The Weekly Briefing

RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:

The CRTC has granted licences for five radio stations to serve the Indigenous community. The new stations will broadcast on the following frequencies: Vancouver (Northern Native Broadcasting): 106.3 FM; Edmonton (Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta): 89.3 FM; Calgary (Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta): 88.1 FM; Ottawa (First Peoples Radio Inc.): 95.7 FM; Toronto (First Peoples Radio Inc.): 106.5 FM. The new stations’ programming must include a large portion of local content, such as news, and deal with the specific concerns of Indigenous people in the regions in question. Part of the spoken programming must also be in an Indigenous language.

The CRTC has approved a new English-language commercial FM radio station for Simcoe, ON. My Broadcasting Corporation will operate the station which will offer a Classic Hits music format, targeting adults 25 to 54. It would broadcast 126 hours of programming each broadcast week, of which at least 100 hours would be devoted to local programming. MBC has committed to producing a minimum of 67 newscasts and 252 weather forecasts specific to Simcoe, Port Dover and Norfolk County each week. MBC also plans to broadcast a local music show featuring interviews with up-and-coming local and regional musicians.

The CRTC has decided Aurora, ON cannot sustain an additional radio station at this time. Located about 49 kilometers north of Toronto’s downtown core, Aurora is included in the Numeris Toronto Central Area (Toronto CTRL), currently served by 31 commercial radio stations. The commission ruled licensing a new station risks having an undue financial impact on CKDX-FM Newmarket, as well as other Toronto stations.

The CRTC has decided Brampton, ON cannot sustain an additional ethnic radio station. The commission says despite Brampton’s rapid population growth and high level of ethnic diversity, the Toronto CTRL radio market as a whole has experienced a decline in revenues since 2012. The CRTC says licensing a new Brampton ethnic station risks having undue financial impact on the unlaunched ethnic AM station recently licensed to serve Brampton, as well as the ethnic station CINA 1650 AM in neighboring Mississauga.

Rogers Media has asked the CRTC to amend its license for JACK 96.9 (CJAQ-FM) Calgary and transmitters CJAQ-FM-1 Banff and CJAQ-FM-2 Invermere to remove the conditions of licence related to “oldies” musical selections. Rogers says the application is an effort to streamline its COLs and will have no impact on the station’s programming.

Stingray Digital Group Inc. has released its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Mar. 31. The Montreal-based multi-platform music provider generated revenues of $26.5 million in the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2017, an increase of 3.3 per cent compared with revenues of $25.7 million a year ago. The increase was primarily due to the acquisitions of Classica and Bell’s Music Video Channels (Much Channels) combined with international growth related to new products and organic growth for digital signage in Canada. Year-end revenues for Fiscal 2017 increased 12.8 per cent to $101.5 million compared to $89.9 million a year ago.

SOCAN has released results for its fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2016, reporting $330-million in total domestic and international royalties collected from the performances of its nearly 150,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members. More than $289-million in combined domestic and international royalties were distributed to SOCAN members, an increase of five per cent over 2015. Internet music streaming revenues jumped 118 per cent over the previous year, bringing in a total of $33.8-million. Nearly 4,500 music-using businesses became Licensed To Play with SOCAN in 2016, while 6,500 songwriters, composers and music publishers were added as members.

Songwriting duo Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance will receive the SOCAN Lifetime Achievement Award at the 29th annual SOCAN Awards on June 19 in Toronto. Scarborough-based producer Nineteen85, behind many of Drake’s hit singles, is set to take home the SOCAN Songwriter of the Year Award, while Hedley will claim the SOCAN National Achievement Award. Andy Kim’s 1969 hit Sugar, Sugar will receive the SOCAN Cultural Impact Award.

Vista Radio has launched a new free resource for radio talent designed to provide critical feedback on their on-air performance to help them develop and grow. If you are an on-air personality looking for input on your work, submit your aircheck to VTF – Vista Talent Feedback here, free. The Vista programming team promises to provide the feedback within 48 hours.

Ian Howarth has written a great book about the halcyon days of Montreal rock and pop radio. Rock ‘n’ Radio – When DJ’s and Rock Music Ruled the Airwaves is available now via www.rocknradiodays.com Hear the Broadcast Dialogue interview with Howarth here.

SIGN-OFFS:

Jeremy McGoran, 35, took his own life in Penticton June 9. McGoran hosted afternoons on EZ Rock 1240 (CJOR-AM) Osoyoos and EZ Rock 800 (CKOR-AM) Penticton for a decade, up until last year, after going public with his struggle with anxiety and depression. McGoran leaves behind his wife, Mare McHale, and their six-year-old son, Thomas. The couple met in 2005 at Vista Radio in Prince George, where they both worked, and married in 2009 in Penticton where Mare hosted the Sun FM (CJMG-FM) morning show. Both left the radio business last year to start a communications consulting company. An online fundraiser has been set up for McGoran’s family.

 

TV/FILM/VIDEO:

Wow Unlimited Media Inc. and Bell Media have entered into a strategic partnership that will see Wow acquire one of Bell’s speciality channels. In exchange, Bell Media will acquire 12 per cent of Wow’s shares at a price $6.86M and leverage its programming for use across Bell platforms, including CraveTV and Snackable TV. The agreement also includes jointly developing and producing future programming content.

Vintage TV Canada has been added to all subscription packages for Rogers cable customers. Launched in Oct. 2016 on the Shaw Communications network, Vintage TV Canada is modeled after its UK counterpart, offering music, interviews and curated playlists. Music historian and broadcasting vet Alan Cross is the channel’s creative director, while its board of directors includes former CRTC commissioner Rita Cugini and Ivar Hamilton, VP Catalogue & Sports Music Marketing, Universal Music Canada.

CTV has released a first look at its forthcoming feature film about The Tragically Hip and their cross-Canada Man Machine Poem Tour. Commissioned by Bell Media, the documentary is set for a fall theatrical run, distributed by Elevation Pictures, ahead of its television premiere in late fall on CTV. The network premiere will be followed by airings on various Bell Media and on-demand platforms, including The Movie Network, MUCH, and CraveTV. Click here to view the first look.

Corus Entertainment has inked a deal with The Walt Disney Studios for exclusive Canadian broadcast rights for the Star Wars films. Beginning this fall, 11 films from the epic franchise, including original trilogy titles and yet-to-be-seen theatrical releases, will make their debuts on Corus’ conventional and specialty networks, including Global, Showcase, W Network, ABC Spark, YTV, Disney Channel and Disney XD. Broadcast details will be announced at a later date.

Recently retired Major League Baseball player Chris Leroux has been revealed as the next bachelor on W Network‘s The Bachelor Canada, this fall. The 33-year-old from Mississauga spent time with the New York Yankees, Florida Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates. Actor Noah Cappe (Carnival Eats, Good Witch) returns as host, while Q107 (CILQ-FM) Toronto personality Jennifer Valentyne resumes hosting duties on the The Bachelor Canada After Show.

Two-hour television event Canada In A Day, the culmination of more than 16,000 video submissions from Canadians, will premiere on CTV June 25. Shot entirely over the course of 24 hours on September 10, 2016, the crowd-sourced film includes footage from more than 10,000 Canadians from all 10 provinces, three territories, 22 countries and in 18 languages. Acclaimed director Ridley Scott was among the project’s executive producers, inspired by his award-winning feature film Life In A Day. Canada In A Day will be available on CraveTV, beginning June 30, with encore broadcasts on CTV and CTV Two slated for July 1 and 2.

Bell Media has publicized the badly-kept secret that TSN is now the official English-language broadcaster of the Montreal Canadiens, beginning with the 2017-18 season. The new agreement sees TSN air a slate of games in the team’s designated broadcast region, which spans Eastern and Northern Ontario, Québec, and Atlantic Canada. RDS continues to be the French-language home for Canadiens games. TSN 690 (CKGM-AM) Montréal also renewed its agreement, maintaining full radio broadcast rights.

In the lead-up to this fall’s Invictus Games Toronto 2017, CTV News’ chief anchor Lisa LaFlamme sat down for an exclusive, hour-long interview with Prince Harry at Kensington Palace. Prince Harry: Journey To Invictus airs June 16 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV. The pair discuss the Prince’s 10 years in the British military and his two tours in Afghanistan, as well as his childhood experiences in Canada and his impressions of Canadians’ relationship with the Royal Family.

Last weekend’s CHEO Foundation Telethon set a fundraising record, with the 24-hour broadcast on CTV Ottawa bringing in more than $8.7 million in donations for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Foundation.

The two-day Miracle Weekend celebration, broadcast live on Global BC, raised an incredible $20,300,680, helping BC Children’s Hospital reach a historic $300 million raised over its 30-year history. The 30th annual event, June 3-4, was hosted by Global BC personalities including Chris Gailus, Sophie Lui, Squire Barnes, Anne Drewa, and Sonia Sunger.

ONLINE/DIGITAL:

Ezra Levant, head of conservative news site Rebel Media, is suing an Ottawa Twitter user who suggested the Rebel and/or Levant stood to financially benefit from the site’s 2016 crowdfunding campaign for Fort McMurray disaster relief. Filed in Ontario Superior Court, Levant’s statement of claim alleges Robert Day, aka @CanadianCynic, defamed him and seeks $95,000 in damages. The Rebel-promoted Indiegogo campaign raised $162,476 for the Canadian Red Cross.

Apple will block autoplay videos on its next iteration of the forthcoming version of its Safari web browser. The next iteration will also disable trackers that allow advertisers to monitor ads for user activity.

The Green Room, the world’s first-of-its-kind smart phone networking app for the international filmmaking and creative industries communities has made its debut, after approval by Apple and Google. The brainchild of Australian indie filmmaker Kosta Nikas and creator Peter Lord, the app encourages users in the filmmaking and creative industries communities to create profiles, post and find crew for projects.

In an effort to engage its audience and increase transparency, The Washington Post has set up a Facebook group where readers can ask reporters how and why they cover stories. PostThis is open to anyone and has reached over 2,800 members in just three months.

GENERAL:

Outgoing CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais has revealed he did not reapply for the role, as his five-year term comes to a close on Saturday. Steering the regulator through the rise of video streaming and high-speed mobile networks, Blais’ legacy includes declaring broadband Internet access a basic service, implementation of so-called skinny TV packages, and instituting a wireless code of conduct. Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, writes Blais is “likely to be regarded as the most consequential CRTC chair in a generation.” You can read Blais’ address to the Banff World Media Festival this week, including some predictions and parting shots, here.

Quebecor Media Inc. has announced the sale of seven 2500 MHz and 700 MHz wireless spectrum licences, held by Videotron, to Shaw Communications Inc. for $430 million. The sale includes three 700 MHz licences covering southern Ontario and the entirety of the provinces of Alberta and BC, and four 2500 MHz licences covering Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. Quebecor has also sold Videotron’s advanced wireless services spectrum licence in the Greater Toronto region to Rogers for approximately $184 million. The company says the sales will enable Videotron to continue investing in the development of its network in Quebec and Eastern Ontario.

Bell has announced an agreement with Hyundai AutoEver Telematics America (HATA), a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group, to deliver a range of connected telematics services including security, safety, diagnostics and infotainment to select Hyundai and Kia vehicles over Bell’s national mobile network. The capabilities, including local search, remote start and automatic collision notification, will be available starting this summer.

ACTRA and ACTRA RACS (Recording Artists’ Collecting Society) have joined the Focus On Creators coalition, organized to bring attention to issues around unpaid reuse of the work of Canada’s creative artists in the digital age. Focus On Creators has drafted a call to action that supporters can sign asking Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly to put creators at the heart of cultural policy decisions.

The Canadian Press is this year’s recipient of the CJF Jackman Award for Excellence in Journalism (large-media category), presented at the annual Canadian Journalism Foundation Awards. CP’s Open Secret series explored sexual trauma involving children in Indigenous communities. The previously announced Lifetime Achievement Award went to Jean Pelletier, senior director of television current affairs and documentaries for Radio-Canada. You can view the full list of winners here.

The Western Association of Broadcasters’ 2017 WAB Gold Medal Awards Gala took place June 8 at the Fairmont Banff Springs, celebrating the best and brightest in Prairie broadcasting.  

2017 WAB Gold Medal for Radio (Under 150,000 Market)
Rogers Media – Country 93.3 & 97.9 ROCK
Response to Fort McMurray Wildfire

2017 WAB Gold Medal for Radio (Market 150,000 and Over)
Rawlco Radio – 650 CKOM
Saskatchewan Day of Caring for Fort McMurray

2017 WAB Gold Medal for Television (Under 150,000 Market)
Jim Pattison Broadcast Group – CHAT TV
Heart of the City

2017 WAB Gold Medal for Television (Market 150,000 and Over)
Bell Media – CTV Calgary
Toy Mountain

2017 WAB Leader of Tomorrow
Joelle Tomlinson
Corus Entertainment – Global Saskatoon

2017 WAB Hall of Fame Inductees
Stanley Papulkas
Rogers Media

Patrick Grierson
Canadian Broadcast Sales

Broadcast Order of Achievement

Quarter Century Club – 25 Years:
Derek Allen (Harvard), Dave Baker (Fabmar), Angela Enns (Golden West), Kim Fjellner (Rogers Media), Wendy Friesen (Golden West), Cal Gratton (Fabmar), Kerry Greenly (Rogers Media), Sanford Hildebrand (Golden West), Ron Hogue (Golden West), Rick Lewis (Golden West), Dave Marcoux (Fabmar), Tony Marsh (Rogers Media), Alice McFarlane (Fabmar), Vernon Mooers (Golden West), Cynthia Parker (Rogers Media), Finlay Paterson (Golden West), Angela Reimer (Rogers Media), Linda Rheaume (Fabmar), Glenn Rogers (Golden West), Shelley Ruis (Rogers Media), Dave Schuck (Newcap Radio), Ken Siira (Golden West), Antonio Sorgiovanni (Rogers Media), Joy Tamke (Rogers Media), Leon Tansey (Rogers Media), Kevin Wallace (Golden West), Royal Watson (Fabmar), Alex White (Jim Pattison)

Half Century Club – 50 Years:
Ken Singer (Fabmar)

Mark Ritson has been announced as the keynote speaker at the 2018 Western Association of Broadcasters Conference in Banff, June 6-7, 2018. Ritson is the adjunct professor at Melbourne Business School and a world-leading expert in marketing and branding. Early registration for next year’s conference will open in September, along with the release of other speakers.  

 

SUPPLY LINES:

Bell Media’s in-house agency racked up 30 wins at the 2017 PromaxBDA awards held June 8 in New York. Celebrating the world’s best in entertainment marketing across every platform, Bell Media was honoured with 23 Global Excellence awards (six gold, eight silver, and nine bronze) and seven North American awards (two gold, two silver, and three bronze). The agency was also first runner-up for Global Marketing Company of the Year.

Astral Out of Home, a division of Bell Media, has unveiled Canada’s largest single digital screen, measuring more than 26 feet high and more than 188 feet long, at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto. Animated in full motion, the new digital wrap delivers a high resolution, multi-media experience with combined daily traffic at the site of more than 93,000 pedestrians and 30,000 vehicles.