REVOLVING DOOR:
Gordon Nixon, who will reach the end of his 12-year term as Chair of BCE in 2026, will step down and not seek re-election as a Director at the Annual General Shareholder Meeting on May 7. Nixon joined the Board in 2014 and served as Chair for 10 years. As part of the Board’s renewal and succession plan, it plans to nominate BCE Director Louis Vachon as Chair of the Board, contingent upon his re-election as a Director by shareholders. Vachon joined the BCE Board in 2022 and is a member of the Management Resources and Compensation Committee and Risk and Pension Fund Committee.
Ali Pejman has retired as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vancouver-headquartered Network Media Group, effective immediately. Pejman joined Network’s board in October 2019. The company says he’s been instrumental in supporting its development and expansion of intellectual property, leading to the greenlighting of multiple documentaries and docuseries. He also served as Executive Producer on celebrated productions, including the Emmy-nominated Sly Lives! (The Burden of Black Genius), which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and launched on Hulu in partnership with Disney’s Onyx Collective, and Sidney, produced with Oprah Winfrey and directed by Reginald Hudlin for Apple TV+, which premiered at TIFF 2022.
Phil Johnson, who retired earlier this month after nearly 20 years in mornings on Vista Radio’s AM1150 (CKFR-AM) Kelowna, is joining Pattison Media’s OV103.9 (CKOV-FM) in a new daily segment on OV Mornings with Leslie, spotlighting local issues and community events. Pattison Media Okanagan General Manager Karl Johnston says “Phil was off the air two weeks too long, so we decided to create a new platform for him to keep the stories coming!”
Ken Fisher is retiring from Golden West Broadcasting in Moose Jaw after 55 years in broadcasting and 27 with Golden West. He previously worked at Rawlco Radio’s CKOM Saskatoon for 28 years.
Troy Charles is joining CBC Vancouver after getting caught up in a wave of layoffs last month at Global BC. Charles had been a reporter with Global since 2021, initially in Regina, before joining Global BC in 2023.
Wendy Noss is departing the Motion Picture Association-Canada where she’s served as president for the last 15 years, leading government relations, policy development, and advocacy. She’s been with the association since 2006.
Bruce Wyrwitzke has been promoted at PPDS, the exclusive global provider of Philips Professional Displays and complementary hardware and software solutions, to the role of Senior Director of Sales for North America. Wyrwitzke, who is now entering his 25th year as an AV professional, joined PPDS as Sales Director in 2021.
RADIO & PODCAST:
ICYMI: We’ve extended the deadline for the 2025 Canadian Radio Awards, presented by Xperi, to midnight PT tonight (Oct. 30). Nominations for the Young Broadcaster of the Year award will additionally remain open until Oct. 31. Thanks to everyone who has entered thus far. Learn more at CanadianRadioAwards.com.
Cogeco Media is denouncing a CRTC decision that dismisses a joint complaint from the broadcaster and Bell Media regarding Quebecor’s broadcast of content from its digital platform QUB Radio on 99.5 FM (CJPX-FM) Montreal. The commission’s decision follows a move by Cogeco earlier this month to ask the Federal Court of Appeal to force the CRTC to rule on the joint complaint, filed late last year, revolving around the content distribution agreement Leclerc Communications struck with Quebecor Media’s NumériQ. Bell and Cogeco argued the deal effectively changed control of the station, which requires CRTC approval and violates the commission’s policy on cross-media ownership. The commission decision concludes the agreement does not affect Leclerc’s power to make strategic decisions regarding CJPX-FM, with Leclerc assuming responsibility for the station’s budget, expenses, and revenue. Read more here.
SiriusXM Canada has announced Vernon, BC as the winner of the 2025 SiriusXM Music Town program, bringing JUNO Award-winning Canadian band The Beaches to their backyard for a once-in-lifetime concert. SiriusXM says Vernon was selected for its compelling nomination stories, strong social rallying, and unwavering local spirit. Venue and ticket details are TBD.
Pro Bono Group has released new creative for the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH). “Garbage Day” replaces “Address” and can run until the next CAEH PSA refresh in the weeks ahead.
Ciara Yaschuk and Lisa MacGregor, who both recently departed Global Edmonton, have launched new podcast, Off Air Talks. The first episode dropped Wednesday.
LISTEN: Peter Bissonnette’s memoir Count On Me reflects on the retired telecom executive’s decades in the cable, internet and media industry – from humble beginnings to rising to the position of President of Shaw Communications. Bissonnette joins Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast to share his personal and professional journey, informed by values of integrity, empathy and fairness. He also shares his ethos on the importance of belief in oneself, the power of visualization and affirmations, and takes us behind-the-scenes of some of the most transformative deals in Canadian telecom and broadcast history.
LISTEN: As Matt Cundill gets set to depart Winnipeg, “it’s fitting that I interview the man responsible for bringing me here 19 years ago.” Garth Buchko, who was the General Manager at CJOB/Power 97 when he and Cundill met in 2006, is on the latest Sound Off Podcast. “Butch” shares his journey from young radio enthusiast to becoming a successful general manager at Corus Entertainment, discussing the competitive Winnipeg radio market, the importance of relationships, hard work, and innovative sales strategies, emphasizing the joy and camaraderie that made radio special during his time in the business.
SIGN OFFS:
Robert Rudd, 77, on Oct. 19 after a battle with dementia. Born in Swift Current, SK, Rudd attended Eastern Pentecostal Bible College and later Ryerson Polytechnic. He went on to work for radio and TV stations in southern Ontario for 16 years, holding roles from field reporter to TV anchorman and ultimately Vice President of News and Information at CHEX TV in Peterborough. In 1988, he joined the Ontario Provincial Police Corporate Communications Bureau where he worked as a media projects officer until his retirement in 2016. He additionally served as a writer, editor, and media relations instructor for the OPP Academy. In 2004, Rudd was honoured with the Ontario Provincial Police Accolade Award for Civilian of the Year.
TV & FILM:
CBC/Radio-Canada, has unveiled details of its upcoming coverage for Milano Cortina 2026, Feb. 6 – 22. Spanning the Italian Alps, from Milan to the Austrian and Swiss borders, Milano Cortina 2026 will be the most spread out Olympic Games in history. CBC’s English-language coverage will feature live broadcasts from every venue and include every Canadian medal-winning moment, totalling more than 2,000 hours of live content across multiple platforms. CBC’s contingent of studio hosts, special contributors, reporters and commentators, will support core programming including: Petro Canada Olympic Winter Games Morning, hosted by Ron MacLean and Perdita Felicien; Bell Olympic Winter Games Daytime, hosted by Andi Petrillo, and RBC Olympic Winter Games Primetime, hosted by Anastasia Bucsis and Craig McMorris. Read more here.
Bell Media has announced a long-term strategic partnership that sees it become the exclusive Canadian sales partner for Fox–owned ad-supported streaming service Tubi. The agreement also covers content distribution, including Canadian titles from Bell Media’s on-demand catalogue and FAST channel lineup, with plans to co-develop original content for distribution on Tubi globally, across Bell Media platforms in Canada, and through Bell content distributor, Sphere Abacus. Bell Media’s FAST channels will launch on Tubi in Canada later this year, including CTV News, TSN The Ocho, CTV @Home, CTV Laughs, The Mightiest by CTV, CTV Gridlock, and Corner Gas Channel. Read more here.
APTN is expanding its digital reach with the launch of a new FAST (free ad-supported streaming) channel and a presence on Air Canada’s in-flight entertainment platform. APTN Beyond, a new FAST channel featuring the best of the network’s series on supernatural phenomena, haunting encounters and ancestral spirits, is now available on The Roku Channel and Pluto TV in Canada. The network has additionally announced plans to rebrand its APTN lumi streaming app as APTN+ later this fall. Read more here.
CBC has launched a new commercial-free CBC Kids streaming channel, available on CBC Gem and the CBC Kids YouTube channel. The channel features a variety of CBC Kids animated and live-action series for kids, aged two to 10, including preschool offerings like Dino Ranch; live action stop-motion series Go Togo; and Molly of Denali, following an Indigenous girl and her friends. Concurrently, Radio-Canada launches two French-language ad-free streaming channels for children and youth, La chaîne Jeunesse and La chaîne L’Agent Jean, available on ICI TOU.TV. Read more here.
CBC has announced the six celebrities who will be in the hot seat in new unscripted series, The Assembly. Allan Hawco (Saint-Pierre), Arlene Dickinson (Dragon’s Den), Howie Mandel (America’s Got Talent), singer-songwriter Jann Arden, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Never Have I Ever) and comedian Russell Peters are the notable Canadians who’ll face a group of atypical interviewers, all on the autism spectrum, over six episodes. The series, an adaptation of French series Les Rencontres du Papotin, premieres with two back-to-back episodes on Thursday, Nov. 6, with special extended “Producer Cuts” available on CBC Gem.
Paramount+ has announced the upcoming premieres of two new docuseries from See It Now Studios: Thirst Trap: The Fame. The Fantasy. The Fallout, and Don’t Date Brandon. Thirst Trap premieres Oct. 31, exploring the rise of Canadian TikTok sensation William White, sparking a “thirst trap” obsession with lovesick fans. The doc is directed by Canadian Trish Neufeld. Don’t Date Brandon, which debuted Oct. 28, is a true-crime docuseries following a modern romance that spirals into a dangerous game of deception.
Lopii Productions has announced its seventh original series and first mixed-media project, M is for Me, produced in partnership with TVOkids and Knowledge Kids. The 26×3-minute preschool series is set to premiere in Fall 2026. Following the success of their previous collaboration, Dream It to Be It – which earned multiple Canadian Screen Award nominations, and was recognized internationally by Prix Jeunesse and the MIPCOM Diversify TV Awards – M is for Me will spotlight a real child in each episode as they explore identity, culture, and belonging through a blend of animation, artwork, music, and live-action imagery. Lopii Productions is currently casting children ages 4–8.
ITV Studios has announced a series of significant sales to Bell Media across its drama and non-scripted slate. The deal includes Coldwater from SISTER; What it Feels Like for a Girl from Hera Pictures; and The Gathering from ITV Studio’s World Productions which will launch on Crave and CTV. Also secured for Crave and CTV are the upcoming season of Love Island All Stars from ITV Studios and GroupM Motion Entertainment, plus new seasons of The Voice and Hell’s Kitchen from ITV America.
The Whistler Film Festival (WFF) is rolling out the red carpet for its 25th anniversary with a distinctly Canadian lineup. Running Dec. 3–7, the festival opens with You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (in a Canadian Kind of Way) by director Nick Davis and Forward by director Nic Collar. You Had to Be There is a documentary about the 1972 Toronto production of Godspell that launched a generation of comedic talent, featuring Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Paul Shaffer, Dave Thomas, and Gilda Radner. Forward is a documentary capturing the story of Clay March, a skier and surfer with cerebral palsy whose drive and innovation push the possibilities of human performance.
Park Theatre, the long-standing Cambie Street venue in Vancouver, is being taken over by the team behind Vancouver’s Rio Theatre, along with a group of private film industry financiers. Cineplex had been running the Park (which initially opened as an Odeon in 1941) since 2013 and recently announced it would be closing its doors. The Rio team approached Vancouver producer, Oddfellows Pictures owner and Phobos co-owner Chris Ferguson, to assemble a group of film professionals to finance the new venture. Led by the Rio’s CEO Corinne Lea, joining Ferguson are Osgood Perkins (Longlegs, The Monkey), Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep, The Life of Chuck), Sean Baker (Anora, The Florida Project) and Samantha Quan (Anora, Red Rocket), and Zach Lipovsky (Final Destination Bloodlines, Freaks). Other financiers include actor/musician/director Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things, It), film editor Graham Fortin (Keeper, The Monkey), sound designer Eugenio Battaglia (Eternity, Heretic), post supervisor Andy Levine (Longlegs, Heretic), film coordinator Jill Orsten, and film attorney Christina Bulbrook (A Complete Unknown, The Monkey).
REEL CHANGE for Black Women Producers from Central & Maritime Canada – a two-month residency taking place January – March 2026 in Halifax, with hybrid online sessions – is open to applications until Nov. 1. Producers from Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, P.E.I., and Newfoundland are encouraged to apply.
Floyd Kane will be the Showrunner-in-Residence for the eighth iteration of the Pacific Screenwriting Program (PSP) Scripted Series Lab. It will see Kane lead a cohort of six emerging B.C. screenwriters in developing a new project in a 10-week writers room. Kane started his career as an entertainment lawyer working on productions like This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Bowling for Columbine, transitioning into writing with half-hour CBC drama North/South. Since, he’s written for a range of series as well as producing several feature films, including Across the Line, Shake Hands with the Devil, and is the creator and showrunner of the drama Diggstown (CBC, BET+).
ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:
Rogers says Canadians have already smashed internet data usage records during the first three games of the Toronto Blue Jays run at the World Series. Rogers Xfinity customers consumed 145,000 TB of data during Games 1, 2 and 3 – the equivalent of streaming a three-minute video of Jays’ third baseman and outfielder Addison Barger hitting a grand slam 1.28 billion times. Across Games 1, 2 and 3, the cable provider says half of its TV customers watched the game on Rogers Xfinity TV, with Sportsnet setting all-time audience records. Game 1 of the World Series on Sportsnet averaged 7M viewers, becoming the most-watched Blue Jays game ever. Game 2 averaged 6.6M, and is now the second most-watched Jays game. Read more here.
New Metric Media is launching a new direct-to-consumer YouTube channel that will feature comedy across scripted and unscripted series, podcasts, stand-up specials and sketch. The Toronto-based production company says shozerTV aims to fill a gap in the market “by creating a hub for unpretentious, sharp comedy that appeals to hosers 18 to 40 around the world.” Along with New Metric series What Would Sal Do? and Bria Mack Gets A Life, Lionsgate is licensing more than 20 titles to stream on shozerTV. Additionally, the channel will feature digital-first originals from up-and-coming creators. Read more here.
Sabio Holdings, the L.A.-based ad-tech company publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, has announced its Creator Television streaming network has launched its AVOD (ad-supported video-on-demand) offering on Plex and Xumo Play. The creator-led streaming network and content studio says the new offering is an expansion of FAST (free ad-supported television) channel distribution deals announced earlier this year on Amazon Fire TV Channels, Anoki LiveTVx, Plex, Sling Freestream, and Xumo Play. The Creator TV AVOD offering will feature a curated lineup of original formats and titles including Trey Kennedy Are You For Real?, Julie’s Fine, Everything’s Fine with Julie Nolke, Jenny Lorenzo Presents Latinos Be Like, and Daphnique Springs Single Female.
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
The CRTC is asking Cogeco Communications to provide information regarding a complaint about a July 24 tornado risk warning issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada via the National Public Alerting System (NPAS) in Sharbot Lake and Lanark County, ON that was allegedly displayed in English-only during Radio-Canada’s program Le Téléjournal when received through Cogeco set-top boxes. Broadcasting regulations require last mile distributors to present emergency alert messages in both French and English when an alert is issued in both official languages, regardless of where in Canada it’s intended to be broadcast, explains an Oct. 21 letter from the commission. Read more in our sister publication, CARTT.ca here (paywalled).
Rogers Communications has released unaudited financial and operating results for the third quarter ended Sept. 30. Media revenue jumped 26% in the quarter, with total revenue and total service revenue increasing by 4%, enhanced by the Toronto Blue Jays strong regular season and consolidation of MLSE results. Revenue in the Media segment was $753 million, with adjusted EBITDA of $75 million. Wireless service revenue in Q3 was in line with the prior year, with equipment revenue increasing by 9%, primarily as a result of higher device upgrades by existing customers. Cable service revenue increased by 1%, primarily as a result of retail Internet subscriber growth.
OverActive Media has extended its long-standing partnership with Bell Canada for an additional two years, through September 2027. Bell, a Founding Partner of OverActive Media since the esports and digital media company’s inception, will continue as the exclusive telecommunications sponsor for OverActive Media in Canada, supporting its Canadian teams, venues and fan engagement activities. Under the renewed agreement, Bell will secure naming rights to the Bell Fibe Zone, the state-of-the-art player training facility at OverActive’s Toronto headquarters, and integrate Bell products and services into OverActive’s Canadian facilities, content, and fan experiences.
CTV News and Chief Anchor & Senior Editor Omar Sachedina have announced journalist Lu Fan as the recipient of the annual Sachedina ∙ CTV News ∙ Fellowship, in partnership with RTDNF Canada and Massey College at the University of Toronto. The $10,000 fellowship is designed to support an emerging journalist who will produce a substantial and original piece to be considered for publication on a CTV News platform, while receiving academic mentoring from faculty and journalists at CTV National News. Born in China and now based in Halifax, Lu Fan has 14 years’ experience working across television and digital platforms, most recently recognized with a nomination at the 2025 New York Festivals for the documentary The Light Within Us. She’s currently pursuing a Master of Journalism at the University of King’s College.
The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) has undertaken a survey that indicates nearly nine in 10 Canadians (88%) are concerned about AI deception in news, with over half (52 per cent) “very concerned.” Conducted by The Harris Poll Canada, it indicates nearly half (47%) of Canadians report encountering misleading or false information daily or several times weekly. Read more here.
BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:
RRC Polytech in Winnipeg is celebrating the 60th anniversary of its Electronic Engineering Technology program in 2026. It’s inviting the RRC Polytech Electrical Engineering community to join alumni, past and present instructors, current students and industry supporters on Nov. 6 for Homecoming. Current WABE President Tessa Potter, a 2000 graduate of the program, is this year’s recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Award. In addition to serving as the first woman president of WABE, she’s received two Emmy Awards for her work behind-the-scenes on the Beijing Winter Games (2022) and Paris Summer Games (2024). Potter is the Broadcast Liaison for Truth North Sports + Entertainment in Winnipeg, serving home and visiting broadcast teams. She’s also a Broadcast Technician for SBL Engineering.
FEATURE: WABE members recently had a tour of the new Southeast Event Centre in Steinbach, MB. The centre is hosting the Grand Slam of Curling in a few months and will be on stage and on the big screen, with curlers from around the world experiencing the facility. WABE President Tessa Potter writes “the technical build-out is impressive. There are over 28,000 feet (8.5 km) of AV cabling connecting systems throughout the space, along with two 42×14 LG video walls, each nearly 4K resolution at 3328 x 1152 pixels and weighing about 1,500 kg apiece. The sound system includes 26 main bowl speakers powered by 30,000 watts of QSC amplification, distributed paging and background music across public areas, and Crestron control touch screens at the front desk, restaurant, and rink booth.” Read more here.
