9 Canoe FM (CKHA-FM) Haliburton County held its 13th annual Radiothon July 2-4. The summer Radiothon is the community station’s single largest fundraiser, supporting operational expenses. This year’s event raised over $54,000.
SIGN OFFS:
David Blair, 56, unexpectedly on July 12. Originally from Winnipeg, Blair lived and worked in Toronto and then London, England before settling in Montreal where he began a career with the public broadcaster in 1995, working for Radio Canada International. He went on to report on business for CBC Radio, providing business updates to morning programs across the country in addition to appearing as a regular contributor on Quebec AM and Daybreak in Quebec City and Montreal. Blair was also the co-founder of the Montreal chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association in the late 1990s.
Wilf Ray, 94, on July 11. Ray started his radio career as a disc jockey at CKMO 1410 Vancouver in 1944 where he hosted in various dayparts, including popular evening show, The DX Prowl, where he interviewed big band leaders and performers of the day, including Mel Torme and Stan Kenton. A natural born promoter, Ray’s wedding to station music librarian Marion McDonald, was planned as a promotional event to take place at the Pacific National Exhibition, but stirring up controversy with local clergy, the couple were married on the lawn of their home and escorted to the event by a 60-car police escort out to the P.N.E. The bride wore $1M dollars worth of loaned crown jewels, and Ray gave his wedding speech in front of a crowd of 10,000. Ray went on to found his own real estate company, returning to radio around 1965 with a Sunday night gospel program that ran on CJOR, and later CJJR-FM and CKBD. From the late 1960s through 1980, Ray served as Director of Corporate Communications for the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group before suffering a stress-induced heart attack. He served one term as an alderman in Maple Ridge, starting in 1981, before re-entering real estate, joined by his daughters Robin and Leeann.
TV & FILM:
CBC will mark the official start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Friday with extensive coverage of the Opening Ceremony beginning at 7 a.m. ET (4 a.m. PT). Co-hosted by Scott Russell and Adrienne Arsenault, live coverage will be carried on CBC, CBC News Network, TSN and Sportsnet, as well as CBC Gem, the dedicated Tokyo 2020 website and the CBC Olympics app. Coverage of the opening ceremony will be offered in eight Indigenous languages including Eastern Cree, Dehcho Dene, Dënësųłinë́ Yałtı, Gwichʼin, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, Sahtu Dene and Tłı̨chǫ.
This group of CBC hosts are bringing the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 to their communities in Indigenous languages.
CBC will be providing live online coverage of Friday’s opening ceremony in eight Indigenous languages. https://t.co/sZq1Bt6zXC pic.twitter.com/YZLqIj28A8
— CBC Indigenous (@CBCIndigenous) July 19, 2021
CBC, along with broadcast partners TSN and Sportsnet, will offer more than 1,275 hours of broadcast coverage, with an additional 2,500 hours of live sport across its online channels. CBC Radio One will feature the five-minute LIVE at :25 Olympic Report, every hour during regional morning, noon and afternoon drive shows, providing updates on Canadian athletes and teams. World Report, World This Hour and World at Six will also feature live reports and stories. Telelatino (TLN) will once again offer Men’s and Women’s football coverage and daily recaps. Select English and French highlights will also be available to Canadian publishing partners through STN Video.
CBC News will carry full coverage of the installation of Canada’s 30th Governor General Mary Simon on Monday, July 26, which will be simultaneously interpreted in Inuktitut on CBC Gem, CBCNews.ca and CBC North’s Facebook page. The CBC News special will be live and commercial-free on all CBC platforms and hosted by chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton. The first-ever CBC News simulcast in English and Inuktitut, will take audiences inside the VIP arrivals and ceremony in Ottawa, and into Simon’s hometown of Kuujjuaq, Que., for the community’s reaction to the historic appointment. An audio special will be hosted by Nil Köksal and Juanita Taylor on CBC Radio One and CBC Listen. The swearing-in ceremony will also be covered in eight Indigenous languages across multiple CBC radio stations.
TVA Group, with support from the Government of Quebec and the City of Montreal, has announced the expansion of MELS studios, with the construction of MELS 4. Set for completion in spring 2023, TVA says the project will allow MELS to attract more major film shoots. The $53M infrastructure project, accompanied by an additional $23M in equipment investments over a 10-year period, will cover a total of 160,000 sq. ft. – 60,000 of which will be dedicated to the new film studio which will be dividable into two smaller studios. The rest of the space will feature staging areas, workshops, production and auxiliary function offices. The Government of Quebec, through Investissement Québec, will provide MELS with $25M to support construction. Upon completion of MELS 4, MELS will feature 21 studios totalling over 500,000 sq. ft. of production space, including over 270,000 sq. ft. for studios.
Pixomondo (PXO) and William F. White International have announced their second virtual production LED volume in Toronto slated to open Aug. 3. Known as Stage 6, the 16,100 sq. ft. stage features a large semi-circle LED volume that measures 62 ft. across and is equipped with a ceiling consisting of four dynamic modular sections, each with the ability to move and angle itself independently or as a single unit, giving Directors of Photography more flexibility when it comes to lighting. Stage 6 is designed for shorter duration shoots that only require space for a limited amount of time compared to the multi-month bookings associated with large scale, visual effects heavy TV and film projects. Stage 6 is based at Studio City’s recently completed development in the Port Lands district.
The 48th annual Daytime Emmys were handed out over the weekend. Among the Canadian-produced winners were animated Netflix series Hilda, co-produced by Ottawa’s Mercury Filmworks, which picked up awards for Outstanding Children’s Animated Series and Outstanding Editing in a Daytime Animated Series during the Children’s & Animation ceremony. Late Jeopardy! Host Alex Trebek was posthumously awarded Outstanding Game Show Host.
Telefilm Canada has released the results of its gender-parity initiatives for projects funded during the 2020-21 fiscal year. The statistics show that parity (50%) was achieved for all three key roles (director, screenwriter and producer) in terms of number of films financed, and that the parity zone (40%+) was reached for the percentage of funding of all three key roles. In addition, 70% of the projects supported have at least one woman in a key role, comparable to the average over the last three years. Projects having at least two women in a key role rose to 54%, exceeding last year’s result of 47%. Find complete figures and analysis here.
The Directors Guild of Canada has launched a new DGC Census that will allow DGC members to voluntarily self-identify according to demographic characteristics including region, age, cultural community, gender and gender identity, disability status and sexual orientation as well as factors like family and marital status. Partnering with research firm Nordicity, the guild says the data will help guide the DGC’s efforts towards greater inclusion and more effective programs.
CBC/Radio-Canada and the BBC, in partnership with Super Channel, have commissioned five-part Arctic nautical adventure The North Water, a UK/Canada treaty co-production from Rhombus Media and the UK’s See-Saw Films. Based on the critically acclaimed novel by Ian McGuire, the drama is adapted and directed by Andrew Haigh (45 Years, Looking) and stars Jack O’Connell (Unbroken, Godless), Colin Farrell (In Bruges, True Detective), and Stephen Graham (Line of Duty, Boardwalk Empire), together with an ensemble cast that includes Inuit actor Natar Ungalaaq (Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner). The North Water will make its Canadian debut on Super Channel Fuse on Sept. 19 with each episode available on Super Channel On Demand the day following its weekly linear broadcast, followed by wide release on CBC TV, CBC Gem, ICI TÉLÉ and ICI TOU.TV in fall 2022. The series will premiere in the UK on BBC Two this fall and stream on AMC+ in the U.S. this summer.
Alfre Woodard has signed on to join the first season cast of BET+ and CBC series The Porter (8×60), from Inferno Pictures and Sienna Films (a Sphere Media company). Currently shooting in Winnipeg, Woodard joins Aml Ameen (I May Destroy You, Yardie), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Star Trek: Discovery, Pretty Hard Cases), Mouna Traoré (Self Made, The Umbrella Academy), Oluniké Adeliyi (Titans, American Gods) and Loren Lott (American Idol, Tag).
LoCo Motion Pictures has begun production on the third season of CBC Gem original scripted tween series Detention Adventure in Toronto. In the new season, Carolyn Taylor (Baroness Von Sketch Show) will guest star in five episodes and up-and-coming singer, dancer and actor Danté Prince has been tapped to co-star as “Dash” alongside returning series regulars Simone Miller Castoro-Qualizza, Tomaso Sanelli, Alina Prijono, Jack Fulton, Lilly Bartlam, Andrew Moodie, Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll and Stacey McGunnigle. Benjamin Ayres will also return as a guest star as “Bruno Black.” Blue Ant International has secured the worldwide distribution rights to the third season of the series (outside of Canada).
Bell Media has confirmed the sale of Discovery original docuseries Mud Mountain Haulers to non-fiction channel DMAX in Germany. Already renewed for a second season, Season 1 aired in the U.S. on The Weather Channel earlier this year. The network has also committed to partner on the newly-renewed second season. From the producers of Highway Thru Hell and Heavy Rescue: 401, Mud Mountain Haulers follows Craig LeBeau and his three-generation LeBeau Bros. family logging business through the steepest, muddiest conditions in North America. The debut season is the #3 Canadian program on Discovery for Adults 25-54, this broadcast year.
Hollywood Suite will broadcast the six-part CNN Original docuseries The Movies this August. Making its debut with “The Seventies” on Aug. 10, with new episodes following Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET through Sept. 14, all episodes of The Movies will be available on Hollywood Suite On Demand beginning Aug. 1. From Emmy Award-winning executive producers Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman in association with HBO and producer Mark Herzog, The Movies explores American cinema through the decades and the cultural, societal and political shifts that framed its evolution. The series combines archival footage and interviews with leading actors, directors, producers and historians like Paul Thomas Anderson, Tim Burton, Cameron Crowe, Billy Crystal, Robert De Niro, Jon Favreau, Amy Heckerling, Ron Howard, Holly Hunter, Anjelica Huston, Baz Luhrmann, Julianne Moore, Ed Norton, Rob Reiner, Molly Ringwald, Ridley Scott, John Singleton, and Robert Zemeckis, among others.
T+E will premiere new original series Encounter: UFO on Aug. 10. The eight-part docuseries weaves together first-hand accounts of UFO encounters and abductions, video evidence and paranormal reenactments. A national survey, commissioned by the paranormal television broadcaster and conducted by market research firm Ipsos, reveals one in 10 Canadians claim to have seen an unidentified flying object. According to the survey results, close encounters of the alien kind are most likely to happen in the Prairies: 16% of Saskatchewan and Manitoba residents claim to have seen a UFO, compared to 10% of Quebecers, 9% of Ontarians, 8% of Albertans, 7% of British Columbians, and just 5% of Atlantic Canadians. Canadian science writer, ufologist and expert contributor in the new series, Chris Rutkowski, says the survey results are in line with his own research, with more reports during the pandemic.
TSN and RDS have announced a multi-year media rights agreement that continues to make the Bell Media sports networks Canada’s exclusive English and French-language homes of Wimbledon. The rights extension sees extensive, multi-court coverage of the tournament on TSN and RDS, highlighted by simultaneous matches, post-match reports, analysis, news and highlights, as well as additional bonus court coverage available to stream.
The Canadian Hockey League has announced new multi-platform, multi-year broadcast rights partnerships that will make TSN, RDS, and CBC the home of the CHL. Beginning with the 2021-22 season, the new partnerships include approximately 30 regular-season games each year delivered by TSN, in addition to select playoff coverage and CHL national events. The agreement includes approximately 20 French-language broadcasted games on RDS, early-season weekend games broadcasted by CBC Sports, as well as digital streaming rights featuring a CHL TV broadcast each week during the regular season on TSN, RDS, and the CBC Gem streaming service. Sportsnet previously held CHL broadcast rights from the network’s inception in 1998.
ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:
Twitter and the Government of Canada are named in a lawsuit, filed in Ontario Superior Court by the documentary team behind The New Corporation in a case aimed at establishing the responsibilities of tech platforms. The case follows Twitter’s rejection of “boosted” posts featuring a trailer for the follow-up to 2008’s The Corporation. The sequel explores, in part, how big tech threatens democracy with the posts featuring clips and commentary from U.S. congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, among others. Joel Bakan, the film’s writer, co-director and executive producer (who is also a law professor at University of British Columbia) says Twitter claimed the posts were too “political,” “sensitive,” and “inappropriate” to be promoted on its platform. The suit argues that because of the social platform’s central role in Canadian democratic discourse, Twitter should be legally prohibited from restricting political and social speech that causes no harm. Read more here.
YouTube has expanded Shorts, its own short-form video experience, to over 100 countries. First launched in India in Sept. 2020 to capitalize on the country’s ban on TikTok, YouTube claims that Shorts has since surpassed 6.5 billion daily views globally.
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
CRTC data shows commercial radio and private conventional television were hit hardest by the pandemic impact on advertising as Canadian broadcast revenues declined overall by 6.6% in 2020. Statistical and financial data from annual returns provided by commercial broadcasters and the CBC for the broadcast year ended Aug. 31, 2020, reveal that commercial radio revenues plummeted 20.9% and private conventional television 14.3%. Operating margins for AM/FM radio were halved, falling from 20.3% in 2019 to 9.9%. AM/FM local time sales were down 25.35% in the English market and 21.42% in French markets, compared to 2019 (24.76% overall). Among those hardest hit were Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, Red Deer, Halifax and Kelowna where local time sales were down more than 30%. Overall, conventional television fared better than radio with local time sales down 16.81% to $240,833,225. Operating margins were down 16.4%. TV stations on the Prairies experienced the sharpest decline (-20.2%), while stations in the Atlantic region fared the best with declines of just -6.4%. Read more here.
The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) and a coalition of media outlets seeking unimpeded access to ongoing old growth logging protests at Fairy Creek, near Port Renfrew, BC, have won their court challenge opposing the RCMP’s use of media exclusion zones. The B.C. Superior Court decision grants the group’s application to modify an injunction order granted to logging company Teal Jones in April and directs RCMP not to interfere with media access absent a bona fide operational reason for doing so. In the decision, Justice Thompson agreed with the coalition’s stance that use of geographically extensive exclusion zones, and associated access checkpoints, haven’t been reasonably justified. In addition to the CAJ and Ricochet Media, the coalition leading the court challenge included Capital Daily in Victoria, The Narwhal, Canada’s National Observer, APTN News, The Discourse, Indiginews and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). Read more here.
The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) is calling for a halt to the detainment of journalists covering the removal of Toronto homeless encampments after Canadian Press photojournalist Chris Young was handcuffed and issued a trespass notice Tuesday morning. Young was in Alexandra Park to cover a City of Toronto eviction of about 30 people who were living in the park as well as multiple arrests. On June 22, Toronto Police handcuffed and detained photojournalist Ian Willms and confiscated his camera equipment as he was attempting to cover encampment evictions at Trinity Bellwoods Park.
The World Broadcasting Unions (WBU), the coordinating body for broadcasting unions around the globe, is calling for concerted efforts to combat threats and violence against journalists and other media professionals, saying journalist safety has deteriorated over recent years and the COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated the situation in many countries. WBU says broadcast journalists and production crews are confronted with increasing hostility and violence when simply doing their jobs with women journalists particularly targeted. It’s calling on authorities to put into practice international principles and measures to protect journalists like the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Protection of Journalism and the Safety of Journalists, and the African version of the platform launched this year by UNESCO.
Virgin Mobile Canada has officially rebranded to Virgin Plus, a new name and identity that the company says reflects its evolving service offerings beyond mobility. That includes internet and app-based TV services for members in Ontario and Quebec.
Rogers Q2 financial reporting shows Media revenue growth of 84% in the quarter, reflecting recovery of television advertising associated with the return of live professional sports programming and higher advertising and Toronto Blue Jays revenue. Media adjusted EBITDA decreased by 114% or $40 million, primarily due to higher sports programming and production costs and Blue Jays player payroll, with significant limitations on game day revenues. Total revenue increased by 14% in the quarter. Wireless service revenue increased by 2%, mainly as a result of a larger postpaid subscriber base, and higher roaming revenue as global travel restrictions eased, offset by lower overage revenue, primarily as a result of the continued adoption of our Rogers Infinite unlimited data plans. Cable revenue increased by 5% in the quarter as a result of promotional activity, service pricing changes in late 2020, and increases in the Internet and Ignite TV subscriber bases.
Cogeco Communications has announced financial results for the third quarter ended May 31. Revenue increased by 3.7% to reach $649.3 million. On a constant currency basis, revenue increased by 9.3%, mainly due to an increase in Canadian broadband services revenue by 10.2% as a result of the DERYtelecom acquisition completed in Dec. 2020, sustained demand for residential high-speed Internet since the beginning of the pandemic and rate increases for certain services. American broadband services revenue increased by 7.2%. Revenue in media activities increased by 23.6% following the easing of public health restrictions, while last year’s third quarter radio advertising revenue was directly impacted by COVID-19 related lockdown measures.
BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:
ADVERTORIAL: In this case study for Imagine Communications, Oliver Eichel, Director of Broadcast Technology and IT, for Knowledge Network, discusses the B.C. public broadcaster’s transition to the Versio modular playout platform and ADC automation control layer. “We were able to take advantage of the streamlined Versio integrated playout architecture, which has allowed us to continue to use our established complex workflows with fewer manual interventions, as well as take advantage of new tools and applications,” writes Eichel. Read more here.
