REVOLVING DOOR:
Liesel Unger has been appointed to the new position of Director of National Sales and Partnerships at Vista Radio. Vista says the new role is another strategic move for the company to optimize revenue and identify opportunities on a regional and national level. Unger was most recently at Bell Media where she held the role of Director of National Sales, Western Canada. Prior to joining Bell in 2008, she was a National Account Executive at CBC Television. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the BCAMA, a non-profit connecting marketers from all industries and disciplines.
After 13 great years at Sportsnet, I’m moving on. It’s been an incredible journey and I’m thankful to have worked alongside so many great people and played a role in bringing sports and hockey news to fans across Canada and the world. More to come soon.
– Jeff— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) July 26, 2024
Jeff Marek has parted ways with Sportsnet. Marek, 55, was last on-air during the first round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft in June. First joining Sportsnet in 2011, he hosted The Jeff Marek Show and the 32 Thoughts podcast alongside Elliotte Friedman, among other programs.
Britt Prendergast has joined Global Edmonton as weekend weather anchor. Prendergast formerly held the same position at CTV Edmonton, up until layoffs in February. She’s also worked as a host and producer at Bell Media’s TSN 1260 (CFRN-AM) and Virgin Radio (CFMG-FM) in Edmonton.
Taylor Smith has joined the Garner Andrews Show on SONiC 102.9 (CHDI-FM) Edmonton, following Bryce Kelley’s departure from the show to pursue an opportunity outside of radio. Smith has been an announcer with SONiC for the last nine years, most recently heard in middays.
Matt Barron has left KiSS 102.3 (CKY-FM) Winnipeg as he moves his family to his home province of Newfoundland. Barron had been with the station for the last two and a half years and in the Winnipeg market since 2016 when he joined Evanov’s Energy 106 (CHWE-FM). Listen to his last break here. Pamela Roz officially moves into middays, from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Roz, who had been out of the industry for the last few years running her own PR firm, has been filling in since the beginning of the summer.
Pierre-Yves McSween has parted ways with Cogeco’s 98.5 (CHMP-FM) Montréal. The company says following a review of “Le Québec maintenant,” it has terminated his contract “in the context of an amicable agreement.” McSween had been with the station since 2015. He wrote in a post to Facebook that he’ll be focusing on other projects and developing new ones.
Mike Chaar has joined Virgin Radio (CJFM-FM) Montreal as a weekend host. He’ll be heard Saturdays from 4 – 7 p.m. and Sundays from 6 – 10 a.m., starting Aug. 10, in addition to working with the station’s social media team. Chaar has been an editor with Narcity’s MTL Blog for the last three years.
Pete Dalliday has left Corus Radio after 38 years, including 12 as the morning announcer on 100.5 Fresh Radio (CKRU-FM) Peterborough. Dalliday took personal leave in May, and made the decision to sign off from the station in mid-July, unrelated to the ongoing workforce reduction within the company. Dalliday, who followed in the footsteps of his CHEX sportscaster father Gary Dalliday, will continue to provide play-by-play for the Peterborough Petes and Lakers YourTV broadcasts.
Sheldon MacLeod is joining the MBS Radio news team, contributing to coverage across its stations in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I. MacLeod, who is best known in the Halifax market for his almost seven-year run hosting talk on Rogers Sports & Media’s News 95.7 (CJNI-FM), arrives from the Saltwire Network where he’s been a multimedia producer and host for the last three years.
Jack Farrell has joined The Canadian Press (CP) Prairies’ bureau in Edmonton. Farrell, a 2022 graduate of the Journalism program at MacEwan University, arrives from the St. Albert Gazette where he’s been covering City Hall.
Julia Qiwen Zhu is the National Film Board’s new Chief Financial Officer and Director General, Finance and Administration, effective Aug. 19. Prior to joining the NFB, Julia was VP Finance (CFO) of Montreal-based CM Labs Simulations. She’s also held roles as Director of Finance Transformation at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), and served as Controller, Technology Finance, and Global Director, Commercial Performance and Transformation, for Technicolor Creative Studios.
David Phillips has a new title at Environics Analytics. Phillips is now Chief Media & Activation Officer, helping clients move from insights to activation and measurement. Phillips joined Environics early last year as Chief Product Officer after departing his role as President and COO of NLogic Canada.
RADIO & PODCAST:
Corus Entertainment has debuted “Iconic Alternative” 107.3 the Edge in Calgary, extending the long-running alt rock brand from Toronto. Launched at 7 a.m. Wednesday morning, like 102.1 the Edge (CFNY-FM), the station will draw from the 80s, 90s and 2000s with a mix of New Wave, Grunge, and Classic Alternative. The launch marks the return of music to CFGQ-FM since Corus debuted QR Calgary: Talk on FM on the station in January 2023, dropping Classic Rock format Q107, in favour of simulcasting 770 CHQR. Read more here.
107.9 GO ROCK (CFLB-FM), Lunenburg County’s first rock station, has launched with a slate of veteran talent from the Maritimes and beyond. Playing artists from John Mellencamp and The Rolling Stones to Tool and Jane’s Addiction, the Novacast Media station has assembled a lineup of announcers led by morning show host Chris Pottie. Pottie was previously heard in afternoons on Evanov Communications’ Hot Country stations in Halifax, Brantford, Clarence/Rockland and Hawkesbury, and also did a stint in mornings on Live 105 (CKHY-FM) Halifax. Read more here.
Rogers Sports & Media’s news radio stations in Vancouver, Calgary, Kitchener and Halifax have dropped their CityNews branding as of July 29 and are moving forward as 1130 NewsRadio (CKWX-AM), 660 NewsRadio (CFFR-AM), 570 NewsRadio (CKGL-AM) and 95.7 NewsRadio (CJNI-FM). Rogers’ news radio stations adopted the CityNews branding in Oct. 2021. The move to rebrand follows a brand refresh at 680 NewsRadio (CFTR-AM) Toronto in April.
Pacific Content, Rogers Sports & Media’s branded content division – which was slated to wind down operations over the summer – has been acquired by UK-based podcast production agency, Lower Street. Rogers Sports & Media announced in late May, it was shutting down the division, which it acquired in 2019. Lower Street, a full-service podcast production agency, is acquiring the Pacific Content brand and trademarks, in addition to bringing a number of employees onto its team. Read more here.
Alberta Day Of Caring for Jasper on Wednesday saw the province’s radio stations come together in the biggest bottle drive in Alberta’s history to raise funds for the Canadian Red Cross in support of those impacted by last week’s wildfires. Led by Pattison Media’s Edmonton stations, $518,482 was raised by listeners to support wildfire relief efforts in Jasper. With donation matching from both the federal and provincial governments, the grand total raised was $1,555,446. Read more here.
The CRTC has announced a virtual hearing on Oct. 8 where it intends to hear more applications related to Bell Media’s divestiture of radio stations, including Golden Horseshoe Broadcasting’s application to acquire CKLH-FM Hamilton, as well as CKTB, CHRE-FM and CHTZ-FM St. Catharines; ZoomerMedia’s application to acquire CJOS-FM Owen Sound; and Maritime Broadcasting System’s bid to acquire CKTO-FM and CKTY-FM Truro, NS, as well as CKBC-FM Bathurst, CJCJ-FM Woodstock, and CIKX-FM Grand Falls and its transmitter CIKX-FM-1 Plaster Rock, NB. It will also hear Pattison Media’s application to acquire CKOV-FM Kelowna and Access Communications Co-operative acquisition of the assets of community radio station CJTR-FM Regina. Additionally, the commission will hear Quebecor Media’s application to transfer the assets of its BDUs serving the GTA, Barrie, Hamilton-Naigara and Oshawa and national video-on-demand service RiverTV, from VMedia to Freedom Mobile. The deadline for interventions is Aug. 29.
The CRTC has approved the sale of Indie88 (CIND-FM) Toronto to Chris Grossman’s Local Radio Lab. The purchase price for the assets of the alt rock station from Central Ontario Broadcasting subsidiary Rock 95 Broadcasting, was $7 million. Local Radio Lab is the current licensee of FM 92 (CIMA-FM) South Simcoe, FM 101 (CJML-FM) Milton, and FM 101 (CKMO-FM) Orangeville.
Stingray has shut down its AM signal on 910 (CKDQ-AM) in Drumheller, AB, following the June debut of its FM conversion New Country 92.5. The CRTC approved Stingray’s application in February to address issues relating to failing legacy equipment and infrastructure at the AM station. Its Hot Country music format has been carried over to the new FM station.
Stingray’s CFCW Edmonton has released Alberta’s Country Legend: The Story of 840 CFCW, marking the heritage station’s 70th anniversary. The book features anecdotes, photos, and original interviews with nearly 50 on-air personalities, listeners, and behind-the-scenes staff, in addition to some of the country music stars whose careers were boosted by the station. A portion of the proceeds from the book will go to the Little Miracles Trust Fund.
Music Canada, which represents the interests of Canada’s major record labels, says the CRTC’s move to impose mandatory contributions on the biggest music streamers, could amount to a “cultural policy disaster.” In June, the commission announced that online streaming services not affiliated with a Canadian broadcaster that make $25 million or more in Canada, must contribute five per cent of their Canadian revenues to support the broadcast system under the Online Streaming Act. Music Canada CEO Patrick Rogers wrote in a statement posted to the not-for-profit’s website that imposing a five per cent contribution rate is “staggering” and risks streamers’ further investment in Canada. Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) President Kevin Desjardins says foreign streaming services are benefiting “massively” from their presence in Canada and it’s only right to expect them to help support the goals of the Broadcasting Act. Read more here.
Canadaland’s COMMONS is presenting the English-language premiere of Inside Kabul, a raw, coming of age story of two young women in the summer of 2021 as the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. The podcast is based on hundreds of voice notes Raha and Marwa exchanged with French journalist Caroline Gaillet.
LISTEN: Jeff Woods returns to the Sound Off Podcast to talk about his Records & Rockstars podcast episode creation process, the non-use of AI in research, and the influence of the late Bob Mackowycz on his career. He also discusses his new book about relationships and sexuality.
LISTEN: For a second year in a row, NAB Show organizers chose a Sustainability Donation Honouree, an award singling out an outstanding not-for-profit. This year’s Honouree was the Canadian-based Sustainable Entertainment Society — the powerhouse behind the Sustainable Production Forum (SPF). Zena Harris, founder of the SPF, whose organization Green Spark Group is a foundational partner of the Society, and Executive Director Melanie Windle, join Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast to talk about the progress being made to accelerate sustainability and decarbonization in media, arts & entertainment.
SIGN OFFS:
Eric Wallace MacEwen, 78, on July 27. After studying science at Memorial University and then writing and communications at Boston University, MacEwen began his broadcast career at CHNS Halifax in 1967. By 1970, he had joined CJCB Sydney in Cape Breton as the host of the station’s evening rock programming. In 1973, he took a detour from radio to serve as Director of Public Relations to the President of Cape Breton University. He returned to radio in 1982 as the host of his own Saturday night evening show on CFCY Charlottetown. Following its cancellation in 2018, he hosted the program in a podcast format as Saturday Night in a Harbour Town. MacEwan, who forged relationships over the years with musicians including Lennie Gallant, Ron Hynes, Rita MacNeil and Stan Rogers, was one of the founding members of the East Coast Music Association and a longtime host at StanFest in Canso, NS. His radio show was nominated for an East Coast Music Award in the Radio category in 2000. He received an honorary Builder’s Award in 2005.
TV & FILM:
CBC/Radio-Canada says Friday’s Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony was watched, at least in part, by one in three Canadians on its platforms. The public broadcaster has released Numeris data indicating more than 13.3 million viewers tuned in on CBC and Radio-Canada networks and broadcast partners TSN, Sportsnet and RDS, with an additional 1.9 million streams on CBC/Radio-Canada’s digital platforms, including CBC Gem, ICI TOU.TV, and accompanying Paris 2024 websites and apps. Total video hours streamed are triple that of the opening of Tokyo 2020, with 775,000 hours streamed. Read more here.
Rogers is the new Presenting Sponsor of the Toronto International Film Festival and the TIFF People’s Choice Awards. The sponsorship will begin by rolling out the red carpet at a VIP event at the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto on Sept. 3. Rogers replaces Bell, which had been the festival’s lead sponsor since 1995 and ended its $5 million in annual support at the end of 2023.
TIFF has announced four more Tribute Award recipients, including British filmmaker Mike Leigh, who will be honoured with the TIFF Ebert Director Award; Canadian rising star Durga Chew-Bose, who will be honoured with the TIFF Emerging Talent Award; and French songwriting and composing duo Camille Dalmais and Clément Ducol, who will be presented with the TIFF Variety Artisan Award for composing the soundtrack to Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez. They’ll be honoured alongside Amy Adams, Cate Blanchett, and David Cronenberg at the TIFF Tribute Awards gala fundraiser Sept. 8, with Sandra Oh serving as Honorary Chair.
Crave original docuseries, The Rebuild: Inside the Montreal Canadiens, presented by Bell, premieres Sept. 18. The eight-episode, one-hour series is produced by Fair-Play in collaboration with Crave, and offers a rare, inside look at the club during the recent 2023-24 season. The series is available to Crave audiences in English and French, with the English version featuring narration by Canadian media personality George Stroumboulopoulos. The docuseries takes viewers up close with players, coaches, executives, and diehard Habs fans, and tells the behind-the-scenes story of an organization undergoing profound change.
Crave original drama series So Long, Marianne premieres Sept. 27 in both English and French. Debuting days after what would have been the Canadian singer-songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen’s 90th birthday, the eight-part series delves into the legendary love story between Cohen, and Norwegian Marianne Ihlen that inspired countless Cohen songs. The series is co-produced by Montreal’s C3 Media (part of Cineflix Media group). Set in the 1960s, it stars Alex Wolff (A Quiet Place: Day One, Hereditary) and Thea Sofie Loch Næss (The Last Kingdom, Delete Me, A Storm for Christmas).
CBC has announced a second season of unscripted paranormal comedy series Ghosting with Luke Hutchie and Matthew Finland (8×30) from Blue Ant Studios, in association with Luke Hutchie Productions. Currently in production, the new season sees Hutchie (EZRA) and Finlan (Orphan: First Kill, EZRA) take the show on the road, expanding their quest cross-country to explore some of Canada’s most haunted places. Joined by celebrity guests, the amateur ghost-wrangling duo will investigate paranormal activity in Ontario, B.C., Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and the Yukon. The new season is slated to premiere winter 2025 on CBC Gem.
Newen Studios – which operates in Canada and France, among other territories – has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Johnson Production Group (JPG). The investment in JPG is part of Newen’s strategy to develop and acquire global IP and allows the group to further strengthen its footprint in the TV movie market. It also follows the majority stake it took in Reel One in 2019. Founding President Timothy O. Johnson will continue to lead JPG, which packages, finances and distributes over 40 movies a year.
CBC has announced the participants of the second year of AccessCBC: A CBC Initiative for Creators with a Disability, that provides pre-development training, mentorship and financing support for deaf and disabled creators. Fifteen participants across seven projects have been selected for the scripted comedy/drama and kids streams, and as part of the unscripted stream, production is underway on four short projects from the CBC Creator Network. A short doc from the first round of AccessCBC has also advanced to a second phase of development.
The Black Screen Office (BSO) and the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) have announced the participants selected for the BSO-CMPA Black Producer Accelerator Program, a mentorship initiative pairing emerging producers with established producers at CMPA-member companies. The inaugural cohort includes: Tyler Evans with Conquering Lion Pictures; Devon Ellis-Durity with Dada Ibis Media; Rena Pilgrim with Karma Film; Daniel Husbands with Mahaica Point Media; Chidinma Nwoye with Neshama Entertainment; Silvana Rose Miller with OYA Media Group; Soko Negash with Scarborough Pictures; and Fitch Jean with Wandering Worx.
Canadian Film Centre (CFC) has announced the return of the Black Excellence Speaker Series, which will feature costume designer Antoinette Messam. Devoted to perspectives told by Black creatives in the screen-based industry, CFC Executive Director maxine bailey will moderate the free event taking place Aug. 28 at Cineplex Varsity in Toronto.
Graeme Mathieson and Chris Flanagan’s NFB anthology series Sounds & Pressure: Reggae in a Foreign Land, premieres Aug. 23 on nfb.ca and the NFB streaming platform. Through rare archives, electrifying needle drops and lively interviews, the five-part series takes viewers from Kingston to Kensington Market to see and hear how reggae made roots in Canada against all odds, chronicling the musical and geographical journeys of Nana McLean, Johnny Osbourne, Leroy Sibbles, Jerry Brown and the duo of Roy Panton and Yvonne Harrison.
ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:
Postmedia Network has entered into an agreement to acquire Atlantic Canada’s largest media purveyor, Saltwire Network and The Halifax Chronicle Herald. Currently under creditor protection, Saltwire – which publishes nearly two dozen titles, including major daily newspapers in Halifax, NS, Charlottetown, PEI, and St. John’s, NL – has been driven to insolvency by its main creditor, Fiera Private Debt Fund, with a debt load of more than $94 million. Postmedia says the acquisition aligns with its commitment to preserving local journalism. Read more here.
Narcity Media CEO Chuck Lapointe has killed a planned equity crowdfunding campaign pre-launch and refunded early investors. In a post to LinkedIn this week, Lapointe said the number of actual investors turned out to be substantially less than the 30% it gauged would come on board when it launched its community round at the end of May. While gathering more than $3.5M in expressed interest, Lapointe said most never translated to actual investors and “the amount raised would’ve not been significant enough for a meaningful return.” Lapointe wrote that his belief in “the potential of community ownership” is intact and the digital publication will “definitely try again in a year or two when our new models/brands have proven out.”
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) is renewing its Digital Creators Pilot Program (DCPP) for a second year. The program supports the growth trajectory of mid-career Canadian digital content creators making short-form video content exclusively on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Potential applicants to the program are encouraged to read the 2024-2025 DCPP Program Guidelines and contact the CMF Program Administrator with questions as they prepare their applications. Applications will be accepted, starting Sept. 3.
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
CPAC (Cable Public Affairs Channel) has filed an application to increase its regulated wholesale fee for basic carriage by three cents to a total of 16 cents per subscriber per month. If approved, the proposed wholesale fee would take effect Sept. 1, 2026. The parliamentary affairs channel says the proposed fee increase “is essential for CPAC to continue to provide its foundational public service to Canadians,” including daily coverage of proceedings, important commissions of inquiry and political conventions, as well as CPAC’s own public affairs content. Even with the increase, CPAC says its wholesale fee is and will continue to be the lowest for any of the national television services the CRTC has designated for mandatory basic carriage. Without the increase, CPAC says it will not be possible “to provide the same level and scope of programming as we do now beyond this time frame.”
CRTC Chair Vicky Eatrides is among those set to appear at the Competition Bureau’s upcoming summit on AI. Canada’s Competition Summit 2024: Market Dynamics in the AI Era will be held Sept. 16 in Ottawa and virtually, bringing together domestic and international competition authorities, regulators, businesses, non-governmental organizations, lawyers and academics. It will feature a virtual keynote speech by Lina Khan, Chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Eatrides will appear as part of a Canadian regulators roundtable.
BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:
Avid has announced the latest update to its video editing software, Media Composer, including new AI features. Media Composer 2024.6 includes improvements such as a new Transcript Tool for PhraseFind, enhanced compatibility with Avid audio production software Pro Tools, and expanded availability of Avid Huddle, its cloud service for real-time collaborative edit sessions. Avid PhraseFind is now enhanced with Avid Ada AI, allowing editors to jump to specific moments in a clip based on spoken phrases, editing directly from selections in the transcript into the timeline. Improved Pro Tools integration sees Media Composer now support sub-frame automation for volume and pan, improving compatibility with Pro Tools and providing editors with more creative control.
