By Ahmad Hathout
The head of Quebecor on Thursday excoriated the federal government’s decision to up CBC/Radio-Canada’s annual funding while not forcing it out of commercial advertising sales.
The Liberals allocated an additional $150 million to the public broadcaster’s annual appropriation, which was a pre-election commitment from Prime Minister Mark Carney, but did not push it out of those ad sales for which private television broadcasters compete.
“Regrettably, this new government has missed an opportunity to support an industry facing ever-growing challenges and job losses at an alarming rate,” Pierre Karl Peladeau, president and CEO of Quebecor, said during…
Continue Reading
Liberals fulfill pledge to up CBC funding by $150M
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – While the federal government announced some $51 billion in cuts and savings and projected a deficit of about $78 billion in its budget delivered on Tuesday by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne to address what he characterized as a “level of uncertainty higher than what we have seen and felt for generations,” Canada’s film and television industry welcomed a significant funding allotment as part of the government’s plans for $141 billion in new spending.
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) “applaud groundbreaking cultural sector investments” in the budget.
“Today’s budget…
Continue Reading
Warning their sector is on the brink of collapse, independent third-language community television producers are asking the federal government to include a $10.52-million annual program in the upcoming federal budget to safeguard Canada’s local news sovereignty.
“Without immediate intervention, hundreds of thousands of Canadians could lose access to trusted local news in their own languages — creating an information vacuum that hostile foreign actors could exploit to spread disinformation,” reads a Monday press release from the Canadian Ethnic Media Association (CEMA). “The warning comes in an open letter to Prime Minister Mark…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC’s vice president of broadcasting said Wednesday that some of the base contribution money collected from online streamers, which is to be delivered to Canadian content funds, has already been released, despite a court-ordered stay of that policy.
Scott Shortliffe told the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, in a briefing about the implementation of the Online Streaming Act, that the streamers’ money from the previous broadcast year – which ended on August 31 – has been collected by an independent company and that some of the money has already been delivered.
“We understand that the money has been…
Continue Reading
Indigenous broadcaster APTN, public broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) announced last week they are once again partnering to produce Remembering the Children: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the annual national commemorative gathering in Ottawa.
Supported by Canadian Heritage, the 90-minute live event Remembering the Children “will share the powerful truths of residential school Survivors and pay moving tribute to the children who never made it home,” says a CBC press release.
Hosted by Earl Wood and Melissa Mollen Dupuis, the multilingual commemorative event will encompass…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
Nearly five months after the Online Streaming Act became law, the CRTC warned about a delay in implementing the new rules after its request for funding was denied by the Department of Finance, according to a letter obtained by Cartt.
“The CRTC began working with Canadian Heritage, the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Finance to have approved financing and a revised fee regime in place for April 1, 2024,” CRTC Chair Vicky Eatrides wrote in the heavily redacted September 19, 2023 letter to then Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge.
“We were counting on…
Continue Reading
Bell Media and iHeartRadio Canada last week announced Windsor radio station Pure Country 89 (CIMX-FM) has been returned to its previous alternative rock format 89X after a five-year hiatus.
The shift in format officially began at 8:08 a.m. ET on Thursday, Aug. 28. Bell Media said details around 89X’s locally programmed morning, workday and drive shows will be announced in the coming weeks.
Initially launched in May 1991, 89X operated as a modern rock station introducing new music, supporting local artists and promoting Canadian bands for nearly 30 years until it was flipped…
Continue Reading
A consortium of federal creative organizations is partnering to prioritize and harmonize the measurement and collection of audience data to better understand and amplify Canadian stories.
Telefilm, the Canada Media Fund (CMF), the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) said Thursday that the new audience data initiative is a “concerted audience-centred approach” that will “inform more effective strategies for reaching audiences, increasing the impact of the richness and diversity of Canadian and Indigenous stories —whether in feature films, television, documentaries, or animated films— and ensuring its discoverability across digital platforms and cinemas,” a press…
Continue Reading
In the landscape of telecommunications, few institutions have left as profound a legacy as Nokia Bell Labs. As it marks its centennial anniversary, Bell Labs’ rich heritage of groundbreaking innovation continues to resonate strongly within Canada’s telecom evolution, significantly shaping its past and charting an ambitious course for the future. Let’s explore Bell Labs’ transformative history, Nokia’s contemporary contributions to Canada’s telecom landscape, and visionary innovations shaping the next century of connectivity.
A Legacy of Breakthroughs
From the invention of the transistor to the dawn of wireless networks, Bell Labs’ monumental contributions have laid the foundational stones…
Continue Reading
National public broadcaster CBC announced Monday it is marking National Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day with original and special programming that showcases the perspectives and experiences of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.
In honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day, CBC TV and CBC Gem will broadcast and stream a selection of Indigenous-led documentaries, films and series throughout the day and late night on Saturday, June 21.
Included in the lineup is Resonate: Songs of Resilience, which begins streaming June 21 on CBC Gem and CBC…
Continue Reading
