REVOLVING DOOR:
Corus Entertainment has released its on-air talent at its Kingston radio stations as it continues an ongoing workforce reduction. An unknown number of cuts were also made at Global News Kingston. “On the audio side, BIG 96.3 and Fresh 104.3 will remain in Kingston, and the stations will utilize voice tracking to continue to produce local content made for and reflecting Kingston,” Corus said in a statement. “In the news division, we have reimagined our broadcast schedule in Kingston, Peterborough, and Kelowna with a focus on supper hour and late-night news programming. Additionally, our local online team will now operate under a new model to better support local breaking news.” Read more here. Among the recent casualties are Fresh 104.3 morning show duo Monica & Jesse; afternoon drive host Care Humphries; BIG FM morning show host Sideshow; midday host Bill Welychka, who joined the station earlier this year after his release from Global Kingston; drive host and music director Derek Bolduc; Global Kingston anchor Bill Hutchins, who had been with the station for 34 years; Laura Baziuk, Managing Editor, Digital and Radio, at Global BC; Toronto-based digital broadcast journalist Ryan Rocca; Paula Tran, an online journalist at Global Calgary; and Aaron Sousa, an online journalist at Global Edmonton.
Kevin O’Connell has announced his retirement from Global Edmonton. A weather specialist with the station for the last 36 years, most recently seen on Global News Morning and weekends, O’Connell will deliver his last weather forecasts on Sunday, July 28. His 40+ year career started in Red Deer, before he joined Global Edmonton predecessor ITV as the co-host of ITV First News in 1988. O’Connell has also been featured as a weather personality on Corus Radio’s 630 CHED.
Breanna Karstens-Smith has announced her departure from Global Edmonton and journalism as she exits the industry after 14 years. Karstens-Smith started her career with CHAT-TV Medicine Hat, with subsequent reporting stops at CTV Edmonton and Vancouver, before joining Global in 2019.
Dawn Kelly is retiring from The Canadian Press (CP) after 26 years as an anchor, editor and reporter. Kelly joined CP in 1998 from CJBK London, where she was the morning newscaster and a producer/fill-in host. She also held on-air roles at CKSY Chatham, Q-92/CIGM Sudbury and CKPR Thunder Bay. Her last day with CP is July 31.
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Ashley Greco is leaving her midday show on CHUM 104.5 Toronto after 12 years. Greco hasn’t revealed her next move, but will be staying within the iHeartRadio family. She’ll also continue to be heard on Back In The Day Brunch on Sundays.
Bryce Kelley has announced his departure from SONiC 102.9 (CHDI-FM) Edmonton after 16 years. Kelley, whose final morning show alongside Garner Andrews is this Friday, will be moving to Calgary for a new opportunity.
Jamie Paterson and JC Douglas are both returning to Stingray’s Q104 (CFRQ-FM) Halifax, after absences of 11 and 21 years, respectively. Douglas departs MBS’ 89.9 The Wave (CHNS-FM) where he’d been voicetracking afternoons, and where Paterson was morning show host up until leaving the station last year. Douglas, Q104’s former longtime program director, moves to host network evening show The Rock of the Atlantic, while Paterson – a former member of the “Q Morning Crew” – will be heard weekends. Current evening host Dominik Diamond takes on mornings at The Wave. Read more here.
Avery LeBlanc has joined Golden West Broadcasting’s Country 100 (CILG-FM) Moose Jaw in afternoon drive. A graduate of Western Academy Broadcasting College, Avery had most recently been hosting mornings at Harvard Media’s former Fox FM (CFGW-FM) Yorkton, which adopted the CRUZ FM branding in May.
Patrick Smith is the new Director of Regulatory Affairs at the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA). Smith most recently ran his own law practice, but prior to that was a Senior Legislative Policy Analyst at the Department of Canadian Heritage, where he helped develop and implement amendments to the Broadcasting Act, providing legal and policy research and analysis in support of Bills C-10 and C-11.
RADIO & PODCAST:
The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) has unveiled nominees for the 2024 CCMA Awards. Up for Country Personality(ies) of the Year are: Wendy Boomer (CKBY-FM); Dan Davidson & Stella Stevens (CFCW); Shannon Ella (Pure Country); Jackie Rae Greening (CFCW); and Gregg Reynolds & Josie Balka (CKRY-FM). Nominated for Radio Station of the Year (Large Market) are: CFCW (Edmonton); CHKX-FM (Hamilton); CJJR-FM (Vancouver); CJKX-FM (Oshawa); and CKKL-FM (Ottawa). Radio Station of the Year (Medium or Small Market) nominees include CFWC-FM (Brantford); CHCQ-FM (Belleville); CJGX-FM (Yorkton); CKGY-FM (Red Deer); CKXC-FM (Kingston). Returning to Edmonton for the first time in 10 years, the awards will be broadcast live from Rogers Place on CTV on Saturday, Sept. 14. Read more here.
Blackburn Media has applied for a broadcast licence to operate an English-language commercial FM radio station in Chatham to replace its English-language commercial AM radio station CFCO. The station would operate at 91.3 MHz (channel 217A) with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 1,250 watts, proposing to broadcast a minimum of 96 hours of local programming per broadcast week, of which three hours would be devoted to news. It would broadcast a mix of news, talk and country music targeting the 35-64 demo. Should the commission approve the application, the proposed station would become Blackburn’s third FM in the Chatham market.
The CRTC will hear an application for an English-language developmental community FM station in Cochrane, ON. Submitted by Joel Lagacé, on behalf of a non-profit corporation to be incorporated, the proposed station would operate at 104.7 MHz (channel 284) with an average and maximum effective radiated power (ERP) of five watts. The applicant proposes to broadcast 126 hours of local programming per broadcast week, of which 10 hours would be allocated to local news, three hours and 45 minutes to regional news and one hour and 45 minutes to international news.
Bay of Islands Radio in Corner Brook, NL has applied for a broadcast licence to operate an English-language community FM radio station to replace its English-language low-power FM radio station CKVB-FM with a full-power FM radio station. The station would operate at 100.1 MHz (channel 261A) with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 2,760 watts. The station format would remain the same, targeting its current audience. The applicant proposes to broadcast 126 hours of programming per broadcast week, of which 118 hours would be devoted to local programming, including five hours of local and regional news, 30 minutes of national news, and 30 minutes of international news.
MBC (My Broadcasting Corporation) has rebranded WLYK Kingston, ON/Cape Vincent, NY retaining a Gold-based Adult Contemporary format, the station’s third incarnation since an ownership change last year. 102.7 WOW FM launched Wednesday, featuring hits from the ’80s and more, like Mr. Mister, Bangles, Yes, Huey Lewis & The News, and Billy Idol, in addition to hitmakers from the ’90s like NSYNC. The station was last rebranded in March 2023 as “Kingston’s Feel-Good Station” 102.7 Lake FM, less than three weeks after launching as stunt format 102.7 The Pole, with a playlist inspired by strip club DJs. Read more here.
MBC (My Broadcasting Corporation) has named Peterborough its Market of the Year, where it operates Oldies 96.7 (CJWV-FM) and FREQ 90.5 (CJMB-FM). The honour is based on revenue success, teamwork, hyper-local news/sports contributions, listener metrics and community involvement.
Classic Rock 91.7 Giant FM (CIXL-FM) Welland, ON midday host Chris Lukas is MBC’s Announcer of the Year. Nominated alongside announcers from over 20 markets across Ontario, the 40-year radio veteran joined Giant FM at the end of 2022, after previously being heard on sister station, New Country 89.1 (CKYY-FM) since 2021.
The Pro Bono Group has released fresh creative for The Pro Radio Project, titled “University Girl.” Another fresh-up, titled “Hockey Family,” will be forthcoming in September as the campaign looks to stay relevant with the selling seasons. The new PSA is being distributed nationally by Radio Connects and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB). The Pro Bono Group has also released a new PSA for Feed Ontario, titled “Play.” The spot is voiced by recent Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Marc Jordan. Check out Pro Bono Group’s current projects here.
LISTEN: Alan Cross is on the Sound Off Podcast talking about some of the latest trends in music, why concert tickets are priced the way they are and why some tours are being cancelled before they get started. Cross and Matt Cundill also discuss two Canadian- based music documentaries that radio junkies might be interested in, including Hate To Love: Nickleback and the forthcoming CFNY: The Spirit of Radio.
SIGN OFFS:
Leo Brown (aka Gregg Lee), 68, suddenly on July 16 while on vacation in Halifax. Under his given name, Brown began his radio career at the age of 19 at CJCB Sydney, NS. He had transitioned to the on-air sign on of Gregg Lee by the time he moved on to stints at CHNS and CJCH in Halifax. In 1982, he began a 20-year career at 1050 CHUM and CHUM-FM in Toronto, where he honed his skills as a commercial and documentary voiceover performer, including serving as the narrator of “The CHUM History of Rock” film, and a regular booth announcer for CityTV. Upon leaving CHUM in 2002, he was retained as a production voice for The Team sports network, followed by many years as a national commercial voiceover performer for Rogers, and radio and TV stations in Italy and South Africa. An ACTRA member for four decades, he most recently had been working as an English voiceover talent for advertising agencies and production houses in Quebec, and as a performer on features for AMI (Accessible Media Inc.). He donated his talents to many charitable causes, including Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and The Variety Club of Ontario.
TV & FILM:
Ryan Gosling and Martin Short are among the Canadians nominated for the 76th Emmy Awards, set to be handed out Sept. 15. Gosling is a first-time nominee for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his turn hosting Saturday Night Live, while Short receives his third nod for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Only Murders in the Building. He’ll be up against D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, who receives a first-time nomination for his role on FX series Rez Dogs. Find the full list of nominees here.
CBC will mark the official start of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on Friday, July 26 with live coverage of the Opening Ceremony beginning at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) on CBC, CBC Gem, CBC News Network, TSN, Sportsnet, cbc.ca/paris2024, and the CBC Paris 2024 app. The pre-ceremony show, hosted by Scott Russell and Adrienne Arsenault, will include highlights from the Opening Ceremony red carpet, featuring stars from the sports, arts and entertainment worlds. At 1:30 p.m. ET, the Primetime panel – Andi Petrillo, Waneek Horn-Miller, Perdita Felicien and Craig McMorris – will guide Canadians through the ceremony, reinvented for central Paris as a 6 km parade route along the Seine River. A primetime broadcast of the Opening Ceremony will air on CBC and CBC Gem at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT). CBC Gem will offer live streams of every event at Paris 2024.
Bell Media has released Numeris audience data indicating live coverage of Conmebol Copa America 2024 and UEFA Euro 2024 reached a combined total of 18.7 million Canadians, or 48% of Canada’s population. Conmebol Copa America, broadcast on TSN, CTV, and RDS, saw its overall average audience grow nearly +700%, compared to the 2021 tournament. The final between Argentina and Colombia attracted an average audience of 1.45 million viewers across all three networks, an increase of +144% compared to the 2021 final. Overall, 4.4 million Canadians watched some or all of the final. Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team broke numerous audience records during their run to a fourth-place finish, culminating with an average audience of 1.9 million viewers for their Third Place game against Uruguay. Canada’s semi-final against Argentina is the most-watched Copa America game on record in Canada, attracting an average audience of 2.8 million viewers. The UEFA Euro 2024 tournament on TSN and CTV also attracted major audiences with total reach of 15 million unique Canadian viewers increasing +7% compared to the previous tournament in 2021.
Bell Media is the official broadcast partner of the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025, Feb. 8 – 16, in Vancouver and Whistler. TSN will bring the international event to viewers across the country, which highlights the power of sport in the recovery journey of international wounded, injured and sick active service members and veterans. The Opening Ceremony will be broadcast on both TSN and CTV. TSN will also feature a daily recap show highlighting coverage from all 11 sports, including for the first time six winter sports.
Crave and APTN Original series Don’t Even premieres Aug. 23 on Crave, followed by its debut on APTN later this year. The series premieres with two episodes, with two new episodes dropping on subsequent Fridays. Starring Leenah Robinson (1923), Victoria Turko (Burden of Truth), Joel Oulette (Trickster), Gail Maurice, and Jennifer Podemski (Showrunner and Creator, Little Bird), the series follows two best friends in late ‘90s Winnipeg as they grapple with their uncertain futures in the summer after their final year of high school. Don’t Even is co-produced by Pier 21 Films, Frantic Films Manitoba, and Sekowan Media, in association with Bell Media’s Crave and APTN. Amber-Sekowan Daniels is Executive Producer, Creator, and Showrunner, while Zoe Hopkins serves as Executive Producer and Director.
Shaftesbury and CBC have announced that Paul Sun-Hyung Lee will join the cast of CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries as the series begins production on its 18th season in Toronto. Lee enters the “Murdoch-verse” as Inspector Albert Choi, who brings a new perspective to Station House #4. Best known for his portrayal as Appa on Kim’s Convenience, as well as Uncle Iroh on Netflix’s live-action remake of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the role marks Lee’s first foray into period drama. The 18th season, consisting of 22 episodes and celebrating the series’ 300th episode, will air on CBC and CBC Gem in Canada this fall, Acorn TV and Ovation TV in the U.S., and on Alibi in the UK.
Canada Post has unveiled a new commemorative stamp celebrating the life and legacy of Toronto-born filmmaker Norman Jewison. One of Hollywood’s most prolific filmmakers, Jewison directed some of the most popular movies of our time – including multiple-Academy Award winners In the Heat of the Night (1967) and Moonstruck (1987). He made some 60 films and television productions over his career, received four Oscar nominations for Best Picture, and was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1999 for his body of work. The stamp image, photographed at the Canadian Film Centre in 2007 by photographer Peter Bregg for HELLO! Canada, was selected by Jewison himself, who was closely involved in the creation of the stamp.
Blink49 Studios has inked a multi-year first look executive producer deal with TV industry veteran Pancho Mansfield. Reuniting Mansfield with Blink49’s CEO John Morayniss and Carolyn Newman, Executive Vice President, Global Scripted Television, the deal will see Mansfield collaborate closely with Newman to develop and produce new original projects including a problem-solving procedural with writer and producer Andrew Miller (Percy Jackson and the Olympians). Prior to partnering with Blink49 Studios, Mansfield served as President of Global Scripted Programming, Television for Entertainment One (eOne).
ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:
The bad news is out: Hakai Magazine is shutting down at the end of 2024. We’re incredibly sad, but our team is proud of the great work we’ve done these past 10 years. We have 5 more months of beautiful and unique coastal stories to come. More info here: https://t.co/iwp4DXTTEt
— Hakai Magazine (@hakaimagazine) July 24, 2024
Hakai Magazine has announced that publication of the B.C.-based online coastal science journal will end in December after almost a decade of award-winning journalism. While losing funding support from the Tula Foundation, its archive will continue to be maintained online. “No doubt, we are sad,” wrote Founding Editor Jude Isabella, in a statement. “But we have adjusted to the news and we’re committed to finding a new outlet where we can continue to publish stories with our signature keen insight into all things coastal and oceanic. We’re actively looking for new funding sources—if you have ideas, please get in touch, because we’re open to suggestions.”
T.O. Webfest has announced that 38 Canadian short form series and podcasts, and 34 international series and podcasts are nominated for awards at this year’s festival. Four Canadian series are each nominated in 11 categories spanning genre, craft and primary awards, including Space Janitors (Season 4) – produced by Davin Lengyel, Brendan Halloran & Mark De Angelis; Get Up, Aisha – produced by Jonas Diamond, Marushka Jessica Almeida, Nisha Khan & Rabiya Mansoor; Les météorites – produced by Mylène Augustinl and Near or Far – produced by Caitlin Brown & Michael Bawcutt. This year’s festival, Sept. 17-18, at the Novotel Toronto, includes a two-day conference with international guests participating on various panels on taking short form content to longer forms, distribution strategies, monetization, streaming platforms and adapting original content to new formats.
Bob Kronbauer, the former publisher and editor-in-chief of Vancouver Is Awesome (VIA), has launched a new weekly newsletter. After founding VIA 16 years ago, Kronbauer announced he was leaving the publication six months ago to become an independent content creator, leaving VIA under the management of Glacier Media Group, which he sold to in 2017. Sharing B.C.-focused content, Kronbauer says the newsletter will fill a void for longer-form content. “The stories I’ve been able to uncover and tell over the past few months have brought me so much joy, and the only thing I’ve found to be missing was an outlet where I can write things to you, in addition to holding my phone in front of my face and telling you stories in video format,” wrote Kronbauer. “In it I’ll bring you along on more adventures, I’ll tell you things I might not have been able to cram into my quick-bite video content, and I’ll share new products as I release them.”
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
Rogers Communications’ Q2 results for the second quarter ended June 30, saw total revenue and total service revenue each increase by 1%, driven by revenue growth in the company’s Wireless and Media businesses. Wireless service revenue increased by 4% in the quarter, primarily as a result of growth in its mobile phone subscriber base over the past year, while Wireless equipment revenue decreased by 5%, primarily as a result of fewer device upgrades by existing customers. Total Cable revenue and Cable service revenue decreased 2% and 3%, respectively. Media revenue increased by 7% as a result of higher sports-related revenue, primarily at the Toronto Blue Jays, partially offset by lower Today’s Shopping Choice revenue. Media adjusted EBITDA decreased by $4 million this quarter, primarily due to higher Blue Jays expenses, including player payroll and game day-related costs.
Rogers, Cogeco and CBC/Radio-Canada were among the Canadian broadcasters that saw some disruption from Friday’s Microsoft outage triggered by a sensor configuration update to Windows systems released by cybersecurity platform, CrowdStrike. CBC did not immediately confirm reports its Dalet asset management system was among software workflow tools affected, impacting ingesting, editing and publishing in some instances. The public broadcaster told Broadcast Dialogue some radio and television programs did not air as scheduled and were replaced with other programming. At Cogeco’s The Beat 92.5 (CKBE-FM) in Montreal, morning show hosts Natasha Gargiulo, Mark Bergman, and Catherine Duranceau arrived to find no access to computers. Read more here.
The CRTC has called for comments on the Independent Local News Fund (ILNF) ahead of a focused review of the ILNF regulatory framework, in light of Corus Entertainment’s application requesting funding for its Global stations; and the commission’s proposal to require certain online undertakings with more than $25 million in revenue to make an initial base contribution of 1.5% of annual revenue from Canadian activities to the fund. The fund was established in 2016 to support television stations that offer local news and information and do not benefit from being part of a larger vertically integrated company. The deadline for comments is Sept. 6.
The CRTC has approved an application from CBC for PNI (programs of national interest) and CPE (Canadian programming expenditures) relief for coverage of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The CBC has regularly requested relief during the years of the Olympic and Paralympic Games because the broadcasts result in an increase in CPE, which in turn increases PNI expenditure obligations. The CBC noted that without this relief, it would have to make challenging programming choices to comply with its PNI requirements, including lowering expenditures on other, non-PNI programming, including independent productions.
Blue Ant Media has filed a Part 1 application requesting the CRTC reduce its required PNI (programs of national interest) spending, citing a stranglehold on its ability to spend money on content that its audiences want to watch. Blue Ant is asking that it be allowed to put five, rather than 13.5% of its previous year’s revenues into PNI, saying broadcasters are being forced “to spend their production budgets on certain genres of programming in a manner that is not aligned with their business strategy or with audience demand,” pointing to the fact that foreign streaming competitors don’t have such restrictions. “Due to our PNI requirements we are simply unable to create the right mix of content,” it said. “This impacts not only our Canadian broadcast revenue which is directly tied to our ratings, but also our ability to monetize the content we commission with global audiences through our global channels and distribution sales.”
The Federal Court has granted a new website-blocking order that will force broadcasters to block websites streaming different sports league matches for next season. The order draws on previous site-blocking precedent but deviates in that it is being applied to multiple sports in a single order. It also applies a permanent ban on the defendants from broadcasting unlicensed content, including all live pre- and regular season NBA games and, in the case of streaming service FuboTV, Premier League soccer matches for next year. The order also includes a mechanism to add other live sports events via a court judgment, which has already been used on sites illegally streaming the UEFA Euro 2024 final.
BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the producer of CES, is continuing to seek products and voices powering innovation with its CES Innovation Awards and Call for Speakers, ahead of CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Jan. 7-10. CES says the representation of companies at the show is evolving with the technology landscape, with first-time CES exhibitors in 2025 to include Oshkosh Corporation and Komatsu. CES will also welcome back AdTech exhibitors like DoubleVerify and TripleLift.
