REVOLVING DOOR:
Melissa Ridgen is joining Global News in the newly-created role of Network Managing Editor, starting Oct. 24. Arriving from APTN where she’s been a host, producer and reporter since 2009, most recently for APTN National News. Prior to joining APTN, she spent more than 24 years on the beat covering crime, courts and politics for the Brandon Sun, Calgary Sun, and Kenora Daily Miner & News. A Red River Métis, Global says Ridgen will focus on amplifying Indigenous voices and driving investigative and enterprise reporting dedicated to issues concerning First Nations and Inuit peoples. She’ll also identify and develop stories for Global National, The New Reality and Globalnews.ca. Read more here.
Tinnie Chow is the new Senior Manager for News and Programs at CBC Vancouver, reporting to Shiral Tobin, Director of Journalism & Programming for CBC British Columbia. Chow arrives from BBTV where she’s been a Digital Strategist and Senior Producer for the last two years. She previously worked at CBC Vancouver as a host and associate producer at the outset of her career in the late ‘90s. She went on to roles with CNN in Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post, MTV World, and Meta, where she served as Strategic Platform Partnerships Manager (Broadcast), Middle East North Africa region.
CBC News Network has unveiled a new host lineup, effective Oct. 24. Dwight Drummond, host of CBC Toronto News at 6 p.m., will join the network as host of Canada Tonight for one year, filling in for Ginella Massa while she is on maternity leave. Aarti Pole takes over the 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET time slot as the host of CBC Newsroom, following the retirement of Suhana Meharchand. Senior reporter Hannah Thibedeau will host CBC Newsroom from 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. ET. Weekend programming changes see Natasha Fatah move into middays.
We love you, @CityMelanie ❤️ pic.twitter.com/WJcJxpmkZ4
— Breakfast Television (@breakfasttv) October 12, 2022
Melanie Ng has announced her departure from Citytv’s Breakfast Television. Ng has been a reporter and anchor with the station for the last 12 years. Prior to joining Citytv in 2010, Ng held roles with CHCH-TV Hamilton and the Canadian Traffic Network.
Marion Warnica is leaving CBC for an opportunity outside of journalism. Warnica has been with the public broadcaster since 2012 and the host of The World This Hour since 2016. Prior to joining CBC, she was a reporter and anchor with Pattison Media’s stations in Cranbrook and Lethbridge.
Ted Deller has retired from CBC Saskatchewan after a 32-year career with the public broadcaster. Deller got his start in broadcasting at CKX Brandon, MB in 1985, rising through the ranks to become news director, before heading to MTN (Manitoba Television Network) in Portage la Prairie as an anchor in 1988. A move to the anchor desk at CBC Saskatoon, alongside Cathy Little, followed in October 1990. After the cuts to CBC stations in December of that year, Deller moved over to CBC Radio. He spent time working on The Noon Edition and then as afternoon news editor/announcer. He had been the voice of morning news and part of The Morning Edition team since 2006. The station marked Deller’s retirement on Sept. 29th with a number of special segments, with noon-hour program Blue Sky welcoming him as a phone-in guest.
Ron Zuke is retiring as Station and Sales Manager at Air 106.1 FM (CFIT-FM) and DiscoverAirdrie.com after 35 years in broadcasting, 33 of those with Golden West Broadcasting. Zuke got his start at CKLQ and CKX-TV and radio in Brandon, MB. He joined Golden West’s CKMW Winkler, joining Darryl Wheeler in the MJHL Winkler Flyers broadcast booth for a decade. Zuke concurrently anchored weekend sportscasts on MTN (Manitoba Television Network) in Portage La Prairie. He moved into sales with Golden West in 1997, relocating to CFRY in Portage in 2000 where he joined Ryan Simpson on Portage Terriers’ broadcasts for another 10 years, in addition to serving as Sales Manager. Since then, he’s made stops with the company in Drumheller, Cochrane and Airdrie.
Jim Smalley, Agricultural News Director at Harvard Media’s 620 CKRM Regina, is retiring after 40 years. Smalley’s broadcasting career began at CKDR Dryden, ON. After stops in Fort Frances and Weyburn, SK, he became the first farm news director at CKCK Radio and TV in Regina in 1975. He joined CKRM in 1982. Smalley’s last “Saskatchewan Agriculture Today” will air Friday, Oct. 28. From 2 – 4 p.m., 620 CKRM will host a live, two-hour salute featuring high-profile guests and memories.
Ray Ferraro has announced he’s stepping back from his hockey analyst duties with TSN after 14 years with the network, but will continue to work with ESPN which he joined last season as a lead colour commentator. The former NHL’er will continue to co-host The Ray & Dregs Hockey Podcast, where he talks more about his decision to adopt a less busy travel schedule.
Kenzie Lalonde succeeds John Lu as TSN’s new Montreal bureau reporter, covering Alouettes and Canadiens games moving forward. Last year, Lalonde became the first woman to provide play-by-play coverage for a QMJHL game on television. She’s also covered the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Hockey Championship for TSN and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing for CBC. As previously reported, Lu is now covering the Winnipeg Jets in a return to his hometown.
Jim McCourtie is the new Director of Brands & Content for Harvard Media, responsible for Programming and Brand strategies for the Harvard radio stations and ongoing mentoring and development of on-air management and broadcast teams. He’ll also continue to head Programming for Harvard’s Alternative brands, X92.9 FM (CFEX-FM) Calgary and X100.7 FM (CKEX-FM) Red Deer. Prior to joining Harvard Media, McCourtie held programming roles with Corus and Bell Media.
🤩💫 Launching today across ROCK and SONiC brand stations in 🇨🇦 is @YeaNetworks “The @GregBeharrell Show,” airing evenings on: @SONiC1029 | @SONiCRadio | @921CITI | @KROCK1057 | @927RockSudbury | @1019Rock | @921RockTimmins | @1067Rock | @1053Rock | @977RockGP | @979Rock pic.twitter.com/h5D6i259VY
— Rogers Sports & Media PR (@RogersMediaPR) October 11, 2022
Greg Beharrell’s syndicated show is now being heard across Rogers Sports & Media’s ROCK and SONiC stations evenings. Based in Los Angeles, the reach of Beharrell’s syndicated show now exceeds more than 50 stations.
Luke Ettinger has been hired as a reporter in CBC’s recently-established Grande Prairie bureau, one of 14 new journalists posted to smaller communities across the country. Ettinger arrives from Bell Media’s stations in Fort St. John, BC where he’d been a radio reporter and video journalist for the past six months. The 2022 University of Guelph-Humber Media Studies grad previously interned for the public broadcaster on Ontario Morning and CBC Radio One in Toronto.
Graeme Benjamin has announced his departure from Global Halifax after four and a half years. Most recently a digital broadcast journalist, Benjamin started as a reporter and producer on Global News Morning. Prior to Global, he held various roles with CTV Atlantic, including serving as Interactive Coordinator.
Sarah Lawrynuik has moved on from Canadaland after a year as senior producer. Prior to joining the podcast network last November, Lawrynuik held roles as a Climate Change Reporter with the Winnipeg Free Press and worked with CBC as a reporter, video journalist, and associate producer in Winnipeg, Calgary and Lethbridge.
Elyssa Macri is taking on the role of Director of Communications and Industry Relations at the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA). Macri will oversee the Communications and Industry Relations team and report to CMRRA and SX Works President Paul Shaver. Based in Toronto, she’ll lead strategic communications, marketing, events, and sponsorship opportunities and serve as a key liaison with Canadian industry organizations. Macri previously served as Director of Marketing and Communications at The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and the JUNO Awards.
RADIO & PODCAST:
Rosalie Trombley, the legendary CKLW-AM Detroit-Windsor music director, is being posthumously inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame, the lone Canadian among the American organization’s 325 inductees. Trombley, who passed away last November, is one of 10 new inductees, joining Doug Banks, nationally syndicated on-air personality; James Brown, “The Godfather of Soul,” to be inducted as a radio station owner of WJBE Knoxville, TN; Bob Coburn, host of the syndicated “Rockline”; Chick Hearn, play-by-play announcer/voice of the Los Angeles Lakers; Bernice Judis, owner and General Manager, WNEW-AM New York from the 1930s through ‘50s; Sid Mark, host of the syndicated program, “Sounds of Sinatra” for 60 years; Bobby O’Jay, on-air personality, WDIA-AM Memphis; Pervis Spann, on-air personality, WVON-AM Chicago; and Jim Thompson, Group W Broadcasting President and Broadcasters Foundation President. The Radio Hall of Fame will recognize its 2022 class of inductees at a ceremony on Nov. 1 at Chicago’s Radisson Blu Acqua Hotel.
Pattison Media is expanding its WILD Country radio format into Southern Alberta and B.C. WILD 95.3 (CKWD-FM) Calgary has carried the format since 2016, which Pattison launched to target a younger country audience, focused on playing current artists like Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Brett Kissel, and Dallas Smith. The station earned a 2.8 share, 12+, in the summer PPM ratings. WILD 104.7 (CHBZ-FM) East Kootenay’s New Country in Cranbrook rebrands from Total Country B104; while WILD 95.5 (CHLB-FM) Lethbridge’s New Country and WILD 94.5 (CHAT-FM) Medicine Hat’s New Country were previously branded as Today’s Country. The new WILD stations share some common hosts with Kim Johnston heard in middays across all three, originating from Medicine Hat. Nevin Sereda is also helming afternoons for both Cranbrook and Lethbridge. Read more here.
Torres Media has rebranded its Ottawa Active Rock station Rebel 101.7 (CIDG-FM) as Rebel Rock in a move to offer listeners a wider variety of music spanning the 1970s through 2000s. CIDG-FM flipped to an Active Rock format in 2016 when it moved from 101.9 MHz to 101.7 MHz on the dial. Now branded as Rebel Rock 101.7 – Ottawa’s Best Rock, the move to play a greater mix of rock positions the station to compete with Rogers Sports & Media’s mainstream rock station CHEZ 106. The format transition comes just weeks after the hiring of Danny Kingsbury, former National Format Director for Rock Radio at Rogers Sports & Media, who came out of retirement in August to join Torres Media as Executive Programming Advisor. Along with the playlist and library adjustments, Rebel Rock welcomes new station imaging voice Jamie Watson. The on-air lineup remains intact with Darryl Kornicky heard on “Kornicky in the Morning”, Cub Carson in afternoon drive, and Alexa in the evening time slot. Read more here.
CFRC Kingston, the Queen’s University campus station, celebrated its 100th anniversary on Oct. 7. The station’s centennial was marked by the unveiling of a plaque outside Carruthers Hall where CFRC volunteers Jim Birch and Wayne Vermette were also recognized for 40+ consecutive years of broadcasting on the station. Experimental radio dates back to 1902 at the university and the experimentations of Queen’s first Professor of General Engineering, James Lester Willis Gill. By the 1910s regular courses on wireless technology were being taught by Gill. A group of his students obtained an experimental station license (9BT) in 1922 and aired the station’s first scheduled public broadcast on Oct. 7 of that year. Notable CFRC alumni include Lorne Greene, Shelagh Rogers, Stuart Mills, Chris Cuthbert, and Jamie Stein, among others.
The CRTC has approved an application by not-for-profit WONation Radio Inc. for a broadcast licence to operate a low-power, English- and Ojibway-language Indigenous (Type B Native) FM radio station in Wauzhushk Onigum Nation near Kenora, ON. The commission did not receive any interventions in regard to the application. The station would operate at 101.3 MHz with an average effective radiated power (ERP) of 27 watts. Aimed at promoting and revitalizing the community’s culture and traditions, the station plans to broadcast 126 hours of local programming per week, of which approximately 119 hours would be English-language programming and seven hours Indigenous-language programming in Ojibway. 108.5 hours would consist of musical content and 17.5 hours would consist of spoken word programming, including news content. Approximately 15 hours (or 14%) of the station’s musical content is to be dedicated to music performed or composed by Indigenous creators, drawing mainly from the pop, rock, country and contemporary Indigenous genres.
CISN Country Edmonton’s Yards of Hope campaign raised more than 370,000 following over 28 hours broadcasting live from The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium. Chris, Jack & Matt from CISN in the Mornings surpassed their fundraising goal for Hope Mission, bringing the event’s seven-year total to over $2.1 Million. Starting in the end zone on Thursday, Oct. 6, at 6 a.m., the live broadcast moved one yard for every thousand dollars donated. The hosts continued to move up the field, traveling well beyond their goal of 110 yards and reaching the other end zone three times by 9 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 7.
Bob McCown has signed on as a brand ambassador with Chicago-based online sportsbook, Rush Street Interactive as a BetRivers brand ambassador. The partnership includes a multi-year deal to represent the brand both through appearing on commercials and creating exclusive content for the BetRivers Network. McCown, who parted ways with Sportsnet 590 The FAN (CJCL-AM) Toronto and its television simulcast Sportsnet 360 in June 2019, has been hosting The Bob McCown Show featuring John Shannon on SiriusXM’s Canada Talks channel for the past year. As part of his new partnership with RSI, The Bob McCown Podcast will air across the BetRivers Network. He’ll also appear at various meet and greet events, along with co-host Shannon, in addition to being featured in upcoming BetRivers ad campaigns in Ontario. Read more here.
Playmaker Capital Inc., has struck a new partnership with Acast to expand the reach of its portfolio of more than 20 shows, including Daily Faceoff Live, Canucks Conversation, World Soccer Talk, and Barn Burner. Per the deal, Acast will support ad sales for Playmaker’s podcast network using its novel advertising technology. Acast will also host, distribute, and promote Playmaker’s podcasts widely, making them accessible to audiences across all players, platforms, and geography. Playmaker has identified its podcast network as key to its content offering, recently welcoming new on-air team members Caroline (Salame) Szwed, former Sportsnet host, and Dean “Boomer” Molberg, who departed Calgary’s Sportsnet 960 (CFAC-AM) earlier this summer. Playmaker joins Acast’s portfolio of Canadian publishers and media partners, including CBC, eOne, Apostrophe Podcast Network, and Canadaland. It adds to Acast’s catalog of 66,000 podcasts, which receive more than 400 million listens each month.
CBC will launch new podcast, One In Six, on Oct. 18, examining the barriers faced by those struggling with infertility. CBC St. John’s, NL journalist and podcast host Jen White and her husband Neil Hyde are featured in the intimate eight-part series recounting their years-long fertility journey. White discovered that infertility is a common issue affecting approximately one in six couples in Canada. The first two episodes will be released Oct. 18, with two new episodes to be released weekly on Tuesdays until Nov. 8, along with a bonus episode each week dropping on Thursdays.
Vancouver Podcast Festival is taking a “time out.” The festival, which is produced by the same team behind Vancouver’s DOXA Documentary Film Festival, has announced on its website that after four years of programming, the event will be taking a breather this fall. VanPodFest says it’s proposing a single event in November (date and time TBD) for the local podcast community to come together and talk about what the future of the festival might look like.
LISTEN: Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB) Conference Chair Jody Brooker teases the in-person return of Connection 2022 next week on the latest Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast. Listen on your favourite podcast app or here:
LISTEN: David Yas, founder and CEO of the Boston Podcast Network is featured on the latest Sound Off Podcast. Yas’ name is attached to about 1,000 episodes of various shows, which altogether have garnered over 367,000 downloads. He and Matt Cundill talk about how he built up one of the most successful independent podcast networks in Boston, whose shows include the daily Boston Podcast and Past Tens: A Top Ten Time Machine, a show that explores past lists of top ten hits.
ADVERTORIAL: In part two of this sponsored series, Andrew Snook, Director of Digital at Pattison Media, talks about the development and tech behind the Validate Audio Attribution platform. Listen on your favourite podcast app or here:
The Broadcast Dialogue Canadian Radio Awards are still open to submissions until Monday, Oct. 17. FREE to enter, nominate your station’s best radio or self-nominate across programming, on-air, news, sales, promotions, creative, imaging and engineering. Learn more at CanadianRadioAwards.com.
SIGN OFFS:
André Chagnon, 94, on Oct. 8. Chagnon was born in Montréal in 1928. The son of an electrician, he took up the family trade, training as an electrician technician at the École technique de Montréal, before establishing his own electrical contracting company, E.R. Chagnon et Fils Ltée. He sold the business to his employees in 1964 when he founded Videotron. The company went on to become a cable television market leader in less than three decades, instituting innovations that increased consumer demand like an expanded channel offering from five to 35 channels. Videotron also introduced the first pay-per-view service, Sélecto–TV in 1969. The company carried out a public offering in 1985, followed by the acquisition of Télé–Métropole. Chagnon was committed to supporting various education, health, arts and sports causes. In 2000 when Videotron was sold to Quebecor, the Chagnon family created the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation, dedicated to finding sustainable ways to prevent poverty and helping young people in Quebec develop their full potential. Chagnon’s achievements have been recognized with numerous awards, including being named the first Grand Lauréat du Prix des Communications by the Québec Communications Ministry in 1983. In 2009, he was inducted into Canada’s Telecommunications Hall of Fame. He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1992 and to the Ordre national du Québec in 2003, among many other accolades. Read more here.
Gordon Beattie Martin, 90, on Oct. 4. Beattie Martin’s own athletic background and interest in sport propelled him into a broadcasting career, starting with CFSL Radio Weyburn, SK. He moved on to CJME Regina in 1959 as sports editor and was named sports director, before briefly working for CKRM. He landed at CBC Regina as sports director in 1964, where he covered numerous sporting events and traveled the world covering Olympic and Commonwealth Games. While he was offered promotions in Toronto and Halifax, he turned those down, eventually deciding to run as a MLA in Saskatchewan. Beattie Martin represented Regina Wascana from 1986-91. Among the posts he held in his time in government were Minister of Environment and Public Safety, Minister of the Family, Minister Responsible for Seniors, and Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism and Recreation.
TV & FILM:
Global News has introduced a new look and sound as the network refreshes its branding. The changes include modification of the Global News logo, text and other visual elements. Incorporating the brand’s distinct red, black and white, new fonts and graphics are being used throughout Global’s platforms, including a new show opening. Read more here.
Diggstown’s series finale will air Nov. 16 on CBC. The six-episode fourth and final season tackles mental health, the plight of migrant workers, the treatment of a pregnant trans man within the healthcare system, sterilization of Black women and Indian Day School abuse, among other true to life stories. Joining the cast this season are John Maucere (No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie), Fiona Highet (Rookie Blue), with Rigo Sanchez, Donald Maclean Jr., Zahra Bentham, and Dorren Lee.
Shaftesbury has announced that production is now underway on Macy Murdoch (8×11), a new CBC Gem original tween series following the adventures of Detective William Murdoch’s time-travelling great-great-great- granddaughter. A spinoff of the long-running Murdoch Mysteries, based on novels written by Maureen Jennings, the series is currently shooting in Toronto and set to debut in spring 2023. Canadian Screen Award-winner Shailyn Pierre-Dixon (Pretty Hard Cases, The Book of Negroes) co-leads the series with Beau Han Bridge and Raffa Virago. Shanice Banton (“Mrs. Violet Hart”) and Lachlan Murdoch (“Constable Henry Higgins-Newsome”) from the CBC series will appear as guides to help the young detectives absolve Murdoch of a crime he did not commit.
Catalyst, the Toronto-based development and funding company focused on content created by women, has announced its latest commission, a new unscripted comedy series from Carolyn Taylor (6×30), best known as the star and co-creator of CBC’s Baroness von Sketch Show. The series is commissioned by Bell Media’s Crave, and produced by Catalyst and Blue Ant Studios as part of their strategic partnership to develop female-generated programming for the global marketplace. Slated to premiere on Crave in 2023, the series is inspired by Katerina Witt and the 1988 Calgary Olympics, following Taylor’s unlikely quest to choreograph the perfect pairs figure-skating routine. Despite having zero figure-skating knowledge or skill, Taylor manages to convince an A-list cast of skaters to help her achieve her dream, including two-time Olympic Gold Medallist Ekaterina Gordeeva, Olympic Gold Medallist David Pelletier, four-time World Champion Kurt Browning, two-time Olympic Silver Medallist Brian Orser, World Champions Barbara Underhill & Paul Martini, Olympic Silver Medallist Elizabeth Manley, World Silver Medallists Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, U.S. Champion Adam Rippon, and social media skating sensation Elladj Baldé.
The HISTORY Channel commemorates diverse heroes of World War I and II with new Canadian Original docuseries, Our War. Over two, one-hour episodes premiering back-to-back on Nov. 11, the stories of these forgotten heroes are told through their modern-day descendants, who discover the harrowing secrets of their ancestors. Developed and produced by Lark Productions, Our War takes viewers on a real-life genealogical investigation from deciphering a deathbed confession to unearthing the truth behind a family legend. The premiere episode begins with the great-great granddaughter of one of Canada’s first Black servicemen as she searches for a memorial plaque awarded to the next-of-kin of those killed in World War I.
marblemedia has announced that production is underway on a third season of sand sculpture competition series, Race Against The Tide. Filmed on New Brunswick’s New River Beach on the Bay of Fundy, the new season will premiere on CBC in 2023. Season 3 sees the show introduce an all-new format with more competitors and the return of Maestro Fresh Wes as host. He’ll be joined by returning judges, Karen Fralich, a five-time World Champion; and Rusty Croft, a seasoned sand sculptor who holds the Guinness World Record for the “tallest sand castle” as a member of the Sand Guys.
Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, together with Lambur Productions, have started production on the third and final season of The Hardy Boys (8x60min). Based on the books by Franklin W. Dixon, the Daytime Emmy-nominated mystery drama started production in September in Toronto and Southern Ontario. Bailee Madison (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, Just Go with It) guest stars on the final season. The Hardy Boys picked up 2022 Canadian Screen Awards for Best Children’s or Youth Fiction Program or Series and Best Direction, Children’s or Youth. Season 2 secured the number one program ranking on YTV this past Spring, according to data provided by Corus, and is currently the number one YTV show streamed on STACKTV. The final season will premiere on Hulu in the U.S. and YTV and STACKTV in Canada in 2023, with more international networks to be announced.
Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas returns to W Network, beginning Oct. 21. This year, 36 new holiday movies premiere every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, starting Oct. 28 through Dec. 18 with back-to-back films every day until New Year’s Eve. Last year, nearly 13 million Canadians tuned into Countdown to Christmas, according to Corus Entertainment. Canadian stars returning in this year’s slate of movies include Andrew Walker, Benjamin Ayres, Brennan Elliott, Luke Macfarlane, Paul Campbell, and Tyler Hynes. Lacey Chabert, who stars in a record-breaking twelfth Christmas movie for Hallmark this year, is also joined by Alison Sweeney, Ashley Williams, Erin Cahill, Jonathan Bennett, Kristoffer Polaha, Marilu Henner, Nikki DeLoach, Ryan Paevey, Tamera Mowry-Housley, Taylor Cole, and Will Kemp. Featuring titles from Hallmark Channel, Lifetime and UPtv, W Network’s movie schedule boasts 25 Canadian productions including A Magical Christmas Village (Lighthouse), The Royal Nanny (Leif Films), and A Fabled Holiday (Studio BRB (AFH Productions Inc.)).
APTN, CBC and the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) have announced their support of three Indigenous scripted series that will soon be in pre-development through the CBC-APTN Early Stage Scripted Development Program in association with the ISO. The creative team for each series will have access to CBC and APTN executives, who will provide custom-tailored support for all three projects. The selected projects for 2022-23 are: The Break (Drama), Producers: Lisa Jackson, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Katherena Vermette, Manitoba; Rez in the City (Comedy), Producer: Gail Maurice, Ontario; Misty Dior (Drama), Executive Producer: Jessica Matten, Alberta.
Bell Media has unveiled its expanded multiplatform slate of original programming, ahead of MIPCOM 2022, to be made available worldwide this fall. Adding eight titles to Bell Media Distribution’s growing roster, the offering includes newly-announced unscripted series East Harbour Heroes (Discovery) and Staying Inn: Hotel Julie (CTV Life). Shooting now with host Mena Massoud, the previously announced Evolving Vegan also joins Bell Media Distribution’s slate of unscripted titles currently available to broadcasters and platforms in more than 100 markets worldwide, including all five titles in Discovery’s “MIGHTY” franchise, Mud Mountain Haulers, Pets & Pickers, and We’re All Going to Die (Even Jay Baruchel).
The Raccoons, which originally ran from 1985-1991 on CBC in Canada and on Disney Channel in the U.S., has returned to the small screen with newly digitally remastered content, now available on Crave. The restored content includes all 60 half-hour original episodes and four animated specials including The Christmas Raccoons, The Raccoons on Ice and The Raccoons and the Lost Star. Seasons 1 and 2 dropped Oct. 8, while Seasons 3, 4 and 5 plus the animated specials will follow at a later date. The remastered series will roll out in additional markets in 2023. Created in 1985, The Raccoons series was known for its strong environmental theme, following the day-to-day life of three raccoons — Bert, Melissa & Ralph, their friend Cedric the aardvark, and his Dad, Cyril Sneer, whose hunger for a quick fortune causes conflict inside the Evergreen Forest. Read more here.
Riceboy Sleeps, Anthony Shim’s coming of age story, captured Best Canadian Film at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF). Other awards went to Charlotte Le Bon, Director of Falcon Lake, who won Best Emerging Director; Baba from Anya Chirkova and Meran Ismailsoy, which won Best Canadian Short Film; Sophie Jarvis’ Until Branches Bend awarded the Best BC Film Award, while Jacquelyn Mills’ Geographies of Solitude won the Best Canadian Documentary Award. Read more about this year’s winners here.
ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:
Mediapro Canada has partnered with immersive live sports streaming startup YBVR and TELUS to pilot a fully-immersive sports metaverse service. Beginning with OneSoccer and the Canadian Premier League (CPL), the TELUS Sports app gives Canadian soccer fans access to unique features allowing them to choose, in real time, between up to eight different camera angles across multiple devices to offer an immersive soccer viewing experience on-the-go. The TELUS Sports app is free to download on mobile devices via Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store, as well as on select Android TVs and for TELUS subscribers, through Optik TV and Pik TV. The app is currently available as a pilot for the remaining nine matches in the season. Read more here.
QYOU Media has announced that The Q India has officially launched its first direct to consumer app, Q PLAY. The free, ad-supported app will be offered via the Google Play store and directly on smart TV’s and mobile devices and offers all five Q India channels, along with all new future content offerings from The Q India. The Q India currently reaches over 125 million viewers weekly via Q branded content channels. Q PLAY is designed to begin to leverage that audience scale to employ a direct relationship between the company and its user base and drive stronger monetization with more targeted content and ad campaigns. Q PLAY currently carries The Q (flagship Hindi channel), The Q Marathi (regional content), Q Kahaniyan (animated content), Q Comedistaan (comedy) and the most recently launched QGameX (live gaming).
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
CP24 host Patricia Jaggernauth has filed a human rights complaint against Bell Media alleging racism, sexism and discrimination during her 11 years with the broadcaster. Jaggernauth, 40, joined Bell Media in June 2011 as a weather specialist and Live Eye host for CP24 Breakfast, reporting from community events. In 2017, she also started hosting lifestyle and celebrity talk series, The Patricia J Show, on Bell Fibe TV1. From a Guyanese/Jamaican background, the host filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission – one day after giving notice at CP24 – alleging that race played a part in her being passed over for promotions and never offered full-time employment. She also says she was prevented from earning a living wage when this past summer, Bell moved to prohibit the freelancer from pursuing opportunities outside the network without management approval. Read more here.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) expects Canadian news businesses to receive around $329.2 million per year in total compensation from digital platforms if Bill C-18, the Online News Act, is implemented, according to a cost estimate report. According to the estimate, it’s expected the total public cost to develop and implement Bill C-18 to be an average of $5.6 million per year over five years for Canadian Heritage and the CRTC. Budget 2022 allocated $8.5 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, to the CRTC to support the implementation of the Bill.
The CRTC has called for comments on an application by Quebecor Media, on behalf of TVA Group, to remove the limit on advertising time of 12 minutes per clock hour on its discretionary services, AddikTV, CASA, Évasion, MOI ET CIE, PRISE2, Yoopa and Zeste, as well as its national news service LCN and mainstream sports services, TVA Sports and TVA Sports 2. TVA submits that only discretionary services are subject to a limit on advertising time and that this limit unduly favours foreign online platforms, which are capturing a growing share of advertising revenues. According to TVA, the French-language market has a greater need for regulatory flexibility, noting that the most popular programs in the French-language market are produced locally at higher cost. The deadline for the receipt of interventions is Nov. 7.
BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:
Bell’s solar-powered remote communication towers initiative has been named one of the Clean50 Top Projects for 2023. The project replaces diesel generators with solar voltaic cells to provide primary power to remote communication towers and was developed in partnership with Université de Sherbrooke’s Interdisciplinary Institute for Technological Innovation (3IT) and its Nanotechnologies and Nanosystems Laboratory (LN2), as well as with Saint-Augustin Canada Electric (STACE). The project was successful at reducing diesel consumption at remote sites by up to 75%. In addition to the Top Project award, Catherine Goyer, Director, Corporate Responsibility and Environment, was named one of Canada’s Clean50 leaders for 2023, recognizing her leadership of Bell’s Corporate Responsibility and Environment team.
WABE 2022
The Western Association of Broadcast Engineers (WABE) held its 72nd annual convention in Calgary, Oct. 4-5, at the Best Western Premier Calgary Plaza Hotel & Conference Centre. This marked the first return to an in-person convention since 2019 and was well received in a new two-day format for Western Canada’s premier broadcast industry convention and trade show.
WABE was honoured to present 10 awards this year and introduced the new Sheila R. East Women in Broadcasting Award presented to Darcie Harris of Rogers Sports and Media Edmonton. Two R.W. Lamb Awards were presented to Dale Coutts, formerly of Bell Media Calgary, and Kerry Pelser, recently retired from D.E.M. Allen & Associates Ltd. Both were also given Retirement Awards alongside Pat O’Connor of Global TV (Corus Entertainment) Winnipeg, Paul Kadonaga of Global TV (Corus Entertainment) Calgary, Jerry Pendree of Rogers Sports and Media and Wilf Rice of Airwaves Technical Services. A special thanks to John Bruins, a WABE Chancellor who MC’d the Awards Luncheon.
The exhibit floor was sold out well ahead of the show with 42 booths occupied by 35 companies showing off their latest products and services to over 200 visitors. There were a total of 21 sponsors for this year’s convention. Gold sponsors included Applied Electronics Limited, Deltech Communications, GS Broadcast Technical Services & Tieline, Pippin Technical Service, RCS Canada and Ron Paley Broadcast – DJB Radio.
Eleven great technical sessions for delegates featured a wide variety of relevant topics for those supporting the technical side of content creation and OTA broadcast. Speakers providing insight on dealing with regulations such as Safety Code 6, new concepts like Radio In The Cloud capped with a well-attended panel discussion, Skills for the Next Ten Years. Invaluable tips and knowledge were shared during the sessions, not just by the speakers, but other media technical professionals on site. And thanks to those who responded to our new QR code surveys, we have generated ideas for new topics for next year’s convention sessions to be held in Vancouver.
This year’s dedicated local convention committee consisted of Papers Chairs Amrita Rai and Randy Opperman, Rogers Sports and Media; Cameron Thomson of Rogers Sports and Media was the Exhibitors Chair; Dale Jubb of Bell Media was our Host Chair; Aaron Kerr of Bell Media acted as Session Chair and Dale Coutts lead special projects. Eric Becker of Applied Electronics advised us as Exhibitor Liaison. Leadership was provided by WABE President Rob Brown, Pattison Media; Past President Clint Hollinger, Rogers Sports and Media; Treasurer/Secretary Tessa Potter, SBL/True North Sports & Entertainment; and the incredible Kathy Watson, WABE Office Manager, who acts as a one-person orchestra behind the scenes.
Highlights from the AGM, including an executive shuffle with the first female president of WABE, Tessa Potter, elected. Cameron Thomson was acclaimed as Secretary/Treasurer. Rob Brown takes the role of Past President for the next two years. The executive will be working hard engaging stakeholders to make way for growth and a commitment to produce a five-year strategic plan. Looking to continue a 72-year tradition of promoting and advancing the dissemination of engineering knowledge, and to also become a broader association for broadcast and multimedia technology professionals supporting everyone creating content from the traditional over the air in all forms, post production, sports and even the streaming podcaster.
We are also pleased to announce that WABE has captured and sought permission to provide online access to the papers and presentations. Content is being edited and we are hoping in a few short weeks to announce how to access this content. This will be provided free of charge to all fully paid delegates and for a small affordable fee to those who were not able to attend.
