The Broadcast Dialogue team is deeply saddened to report the passing of our founder and longtime broadcaster, Howard Christensen, at the age of 80 following a long illness.
“Howard Christensen was the north star for all of us who work in the Canadian broadcast industry,” said Shawn Smith, Publisher, Broadcast Dialogue. “Through Broadcast Dialogue, he kept us informed and current, fostering a community of professionals from coast to coast – starting at a time before the internet, FaceTime, and social media. Meticulous, passionate, and endlessly funny, Howard will be greatly missed. His legacy will last long into the future. Our love and condolences go out to Ingrid and family.”
Read more in this week’s Sign Offs column or here.
REVOLVING DOOR:
Fiona Forbes, a producer and contributor to Global BC’s The Morning Show for the last two and a half years, and online journalist Simon Little, who’d been with Global News since 2018, are among the 45 Unifor members in Alberta and B.C. who’ve been subjected to layoffs. Corus Entertainment has confirmed this round – which included 26 journalists – is part of efforts to create “a more sustainable future for the company and our News division.” Read more here.
Linda Olsen is joining the weekend lineup on Corus Radio’s QR Calgary (CHQR-FM). Starting Saturday, Sept. 20, the former Global News Calgary anchor will host The Spotlight Hour, promising to “shine a light on the people, places, and stories that make the city of Calgary so unique, featuring in-depth interviews, and conversation around what’s happening today.” Airing at 9 a.m. MT, Olsen returns to the airwaves after retiring from the anchor desk in August 2024.
Phil Johnson is stepping back from the morning show on Kelowna’s AM1150 (CKFR-AM) after 20 years helping Okanagan listeners start their day and 55 years in broadcasting. Johnson, 76, will continue to be part of AM1150 and Vista Radio with a new weekly program, along with commentaries and special features. His final morning show will air on Oct. 3.
Ethan Morneau has joined CTV National News as a National Digital Producer, based in Toronto. He arrives from CHEK News Victoria, where he was a Digital News Editor and Multimedia Journalist for the last three years. Prior to that, he was a reporter at Victoria Buzz and a reporter/anchor and host at Vista Radio in Campbell River.
Leslie Roberts will seek the Montreal city council seat of Peter-McGill as a candidate for Ensemble Montréal. Roberts signed off from 580 CFRA and CTV Ottawa in May 2022, citing a desire to be closer to family in Montreal. He has most recently been contributing as a freelance columnist for the National Post and Montreal Gazette.
Veronica Saluzzi has been promoted at FORTÉ Entertainment to Vice President of Development, while Kelsey Espensen joins the company as Development Producer. Saluzzi has been with FORTÉ since 2020. In her new role, she’ll continue to spearhead strategic development of original content and formats. Espensen was formerly Senior Director of Unscripted Entertainment at Blue Ant Media, where she developed formats including Race Against The Tide, Best in Miniature, A Cut Above, and most recently Drink Masters for Netflix. She began her career as an on-air radio reporter at Blackburn Radio’s 101.7 The One (CKNX-FM) Wingham, ON.
Ryan Cole has joined the Board of Directors of TVO Media Education Group (TVO), alongside the reappointment of Board Chair Chris Day and Stephanie Lu. Cole, vice-president of public affairs firm Policy Concepts, will serve on the board through June 2027.
RADIO & PODCAST:
Bell Media and iHeartMedia have announced a long-term extension of their partnership on digital listening platform, iHeartRadio Canada. The renewal builds on a decade of collaboration, following iHeartRadio Canada’s launch in 2016, with the streaming app growing to include more than 360 licensed Canadian radio stations across 170 markets. As part of the partnership extension, Bell Media will represent iHeartRadio’s podcast portfolio in Canada to advertisers. The app has also rolled out a slate of enhanced features. Read more here.
The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) celebrated the 43nd annual CCMA Awards over the weekend in Kelowna, with Edmonton’s CFCW claiming the Radio Station of the Year (Large Market) honour for a second year in a row and the fifth time in the last decade. The Medium / Small Market prize was also won by a Stingray Radio station, New Country 100.7 (CIGV-FM) Kelowna. iHeartRadio Canada network show, the Pure Country Top 50 Countdown, captured Country Music Program, Special, or Digital Feature of the Year, with Central Ontario’s Pure Country 106 (CICX-FM) Orillia personality Jason McCoy capturing Country Personality of the Year. Read more here.
Noeline Hofmann gave the performance of a lifetime at Country Music Week 2025, securing the title of 2025 SiriusXM Top of the Country champion and taking home the $25,000 grand prize. The event, presented in partnership with the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA), aired live on Top of the Country Radio (Ch. 171), with each of the three finalists performing before a live audience and panel of industry judges. Hofmann takes the $25,000 grand prize, while runners-up Sully Burrows and Jake Vaadeland each received $10,000.
SiriusXM Canada has announced the return of SiriusXM Music Town, a national program that brings a top Canadian act to a town not typically on the concert circuit. Canadians can nominate their community for a chance to win a live show featuring JUNO Award-winning band The Beaches. The eight towns with the best nominations will be named finalists, with one lucky town to ultimately be crowned 2025 SiriusXM Music Town and host a live gig this fall.
Signal Hill Insights has released a preview of the 2025 Canadian Podcast Listener (CPL) study ahead of its December release. Early data indicates Canadian podcast consumption has reached an all-time high, with the monthly podcast audience growing 19% year-over-year, now comprising 46% of the population, A18+. Based on a survey of more than 4,600 Canadian adults, it shows a 16% increase in weekly listening, a habit shared by a third of adult Canadians. Listening among French Canadians has also rebounded following a decline in 2024, with a third of French speakers (33%) now reporting having consumed a podcast in the last month. Read more here.
Corus Entertainment’s Curiouscast podcast network has once again teamed with Blanchard House to launch its latest original series, Stop Rewind: The Lost Boy. The 10-part true story unravels the mystery of Taj Khyber Rowland, who grew up as an American citizen and member of the Mormon Church in Utah, after being abducted from his family and sold into adoption. Narrated by journalist Emma Jane Kirby, Stop Rewind: The Lost Boy is Curiouscast’s third podcast in partnership with Blanchard House, joining the award-winning Black and Blue: Behind the Badge, and A Most Audacious Heist.
LISTEN: Damian Rickards is on the Sound Off Podcast. A second generation radio broadcaster who has spent over 25 years navigating his way across the country – from his early days at Mix 99 to pioneering urban radio at Flow 93.5 in Toronto and Vibe 98.5 in Calgary. Rickards shares insider stories of radio’s evolution, discussing his journey through multiple markets, while highlighting the challenges of syndication and maintaining local relevance.
SIGN OFFS:
Beverly Thomson, 61, on Sept. 14. Thomson’s 30-year career as a journalist started in radio news in Newmarket, ON and 680 CFTR, before she arrived at CFTO Toronto as a reporter and weekend anchor. From there, she moved over to Global News Toronto as the weeknight, supper-hour anchor from 1997 to 2003. It was that year, that she received her initial breast cancer diagnosis, which she covered in the documentary, “Where There Is No Fear,” becoming an official spokesperson for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Thomson returned to CTV in late 2003 as host of Canada AM, while still undergoing chemotherapy. After a 13-run year with the morning show, she landed on the anchor desk at CTV News Channel in 2016, following Canada AM’s cancellation. In 2019, Thomson was named a Member of the Order of Canada. She received Seneca College’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2000 and was the 2006 recipient of the Humanitarian Award from the Gemini Awards (now Canadian Screen Awards). In 2024, she was recognized with an RTDNA National Lifetime Achievement Award. Read more here.
Howard Christensen, 80, on Sept. 11. Christensen’s career as an anchor, editor and reporter started at CHAM Hamilton in 1972, with stops at CKJD Sarnia, CHYM Kitchener, CHUM Toronto, CJAD Montreal, and CKVR-TV Barrie to follow. He joined the Broadcast News (BN) wire service in Toronto as a reporter/editor in 1977. When network newscasts were launched, Christensen was one of the six original newscasters who helped take BN into a new era of Canadian news audio delivery. In 1981, he was promoted to General Executive – Eastern Canada with responsibility for all Canadian radio and TV stations east of the Ontario/Manitoba border. In 1989, the entrepreneurial bug bit. He started by writing, producing, and voicing corporate videos and designing company newsletters. Recognizing a lack of timeliness in the dissemination of broadcast industry news, Christensen launched Broadcast Dialogue in May 1992, initially sent out weekly by fax every Thursday morning. Following the announcement of his retirement in 2016, the publication was acquired by publisher Shawn Smith, President of Vancouver-based Momentum Media Marketing. Over the years, Christensen was honoured with “Friend of the Industry” awards from the Atlantic Association of Broadcasters, the Central Canada Broadcasters Association (now the OAB), the Western Association of Broadcasters (WAB) and the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters (BCAB), Radio-Television News Directors Association (now RTDNA), Central Canada Broadcast Engineers (CCBE) and the Western Association of Broadcast Engineers (WABE). In 2020, Broadcast Dialogue dubbed its new Canadian Radio Awards program “The Howards” to honour the publication’s founder. Read more here.
TV & FILM:
The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards saw several Canadians recognized, including the producing team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, with their AppleTV+ series The Studio picking up 13 awards. HBO medical drama The Pitt, created by Canadian-American TV writer/producer R. Scott Gemmill, won five awards overall, counting its Creative Arts Emmys recognizing technical achievement.
The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) has unveiled the TV nominees for the 24th annual DGC Awards, set to be held in Toronto on Nov. 8. Leading the TV nominees – which include Television Series, Movies for Television and Mini-Series – is North of North, which garnered nods for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series for Danis Goulet, Best Production Design – Comedy or Family Series for Andrew Berry, Best Picture Editing – Comedy or Family Series for Marianna Khoury & Sam Thomson, and Best Sound Editing – Comedy or Family Series for Mark Dejczakiwskyj, Ed Douglas, Brent Pickett, Jean Bot, Rob Hegedus. Other series with multiple nominations include The Handmaid’s Tale, Dino Dex, The Office Movers, Cross, Ruby and the Well, Bet, Children Ruin Everything, in addition to TV movie If I Go Missing. Read more here.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is making key changes to eligibility for the Canadian Screen Awards. Beginning in 2026, individuals must be a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada to be eligible for an award. There will also be the introduction of several new “Spotlight” categories in 2026, designed to award Canadian directors, writers, performers and producers who work on international television series made and broadcast in Canada. These new categories are: Spotlight Award for Best Series, Spotlight Award for Best Direction, Spotlight Award for Best Writing, and Spotlight Award for Best Performance. Additionally, Achievement in Cinematography will be presented by the Paul Bronfman Family Foundation and come with a $25,000 prize.
The CRTC has approved Anthem Entertainment’s purchase of Hollywood Suite and its four movie channels. Originally announced last September, the transaction is valued at $49.5 million, according to the CRTC decision.
CTV has rebranded its morning shows from CTV Morning Live to CTV Your Morning as of this week. Previously teased in its 2025/26 schedule announcement earlier in the summer, all versions of the show will continue to air weekdays from 6 – 9 a.m. As of Monday, each local broadcast has evolved into CTV Your Morning Vancouver, CTV Your Morning Calgary, CTV Your Morning Edmonton, CTV Your Morning Saskatchewan, CTV Your Morning Winnipeg, CTV Your Morning Ottawa and CTV Your Morning Atlantic. The national version of the show will continue to serve its audience on CTV East (Ontario, Quebec, Atlantic) and CTV News Channel. Read more here.
CTV News Montreal has unveiled a new virtual reality set for its local newscasts – a first for the network – as the newsroom rebuilds following devastating flooding last summer. Located in Montreal’s Ville-Marie borough, a major water main break on René-Lévesque Boulevard and de Lorimier Avenue on Aug. 16, 2024 sent a deluge of water into homes and business in the area, including Bell Media’s offices where CTV, RDS, Noovo, Rouge FM (CITE-FM), Energie (CKMF-FM), CJAD, CHOM, Virgin Radio (CJFM-FM) and TSN Radio (CKGM-FM) were impacted as control panels and other equipment were destroyed. A little more than a year later, CTV is introducing its new virtual studio environment, following the debut of a similar set last year by Bell Media French-language news channel, Noovo Info. Read more here.
APTN, CBC/Radio-Canada and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) are once again partnering to produce Remembering the Children: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept 30. Hosted by Earl Wood and Melissa Molen Dupuis, the multilingual event will encompass reflections from survivors and performances by First Nations, Inuit and Métis artists including the Eagle River Drum Group, DeeDee Austin, Burnstick, Julian Taylor and Susan Aglukark. The 90-minute live event will be presented in English, French and Plains Cree and take place on Parliament Hill beginning at 3 p.m. ET, made available to all Canadian broadcasters.
The Good Canadian premieres on CBC and APTN on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30. The documentary – from First Nations filmmaker Leena Minifie (Bones of Crows, Lily Gladstone: Far Out There) and Academy Award-nominated director David Paperny (The Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter) – features Canadians who have worked in systems that perpetuate socioeconomic inequities, tracing the impact of racism and racist policies on Indigenous communities and present-day child welfare, health care, justice and education systems.
Roku’s sixth annual Video on Demand (VOD) Evolution Study indicates Canadians’ time spent with ad-supported content skyrocketed over the past year, jumping from 7.3 hours a week in 2024 to 10.2 hours a week in 2025. The report credits ongoing demands on household spending, and a wider variety of programming available, for more Canadians choosing Free-Ad-Supported Streaming (FAST) channels, specifically, as their go-to entertainment. Read more here.
The International South Asian Film Festival (iSAFF) will host its milestone 15th edition, Sept. 24-28 in Surrey, BC. As part of its 15th anniversary, iSAFF will introduce the Deepa Mehta Legacy Award, named for the Academy Award–nominated filmmaker, celebrating her enduring contributions to cinema and role in inspiring future generations of artists. Mehta will be in attendance to accept the honour.
MADE | NOUS cross-country tour “Stories That MADE Us,” which launched in Vancouver in July, now officially includes Prime Minister Mark Carney talking about the Canadian film and TV shows that have personally impacted him. The effort, led by veteran broadcaster George Stroumboulopoulos, and driven by Telefilm Canada and the Canada Media Fund (CMF), recently concluded on the opening night of TIFF, setting the stage for a content series launch in October. Read more here.
ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:
Bell Media has announced a cross-platform collaboration with former BNN Bloomberg anchor Jon Erlichman and his creator-driven financial news platform, Ticker Take. Erlichman stepped away from his anchor role last September to embark on the entrepreneurial journey. Since last October, Ticker Take has generated more than 2 billion views across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. As part of the new partnership with Bell Media, Ticker Take content will be distributed across its digital platforms, including BNN Bloomberg’s YouTube channel, TikTok and the iHeartRadio Canada website and app. Erlichman also continues as a regular contributor to BNN Bloomberg, both as a commentator and fill-in anchor. He’ll additionally share his insights on financial literacy and investing in weekly articles on the BNN Bloomberg website. Read more here.
CosmoBlue Media has officially launched CosmoGO’s TVOD (Transactional Video On Demand) service in Canada transforming what was formerly known as Cineplex Store. The new platform delivers the latest movies and series, featuring a library of over 10,000 titles, debuting in Canada with a refreshed interface and improved discovery features. CosmoGO says additional services will roll out in the coming months, including SVOD (Subscription Video On Demand), PPV (pay-per-view), and AVOD (Advertising-based Video On Demand). CosmoBlue Media says its expansion into Canada is part of a larger global strategy, building on a content portfolio that spans 250M+ households in over 100 countries.
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
The CRTC’s public hearing examining the creation, distribution and discoverability of Canadian and Indigenous audio content across radio and online streaming platforms gets underway Thursday. The hearing will inform the CRTC’s work to update the definition of Canadian content for audio services to help ensure that content is made, shared, and discovered on all platforms. It will also examine how traditional broadcasters and audio streaming services can best contribute to a sustainable broadcasting system. Set to continue on select dates through Sept. 29, those appearing include Stingray Radio, CBC/Radio-Canada, Vista Radio, Rogers Sports & Media, Corus Entertainment, and Bell Media, among more than 50 parties on the agenda.
News Media Canada and the Community Media Coalition, represented by the Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC), have received confirmation from the Minister of Canadian Heritage to serve as Initial Recipients for the Local Journalism Initiative. The 2025-27 initiative will see the process streamlined, with CFRC to distribute to ethnic media, and community radio and TV stations, including Indigenous community outlets. News Media Canada will distribute funds to English-language newspapers and online news services outside of Quebec, French-language newspapers and online news services in Quebec, as well as Indigenous news services. A third organization, the Consortium of Official Language Minority Community Media, will serve official language minority news media, as well as French-language community radio and television in Quebec. The Changing Narratives Fund stream is also being introduced, providing support to hire and train diverse journalists to increase their participation in the media sector.
Unifor’s Media Action Plan has launched its Fact Checked campaign with social media, TV and newspaper spots to bring attention to the fight against misinformation. The ads, featuring people spreading misinformation getting ‘fact-checked’ by hockey players, will be seen on major television stations in Canada, online, and in newspapers. The campaign aims to remind Canadians that news from a trusted news source is news that has been fact checked, reviewed, and verified.
Bell and Simon Fraser University (SFU) have announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on advancing Canada’s artificial intelligence (AI) and sovereign supercomputing ecosystem. Through the agreement, Bell and SFU will work to expand the Cedar Supercomputing Centre (CSC) located in Burnaby, BC, providing Canadian researchers and industry with computational resources to make groundbreaking discoveries and develop innovative solutions to pressing challenges. The MOU will also expand research opportunities for both SFU and Bell Canada by connecting the CSC with the future Bell AI Fabric site at Thompson Rivers University.
BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:
The SDVoE Alliance, a non-profit consortium of technology providers collaborating to standardize the adoption of Ethernet to transport AV signals in professional AV environments, has expanded the SDVoE Academy with two new education tracks, the SDVoE Video Basics Certification – a comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of video technology – and the SDVoE Networking Basics Certification – covering the fundamentals of Ethernet, switching, IP addressing, and other core networking concepts essential for designing and supporting high-performance AV networks. Participants who complete the courses are eligible to receive CTS RUs.
