The Weekly Briefing

REVOLVING DOOR:

Ronnie Stanton has announced he’s joined Rogers Sports & Media as National Programmer – Classic Hits and Content Director for the company’s Vancouver FM stations, JACK FM (CJAX-FM) and SONiC RADiO (CKKS-FM). The move sees Stanton return to Vancouver from his native Australia where he had most recently held the title of Chief Content Officer, working with the Virgin Radio brand in Canada, the UK, Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, Oman, Romania, Lebanon, and the UAE. Prior to that, he served as Vice-President, Audio at Corus Entertainment, in charge of its 39 FM and AM radio stations, as well as the Curiouscast Podcast Network. Stanton takes on the role at Rogers, at least partially held by Christian Hall up until late last month, when he was restructured. Read more here.

Stephanie Florian has returned to CTV Vancouver as a weather anchor and segment producer for CTV Morning Live. Florian rejoins the station after two years as the weekend weather anchor at Global BC. Prior to that, she delivered weather on CTV Vancouver from 2014-22.

Silas Brown has announced his departure from Global News, where he’s been a Saint John, NB-based reporter for the last six years. Brown says he’ll be staying in journalism, but hasn’t revealed his next move.

Super Channel has announced three internal promotions: Eva Lonoza to Director, Distribution Sales Marketing & Strategic Partnerships; Jessica Milliken to Director, Marketing; and Valentina Phavone to Director HR, Accessibility & Privacy. All three will report to President & CEO Don McDonald. Lonoza was previously Manager, Distribution Sales & Marketing, Milliken was Marketing Manager, Super Channel, and Phavone formerly held the role of Staff Accountant & HR Coordinator.

Nancy Audet has joined Montreal’s Pixcom as a Content Developer. The longtime journalist, who formerly reported for both TVA Group and Radio-Canada, will work closely with docuseries producer Alexandra Cliche-Rivard. 

Aron Levitz has been appointed co-President of webnovel platform and storytelling community, Wattpad. Levitz will lead Wattpad alongside KB Nam, while remaining President of Wattpad WEBTOON Studios. Both Levitz and Nam will report to Junkoo Kim, the founder and CEO of WEBTOON Entertainment. Levitz joined Wattpad in 2013 as Head of Business Development, playing an instrumental role developing Wattpad’s monetization strategy, advertising business, and Creator Management team. In 2017 he built Wattpad Studios, Wattpad’s TV and film adaptation division. Following Wattpad’s acquisition by WEBTOON in 2021, Levitz was named President of Wattpad WEBTOON Studios.

Rohit Nagarajan is the new CEO of Vizrt. Nagarajan has held pivotal roles across multiple geographies at SAP, SoftwareONE, and Salesforce. His focus at Vizrt will be on scaling international growth and enhancing its visual storytelling solutions offering. Michael Hallén, who sat as Vizrt’s CEO for the past eight years, together with the board agreed that the time was right for new leadership. Hallén oversaw the joining of NewTek and Flowics into the Vizrt ecosystem to expand its legacy in broadcast graphics to live production and into the cloud, alongside the development of NDI.     

 

RADIO & PODCAST:

Momentum Media and Pattison Media have announced that Coleman Insights will be the exclusive licensee of Validate Audio Attribution in the U.S. The U.S. launch follows a new agreement with Validate creator, Pattison Media, and Momentum, which operates the platform and licenses it worldwide, through which Coleman Insights has exclusive rights to sell and market the service in the U.S. Validate helps radio stations demonstrate the impact of their advertising campaigns, showing advertisers how over-the-air advertising campaigns generate consumer impressions and drive traffic to websites. Cox Media Group and Connoisseur Media have already signed on as charter subscribers to Validate. The commitments of these two groups follow extensive discussions with the board of directors of the RAB (Radio Advertising Bureau), whose members will receive discounts on Validate subscriptions. Read more here.

LISTEN: Our publisher Shawn Smith hosts this special episode of Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast featuring Warren Kurtzman, President of Coleman Insights, the new licensee of the Pattison Media-created Validate Audio Attribution software platform in the U.S. Listen on your favourite podcast platform or here:

[Full disclosure: Our parent company, Momentum Media, creates, develops, and markets brands, content, software and tools that advance the broadcast industry, including Validate.] 

FEATURE: What can radio learn from out-of-home (OOH) advertising’s resurgence? Back in 2017, OOH was at a crossroads, facing challenges like the loss of traffic cameras and counts it relied on to sell billboard advertising as municipalities cut budgets. That’s when COMMB, the not-for-profit Canadian Out-of-Home Marketing and Measurement Bureau, came together to fund a new approach to modelling impressions for OOH ads, in a digital environment where buyers and agencies have become accustomed to the type of analytics supplied by advertising platforms like Google and Facebook. Like radio, OOH has been grappling with changing consumer behaviours as more people work from home. COMMB Chair Michele Erskine shares how they got the industry to come together for the common good. Read more here.

The Canadian Podcast Awards have announced the nominees for the seventh annual awards program, celebrating outstanding achievement in Canadian podcasting. Of 336 nominated podcasts, the top nominee this year was paranormal series Geist, hosted by Danielle Matar and Beau Jensen. The spooky, atmospheric series earned six nominations, including Outstanding Arts Series and Original Music and Lyrics. The Sonar Network’s Happy to See Me, hosted by Survivor 41 winner Erika Casupanan, garnered five nods, including Debut Series and Society & Culture. Find the full list of nominees here. The public are invited to vote for their favourite podcasts in the People’s Choice category. Award winners will be announced in early December. Read more here.

The 2024 Manitoba Country Music Awards were handed out Saturday night. Native Communications’ Now Country 104.7 FM Winnipeg won Radio Station of the Year, while afternoon host Brian Cook captured Radio On-Air Personality of the Year. Find the full list of winners here.

Inside the Village, a news and current affairs podcast highlighting some of the best local journalism from within Village Media’s chain of Ontario newsrooms has earned over 75,000 views thus far on its Oct. 26 episode featuring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Hosted by Scott Sexsmith and Michael Friscolanti, the Editor-in-Chief of Village Media, Trudeau’s appearance on Inside the Village highlights the increasing draw of the podcast medium for politicians, as illustrated by Vice-President Kamala Harris’ appearance on Call Her Daddy and President Donald Trump’s guest turn on The Joe Rogan Experience during the recent U.S. election. Inside the Village is produced by Derek Turner, with support from Zack Trunzo. 

The Tony Parsons Show is the new podcast offering from the retired 35-year BCTV/Global BC anchor. The first episode sees Parsons’ former colleague and TV weather anchor Wayne Cox interview Parsons about his life and career. Upcoming guests include broadcasters Peter Mansbridge, Jim Hughson, Sandie Rinaldo, and David Suzuki, among others.

Spotify has introduced a new integration that makes it easier to share music, podcast and audiobook content directly to TikTok and Instagram, while TikTok has launched Share to TikTok, a new music promotion feature allowing users to share from Apple Music and Spotify to TikTok. Users can post to the TikTok Feed (FYP or Stories) by sharing tracks, albums, playlists, podcasts, or audiobooks using TikTok’s green screen feature or Photo Mode. DMs via TikTok Messages also allow users to send friends Spotify music, podcasts and audiobook recommendations. Users can access music, podcasts, and audiobooks shared on TikTok by simply tapping the link to go directly to Spotify. Spotify users can also now save songs to Spotify from Instagram with one tap. 

Canada’s Walk of Fame has announced William Prince as this year’s recipient of the Allan Slaight Music Impact Honour, an annual recognition that celebrates the achievements of Canadian musicians who have used their voices and talent to inspire and drive positive impact in the music industry. Prince, who hails from Manitoba’s Peguis First Nation, has had a career marked by numerous accolades and milestones, including a debut at The Grand Ole Opry, multiple JUNO Awards and international award recognition, including the John Prine Songwriting Fellowship. Alan Doyle will honour Prince with a special performance during Canada’s Walk of Fame Celebration on Nov. 20 at Toronto’s Liberty Grand. 

LISTEN: Radio broadcaster John Leslie is on the Sound Off Podcast, sharing his journey from building a three-watt transmitter in his bedroom to becoming a program director at WEIR in Weirton, West Virginia, his service in the Marine Corps, and his transition to television and podcasting. Leslie also recounts his historic trip to the Soviet Union to broadcast uncensored, marking a pivotal moment in media history. 

Pro Bono Group’s new Feed Ontario PSA is titled “Jingle Change.”  It can replace “Dinner For A Week” and continue to air until the end of December. A fresh Feed Ontario PSA will kick off the New Year. 

https://broadcastdialogue.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/FEED-ONTARIO_JINGLE-CHANGE_30-Sec_ENG_RADIO_FULLMIX_110424.wav?_=1

 

TV & FILM:

Telefilm Canada is being urged to stop funding productions that refuse to sign collective agreements or abide by minimum standards by a coalition of eight unions and guilds representing 87,000 film and television workers. The organizations – Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), Association des Réalisateurs et Réalisatrices du Québec (ARRQ), Directors Guild of Canada (DGC), International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (Canada) (IATSE), NABET 700-M UNIFOR Société des auteurs de radio, télévision et cinéma (SARTEC), Union des artistes (UDA), and Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) – want the Crown agency to adopt the same policy in place at the Canada Media Fund (CMF), requiring productions funded by Telefilm to remain in good standing with industry unions and guilds. In a letter sent to the agency on Tuesday, the groups said Telefilm’s “problematic practices undermine the entire production ecosystem in Canada, leaving creative industry professionals unrepresented and unprotected.” Telefilm says it is still in discussion with unions and guilds on the issue and exploring “how we can contribute to finding sustainable solutions in this space.” Read more here.

Telefilm Canada hosts its virtual Annual Public Assembly on Nov. 28 at 1 p.m. ET. Sylvain Lafrance, Chair of the Board, and Julie Roy, Executive Director and CEO, will look back on the past year and share priorities for the future. Set to broadcast on the agency’s Youtube channel, the meeting will be available in English and French, with subtitles, as well as American Sign Language (ASL) and Quebec Sign Language (LSQ) interpretation.

Rogers Xfinity has launched – a suite of in-home services leveraging Comcast’s product and technology platform. As part of the launch, Rogers has introduced Rogers Xfinity Streaming, giving customers access to top streaming apps and more content, all in one place. This is the first Rogers product powered by Comcast’s next-generation Entertainment OS as part of a 10-year agreement that also includes broadband and smart home tech, and an expanded suite of home security products developed by Comcast and Xfinity.

CBC was the number-one Canadian destination for live news coverage and results for the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday, Nov. 5, according to data provided by the network. Beginning at 8 p.m. ET, 3.8 million viewers tuned in for CBC News Live Special: America Votes, led by chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault on CBC and CBC News Network, which garnered a combined average audience of 639,000 viewers. TV audiences peaked at 10:12 p.m. ET with an average minute audience of 957,000, when correspondent Richard Madan was reporting from Philadelphia on the importance of Pennsylvania to Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. CBC also attracted more than 3 million combined unique visitors to cbcnews.ca and the CBC News App, with the Results Tracker alone drawing more than four million page views as of 9 a.m. ET on Nov. 6. CBC Radio coverage reached 840,000 listeners and garnered an average minute audience of 112,000. 

CBC and Sphere Media have announced that production is underway on new original comedy Small Achievable Goals (8×30), co-created by and starring Meredith MacNeill and Jennifer Whalen. The series, currently filming in Toronto and Hamilton, will premiere in winter 2025 on CBC and CBC Gem. It follows odd couple Julie (Whalen) and Kris (MacNeill), as they are thrust together to produce a podcast while grappling with “the change” – aka menopause, setting off on a journey to help each other through workplace challenges, office politics, dating and relationship drama, and serious health concerns. 

Blue Fox Entertainment Canada has inked a deal to acquire the assets of entertainment distributor Unobstructed View Inc. and its U.S. sister company Unobstructed View LLC in a move that expands Blue Fox’s distribution footprint across North America. Announced during the American Film Market by Blue Fox Canada President David Hudakoc and EVP Ian Goggins, the move will see founder Jonathan Gross exit the company after a transition period. The former rock critic founded Unobstructed View in 1993, launching a direct-to-consumer site in 2017. UV is the exclusive distributor of Criterion Collection in Canada and has had success distributing Corner Gas and Kenny vs. Spenny, among other content.

OUTtv has launched on Prime Video in New Zealand as an add-on subscription, as well as co-commissioning Winner Winner Chicken Dinner with TVNZ, produced by Warner Bros. International Television Production New Zealand. Winner Winner Chicken Dinner is a new game show, hosted by New Zealand drag queens Kita Mean and Anita Wigl’it. In each episode, they invite three unsuspecting members of the general public into their living room to go up against each other in a series of outrageous chicken-themed games, changing the rules on a whim, doubling points for extreme behaviour and generally causing as much chaos as possible. 

Marjorie Beaucage is among those set to receive a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts during a ceremony Thursday at Rideau Hall. A creative documentary filmmaker who calls Duck Lake, SK home, Beaucage is a Two-Spirit Métis Auntie, filmmaker, ‘art-ivist’ and educator. She has dedicated her life’s work to creating social change, with her more than 40 films giving voice to those often unheard in mainstream stories. Her last project, Reducing the Harms of Colonialism, addressed harm reduction, with her work tackling difficult topics with groups that have been historically and systemically overlooked, such as Two-Spirit youth, sex workers, survivors of sexual abuse, Indigenous women living with HIV, people experiencing homelessness, and people facing addictions. 

REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:

CBC News says it’s adding up to 25 journalists in a dozen communities underserved by broadcast news outlets as part of its pledge to “address the gap” in areas where it does not have a presence. The public broadcaster said the new positions – set to be hired early in the New Year – will be focused in Western Canada, while also introducing four new late night TV newscasts in Atlantic Canada, including New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, P.E.I., and Newfoundland and Labrador. The announcement, which follows CRTC approval late last month of Google’s Online News Act commitment to compensate Canadian news organizations for use of their news content, builds on an expansion in 2022 to smaller cities like Lethbridge, Grande Prairie, Cranbrook, Nanaimo, and Kingston. Read more here.

BCE Q3 2024 results saw consolidated adjusted EBITDA grow 2.1% in Q3 2024 compared to Q3 2023, delivering 1.7 percentage-point increase in adjusted EBITDA margin to 45.6% – the highest quarterly margin in more than three decades. A net loss of $1,191 million was reported with net loss attributable to common shareholders of $1,237 million, or $1.36 per common share attributable to approximately $2.1 billion in non-cash media asset impairment charges. Bell Media revenue was up 10.1% with 25.1% adjusted EBITDA growth; digital revenue up 19% as digital platforms and ad tech continue to drive strong growth, operating revenue increased 10.1% to $782 million, driven by both higher year-over-year advertising and subscriber revenues. Ad revenue was up 7.9%, reflecting higher digital advertising revenue, stronger year-over-year TV sports specialty performance, and the financial contribution from the acquisition of OUTEDGE Media Canada. Subscriber revenue growth of 13.5% reflected retroactive adjustments related to contracts with Canadian TV distributors and continued Crave and sports direct-to-consumer streaming subscriber growth. 

TELUS has released its unaudited results for the third quarter of 2024. Consolidated operating revenues and other income increased by 1.8% over the same period a year ago to $5.1 billion. Growth was driven by higher service revenue and other income from copper and real estate monetization in the TELUS technology solutions (TTech) segment, offset by lower service revenue in the TELUS digital experience segment (TELUS Digital). Compared to the same period a year ago, net income in the quarter of $257 million was up 88% and Basic earnings per share (EPS) of $0.19 increased by 111%. 

Ericsson and the Government of Canada have signed an expanded funding agreement that will see Ericsson invest more than CAD $630 million in its Canadian R&D operations, a substantial increase from last year’s announcement. The funding increase will further enhance Ericsson’s R&D capabilities at its research facilities in Ottawa and Montreal, creating 200 new high-skilled jobs and more than 600 co-ops through its university partnerships. Ericsson’s R&D centres will focus on the development of quantum communications and AI-powered network management, while also expanding its Cloud RAN, 5G Advanced, and 6G capabilities. 

Videotron’s Canada-International wireless plan has added 28 more international destinations to its coverage area, purporting to now span over half the globe with 100 destinations. Videotron has also increased the data cap on the Canada-International plan to 45 GB. In addition to Canada and previously included destinations such as France, England, Mexico, China, and India, subscribers to the Canada-International plan can now stay connected in Ecuador, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka and more. Current subscribers will have the new destinations automatically added to their plan at no extra charge. 

The Sidney Hillman Foundation is accepting nominations for the 2025 Canadian Hillman Prizes, honouring excellence in investigative journalism in service of the common good. The Hillman Prizes celebrate print, digital and broadcast reporting in the public interest that exposes injustice and leads to meaningful public policy change. The judges will consider entries in three categories: print/digital, broadcast (TV, radio, podcast) and local/community news. Winners will be awarded a $2,500 honorarium, as well as travel to New York City to be a guest at the U.S Hillman Prize ceremony on May 6. 

BROADCAST TECH & ENGINEERING:

Mediasur, a Grup Mediapro company specializing in the accessibility of audiovisual content, has announced the launch of its new Offline Subtitling Platform. The automatic captioning and subtitling product – which combines Artificial Intelligence (AI) and human supervision – has achieved productivity gains of up to 60% in testing, according to data provided by Mediapro. The initiative arose in response to the growing demand for subtitling services in the audiovisual sector, and has been developed by Grup Mediapro’s AI Center. The Offline Subtitling Platform is based on Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure and combines state-of-the-art transcription models with synchronization and linguistic segmentation capabilities.

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has announced SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz as a keynote speaker at CES 2025. She’ll share the stage with podcaster Ashley Flowers, host of Crime Junkie and founder of audiochuck. Witz and Flowers will participate in a fireside chat on the evolution of audio and what they believe is next for the industry. The keynote will take place Jan. 7 at at ARIA Las Vegas. SiriusXM joins Panasonic, NVIDIA, Accenture, Volvo Group, and Delta on the CES 2025 keynote lineup.