REVOLVING DOOR:
Angela Reed has been upped to General Sales Manager for Durham Radio’s KX 94.7 (CHKX-FM) Hamilton, 92.9 The Grand (CHTG-FM) Haldimand, CKLK-FM Grimsby/Beamsville and WAVE.FM (Ontario stream). Reed has been working with the Durham Hamilton sales team for the past year as Sales Supervisor and with the company since 2018. She’ll continue overseeing retail sales as well as national business booked by Target Broadcast Sales for the cluster. Reed previously spent more than two decades in Toronto at CHUM-FM, and prior to that worked as Retail Sales Manager for CHAM Hamilton and CHOO Ajax.
Mike Lavallee has taken up a new role as Assistant Program Director for Corus Radio Ottawa, including JUMP! 106.9 (CKQB-FM) and boom 99.7 (CJOT-FM) [where he’ll also continue as Music Director], in addition to Corus Cornwall stations, 104.5 Fresh Radio (CFLG-FM) and boom 101.9 (CJSS-FM). Lavallee has been with Corus for the last 14 years.
And I’ll miss TV. Here’s one last signoff. pic.twitter.com/Z6ZISmsae5
— Andrew Brown (@browncbc) September 18, 2023
Andrew Brown is leaving CBC Calgary to move over to CBC London as host of London Morning. A former newspaper reporter, Andrew has been with CBC since early 2010 and with CBC Calgary since 2012 as an anchor and reporter.
Courtney Theriault is leaving his reporting position at CityNews Edmonton to join 630 CHED as the host of a new midday show, beginning Oct. 2. Airing noon – 2 p.m., the show promises to “zero in on all things Edmonton, bringing a keen eye and different point of view to listeners,” according to a Corus announcement.
Amil Delic has announced his departure from Sportsnet as Senior Production, Original Audio, after a decade with the network. Delic’s credits include original podcasts like 32 Thoughts, At The Letters, Inside Curling, and A Swing and a Belt, among other productions. He’s joining The Nation Network as Head of Original Production, Audio & Video.
Dustin Cook has joined CP24 Toronto as an assignment editor. Cook arrives from The Globe and Mail where he’s been covering politics for the past two years. Prior to that, he covered Edmonton City Hall for Postmedia.
Jeremie Charron is moving from CTV Ottawa to join the CTV National News’ Ottawa Bureau. Charron has been with Bell Media since 2016 when he started as an intern at CTV Ottawa. He’s since held roles as a videojournalist at CTV Winnipeg and producer at CTV Morning Live Ottawa, among other roles.
Colton Praill has delivered his final newscast on CTV Ottawa as he moves to CTV National News as a reporter. Praill has been with Bell Media Ottawa for the past three years, initially as a news writer and producer at 580 CFRA.
Brendan Ellis has signed on with CTV Calgary as a Digital Producer. Ellis formerly worked with CTV Regina as a Digital Content Producer, prior to taking a detour into marketing for the last eight months.
I am thrilled to announce my new role as COO of The Zia Group. We are home to a strong team of Doctors, Pharmacists and Medical Cosmetic staff with a focus on Women’s Health. Your well being is at the core of everything we do. pic.twitter.com/kBhlclapg5
— Ziyah Karmali (@ZiyahKarmali) September 18, 2023
Ziyah Karmali, who was with CTV Morning Live Edmonton, up until layoffs at Bell Media in June, has joined The Zia Group, a women’s health-focused team of doctors, pharmacists and medical cosmetic professionals. With clinics in Edmonton and Stony Plain, AB, Karmali will act as Chief Operations Officer (COO).
On this Terry Fox Day, it’s with a heavy heart that I’m sharing some personal news regarding my health. In early July, I found out I have an aggressive form of breast cancer: Triple positive, invasive ductal carcinoma. On August 14th, I started six months of chemotherapy to kick…
— Julie Nolin (@JulieNolinTV) September 18, 2023
Julie Nolin has revealed she’s been diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. She is continuing to work with Global BC, which she joined last fall from CTV Vancouver, as her health permits. Nolin most recently has been filling in on the weekend anchor desk.
Rachel Gilmore has joined the Centre for Media, Technology & Democracy at McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy in a research capacity. The centre, meanwhile, has issued a statement denouncing the former Global News reporter’s ongoing targeting by online trolls. “The misogynistic targeting of Rachel’s gender in the sustained online abuse she receives cannot go unnoticed. Nor can we ignore the escalation of Rachel’s online abuse spilling out into the real world, which has recently included stalking. We know from mounting evidence that women journalists face chilling abuse, both online and off, which is only intensified if they are Black, Indigenous, people of colour and/or members of the LGBTQ2+ community,” the centre wrote in a statement.
Katherine Singh has announced her departure from Refinery29 where she’s been a culture and entertainment writer since 2021. The former CBC Metro Morning pop culture columnist and assistant editor at Flare Magazine, plans to freelance.
Valéry Zamuner has been appointed Senior Vice-President and Chief Corporate Affairs and Legal Officer at Cogeco, effective Sept. 18. She will be based at the company’s head office in Montréal. Zamuner’s most recent roles include SVP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Alimentation Couche-Tard, and SVP of Mergers, Acquisitions & Strategic Initiatives for Stingray.
Jon Penn has been named Managing Director, Asia Pacific at Blue Ant Media as the company establishes a new Asia Pacific office based in Sydney, Australia. Reporting to Penn, Jason Soh has been appointed VP of Distribution, Asia, working out of Singapore. The Asia Pacific expansion aligns with the company’s recent announcement to merge production and distribution operations with marblemedia into one unified studio and rights business. Rounding out the team’s expansion, Nick Solowski, Senior Director, International Sales & Acquisitions, will continue his multi-region content sales responsibilities but will now report to Penn as it relates to business in China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Additionally, Morgan Jacobson is joining Penn’s team as Senior Specialist, Programming and Affiliate Marketing for APAC, relocating to Sydney from Love Nature’s Washington, DC office.
RADIO & PODCAST:
Wendy Boomer claimed the 2023 Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Country Personality of the Year honour, as the CCMA wrapped up Canadian Country Music Week in Hamilton with its annual awards shows recognizing industry talent. Boomer serves as the National Music Director for Rogers Sports & Media’s Country radio network, as well as Assistant Program Director at Country 92.3 (CKBY-FM) Smiths Falls/Ottawa. In addition to hosting afternoons on Country 92.3, she also helms hour-long, national Canadian talent spotlight “Boomer’s Canadian Club.” Starboard Communications’ Cool 100.1 (CHCQ-FM) Belleville, ON secured Radio Station of the Year (Medium or Small Market), while Pattison Media’s JR Country (CJJR-FM) Vancouver won in the Large Market category. Read more here.
SiriusXM Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA), celebrated the end of the SiriusXM Top of the Country competition by crowning Hailey Benedict from St. Albert, AB as the 2023 winner. The finale of the country music showdown marked the official kickoff to Country Music Week 2023 and was broadcast live on Top of the Country Radio (ch. 171). Benedict walked away with the coveted title and a grand prize of $25,000. Runners-up Noah Derksen and Teigan Gayse each received $10,000.
Numeris’ summer 2023 listening insights indicate that Adults 25-54 tuning Country, Classical/Jazz, Modern Rock, and Classic Rock do more out-of-home (OOH) tuning than listeners of other formats. Sixty-five per cent of radio tuning with A25-54 was done outside the home between June and August with drive and daytime dayparts continuing to have the highest share of OOH tuning at 76% and 72%, respectively. Calgary (70%), Edmonton (72%) and Vancouver (76%) all saw an increase in OOH tuning, with Anglo Montreal experiencing the biggest lift, up six percentage points year-over-year. Live radio streaming maintained a 10% share of total AM/FM listening for summer 2023, A12+ (up 1% over summer 2022), and was at 12% for both the A18-34 and 25-54 demos.
The Echo Community Podcast Network has launched in North Bay, ON with an eye to introducing an “intentional, modern media model” to meet changing audience habits. The venture is being backed by Story Studio Network (SSN), the branded content production house co-founded by father-daughter broadcasters Dave and Erin Trafford, and Scott Clark, the owner of North Bay’s Clark Communications and a former morning radio personality. The network’s inaugural original podcast is the community and culture-focused To North Bay with Love, hosted by North Bay actress Lisa Boivin. Other offerings include The Frontline, the official podcast of local Ontario Hockey League (OHL) team, North Bay Battalion; and The Backroads Bill Podcast, exploring the history of the region. Echo has also launched Echo Essentials, a newsletter offering further insight into community news and events. Read more here.
Corus Entertainment’s Waterside Studios and its Curiouscast podcast network, have partnered with Boston-based Blanchard House to produce four podcasts, which will also be adapted for television. The first production under the partnership, Black and Blue: Behind The Badge, is a true crime podcast centered around the experiences of Black officers in law enforcement, set to launch Oct. 17. Read more here.
Curiouscast has announced its fall 2023 lineup of new and returning series, headlined by the premiere of a new show from Alan Cross that melds true crime and music history. Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry is set to debut Oct. 24, with new episodes to drop bi-weekly. The radio veteran and host of the Ongoing History of New Music podcast, dives into true stories of crime, murder, scandal and strange behaviour from inside the music industry. Q107 (CILQ-FM) Toronto morning show hosts Shawna Whalen, Ryan Parker and Johnny Garbutt join the Curiouscast podcast slate with Bad Parents (premiering Sept. 27). With seven kids between them, all under the age of 13, the show is billed as a chance to laugh and share parenting mistakes, comparing notes with celebrity parents. Curiouscast also picks up sports talk podcast, Homestand Sports, hosted by Albert Vartanian. Read more here.
CBC has unveiled its fall 2023 podcast and audio slate that includes the debut of new series exploring the disappearance of a gay rights activist in Syria, the children caught up in ISIS, and the unsolved murder of a Yukon high school student. Among other new series is Crime Story, hosted by veteran podcaster and investigative journalist Kathleen Goldhar, launching Oct. 16, which will dive into true crime investigations with the journalists behind the stories. Read more here.
Triton Digital has released its inaugural Canada Mid-Year Podcast Trends Report. According to the report, Canadians are listening to an average of three hours of podcast content per week, equating to an average 4.4 episodes weekly. Listening peaks Wednesday mornings between 10 a.m. and noon ET, with 92% of podcasts listened to on a mobile device. Dateline NBC leads the Top 5 most-listened to podcasts, followed by Wondery Network’s SmartLess, and CBC daily news podcast, Front Burner. audiochuck’s Crime Junkie and Wondery’s My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark round out the top five. Read more here.
The Edmonton Oil Kings have announced a new broadcast agreement with iHeartRadio Canada for the 2023-24 season, becoming the first sports team in Western Canada to have their own exclusive channel on the platform. This season, all 68 Oil Kings regular season games will be available to listen to through the newly-created “Oil Kings Radio” channel on iHeartRadio.ca and the iHeartRadio Canada app. Game broadcasts will begin and end with 15-minute pre-game and post-game shows. Oil Kings radio broadcaster Andrew Peard returns for his sixth season as play-by-play voice and will be joined on home broadcasts and select road games by longtime Oil Kings colour analyst Guy Flaming.
Rosalie Trombley was honoured in Windsor on Sunday morning with the official unveiling of a statue in her honour at the corner of Riverside Drive East and McDougall Street. The late CKLW music director, credited with breaking radio hits for many artists from the late 1960s through to the ‘80s, passed away in November 2021. Sculptor Donna Mayne created the statue with funding provided by the City of Windsor and support from St. Clair College. The Rosalie Trombley Commemorative Exhibition also opened to the public Sunday at the Chimczuk Museum in Windsor, featuring photos, awards, and memorabilia showcasing Trombley’s legacy.
Mike Kakuk and Lisa Williams celebrate 20 years of “Mike and Lisa on the Morning Drive” on AM 800 CKLW Windsor this Friday, Sept 22. The station is collecting listener memories on its website, culminating in a special broadcast Friday from 5 – 9 a.m.
Kat Callaghan has been featured in People Magazine, as the talent behind TikTok’s text-to-speech voice ventures into sleep stories with the Calm app. Callaghan, who is also one-half of the Scott & Kat Show on Corus Entertainment’s 91.5 The Beat (CKBT-FM) Kitchener and Energy 95.3 (CING-FM) Hamilton, has narrated Calm sleep story, Once Upon A TikTok Tale, which was released on Aug. 29.
94.3 ÉNERGIE (CKMF-FM) Montreal radio hosts Sébastien Trudel and Jason Rockman managed to prank former U.S. president Donald Trump earlier this month, convincing him he was on the phone with supporters Clint Eastwood and Georges St-Pierre. The co-hosts told Noovo Info they were stunned at how fast they were able to reach the former president.
Canadian Music Week (CMW) has announced the creation of the CMW Top 50 Music Industry Leaders list. Nominations close Oct. 20 with the list to be unveiled Dec. 4. The music industry is invited to self-nominate or nominate a staff member or colleague. Nominees must be Canadian citizens, a landed immigrant or resident. Canadians working around the globe are also eligible. The list will be determined after careful consideration of an individual’s accomplishments from the previous 12 months and may also include those not nominated, as decided by CMW by examining available data, including ticket sales, chart positions, streaming numbers, YouTube plays, social media breakthroughs, market share and other significant statistics. A leader can be a person in any music industry role who has been instrumental in the success of an artist or business. Only members of the music industry, or artists who also run a company with staff, will be considered. Find the nomination form here.
LISTEN: Stephen Keppler is the morning drive host at MOVE 101.5 (CILK-FM) Kelowna, in a region where wildfires have been wreaking havoc over the last few months. Keeping people informed and safe has become a huge part of Stephen’s job. He talks to Matt Cundill on the latest Sound Off Podcast about his humble origins as a radio-loving kid in Edmonton, his morning show roles, and of course, what it was like helping listeners avoid those raging wildfires.
OP-ED: “The need for accurate and timely information has never been greater,” writes Barry Rooke, Executive Director of the National Campus & Community Radio Association (NCRA), in his latest feature for Broadcast Dialogue. “In times of crisis, access to news is not a privilege but a necessity, and it’s high time that tech giants like Meta and governments recognize the immense responsibility they bear in ensuring the flow of vital information and capacity to those who need it most.” Read more here.
SIGN OFFS:
John Carlisle Stubbs, 74, on May 26. Stubbs started his broadcast career at CFQR-FM Montreal as a part-time radio operator in 1966. He went on to work with CFCF-AM as a commercial and sports producer for Montreal Expos baseball, Alouettes football and Canadiens hockey. He also freelanced as a producer for visiting baseball broadcasters. Stubbs eventually rose to the position of Operations Manager for both CFQR-FM and CFCF-AM, a position he held throughout much of the 1980s. He was made VP of Operations for parent company, Mount Royal Broadcasting in 1988. Stubbs moved to Toronto in 1994 and joined the National Broadcast Reading Service (NBRS), aiding in the creation of the first audio description device in Canada. He was also involved in the launch of Toronto Star TV, a broadcast studio in the Yonge St. newsroom. He went on to travel across Canada as a videographer for Kidney Cancer and Lung Cancer Canada. Leading up to retirement, Stubbs returned to his radio roots, helping launch 105.9 FM The Region (CFMS-FM) Markham in 2013 as Operations Manager, a position he held until 2019.
TV & FILM:
Canada Media Fund (CMF) says it’s embracing a future model that focuses on supporting creators and stories regardless of platform, following calls for change from the industry in how projects are funded. CMF says the proposed modernization is in line with its 2021 report, Spark Courage: What We Heard, with stakeholders voicing a need to build more capacity, enable innovation, and generate high-quality Canadian content across all platforms. CMF says in close collaboration with Canadian Heritage, program changes will include: new opportunities in program criteria to reflect the many ways content is created; a move away from the siloed approach of Convergent and Experimental streams; better alignment with the evolving market and regulations; and a renewed focus on financing all phases of audiovisual content across platforms. Read more here.
Canada Media Fund (CMF) has released New Futures for Canadian Content: What You Said, a collection of diverse viewpoints from over 2,800 industry professionals and the public. The culmination of a year-long research initiative, key takeaways of What You Said include: that industry professionals aspire to extend Canadian content beyond borders, emphasizing global resonance while preserving our distinct identity; a strong desire to move beyond being labeled as ‘Hollywood North’ to establish a unique, Canada-based identity that authentically represents our many cultures and communities; a call to amplify and prioritize Indigenous narratives, voices, and perspectives, distinct from Canadian content, as well as ensuring that francophone content does not get overshadowed in the global market; and flexibility in content creation, catering to international markets and niche genres.
The DGC Awards nominees for Feature Film, Documentary and Short Film have been announced, completing the full slate of nominations for the first DGC Awards Gala held in Toronto since 2019. The nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film are: Chloé Robichaud – Les Jours heureux (Days of Happiness); Clement Virgo – Brother; Sarah Polley – Women Talking; Brandon Cronenberg – Infinity Pool; and Molly McGlynn – Fitting In. Find the full list of nominees here. Winners will be revealed at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto on Saturday, Oct. 21.
Meredith Hama-Brown’s debut feature film Seagrass has won the International Film Critics Awards’ FIPRESCI Prize on the heels of its world premiere at TIFF. The award, which promotes film-art and new and young cinema, is selected by a jury of members of the Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique (FIPRESCI). Seagrass, which premiered to a sold out crowd Sept. 8 as a part of TIFF’s Discovery Programme, stars Ally Maki (Shortcomings) as Judith, a Japanese Canadian woman who brings her family to a self-development retreat after the recent death of her mother.
Shamier Anderson and Stephan James, alongside Insight Productions and CBC, have announced that WNBA superstar Kia Nurse is receiving the 2023 Legacy Athlete Award. Nurse joins previously announced Legacy Award honourees Jully Black, LU KALA, Julien Christian Lutz (pka Director X), and Tonya Williams. This year’s performers include Jackie Richardson & Thompson Egbo-Egbo in a special tribute to Oscar Peterson; Taaylee G, Tamir, YSN Fab, and Zach Zoya in a salute to “Northern Touch” and the 50th anniversary of hip-hop; Jully Black; and LU KALA. The Legacy Awards broadcast and stream live on CBC and CBC Gem on Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. ET.
This Hour Has 22 Minutes has welcomed Chris Wilson as a full-time cast member following three seasons as a featured performer and writer. Wilson joins the 2023 Canadian Screen Award-winning cast featuring Trent McClellan, Aba Amuquandoh, Stacey McGunnigle, and Mark Critch. The longest-running TV comedy series in Canadian history returns to CBC’s schedule Tuesday, Sept. 19 for its 31st season. A three time Canadian Comedy Award-winner, Wilson is known for his impressions of Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre, among dozens of other characters. He’s also an alumnus of the Second City Mainstage in Toronto and one half of sketch comedy duo Peter N’ Chris, who have performed at Just for Laughs, JFL42 and San Francisco Sketchfest.
CBC has greenlit a second season of time-bending original drama series PLAN B (6×60) from Quebec-based prodco KOTV. An adaptation of the popular French-language drama series of the same name (now in its fourth season on Radio-Canada), Season 2 will focus on a completely new story, starring Vinessa Antoine (Diggstown, Interrogation), Vincent Leclerc (lxe-13, The Revenant), and Sarah Booth (Three Pines, Heartland). A CBC original production, Jean-François Asselin, who co-created the original French-language series, directs and also co-writes with Celeste Parr on the English adaptation.
CTV has announced the cast for new original unscripted competition series The Traitors Canada, airing Mondays at 10 p.m., beginning Oct. 2. Hosted by actress Karine Vanasse (Cardinal), 20 contestants, a mix of famous faces and everyday Canadians, play the ultimate murder mystery game for a chance to win a cash prize of up to $100,000. Living in a historic manor in the Montréal area, the players compete in a series of missions with the goal of building and winning the cash prize fund, with the catch being that amongst the Faithful contestants are Traitors, who attempt to deceive, manipulate, and eliminate the Faithful. Among the cast are MuchMusic personality Rick Campanelli, drag performer Miss Fiercealicious (Canada’s Drag Race), MasterChef Canada contestant Mai Nguyen, and The Amazing Race Canada Season 2 winner Mickey Henry.
Crave Original series Bria Mack Gets A Life premieres Friday, Oct. 13. The six-episode, half-hour comedy is the vision of creator and showrunner Sasha Leigh Henry, who was named one of Variety’s “10 Canadians to watch” in 2022. Bria Mack Gets A Life follows a 25-year-old Black woman (Malaika Hennie- Hamadi) as she navigates adulthood in a predominantly white world, made all the more difficult, but also more tolerable by Black Attack (Hannan Younis), her invisible hype girl.
Sportsnet has announced the network’s regional NHL broadcast schedules, which get underway Oct. 11. Sportsnet will serve up national and regional coverage of all 82 Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks games this season, plus 56 exclusive national and regional Toronto Maple Leafs broadcasts, across all platforms throughout the 2023-24 campaign.
OneSoccer, the dedicated soccer channel operated by MEDIAPRO Canada, has renewed the media rights in Canada to the 2023-24 Concacaf Nations League, a national team tournament involving all 41 Concacaf Member Associations (North and Central America and the Caribbean). Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team is one of the four top seeds in the league and will enter the tournament at the Quarter Final stage in November, with home and away matches scheduled for Nov. 16-17 and 20-21. The deal marks the third consecutive season OneSoccer has acquired the rights to the pan-regional tournament.
OneSoccer will show live, exclusive coverage of the upcoming Concacaf W Olympic Play-In matches between Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team and Jamaica. Fans across Canada will be able to watch the qualifying series on OneSoccer, available as a linear channel on Telus Optik TV (Channel 980), fuboTV Canada and online at OneSoccer.ca and through the OneSoccer app. Live coverage of the away match, to be played at the Jamaica National Stadium in Kingston on Sept. 22, will air on OneSoccer at 8 p.m. ET, while the second leg, to be played at Toronto’s BMO Field on Sept. 26, will kick off at 7 p.m. ET. MEDIAPRO Canada will produce live coverage with a 40-strong crew working across nine cameras through one of the company’s fleet of HD mobile units.
Corus Entertainment news and entertainment programs will recognize the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30 by amplifying Indigenous voices. ET Canada will broadcast a half-hour special Sept. 29 shining a spotlight on artists making their mark in Artists & Icons: Inspiring Change, featuring Bones of Crows star Grace Dove and director Marie Clements, Tantoo Cardinal, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Kaniehtiio Horn, Shawnee Kish, Don Amero, Tia Wood, Boogey The Beat, Lesley Hampton, Sage Paul, Willow Allen, Braydee Cardinal, Brigette Lacquette, Jade Turner, and Jayli Wolf. Global’s The Morning Show (TMS) will air segments throughout September, kicking off earlier this month with a sit-down interview with author Phyllis Webstad, creator of Orange Shirt Day, on the 10th anniversary of the movement. On Sept. 29, TMS will feature Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sutherland, authors of Valley Of The Birdtail, who will reflect on the day and their bestselling book. The show also welcomes back Patrick Shannon and Joleen Mitton, co-founders of Supernaturals Modelling, the world’s first all-Indigenous modelling agency.
Hollywood Suite will present a full day of programming in recognition and support of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Sept. 30. Programming to air on Hollywood Suite’s HS00 channel includes the broadcast premiere of Sonia Bonspille Boileau’s Rustic Oracle. The programming lineup also features classic works from Indigenous creators like Alanis Obomsawin’s Incident at Restigouche (1984); Jeff Barnaby’s Rhymes For Young Ghouls (2013); Jeremy Torrie’s The Corruption of Divine Providence (2020); The Journals of Knud Rasmussen (2006); Abandoned: Angelique’s Isle (2018); Zoe Leigh Hopkins’ Kayak to Klemtu (2018); Darlene Naponse’s Falls Around Her (2018); and Every Child Matters: Reconciliation Through Education (2020).
CTV Atlantic delivers the rescheduled IWK Telethon For Children on Saturday, Sept. 23, beginning at 10 a.m. AT. The telethon was postponed from its original airdate in the wake of the wildfires in the Atlantic region in June. Viewers will see familiar faces on this year’s broadcast, including CTV News At Six Chief Anchor Todd Battis; CTV News at Five co-hosts Jayson Baxter and Maria Panopalis; and CTV News at Five entertainment reporter Katie Kelly. Long-time telethon host and CTV Atlantic special correspondent Steve Murphy also returns in a special role.
ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:
Nordstar Capital-owned Metroland Media Group (MMG) is transitioning its community publications to a digital-only model and exiting the flyer business as the company undertakes restructuring by seeking bankruptcy protection. The company says the move is in response to “unsustainable financial losses stemming from the changing preferences of consumers and advertisers” and will be accompanied by just over 600 job losses, representing two-thirds of its staff, including about 70 journalists. Due to its financial circumstances, a creditor update indicates the company does not have sufficient funds to pay termination or severance pay, however employees will have the opportunity to file a claim in the course of the restructuring process for money owed. Among MMG’s 70+ community news brands are the Guelph Mercury Tribune, Oshawa This Week, the Welland Tribune, Vaughan Citizen, and the Brampton Guardian. MMG-owned regional daily newspapers, including the Hamilton Spectator, Peterborough Examiner, St. Catharines Standard, Niagara Falls Review, Welland Tribune and Waterloo Region Record, will continue to serve their readers and communities in both print and digital formats, according to a company statement. Read more here.
Bell Media has extended its partnership with Snapchat for a second consecutive year. As part of the extended partnership, Bell Media continues to showcase its content offerings and brand partnerships on Snapchat Stories, the part of the app that features content from trusted news and entertainment media partners, including takes on sports news from TSN’s Digital Sportscentre featuring host Marissa Roberto, MuchMusic’s music and pop culture content, and trending headlines and celebrity interviews from ETALK. With over 11 million monthly active Canadian users on Snapchat, Bell Media says the collaboration allows advertisers to tap into branded content and in-show ad inventory.
TikTok has crossed the 4.4 billion lifetime download threshold after one of the best quarters in the app’s history. Statista and AppMagic data indicates 2023 might set a new record with TikTok downloaded nearly half a billion times worldwide in the first six months of the year – 32% more than in the same period a year ago. In Q2 2023 alone, the social video app was downloaded 260.8 million times, the third-highest number in its history. Statista expects TikTok ad revenue to surge by nearly 200% in the next four years and hit almost $54B by 2027.
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
ZoomerMedia has announced its acquisition of Toronto-based digital marketing agency TitusOne, including its software IP hosted video platform, as the legacy media company continues its transition into a multimedia business. TitusOne, which ZoomerMedia is acquiring for $1.42 million, will become a division of ZoomerMedia Limited. TitusOne Founder Dustin Titus will continue as President of TitusOne and will also become ZoomerMedia’s Chief Digital Officer, a position currently held by the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Omri Tintpulver. Read more here.
RNZ (Radio New Zealand) and CBC/Radio-Canada have announced a new partnership agreement between the two national public broadcasters that focuses on three key areas, including sharing knowledge and best practices around Indigenous cultures and languages; Podcasts, including collaboration on cross-promotion and possible co-productions; and Journalist training, including exploring potential content exchanges and collaboration. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed in Prague at the Embassy of Canada to the Czech Republic, just ahead of the Public Broadcasters International conference, PBI Prague 2023, an annual international gathering of public media executives.
Brandi Morin, an award-winning Cree/Iroquois/French journalist and author, has won the 2023 PEN Canada Ken Filkow Prize for advancing freedom of expression. Hailing from Treaty 6 territory in Alberta, Morin has been reporting on Indigenous land and environmental rights, Truth and Reconciliation, and residential school grave discoveries for the last decade. The former APTN and CBC journalist has had freelance bylines in National Geographic, Al Jazeera, VICE, and Elle Canada, among other publications. She published “Our Voice of Fire: A Memoir of a Warrior Rising” – a national bestseller – last year, chronicling her journey from foster kid and runaway to survivor of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis and how she overcame enormous adversity to find her purpose through journalism. Morin’s freedom of expression was challenged as recently as last month on Vancouver Island when she was threatened with arrest in the course of reporting on a logging blockade in the Fairy Creek Watershed. Read more here.
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has reminded Crave that it cannot necessarily put the equivalent theatrical release rating on films it broadcasts on its discretionary television service. The CBSC decision stems from a viewer complaint about three movies broadcast in morning or early afternoon timeslots this spring – Drive My Car, Dune and Survive. The viewer complaint questioned whether the sexual content, violence and coarse language in all three films warranted a post-9 p.m. timeslot, mention in the viewer advisories, and higher classification ratings. The CBSC concluded that all of the broadcasts should have included the classification icon at the beginning of the second hour of broadcast and that two of the movies should have featured more detailed viewer advisories. One of the movies, Survive, contained violence and coarse language that should only have aired after 9 p.m. and required a higher rating. Read more here.
Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB) has introduced the OAB Radio Sales Star Contest, a chance to share your most successful fully integrated radio sales campaigns with your peers and industry experts. Entrants will have the opportunity to present their case study at the OAB conference and compete for the title of Radio Sales Star. To enter, candidates must submit a needs analysis; fully integrated campaign proposal and expected results of your radio sales solution; samples of creative materials; and a client testimonial. The winner will be featured on the OAB website and December newsletter, receive a $500 gift card; and mentorship with a senior radio sales executive.
BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:
Immersion Room, the Toronto virtual production studio, has moved into a new 23,000 sq. ft. film studio sound stage in Downsview Park. The new facility more than doubles its square footage, nestled into a studio complex with extra support on-site for productions. The extra space also expands Immersion Room’s innovation arm, allowing for LED stage upgrades, including a new articulating LED ceiling. Co-CEO Tanya Stemberger says the move also allows the company to support larger productions, expand resources needed for software development and innovation, and provides space to expand the technology sales and consulting arm of the business as it begins “round two” of funding. Immersion Room started in early 2020 with seed capital from the Canadian Small Business Financing program.
