The Weekly Briefing

REVOLVING DOOR:

640 (CFIQ-AM) Toronto has announced a refreshed lineup, effective Aug. 8, that will see Alan Carter and Jeff McArthur move away from their radio shows to focus on their roles at Global News. Carter has been heard in the noon – 1 p.m. time slot, in addition to anchoring Global News at 5:30 & 6 in Toronto, while McArthur has been hosting from 1 – 3 p.m. while also co-hosting Global’s The Morning Show. Both shows were simulcast to AM 980 (CFPL-AM) London and AM 900 CHML Hamilton. The new schedule sees Kelly Cutrara move into the noon to 3 p.m. time slot (also syndicated to London and Hamilton). Alex Pierson will transition into Cutrara’s former 9 a.m. to noon slot on 640, moving up from evenings. Read more here.

Paul Godfrey will step down from his role as Chair of Postmedia’s board of directors at the end of his existing contract on Dec. 31. He’ll continue to serve as a special advisor to the Board and CEO. Godfrey previously stepped down as President and CEO of Postmedia in 2019 after serving in the role for a decade. Jamie Irving, who became a director on Postmedia’s Board in April, will become Executive Chair effective Jan. 1. Irving’s responsibilities will include overseeing board matters and supporting the President and CEO and senior management in respect of key areas of the business.

Gave Lindo has a new title at TikTok, moving from Head of Content Programming, Canada to Head of Content Programming, North America. Lindo was previously Executive Director, OTT Programming, at CBC, prior to joining the short form video platform in 2020.

Tessa Sproule has returned to CBC as Director of Metadata and Information Management, after leaving in 2014 to co-found Vubble, an AI-driven audio and video auditing, recommendation and moderation tool. Sproule was previously with the public broadcaster for 19 years, starting as a producer and reporter for CBC Radio and departing as Director, Digital.

Tim Wieczorek, Torres Media Group Executive Vice President, is leaving his position effective Aug. 12 to be closer to family. Wieczorek joined Torres Media as Director of Operations at Rebel 101.7 (CIDG-FM) Ottawa in 2016, and was promoted to Group Executive Vice President, Radio in 2020, overseeing all Torres radio stations and Skywords syndication operations. He played a lead role in the rebrand of Rebel 101.7 and the launch of CKOU The New K Country 93.7 FM in Georgina, ON during the height of the pandemic. Wieczorek will continue to consult for the company for the foreseeable future from his home base in Kingston.

Bo & Jess (Bo Gordon & Jess Hoy) have moved over from Wild 95.3 (CKWD-FM) Calgary to Pattison Media sister station 101.5 Today Radio (CKCE-FM). The duo have been hosting mornings together since Feb. 2018. Pattison says they’ll be announcing a new morning show for Wild 95.3 in the next few weeks.

Andy & TJ are retiring from Kelowna morning radio and 103.9 The Lake (CKOV-FM) to divert their focus to their fast-growing freelance voiceover business, marriedwithmics.com. The husband and wife team, aka Andy James and Tamara “TJ” Joel, have been with the station since its launch 15 months ago. They were formerly heard on Bell Media’s 101.5 EZ Rock (CILK-FM) in the market, up until the station’s rebrand as The Move. The Lake owner Paul Larsen says no other changes are planned at the station which will continue to feature Mark Jeffries, Susan Knight, Crystal Darche and Tim Black, who will cover off any gaps in the schedule until Andy & TJ’s permanent replacement is named.

Sheryl MacKay is retiring from CBC Radio One B.C. weekend morning show, North by Northwest. MacKay has been in the role for 22 years and with CBC for 40. She’ll sign off at the end of December. MacKay began working with CBC Radio in B.C. in the early ‘80s on a number of current affairs programs, before heading east to work with CBC P.E.I. where she worked as a reporter and host, including a stint as co-anchor of the TV supper hour show.

Melissa Thomas McRae is joining Pattison Media’s Vancouver stations, 102.7 NOW!radio (CKPK-FM) and 102.7 The Peak (now on HD2), in an imaging and commercial producing role. Thomas McRae has been Imaging Director with X92.9 (CFEX-FM) Calgary since 2019. She’s also the imaging voice for numerous stations, including Play 107 (CKPW-FM) Edmonton; Pulse FM (WPLW-FM) Raleigh, NC; and Magic 99.5 (WZIM-FM) Bloomington, IL.

Norma Reid, who left her late night anchor role with CTV Vancouver earlier in the summer, has joined Global Calgary as a Community Reporter. Reid had been with CTV Vancouver since 2010, having previously worked with the network in Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert.

Travis Prasad has made another jump from CTV Vancouver to Global BC. Prasad had been a reporter with CTV since March 2021 when he arrived from Citytv Vancouver. 

Richard Konwick is retiring after 21 years with CHEK News in Victoria. Konwick has worked as a producer and assignment editor. Prior to joining CHEK-TV in 2001, he held roles with CBC Vancouver and Global BC.

Vikta Paulo is the new weathercaster for CBC Ottawa. Paulo had a 14-year career in sales with Rogers in Ottawa, concurrent to acting as a host and announcer for Nipissing University Laker Basketball and as the in-house public address announcer for the Ottawa Blackjacks.

Jeremy Allingham is leaving CBC Vancouver after 12 years as a journalist and producer. He’ll be joining the B.C. Building Trades Council as its new Director of Communications and Campaigns. Prior to joining CBC, Allingham was a producer with Network Entertainment, among other roles.

Sam Samson is the new CBC National Reporter in Saskatchewan, starting in September. Samson has been an associate producer and reporter with the public broadcaster since 2015 in both Sudbury and Winnipeg.

Shawn Jeffords is starting a new role as Municipal Affairs Reporter for CBC Toronto. Jeffords has previously covered Queen’s Park for both The Canadian Press (CP) and the Toronto Star before veering into communications for the past year.

Michelle Carbert has announced her departure from journalism as she takes up a communications role with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Carbert has been reporting from Parliament Hill for the Globe & Mail for the past six years. Prior to that, she was an online journalist at CTV and an Associate Producer on Question Period.

Mark McKenzie has declared his candidacy for a Ward 4 City Council seat in Windsor’s October municipal election. McKenzie has been on-air at 89X (CIMX-FM) Windsor-Detroit, AM 800 CKLW, and 92 CITI FM Winnipeg, among other stations.

Craig Junner is being promoted to SVP, Programming + Content Strategy, Global Media, at Blue Ant Media, and Andrea Harrick to VP, Content Acquisitions, Global Media. In his role as SVP, Programming + Content Strategy, Junner will continue to lead programming strategy for Blue Ant’s portfolio of pay TV and FAST channels and continue to assume a leadership role in the company’s global free-streaming expansion. Harrick will continue to lead acquisitions for Blue Ant’s growing global portfolio. Both have been with the company since 2011.

RADIO & PODCAST:

The Canadian Podcast Awards have unveiled the nominees for their fifth annual celebration of Canadian podcasters, editors, and producers. Established in 2018 by Podcamp Toronto to showcase the best in Canadian on-demand digital audio production, this year’s awards feature the return of the People’s Choice Award, comprised of the top nominated podcasts across all categories. Nominees for this year’s People’s Choice Award include Sonar Network’s Belief It Or Not; Putting It Together, a podcast about Stephen Sondheim’s body of work; F*ck Buddies: A Sex and Dating Advice Podcast; Frequency Network horror-fiction podcast, Parkdale Haunt; Positively Positive Podcast – Herpes & Sexual Health; Sonar Network’s You Made Me Queer!; Frequency’s Teach Me How To Adult; Later That Same Life, hosted by former Niagara radio personality Larry Fedoruk; QUB Radio French-language podcast, au voleur; and Sonar Network’s Bites and Bits, combining cuisine and comedy. The award is open to voting by the general public until Aug. 10. The other awards are adjudicated by Canadian podcasters registered with the site.

Triton Digital has released the latest Canada Podcast Report for June 2022, ranking the most-listened to English and French podcasts. Reflecting the listening period between May 30 and July 3 and measured by Triton’s Podcast Metrics measurement service, the top three Canadian originating English-language podcasts were all produced by the public broadcaster, including CBC Podcasts’ daily news pod Front Burner at #1, The Current at #2, and Ideas at #3. The top-ranked podcast overall was true crime offering, Dateline NBC, followed by Front Burner, Wondery’s Smartless (feat. Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, & Sean Hayes), My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark (Wondery); and Crime Junkie (SXM Media) rounding out the top five. SXM Media earned the #1 spot on the Top Networks Report with 4.4M average weekly downloads, followed by CBC/Radio-Canada with 2.7M, and Wondery with 2.3M average weekly downloads. Read more here.

The CRTC has set a hearing date of Oct. 13 to consider two radio applications. Communications Média Évangélique / Gospel Media Communications (CME) is seeking approval to acquire the assets of religious AM radio station, CJRS Montréal, from Radio Chalom. The commission will also consider an application from Piikani Tsi Nii Ka Sin Broadcasting Association for a broadcasting licence to operate an Indigenous (Type B Native) low-power FM radio station in Brocket, AB. The station would operate at 105.7 MHz (channel 289LP) with an average effective radiated power (ERP) of 32 watts. The applicant proposes to broadcast 126 hours of local programming per broadcast week, with approximately 105 hours devoted to musical content, 35% of that to be performed or composed by Indigenous creators. The remaining 21 hours would be devoted to spoken word programming, with a minimum of 14 hours in the Blackfoot language. The deadline for interventions is Sept. 1.

94.9 The Rock (CKGE-FM) Oshawa is the latest radio station to introduce a craft brew collaboration. Rock Hard Lager, brewed by Brock Street Brewing Company, is described as “a full flavoured higher ABV (6%) Lager, brewed in the traditional Bavarian Style.” 

LISTEN: On the Sound Off Podcast, Matt Cundill speaks with Eric Zane, one of many former radio hosts who’ve made the transition to podcasting. They talk about how he made that switch, the stumbles he made along the way, and which avenues for support have been the most successful for him. They also dive into his storied radio career in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he still lives. Listen on your favourite podcast app or here:

SIGN OFFS:

Jean de Grandpré, 100, on July 31. Instrumental in transforming the telecommunications industry in Canada, de Grandpré joined Bell in 1966 as General Counsel, going on to hold progressively senior leadership roles. He was appointed CEO and Chair of the Board in 1976 and played a key role in the creation of Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) in 1983, guiding Bell through a transformative period that included the launch of mobile phone services, the introduction of fibre optic technology and the rise of personal computers. The creation of BCE allowed the company to be active not only in communications, but also in the natural gas, petroleum, printing and commercial real estate sectors. In 1985, BCE became the first Canadian corporation to break the billion-dollar barrier in profits. de Grandpré was a Companion of the Order of Canada, Chancellor Emeritus of McGill University, a lifetime member of the Canadian Bar Association and a member of the Bar of Québec. He was inducted into the Academy of Great Montrealers in the Economic category in 1987 and was named a Commander of the Ordre de Montréal in 2016. His biography, L’héritage d’un géant, was published in 2019.

Jeff Allan Galbraith, after a battle with ALS, on July 31. Born in Port Colborne, Allan grew up in London, ON and attended university in Buffalo, London and Toronto, before starting his radio career in 1987 at Q107 (CILQ-FM) Toronto. He went on to work in morning radio in Owen Sound, London and Winnipeg, before landing at Regina’s 104.9 The Wolf (CFWF-FM) where “The Bill and Jeff” show was born in 1997, which Allan co-hosted alongside Bill Toffan. Allan went on to work for 106.9 The Bear (CKQB-FM) Ottawa and later 570 News (Now CityNews 570) where he hosted weekday talk show, “The Jeff Allan Show”, which was also simulcast on Rogers TV Cable 20. Allan was a proud member of the Royal Canadian Legion – Branch 530 in Waterloo and an avid war history buff, serving as Master of Ceremonies at many Remembrance Day events. He was among those awarded a Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Medal in 2012, marking the 60th Anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne.

Janet Wright, 84, on July 28. Prior to emigrating to Canada, Wright attended the Central School of Speech and Drama in London where she studied stage management, going on to work for Granada in Manchester and the BBC in Glasgow. She left England for Ottawa in 1966 where she joined Budge Crawley’s Crawley Films as a producer. She signed on with the CBC a year later, going on to a more than 30-year career with the public broadcaster. Wright held roles from producer and director to television host, working on shows including Scene from Here, Country Report, Switchback, and Rockburn & Company. She also served as Senior Producer of Ottawa’s Newsday. 

Melvin “Mel” Hoppenheim, 84, on July 27. After quitting school at 17 to help support his family, Hoppenheim earned his high school certificate studying at night at Sir George Williams University. His career in the film industry began with providing cameras and equipment to Montreal cinematographers. He founded Panavision in Montreal in 1965 and established offices in Toronto and Vancouver in the 1970s. Hoppenheim acquired the historic Theatre Expo de la Cité du Havre in 1988 and created Mel’s Cité du Cinéma (now MELS), one of the most modern facilities available to Canadian film and television producers at the time. In 1997, Hoppenheim made a $1 million donation to Concordia University to support student film development in the Faculty of Fine Arts. The department was subsequently renamed the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. He also co-founded the National Institute College of Image and Sound (INIS), a private school aimed at developing writers, directors and producers. In 2012, the Montreal World Film Festival paid tribute to Hoppenheim by giving him a Special Grand Prix of the Americas, in recognition of his career. He was  awarded the Order of Canada in 2015 for his contributions to the vitality of movie-making in Canada and for his support of a wide variety of educational and community organizations, including sitting on the boards of Montréal Children’s Hospital and the Montréal Heart Institute Foundation. 

Jackie Gioconda Pagliarello, 58, on June 8. Pagliarello had a 35-year career with the public broadcaster, starting in 1987 as an Associate Director for English regional news. She went on to work as a Director on programs including CBC Ottawa NewsDay and NewsDay Final, in addition to working as an Associate Director on Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts for over a decade. Pagliarello was additionally part of the Ottawa team that established the initial CBC Newsworld bureau in the Capital Region. Fluent in four languages, she also joined the broadcast team for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy.

 

TV & FILM:

Blink49 Studios, the Endeavour Content-backed content venture founded by former eOne executives John Morayniss, Patrice Theroux, Jeff Lynas and Nelson Kuo-Lee last fall, is adding an unscripted arm to develop a slate of non-fiction entertainment. Targeting the Canadian and international marketplace, the new division will be led by former eOne execs Toby Dormer, Executive Vice President, Unscripted Television, with Allison Brough named Vice President, Unscripted Television. Based in Vancouver, Dormer will report to CEO John Morayniss and oversee development, production and strategy across the new division. Reporting to Dormer and based in Toronto, Brough will helm the creation aspects of the studio’s unscripted portfolio. Dormer has most recently served as Executive Vice President, Unscripted, Canada, at eOne overseeing programming including Project Bakeover (Food Network), Arctic Vets (CBC/NatGeo), Hunt for the Chicago Strangler (Discovery+), and Border Security (Netflix/Global). Brough was Vice President of Development, Unscripted Television & Head of Podcast Network for eOne, responsible for bringing a “podcast to broadcast” model to life in addition to managing a slate of unscripted television including forthcoming Canadaland collaboration, Thunder Bay (CTV/Crave). Read more here.

Cinesite has announced it’s acquired a majority stake in animation and mocap (motion capture) studio Squeeze, located in Quebec City and Montreal. The studio has a creative team of more than 200 artists and technical experts. Co-founded in 2011 by Denis Doré and Patrick Beaulieu and joined by current CFO François Houde in 2014, Squeeze clients include Disney, Marvel, Universal, Illumination, Supercell, Warner Bros. and Ubisoft. Cinesite says the move will allow it to increase its animation content and service offerings for international markets while bringing mocap and Unreal capabilities into the group to service video game and film productions. Squeeze is the fifth studio to join the independently-owned Cinesite group following Image Engine in 2015, Nitrogen Studios (renamed Cinesite Vancouver) in 2017, German VFX studio Trixter in 2018, and most recently L’Atelier Animation last month. Squeeze will retain its brand and creative centre, with its 200 staff to continue to work under the leadership of Doré and Houde. With this partnership, Cinesite now employees more than 780 animation staff across Canada. Read more here.

Boat Rocker will produce and distribute the latest instalment of the Orphan Black franchise, Orphan Black: Echoes. AMC Networks has announced Krysten Ritter (Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Love and Death, Breaking Bad) as the series’ star and executive producer. Set to debut in 2023, Orphan Black: Echoes will have a 10-episode first season. Set in the near future, the series is described as “a deep dive into the exploration of the scientific manipulation of human existence.” Anna Fishko (Pieces of Her, The Society, Fear the Walking Dead) is creator, writer, showrunner and executive producer, with John Fawcett, the co-creator of the original series who also directed 17 episodes across all five seasons, signed on as director and executive producer. David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, executive producers from Boat Rocker on the original Orphan Black series, return as executive producers on the new series. Katie O’Connell Marsh, Nick Nantell, and Kerry Appleyard will also executive produce for Boat Rocker.

CBC Sports will bring Canadians coverage of the Mixed Doubles Super Series, the next evolution in the sport of curling. Kicking off in Ottawa, Sept. 29 – Oct. 2, the Mixed Doubles Super Series will bring together some of Canada’s top curlers for five events over five weekends. CBC Sports will provide live streaming coverage across its platforms, including CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca and the CBC Sports app. The first four events will be preliminary competitions, consisting of 32 teams from around the world competing in pool play. The final event, Dec. 16-18, in Brantford, ON will be the Super Series Championship, featuring a 24-team triple-knockout format. 

Niagara College Broadcasting – Radio, Television, and Film Production students will helm a new streaming platform set to broadcast more than 1,000 hours of live coverage from the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games, Aug. 6-21. Over 90% of scheduled competitions, across 18 different sports, will be available for free streaming at niagara2022games.ca/watch, with select events including commentary in English and French. On-demand content will feature archived events, highlights and a daily highlight show. Another 100+ hours will stream on CBCSports.ca,CBC Gem and Radio-Canada Sports. Niagara College is responsible for management and oversight of the full digital production. Read more here.

Sportsnet will deliver coverage of the 2022 National Bank Open presented by Rogers, Aug. 8-14, across Sportsnet, Sportsnet ONE, and Sportsnet 360, and via live stream on SN NOW. Live coverage begins Monday, Aug. 8 at 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT as the women battle it out on the Toronto hardcourt and the men go for straight sets in Montreal. The broadcast team include daytime host Danielle Michaud, joined by former national tennis coach Robert Bettauer and Canadian doubles player Sharon Fichman. In primetime, Brad Fay anchors the evening coverage with former Canadian professional player Jesse Levine.

Makeful spotlights Britain’s rich heritage of traditional crafts with The Prince’s Master Crafters: The Next Generation (7×60’). Hosted by comedian and artist Jim Moir, the series follows six amateur craftspeople as they learn Heritage Crafts skills crucial to the preservation of landmark buildings, taking on a variety of crafting challenges before creating a final showcase piece to present to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. The Canadian broadcast premiere of The Prince’s Master Crafters: The Next Generation airs Aug. 10 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Makeful.

Hollywood Suite’s Cinema A to Z: Books, is the first in a series of hour-long episodes that explore common themes through a selection of expertly curated movies. Premiering Aug. 21 at 9 p.m. ET, viewers can also catch the show on Hollywood Suite On Demand, starting Aug. 1. Titles explored will include Pride and Prejudice (1940, 2005), In Cold Blood (1967), Remains of the Day (1993), The English Patient (1996), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) and Silver Linings Playbook (2012). Cinema A to Z will continue this fall with a horror-themed episode featuring the greatest monsters in movie history that will tie into Hollywood Suite’s Shocktober programming lineup. Cinema A to Z: Monsters will be available on Hollywood Suite On Demand, starting Oct. 1.

toober, the Toronto-based live television app designed to connect viewers to specialty television from around the world, has launched eight new channels: Euronews Spanish, Euronews Portuguese, Euronews German, Euronews Greek, Euronews Russian, Euronews Hungarian, Euronews Italian, and Pulse TV, an English-language music video entertainment channel. All channels on the platform are available to every subscriber. toober is available in Canada on Rogers, Shaw, Videotron, Apple TV, Google TV Playstore, and Roku and will be launching globally, and on additional platforms, later this year. 

ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:

Meta has begun telling its U.S. news partners that the company no longer plans to pay publishers to link to their content under Facebook’s “News” tab, according to an Axios report. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Meta is shifting resources away from news to support more “creative” initiatives. While the company had signed roughly $105 million USD in publishing deals since 2019 to direct traffic to its News tab and another $90M on news video content for its “Watch” offering, Facebook told Axios that people aren’t coming to the platform for news “and as a business it doesn’t make sense to over-invest in areas that don’t align with user preferences.”

REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:

The RCMP Cybercrime Investigative Team has charged five Toronto individuals with unlawfully distributing Internet Protocol television (IPTV). The investigation, dubbed Project OLoki, began in January 2020, focused on what police say was a “large-scale” unlawful IPTV distribution service. It’s alleged the group purchased legitimate media services from several companies and unlawfully distributed it, without authorization, at a considerable discount to the public. On June 29, 2021, the Cybercrime Team executed a search warrant on a retail location of GaloTV, (also known as Soltv). The search warrant resulted in the seizure of a large number of set top boxes and hundreds of TV receivers and equipment used to re-broadcast video signals. The five individuals charged with Fraud over $5,000, Theft of Telecommunication Services, and Selling or Distributing a device to obtain Telecommunication service without payment of a lawful charge, are Manuel Da Rocha, 67;  Carlos Da Rocha, 29; Carla Da Rocha, 29; Carlos Lopes, 48; and Elvis Da Rocha, 37. 

Unifor has filed an Unfair Labour Practice complaint with the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) and alerted the federal government to what it says are repeated attempts by Bell to undermine workers’ bargaining power with requests for scab labour. The union says in two separate emails to all Clerical staff, Bell’s senior management made requests for staff to work during a potential upcoming labour dispute. The union filed a complaint with the CIRB on July 26 and notified federal Labour Min. Seamus O’Regan. Bell Clerical members voted in favour of strike action on June 21, with workers seeking a pay increase, continued work-from-home conditions, and an enforceable floor of employment in the bargaining unit to combat downsizing, contracting out and other forms of erosion. Approximately 4,200 workers in the clerical bargaining unit perform clerical and other duties, living and working across Ontario and Quebec.

Stingray has reported its Q1 2023 results. Revenues increased $13.8 million, or 21.6%, to $78.1 million in Q1, from $64.3 million in Q1 2022. The increase was primarily due the acquisition of InStore Audio Network, growth in Radio revenues due to the gradual easing of COVID-19 restrictions, higher subscription revenues, and enhanced equipment and installation sales related to digital signage. For the quarter, revenues in Canada increased $5.2 million, or 12.9%, to $46.6 million. Revenues in the U.S. improved $9.3 million, or 94.6%, to $19.1 million in Q1 2023 from $9.8 million in the same period in 2022. Revenue in other countries decreased $0.7 million, or 5.5%, to $12.4 million in Q1 2023 from $13.1 million in Q1 2022. Total Broadcasting and Commercial Music revenues grew $11.1 million, or 31.7%, to $46.2 million in Q1 2023. Radio revenues improved $2.8 million, or 9.5%, to $32.0 million in Q1 2023 from $29.2 million in the same period in 2022, attributed to a post-COVID return to normal commercial operations.

TVA Group recorded revenues in the amount of $147.5 million in the second quarter of 2022, a year-over-year decrease of $12.0 million. Among the Q2 highlights, $149,000 in negative adjusted EBITDA was recorded in the Broadcasting segment, a $6,433,000 unfavourable variance resulting largely from the decreased profitability of TVA Network, which continued its content investment strategy, partially offset by the improved profitability of TVA Sports, which absorbed significant content costs in the second quarter of 2021 as a result of the change in the 2020-21 NHL season schedule. $2,172,000 in adjusted EBITDA was reported in the Film Production & Audiovisual Services segment (MELS), a $1,741,000 unfavourable variance caused by decreased profitability of visual effects services and soundstage, mobile and equipment rentals, while post-production posted an increase in profitability. $489,000 in negative adjusted EBITDA was recorded in the Production & Distribution segment, an unfavourable variance of $2,496,000, reflecting fewer film deliveries produced by Incendo during the period, compared with the same period of 2021.

BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING NEWS:

The 74th Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy Awards have announced this year’s honourees for developments in broadcast technology. Recipients to be recognized include Dr. Paul E. Debevec, winner of the Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award, for his groundbreaking work in high dynamic range imaging, image-based lighting and photogrammetry, essential techniques used in computer graphics for VFX and Virtual Production; and ARRI, awarded the Philo T. Farnsworth Corporate Achievement Award for more than a century of designing and manufacturing camera and lighting systems as well as systemic technological solutions and service networks for a worldwide complex of film, broadcast and media industries. Seven Engineering Emmys will also be presented. The winners are Mark Hills and Marc Bakos for the Cleanfeed remote audio review/recording system; disguise Systems for the disguise platform, an advancement in image processing that incorporates elements of video playback and real-time technology to improve interaction between computer graphic elements, digital images and environments, physical actors, props, and practical sets; Industrial Light & Magic for the StageCraft virtual production tool suite; Geoffrey Crawshaw and William Brinkley for the Leostream remote access software; Shure for the Axient Digital wireless audio system; Sohonet for the ClearView Pivot remote collaboration tool, allowing the user to stream colour and frame-accurate footage in 4K HDR, 12-bit color depth and 4:4:4 chroma sampling in real time with ultra-low latency; and Stype Cajic, Andrija Cajic, Daniel Kruselj and Ivica Antolkovic for the stYpe suite of optical/camera tracking tools.

Inovonics is changing ownership as Jim Wood steps down after 50 years and passes the torch to CEO Ben Barber. Wood founded the broadcast equipment provider in 1972 and managed Inovonics until 2006 when he passed day-to-day operations over to Barber, who was elevated to President & CEO in 2012. At age 80, Wood has made the decision to formally retire. Based in Felton, California, Inovonics specializes in high quality audio processors, RDS encoders, AM/FM modulation monitors, and off-air monitoring equipment for AM/FM/HD/RDS/Internet Radio.

Dejero will introduce its new EnGo 3 and EnGo 3x 5G mobile transmitters with integrated internet gateway at IBC 2022, Sept. 9-13, along with its new WayPoint 3 receiver. The EnGo 3 and EnGo 3x transmitters are designed with brand new RF and 4×4 MIMO antenna architecture, quadrupling the number of antennas per modem and offering wider support of cellular bands used by carriers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, China, Korea, and Latin America. The new WayPoint 3 makes its debut at IBC. It can receive video in resolutions up to 4K UHD and can simultaneously output up to four feeds from the same receiver; two 4K UHD and two HD (or lower resolution), one 4K UHD and three HD (or lower resolution), or four HD (or lower resolution).

Leica Camera AG is positioning itself more strongly in the Laser TV equipment segment as part of its strategic growth strategy. The company has struck a deal with television manufacturer Hisense to further develop Laser TV for home cinema applications. The aim of the long-term partnership is to combine Hisense’s technologies in the Laser TV segment with Leica’s long-standing expertise in the development and manufacture of high-quality projection lenses to create a future-proof technology platform for short-distance Laser TV. Leica Camera AG will present its first own Laser TV, Leica Cine 1, at IFA (Sept. 2-6) in Berlin.