REVOLVING DOOR:
Ian Caldwell, Managing Assignment Editor at CTV News Toronto and CP24, has retired after a combined 26 years with the network and 47 in radio and TV news. A 1983 graduate of the Broadcast Journalism program at Fanshawe College, Caldwell got his start in radio as an announcer and news reader at CHUC Cobourg, ON in 1978. He went on to work at CFPL London part-time while in college, before landing at CKLC Kingston. He made the move into television at CFPL-TV in 1984, where he worked as a reporter and producer until 1997 when he joined CTV Toronto. Caldwell was initially hired as a reporter, lineup editor and producer, before taking on the role of assignment editor from 2000-07. After a decade, he briefly left to serve as the Manager of Online Editorial Content at Metroland Media Group in Durham Region, before returning to CTV in 2009 as Managing Editor. He had held his current role since late 2023. Read more here.
Espe Currie, Executive Producer at Global News Calgary, was among those caught up in layoffs last month at the network. Currie had been in the role since Jan. 2024. Prior to joining Global, she had most recently served as Supervising Producer at CityNews Vancouver.
Brittany Grunig has joined My Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) as Group Promotions Director. She’ll be based in Kingston. Grunig was formerly Regional Program Director, Local Radio, Ottawa & Eastern Ontario, for Bell Media up until this past August.
Dan Reynish is Medicine Hat’s newest City Councillor. The former CHAT-TV anchor was among those who lost their jobs when Pattison Media shuttered the station in June.
Ryder and Lisa, who recently moved from mornings to afternoon drive on Edmonton’s play107 (CKPW-FM), are now being heard on a new morning show on the Oilersnation YouTube channel. The Sauce, which made its debut Monday, Nov. 3, streams live 8 – 10 a.m. MT, weekdays.
Jennifer Leask has joined CBC’s Podcast Hub in the role of Senior Coordinating Producer. Leask, former Audience Development Lead at Pacific Content, started her career with the public broadcaster, working as a reporter and producer for 15 years in Regina, Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto.
Vanessa Case and Doug Smith are among the Canadian executives caught up in the layoff of 1,000 employees at Paramount Skydance. Case, a former Canwest, Vice Media and Blue Ant Media executive had served as VP of Content for Paramount+ and Pluto TV in Canada for the last two years. Smith had been in the role of SVP, Streaming and Content Licensing, for Canada since 2023.
Sophie Morgadinho has joined Vancouver’s Omnifilm Entertainment as Director of Unscripted, overseeing development and production of unscripted projects. Morgadinho had most recently been working as a Line Producer on various projects for Blink49 and prior to that, served as VP of Production at Vancouver’s Anaid Productions.
RADIO & PODCAST:
Rogers Sports & Media has confirmed it’s moving to a remote operations model for some of its smaller market radio stations, as of this week. Among the markets impacted are Fort McMurray [Country 93.3 (CJOK-FM), 97.9 Rock (CKYX-FM)], Grande Prairie [97.7 Rock (CFGP-FM)] and Canmore [106.5 Mountain FM (CHMN-FM)] in Alberta, in addition to Ontario stations in Timmins [Q92 (CJQQ-FM), KiSS 99.3 (CKGB-FM)] and Sault Ste. Marie [104.3 The Fox (CJQM-FM), KiSS 100.5 (CHUR-FM)]. Rogers’ Kingston radio stations, Country 93.5 (CKXC-FM) and K-Rock 105.7 (CIKR-FM), will join them early in the New Year. A Rogers Sports & Media spokesperson told Broadcast Dialogue it will be business as usual in terms of the on-air product, with talent broadcasting remotely from the same local market. Read more here.
The CRTC has denied an application by Rogers Sports & Media to convert its Vancouver rebroadcasting transmitter, CKKS-FM-2, into a standalone commercial radio station. The regulator received an application from Durham Radio in January 2024 requesting a licence amendment to operate a rebroadcasting transmitter serving Vancouver, intended to improve and expand coverage of Wave 98.3 (CIWV-FM) within its existing licensed area. The application triggered interest from Rogers, which argued the reach of the new station would not extend beyond its existing coverage area, so it would effectively be acting as an existing station. The commission determined the market cannot support more stations, going further to say that “compared to national and provincial averages…despite some signs of improvement, both Vancouver’s ethnic radio market and the broader commercial radio market remain weak.” The CRTC further concluded Durham’s request would not constitute a new station and is publishing their Part 1 application for comment.
Read more about this story on our partner publication Cartt.ca (subscription required).
The CRTC has approved an application by Vista Radio to acquire CJGY-FM Grande Prairie, AB and its rebroadcasting transmitters CJGY-FM-1 Fort St. John and CJGY-FM-2 Dawson Creek, BC. The station is currently branded as Reach FM and carries a Christian radio format. In its decision, the commission said given that Vista already operates 104.7 2day FM (CFRI-FM) in the market, it is of the view that the licensee “would be in a good position to maximize synergies between both undertakings.”
Fanshawe College is soliciting community support to help keep its campus radio station, 106.9 The X (CIXX-FM), operating after announcing it’s pulling its financial support. The London-based college was among the post-secondary institutions that announced this spring it was suspending numerous programs amid a sharp decline in enrolment, including Broadcasting – Radio & Media Production, Journalism – Television and Digital News, and Advanced Live Digital Media Production. 106.9 The X, which launched in 1978 with the distinction of being the first licensed, instructional campus radio station, has largely been fueled by the emerging talent of students from those programs. Read more here.
Stingray has acquired DMI, a U.S.-based music branding and in-store audio advertising provider, whose clients include Walgreen’s. The acquisition expands Stingray’s retail media network by approximately 8,500 locations stateside, bringing the total to 33,500 locations. Stingray says the acquisition makes it “the definitive leader in in-store audio advertising for the U.S. pharmacy sector, with its network now covering the two largest pharmacy chains.” In addition to its core in-store music and advertising services, DMI’s business includes advertising in cinemas, brand marketing support, and event production.
107.9 Go Rock (CFLB-FM) Lunenburg, NS has struck a new partnership with Lunenburg Regional Emergency Management Organization (REMO) to help keep the community safe and informed during emergencies and severe weather events. As REMO’s official radio partner, 107.9 Go Rock will broadcast critical updates during an emergency at the top and bottom of the hour – even during power outages – so residents can stay connected. All updates will be managed directly by REMO staff.
Rawlco Radio hosted the 26th annual C95 Radio Marathon for Breast Cancer Research on Oct. 23. During the 12-hour live broadcast, $470,764 was raised for the Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan. Since the radiothon’s inception, Saskatoon and area listeners have raised over $7.3 million, with every dollar staying in Saskatchewan to help improve outcomes for those affected by breast cancer.
SiriusXM Canada has launched new holiday channel, Holidays with Anne Murray & Friends, in collaboration with the Canadian legend. Subscribers can tune in through Dec. 26 on channel 639 and the SiriusXM app. The channel features a curated selection of Anne’s festive recordings and seasonal hits, with music from some of her favourite artists, including Celine Dion, Michael Bublé, Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson, Bryan Adams, Blue Rodeo, Barenaked Ladies, and John Legend. The channel will also feature an exclusive performance by Chantal Kreviazuk, recorded in SiriusXM’s Toronto studios, showcasing a new original holiday song, in addition to The Anne Murray Holidays Special on Nov. 7, a one-hour show where Anne shares memories behind her holiday songs and the traditions that continue to inspire her music.
POLITICO has launched the Playbook Canada Podcast, taking listeners “inside the stories, personalities and power plays shaping Ottawa and beyond.” Hosted by Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric, each 25-minute episode promises to “unpack the characters and conflicts driving the news — the electoral math and ideological divisions, the grudges and gossip, and the real people behind it all.” Foreign Affairs Min. Anita Anand joins the first episode to talk about Canada’s role on the world stage.
Media Technology Monitor (MTM) says podcast penetration jumped substantially from fall 2024 to spring 2025. The Reaching New Heights report shows a listening bump from 36% last fall to 47% this past spring. While not as popular as radio, audio streaming services, or consuming music on YouTube, MTM says podcasts have a large and growing audience, with nearly half of anglophone Canadians, aged 18+, listening to podcasts, in addition to three out of 10 French-speakers. Read more here.
LISTEN: On the latest Sound Off Podcast, Matt Cundill reflects on attending Podcast YYC in Calgary back in September—a creator-driven event reminiscent of the early days of Podcast Movement. Supported by Amazon / Art19 and highlighted by a keynote from activist and author Jesse Lipscombe, the event buzzed with meaningful conversation about podcast discoverability and monetization.
SIGN OFFS:
Bill Cole, 60, on Oct. 31 of kidney failure. Cole started his broadcasting career in Southern Ontario, working at stations in Windsor and Simcoe before rising to the position of news and sports director at 1570 CHLO St. Thomas. He went on to become a morning sportscaster on 680 News (CFTR-AM) Toronto from 1990 until 2005 when he married his wife Katie and began living in the U.S. After a stint on-air at WFLA Tampa Bay, the couple returned to Ontario and settled in Corunna, with Cole reading news at 99.1 CKXS-FM Wallaceburg. A Celebration of Life will take place Nov. 15 in Mooretown, ON.
Gilles Blais, 84, on Oct. 17. Blais had a career spanning more than three decades at the National Film Board, starting in 1965. Originally from Rimouski, among the flagship projects he worked on were Expo 67 multi-screen presentation In the Labyrinth, on which he served as assistant cameraman, and established a video unit for an agricultural outreach project in Tunisia in the early 1970s, serving as production advisor for eight films on human settlements shot in Africa for the United Nations Conference. Documentaries he directed included The Netsilik Eskimo Today (1971), chronicling the day-to-day of an Inuit family in Pelly Bay; The Followers (1981), about young Quebec devotees of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness; Joseph K. L’homme numéroté (1990), a docufiction on surveillance and private life starring actor Paul Savoie; and The Engagement (1994), about a troupe of intellectually challenged performers who travel to France to stage a theatre production, which captured the Hydro-Québec Public’s Grand Prize at the Festival du cinéma international en Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Best Social Issue Documentary at Hot Docs. After leaving NFB in 1997, he went on to direct and serve as a cinematographer on numerous projects including a credit as Director of Photography on more than 150 episodes of the TV series, How It’s Made.
TV & FILM:
Rogers Sports & Media says an average audience of 10.9 million viewers tuned in to Game 7 of the World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers across Sportsnet, Sportsnet+ and Citytv, making it the most-watched Rogers broadcast ever. Saturday night’s game also set a new record as the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada, outside of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Overall, Rogers says 18.5 million Canadian viewers, roughly 45% of the population, watched some or all of the game. Average audiences peaked at 14 million around 11:38 p.m. ET when the Jays’ Ernie Clement came to bat with two on and two out in the bottom of the 9th inning. According to Rogers, the entire World Series averaged 7.5 million viewers, with 23 million Canadians tuning in at some point. Read more here.
True North Sports + Entertainment and TSN have confirmed a new multi-year broadcast rights extension, securing exclusive, long term access to regional Winnipeg Jets games. The agreement means regional Jets games will continue to be available on the network to viewers in the team’s designated broadcast region, which includes Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and parts of Northwestern Ontario including Kenora, Dryden, and Thunder Bay. Read more here.
CFL on TSN is augmenting its Grey Cup Playoffs coverage with data-enhanced feeds for the Western Semi-Final and Eastern Final matchups, airing live on TSN2. Through a partnership with the CFL and Genius Sports, the data-enhanced feeds were first introduced in Week 3 of the 2024 season for live streaming on TSN+, offering fans real-time insights on quarterbacks’ time to throw, route trees, player and ball speed, player identifiers and locators.
France 24 has significantly increased its distribution in Canada thanks to a new agreement with Rogers. France 24 in English is now available in Rogers Total TV, Popular, Ultimate, and International News packages. France 24 in French is also strengthening its presence through Rogers’ French-language offer, available on cable and OTT. The channel is now accessible in 1.1 million Canadian pay-TV households, reaching 980,000 households for the English-language channel and 140,000 for the French channel.
OUTtv is among a group of 15 specialty streaming services that have formed Beyond Mainstream: A Global Streaming Alliance. The coalition says it will advocate for fair and proportionate regulations for specialized and regional platforms, advocating for the needs of viewers who rely on specialized streamers, while highlighting their unique cultural value and contribution. Acorn TV, ALLBLK, HIDIVE, Shudder, Sundance Now, Crunchyroll; NDM+, Pure Flix, Rakuten Viki, The Roku Channel, SonyLiv, Sony One, Tubi, and Zee5 are also on board the effort.
Crave has announced an eight-episode order for Snooki: Paranormal Rookie, a new unscripted series that follows reality television star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, as she pursues her lifelong passion for the paranormal across some of Canada’s most-haunted locations. Produced by Buck Productions in association with My Entertainment, and in partnership with Crave, the Crave Original series is set to premiere in 2026.
Just for Laughs has announced that One Night Out with Alan Cumming will air on Crave and CTV Comedy Channel in Canada. The special was filmed live in front of an audience on July 26 during the Just for Laughs Montréal Festival. The gala features a curated mix of 2SLGBTQI+ stars and breakout voices, including Mae Martin, Sabrina Jalees, Jay Jurden, Tranna Wintour, Joe Dombrowski, Irene Tu, Dan Duvall and Sami Landri. Trevor Boris (Canada’s Drag Race) serves as showrunner and an executive producer.
ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:
Justin Ling has launched new YouTube channel Soft Power, covering topics like diplomacy, security, aid, trade and spying. Funded by a journalism grant from foreign aid lobby group, Bigger Than Our Borders, episode one dives into Moscow’s strategy to establish a dominant military, political, and economic presence in the Sahel region in Africa. The side project is in addition to Ling’s Substack blog, Bug-eyed and Shameless, and his regular columns in the Toronto Star.
REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) says it’s disappointed its key recommendations weren’t included in Tuesday’s federal budget. Budget 2025 includes $127.5M for the Canada Media Fund (CMF), $150M for Telefilm Canada, and $26.1M for the National Film Board (NFB), over three years. It also makes good on a Liberal election promise with a $150 million funding increase for CBC/Radio-Canada. The budget additionally refocuses the Canada Periodical Fund to incentivize the creation of original Canadian editorial content only, no longer funding paid subscriptions and single-copy sales. CAB President Kevin Desjardins said they had hoped for more supports to prop up Canada’s broadcast sector – namely, the expansion of the Canadian Journalism Labour Tax Credit and a commitment to increase federal advertising on Canadian broadcast media. Read more here.
Corus Entertainment has announced a major plan to reorganize its finances that could save the media company up to $40 million in annual cash interest payments. If the plan is approved, Corus says it will cut its third-party debt and other liabilities by over $500 million. The proposed “recapitalization transaction” is a complex debt-for-equity swap designed to stabilize the company’s financial foundation. It comes on the heels of last week’s Q4 and year-end earnings release, which saw consolidated revenue decrease 14% for the quarter and 11% for the year, primarily due to lower advertising demand. The plan would replace Corus’ existing revolving credit line with a new $125 million facility, and term loan to be paid off and replaced with $300 million in new notes. Its most complex facet involves a share exchange with creditors, in which noteholders would trade some of their existing notes for a mix of new secured notes and a large amount of new common shares in a newly-formed holding company, called NewCo. Read more here.
Cogeco Communications announced financial results for the fourth quarter ended Aug. 31. Revenue decreased by 5.2% to $708.7 million. Canadian telecom revenue decreased by 1.5%, mainly due to a lower revenue per customer as a result of a decline in video and wireline phone service subscribers, as an increasing proportion of customers subscribe to internet-only services, as well as a competitive pricing environment, partly offset by high-speed internet service additions over the past year. American telecom revenue was down 9.0%, mainly due to subscriber base declines and a higher proportion of customers subscribing to internet-only services.
Central Ontario Broadcasting President Doug Bingley has been recognized by the Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB) with the organization’s highest honour, the OAB Hall of Fame Award. Bingley was among those recognized at this year’s OAB Awards luncheon last week in Toronto. Others recognized include Community Service Award winner Kevin Oschefski, Morning Host at Country 90.5 (CFCH-FM) North Bay, for Kevin O’s Walk For the Cure, a 129 km fundraising trek from the Northeast Cancer Centre in Sudbury to downtown North Bay. Read more here.
RTDNA Canada recognized excellence in digital and broadcast journalism over the weekend at its National Awards Gala in Toronto, unveiling the winners of its Best National and Canadian Local News Awards for 2025 across audio, digital and video. CBC News bureaus captured a leading 41 awards, with CTV News picking up 11 wins and Global News earning recognition in four categories. This year’s National Lifetime Achievement Award recipients were Heather Hiscox, who retires from CBC News this week after 20 seasons at the helm of CBC Morning Live; former CBC foreign correspondent Brian Stewart; CTV News Director and Senior Managing Editor David Hughes; and Dawna Friesen, Anchor and Executive Editor, Global News. Jerry Vienneau, Director of Photography, CTV/W5, was inducted into the RTDNA Canada Hall of Fame, while Mary Nersessian, CTV News Director of Digital and the Chair of the RTDNA Awards Committee, received the Distinguished Service Award. The President’s Award, the association’s highest honour, was presented to Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) President Rachel Pulfer. Read more here.
The 2025 Webster Awards, recognizing excellence in journalism in B.C., were handed out Monday evening in Vancouver at the Jack Webster Foundation’s 39th annual event. The Globe and Mail was the night’s big winner, picking up four awards, including the Best News Reporting of the Year (Print/Digital) honour for Nancy Macdonald, with Marsha Lederman named Commentator of the Year. Global BC picked up the Best News Reporting honour in the TV/Video category for its coverage of the Lapu Lapu Day tragedy. Read more here.
BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:
CCBE (Central Canada Broadcast Engineers) is declaring its first joint conference with OAB (Ontario Association of Broadcasters) a resounding success, with management and engineering teams mingling with vendors over dinner and drinks (and an 18-inning Blue Jays game) over two days in Toronto. Ten technical papers were delivered, alongside one lively panel discussion on the state of the industry and the future of recruitment. Incoming President Charlie Toner will make recruiting the theme of his presidency. This year’s CCBE Awards honourees included Durham Radio President Doug Kirk, who was presented with the Bob Norton Ambassador Award; Orest Sushko, Director of the Humber Polytechnic B2C Convergence Lab, who received the Engineering Excellence Award; and Keith Beaulieu, Senior Engineering Manager, Rogers Sports & Media, who was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Read more here.
Pelmorex and Humber Polytechnic’s B²C Lab are hosting an online webinar on the future of Canada’s emergency alerting system on Nov. 12 at 11 a.m. ET. The webinar will explore how new technical standards are being considered for Alert Ready, Canada’s public alerting system. An overview of Alert Ready will be provided, detailing how Pelmorex partnered with Humber Polytechnic’s B²C Lab to solve challenges with monitoring the distribution of emergency alerts. How emerging technologies, specifically the ATSC 3.0 IP-based broadcast standard, are poised to transform Alert Ready, will also be discussed. Learn more here.
