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REVOLVING DOOR:

Xavier Brassard-Bédard

Xavier Brassard-Bédard has been appointed President and CEO of Ontario French-language public broadcaster, TFO. Brassard-Bédard has most recently been serving as General Manager of TVA Nouvelles and LCN. A journalist by training, prior to that, he worked at Radio-Canada for eight years in Ottawa and Toronto as a producer and news editor for Téléjournal Ontario. His term will officially begin on Jan. 6. Brassard-Bédard succeeds Michelle Séguin, who has been CEO since February 2022.

John Voiles

John Voiles has announced his retirement as the General Sales and Marketing Manager at Victoria’s CHEK-TV at the end of March. Voiles joined CHEK in January 2022, but has a history with the station dating back to 1989 when he worked in sales for then-sister station BCTV, regularly selling advertising on CHEK. His 45-year career includes senior leadership roles at Global, City TV, A-Channel, Astral, and Bell Media.  

Amber Belzer

Amber Belzer has been promoted at the Canadian Traffic Network (CTN) to Senior Director for Western Canada. Belzer has been CTN’s Director of Operations since 2011 and with the company since 2007 when she started as a Vancouver-based traffic reporter.

Paul Harper

Paul Harper is being heard on Evanov Communications’ Z103.5 (CIDC-FM) Orangeville over the holidays. Harper was most recently helming the morning show on Stingray’s Today Radio (CFXJ-FM) in Toronto, up until this past August when the station flipped to a New Country format.

Patti Sonntag

Patti Sonntag is joining Postmedia’s political bureau. The former New York Times Syndicate editor was among those caught up in layoffs this fall at Global News, where she’d been a National Online Correspondent with the Investigative Unit for the past year.

Antonello Cozzolino

Antonello Cozzolino has been named President of the Board of Directors of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television – Quebec Chapter. Cozzolino is a veteran producer with Montreal-based Attraction.

Prentiss Fraser, President, Television Distribution, Fifth Season; Andrew Peterson, Head of YouTube Canada; and Jane Rimer, Senior Vice President, Canada, Banijay Rights, have joined the BANFF World Media Festival board of directors. In addition, Patrick Vien, Group Managing Director, International at A+E Networks, has been appointed Vice-Chair of the Board, succeeding Brenda Gilbert, producer and Co-Founder of BRON Media, who will be remaining on the Board of Directors. Retiring board members include Sally Catto, General Manager of Entertainment, Factual and Sports, CBC, and Colin Bohm, Chief Executive Officer, Toon Boom Animation.

Anne Stirk & Joel Baskin

Joel Baskin, Vice-President of the Feldman Agency, and Anne Stirk, Director of Marketing & Brand Strategy at Toronto’s Republic Live, have been newly-elected to the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) 2024-25 Board of Directors. Also newly-appointed to the board are Jeremy Johnson, co-founder of Johnson Talent Management, and former CBC producer and current Amazon Music Curator Kerry Martin. Casadie Pederson, Owner of Muse Creative Management, has been re-elected for a second term. 

RADIO & PODCAST:

The CRTC has approved the first of Bell Media’s 45 radio station divestitures. ZoomerMedia will acquire CJOS-FM Owen Sound – currently branded as Bounce 92.3 – for $1.5 million. ZoomerMedia indicated it plans to continue the operation of the station under the same conditions of service currently in place and maintain its Adult Hits format.  

Cogeco Media and Bell Media have filed a Part 1 application with the CRTC aimed at prohibiting Quebecor Media and Leclerc Communication from broadcasting QUB radio content on 99.5 FM CJPX-FM Montreal. Leclerc reached a content distribution agreement earlier this year with Quebecor Media’s NumériQ, which saw programming from its QUB talk radio and public affairs digital channel start airing on CJPX-FM at the end of August. 

Pattison Media’s The Zone @ 91.3 (CJZN-FM) Victoria, in partnership with Peninsula Co-op, has raised over $55,000 in monetary, gift card and new toy donations. The Zone’s Toy Drive began in 2010, inspired by Morning Zone host Dylan Willows, who passed away in June, and his mother, Marie Willows, who recognized a growing need within the community. Driven by Dylan’s vision and dedication, the Toy Drive became an annual tradition, uniting the station’s listener community, affectionately known as “Zoners.” In honor of Dylan and his enduring legacy, The Zone’s Toy Drive has been renamed “The Willows Family Toy Drive.” 

Evanov Communications’ Winnipeg stations Energy 106, HOT 100.5, and 92.7 FM CKJS teamed up with Harvest Manitoba for the annual “Hope for the Holidays” Radiothon. Broadcast live from Garden City Shopping Centre on Dec. 13, from 6 a.m. to 6  p.m. Energy 106’s Wheeler in the Morning (Dave Wheeler, Tyler Carr), along with HOT 100.5’s Mark & Dilly in the Morning (Mark Morris, Sean Dilworth), were on-air for 12 hours of music, prizes, auctions, and info on how to donate. CKJS’ Good Morning Philippines (Chester Pangan, Donna Natividad-Arenas), Radio Dhamaal (Mandeep Brar) and Afternoon Pasada (Lucille Nolasco Garrido) also supported the Radiothon throughout the day. Over $40,000 in food and cash were raised, with donations still coming in.  

99.3 County FM (CJPE-FM) Prince Edward County, ON is presenting its fifth annual “Celebrate Christmas” broadcast on Dec. 24 and Dec. 25. Initially begun as a way to offer a traditional Christmas Eve experience during pandemic restrictions, Celebrate Christmas has evolved into a local Christmas tradition. This year’s program sees the community station partner with 18 local communities of faith to produce a curated combination of scripture, carols, and Christmas greetings on behalf of the various congregations. The complete program will be posted at CountyFM’s website closer to the broadcast date.

The Podcast Exchange (TPX) has announced a partnership with the Steve Dangle Podcast Network (SDPN). SDPN boasts a roster of sports-focused podcasts that currently includes The Steve Dangle Podcast, LFR, The Chris Johnston Show, Agent Provocateur with Allan Walsh & Adam Wylde, The Jesse Blake Sports Report, and Nailing the Apex with racing journalist Tim Hauraney, among other offerings. 

Jesse Brown

Canadaland publisher and editor-in-chief Jesse Brown has posted “a note of gratitude” to supporters, after what he terms a “difficult year” for the podcast network, acknowledging the high rate of staff turnover over the last few months. Brown, who has received a high amount of backlash for his strong views on anti-semitism and the Israel-Palestine conflict, says it’s been hard – and sometimes demoralizing – since Oct. 7, to see supporters leave the network over his views. Brown says despite that, Canadaland has experienced a 25% bump in listenership, encouraging him to believe that people still want to have challenging conversations. 

CBC and the BBC World Service debut new six-part true crime podcast Kaitlyn’s Baby on Jan. 14. Hosted by Canadian writer and producer Sarah Treleaven (iHeart Radio’s Unrestorable), the latest season of The Con podcast strand, follows Kaitlyn, a pregnant young woman in crisis, who takes dozens of birth workers through a series of disasters – rape, baby loss, and even a coma, before it’s all revealed as lies.

Triton Digital’s Canada Podcast Ranker for November 2024 cites the top-ranked podcast overall as Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard (Wondery Network). CBC/Radio-Canada earned the #1 spot on the Top Networks Report with 1.85M Average Weekly Downloads, followed by Wondery Network at #2 with 1.78M Average Weekly Downloads, and Audioboom at #3 with 1.22M Average Weekly Downloads. Top-ranked November debuts included Cogeco Media’s La nuit où j’ai failli mourir, the Mark Levin Podcast (Cumulus Podcast Network), and Crimes occultes (Cogeco Media).

LISTEN: On this year-end episode of Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast, we sit down with our publisher Shawn Smith, the president of Momentum Media, to reflect on 2024 and discuss his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead for the broadcast industry in 2025. Listen on your favourite podcast app or here:

LISTEN: Podcast pioneer Rob Greenlee, host of the New Media Show (along with Todd Cochrane), Podcast Tips, Trust Factor, Spoken Life Show and Behind the EV Wheel, is on the Sound Off Podcast. He continues to be an advocate for podcasters, frequently speaking at industry events, hosting panels, and educating others on podcasting trends, best practices, and technology. 

SIGN OFFS:

Jim Waters

Jim Waters, 73, on Dec. 13. The son of CHUM co-founder Allan Waters, Jim worked in radio for 35 years, culminating in a seat on the CHUM board of directors, alongside his brother Ron. Jim took over as head of the company shortly before his father’s death in late 2005. In July 2006, CHUM agreed to merge with CTVglobemedia. Waters stepped away from broadcasting, for the most part at age 55, at the end of that summer, but continued to maintain some connections to the media business, helping fund the application for student operated radio station, CHOP-FM, which launched at Pickering College in Newmarket, ON in 2007. He also sat on the board of Starboard Communications in Belleville, ON. Waters was named Broadcasting Executive of the Year at Canadian Music Week (CMW) in 2001 and was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2007. The owner of Ontario Hockey League (OHL) team, the Erie Otters, he had been a member of the OHL’s Executive Council of the Board of Governors since 2001. Read more here.

TV & FILM:

Matthew Rankin’s Universal Language is one of 15 films shortlisted to advance to the next round of voting in the International Feature Film category for the 97th Academy Awards. Films from 85 countries and regions were eligible in the category. Universal Language is the first Canadian film to make the shortlist in the category since 2016. Oscar winner Torill Kove’s Mikrofilm/National Film Board of Canada (NFB) animated short Maybe Elephants is one of 15 films shortlisted for Animated Short Film. Nominations for the 97th Academy Awards will be announced on Friday, Jan. 17.

WildBrain is selling its majority stake in its TV channels in a deal valued at $40 million. The company announced Wednesday that independent, Halifax-based children’s studio IoM Media Venturesled by former DHX Media CEO Dana Landry – will acquire 66 2/3% of its television broadcast business, including Family Channel, Family Jr., WildBrainTV and Télémagino, pending CRTC approval. Under terms of the agreement, WildBrain says it expects to receive more than $40 million over the next four years from the transaction. The deal is expected to close in three to six months, with WildBrain intending to use the proceeds to pay down debt. Read more here.

TV5/Unis is the latest channel to request an increase in its mandatory wholesale fee from the CRTC. The broadcaster is seeking an increase of $0.02 per month per subscriber to $0.30 in francophone and $0.26 in anglophone markets.

 

The 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship begins Thursday, Dec. 26 on TSN, TSN.ca, and the TSN app, culminating with the Gold Medal Game on Sunday, Jan. 5. For the first time, CTV joins TSN to deliver the New Year’s Eve rivalry matchup between Team Canada and Team USA, with pre-game coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. The puck drops with three pre-competition matchups featuring Team Canada, beginning with Canada vs. Switzerland on Thursday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. ET.

CBC has announced its New Year’s Eve original programming lineup, which kicks off at 8 p.m. ET (8:30 NT) on CBC TV and CBC Gem with the 22 Minutes New Year’s Eve Pregame Special, a one-hour satirical sendoff to 2024. Programming continues with the live CBC News special Canada Live! Countdown 2025, hosted by Adrienne Arsenault, Jann Arden, Ian Hanomansing and Ali Hassan, inviting audiences to count down to the new year in each of the six time zones across the country, beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBC News Network, CBC Gem, the CBC News app, and cbcnews.ca, the CBC News streaming channel and the CBC News YouTube channel, with live coverage beginning on CBC TV, CBC Radio and CBC Listen at 9 p.m. in each time zone (9:30 NT). 

George Stroumboulopoulos will host New Year’s Eve special, The Countdown to 2025, on CHCH-TV and CHEK-TV. The retrospective of the past year paired with live performances follows the success of last year’s broadcast—watched by 600,000 viewers across Canada and ranked as the second-most-viewed New Year’s Eve special of 2024. Filmed in front of a live studio audience, CHCH-TV will carry the special broadcast live for an Ontario audience at 11:10 p.m. ET, through both conventional TV and streaming at chch.com and YouTube.com/@CHCHTV11. CHEK will carry the broadcast for the B.C. audience at 11:10 p.m. PT on conventional TV and streaming on CHEK+.

Bell Media has partnered with Shopsense AI, a leader in shoppable TV technology, to bring second-screen shopping experiences to Canadian viewers. The collaboration marks Shopsense’s first expansion outside of the U.S. and the first integration of its Commerce OS into Canadian entertainment programming. Debuting on CTV’s The Good Stuff with Mary Berg and ETALK, The Good Stuff will offer foodie-focused gift guides, host-inspired fashion, and affordable home décor, creating a curated marketplace to recreate what viewers are seeing on screen. ETALK’s shoppable experience will feature accessible fashion, giving audiences the opportunity to recreate their favorite celebrity styles. Brands will be able to sponsor second-screen experiences across both series social media channels. Bell Media says it has plans to scale shopability across its content library.

Bell Media’s rebranded specialty channels will be available on nationwide free preview from Jan. 1 – Feb. 28 through participating service providers as the network moves forward with a major content and licensing agreement with NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution. Starting Jan. 1, Bell Media’s Investigation Discovery (ID) channel rebrands as Oxygen True Crime in Canada, and its former Discovery channel offering rebrands as USA Network, while Animal Planet, Discovery Science, and Discovery Velocity, become CTV Wild, CTV Nature, and CTV Speed, respectively, as Warner Bros. Discovery content rights move over to Rogers’ domain.

Corus Entertainment’s Showcase and W Network have announced their winter lineup of new and returning series, including the return of comedy series Based on a True Story, starring Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina; new drama series Lockerbie: A Search for Truth starring Colin Firth; and previously-announced series Teacup, starring Canadian actor Scott Speedman. W Network will also air Season 3 of Hallmark Channel drama, The Way Home.

CTV has confirmed initial midseason premiere dates. New series include comedy Shifting Gears (airing Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT, beginning Jan. 8). Tim Allen stars as the stubborn, widowed owner of a classic car restoration shop, with Kat Dennings cast as his daughter, who moves her kids into his house. New ABC News Studios documentary series SCAMANDA (Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT, beginning Jan. 30) is based on the podcast of the same name, while new survivalist competition series Extracted (Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT, beginning Feb. 10) features 12 untrained competitors attempting to survive extremely grueling conditions in the unforgiving Canadian wilderness as their family members watch them navigate their dangerous surroundings via a 24/7 live feed, begging the question: how far will their loved ones let them go for a chance to win $250,000? Also joining the schedule is spinoff series SUITS LA (Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT, beginning Feb. 23), starring Stephen Arnell (Arrow). 

Martin Sheen

Martin Sheen (The West Wing), Ally Sheedy (Single Drunk Female), Marie Avgeropoulos (The 100), Katie Findlay (Man Seeking Woman), and NXT North American wrestling champion Tony D’Angelo are set to guest star in Season 2 of CBC’s Wild Cards. Sheen stars in a recurring role throughout the season as “Joseph Edwards,” known in the con community as the greatest conman of all time. The procedural follows a by-the-book, sardonic cop (Giacomo Gianniotti) and a clever con woman (Vanessa Morgan) who are assigned by the Metro Police force to work together, using their seemingly opposing skills to solve crimes.

Pluto TV is marking two-years in Canada, purporting growth of up to 1.7 billion total viewing minutes (TVMs) per month, with its monthly average up 40% from last year. Pluto TV channels are now more than double the platform’s launch-offering, with 243 FAST channels and over 50,000 hours of movies, shows, documentaries, news, and music, available both live and on demand. Pluto TV says its success in Canada continues to be driven by new channels and content partnerships including NBCUniversal (NBCU) Global TV Distribution, FIFA+, IndiaCast, CBC, A+E Networks, and Fremantle. New and upcoming channel highlights include three new CBC News Channels (CBC News Toronto, CBC News BC, and Radio-Canada INFO) that join the previously launched CBC News Explore.

Alter Boys from writer/director and actor Jonathan Lawrence is currently streaming on CBC Gem. The six-episode dramatic series explores the nuances and challenges of queer love as a group of young men recover in a Northern Manitoba hospital after being rescued from a forest fire that tore through a conversion therapy camp. Filmed in Winnipeg, it features a predominantly Manitoba-based cast and crew. Lawrence directs, writes and stars. The series is produced by Ryan Cooper (Aberdeen), executive produced by Al Magee (Trailer Park Boys, Little Mosque on the Prairie) and Kyle Bornais (The Swearing Jar), with cinematography by Jordan Popowich (Querencia). The series is produced by Farpoint Films

Point Grey Pictures, the prodco founded by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, is producing its first scripted show for the Canadian market, in collaboration with Bell Media. The deal was struck through Lionsgate’s first-look television deal with Point Grey. Details around the new project haven’t been divulged. In addition to this deal, Lionsgate and Bell Media have a separate co-development agreement to produce comedy and drama television series for the global market. Read more here.

Boat Rocker has announced an exclusive multi-year deal with The Weather Channel to distribute the American network’s extensive library of original content in global markets outside of the U.S. Offering over 400 hours of content, highlights include 18 popular series, including: Weather Gone Viral – now in its 9th season (22×60′) – featuring meteorological moments from around the world; Storm of Suspicion – now in its 5th season (22×60′) – where the high stakes of extreme weather meet the thrilling mystery of murder; and Fast Home Rescue (S2 10×60′), in which husband and wife duo Tre and Cierra Boston help families get back into their storm-damaged homes.  

ONLINE & DIGITAL MEDIA:

Postmedia has rebranded Saltwire as PNI Atlantic News. The redesign includes an updated look more focused on local brands like the Halifax Chronicle Herald, Charlottetown Guardian, Cape Breton Post and St. John’s Telegram, in addition to faster page-load times and functionality. Postmedia acquired SaltWire Network and the Halifax Chronicle Herald in a $1 million deal over the summer. 

The Sprawl, the independent Calgary digital media outlet helmed by Jeremy Klaszus, has launched a crowd-funding appeal. Klaszus says the publication is no longer sustainable, despite strong download numbers for its Sprawlcast podcast. Klaszus reveals that The Sprawl lost more than $20,000 in 2024, even though it raised just over $110,000 in crowdfunding revenue to cover editorial costs. The outlet previously benefited from now-defunct Facebook journalism grants and isn’t eligible for the upcoming Google payout to Canadian news organizations under the Online News Act.

REGULATORY, TELECOM & MEDIA:

New Order of Canada appointees (l-r): Steve Murphy, Fabienne Colas, Joe Schwarcz, Ryan Reynolds, Scott Oake, Randy Lennox.

Ryan Reynolds, former Bell Media President Randy Lennox, Montreal International Black Film Festival founder Fabienne Colas, and retired CTV Atlantic anchor Steve Murphy are among 88 new appointments to the Order of Canada. Other new Members from the broadcast and creative industries sectors include award-winning CBC Radio producer Karen Levine; CBC Sports, Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada broadcaster Scott Oake; and Montreal-based science broadcaster and author Joseph A. Schwarcz, host of the long-running Dr. Joe Show on CJAD 800. Read more here.

CRTCThe CRTC has released the mandatory bargaining framework that will apply when major online platforms and eligible Canadian news organizations negotiate agreements under the Online News Act. The Act sets out a mandatory bargaining process that stipulates that if the two sides cannot come to an agreement during a 90-day bargaining period and 120-day mediation period, a final 45-day arbitration period would follow where a panel of independent arbitrators will select the final offer made by one of the parties. The commission will serve in an oversight role to ensure parties participate in good faith. The commission has also clarified expectations around data collection, stating that to avoid unnecessary administrative burden on news businesses, it will generally only collect detailed information mirroring what is found in annual broadcasting returns to streamline reporting requirements. Read more here.

The CRTC has approved a corporate reorganization that places the assets of TV distributor VMedia under Freedom Mobile, both under the effective control of Quebecor. The reorg encompasses BDUs serving the Greater Toronto Area (including Ajax, Aurora, Bolton, Brampton, Caledon, Claremont, Etobicoke, Georgetown, King City, Markham, Milton, Mississauga, Nobleton, North York, Pickering, Richmond Hill, Scarborough, Toronto, Vaughan and Woodbridge), Barrie, Hamilton-Niagara and Oshawa, and national on-demand service VMedia.

The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled that the major foreign streamers may have a legitimate grievance against the base financial contribution levied on them by the CRTC to support Canadian content. The high court has granted a hearing to Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and the Canadian affiliate of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) – which represents Netflix, Paramount, Pluto, and Crunchyroll – after the parties filed their own applications against the proposed June decision, which was finalized in August. In approving the applications, the court rejected a submission from the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) that sought to have the court throw out the applications on the grounds the CRTC decision is a matter of policy, not law, and that the parties were challenging a proposal that had yet to be finalized. Read more in our sister publication, CARTT.ca (paywalled).

Rogers Communications has received clearance from the Competition Bureau to proceed with the acquisition of Bell’s 37.5% stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) for 4.7B. Rogers and Bell received a “no-action letter” last week from the Bureau, indicating that the Commissioner of Competition does not intend to challenge Rogers acquisition of Bell’s interest in MLSE. The deal is subject to league and CRTC approvals. 

The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) is inviting members of the media to submit stories for their annual Media Awards by Feb. 28. An independent committee of reporters and nurses selected by RNAO will judge stories published or broadcast in Ontario in 2024. Past winners include journalists from CTV News Kitchener, Global News, Hamilton Spectator, The Recorder and Times, and the Toronto Star.

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