MONTRÉAL – Bell is mourning the loss of former Bell Canada CEO and Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) founder Jean de Grandpré (above) who passed away last weekend. He was 100 years old.
“Mr. de Grandpré was instrumental in transforming the telecommunications industry in Canada, and an important leader in the business community,” a Bell press release issued today says.
de Grandpré joined Bell in 1966 as general counsel, became CEO and chair of the board in 1976, and played a key role in creating BCE in 1983. de Grandpré “guided Bell through a transformative period in its history that included the…
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TORONTO — Blue Ant Media announced today its Makeful channel will broadcast the Canadian premiere of a new reality series, The Prince’s Master Crafters: The Next Generation, which features Prince Charles (above, centre) as a judge.
Debuting Aug. 10 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Makeful, the seven-episode series hosted by comedian and artist Jim Moir (above, left) spotlights “Britain’s rich heritage of traditional crafts,” explains a press release.
The series “follows six amateur craftspeople as they learn Heritage Crafts skills crucial to the preservation of landmark buildings, taking on a variety of crafting challenges to supercharge their abilities before creating a…
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MONTREAL – TVA Group, a subsidiary of Quebecor Media, announced yesterday its financial results for the second quarter of 2022, which show revenues decreased by $12 million year-over-year to $147.5 million.
TVA also reported consolidated adjusted EBITDA was $3.2 million, a $10.7 million unfavourable variance compared to Q2 2021.
In its broadcasting segment, TVA reported $149,000 in negative adjusted EBITDA. This is “a $6,433,000 unfavourable variance resulting largely from the decreased profitability of TVA Network, which continued its strategy of increasing investment in content, partially offset by the improved profitability of “TVA Sports,” which had to absorb significant content cost in…
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Expert group concludes work with little attention given to website blocking proposal
By Amanda OYE
OTTAWA – The work of the government’s Expert Advisory Group on Online Safety, which was appointed in March to provide advice on the government’s proposed approach to dealing with harmful content online, has come to an end with the summary of its final session being posted online last week, but the government will continue seeking input on the matter from Canadians and stakeholders throughout the summer.
“I thank the expert advisory group for their work,” said Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez in a statement emailed to Cartt.ca….
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TORONTO and MONTREAL — The Canada Media Fund (CMF) announced today the appointment of five new directors to its management team as the organization continues its restructuring plan to build a more inclusive screen-based industry in Canada.
“Alongside the executive team, the five directors will help to implement our new content-centric, platform-agnostic funding model to better invest in authentic stories from across Canada, realize our Equity & Inclusion strategy, and strengthen our communications with the public, the industry, and government,” reads a press release announcing the new appointments.
“I’m delighted to welcome this group of dedicated professionals to our team,”…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – Canadian broadcasting legend Patrick Watson (above), who pioneered cutting-edge programming at CBC and who died in the early hours of July 4 at the age of 92, is being remembered as a consequential contributor to the country’s public broadcaster.
“From his start as a teen actor on CBC Radio’s The Kootenay Kid to his storied career with CBC News and his time as chair of the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors, Patrick Watson’s contribution to Canada’s public broadcaster and his service to Canadians across a number of fields was far-reaching, made a difference and will…
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Mostly francophones from Québec
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – After a group of 60 people, including Radio-Canada personalities, sent an open letter to the CBC/Radio-Canada asking it to refuse to comply to the sanctions imposed by the CRTC on the use of the “N-word” on-air, more people and groups came out against the decision.
Some are asking the public broadcaster to pushback, some are demanding the Minister of Canadian Heritage or the Prime Minister to take a stand.
The Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec, representing journalists in Québec, said through its president “All dialogue is healthy for a society, the…
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By Douglas Barrett
ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, the gathering of independent Canadian producers at the Banff World Media Festival woke up to an unpleasant surprise.
In a late-night session of the Canadian Heritage Committee (which Cartt.ca said could only be described as “chaotic”) as many as 150 amendments were considered to Bill C-11 and a 30-year-old provision in the principal policy section of the Broadcasting Act went from this:
(i) the programming provided by the Canadian broadcasting system should
(v) include a significant contribution from the Canadian independent production sector
to this:
(i) the programming provided by the Canadian broadcasting system should
(v) include the greatest possible contribution…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC today launched a consultation on whether stock footage costs should continue to be included in the criteria used for Canadian program certification.
Both the Commission and the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) have specific criteria for determining whether a production can be certified as “Canadian”. This includes (for both) a minimum 75% expenditure threshold paid to Canadians or Canadian businesses operating in the country for specific services costs.
Right now, the Commission categorizes stock footage as a “services” cost, which means it counts within the 75% expenditure threshold.
The Commission’s call for comments notes CAVCO announced in…
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OTTAWA – Three organizations representing community television and radio stations have applauded amendments made to clarify the role of “community” in Bill C-11, legislation which would give the CRTC enhanced powers to regulate content on internet platforms in support of Canadian productions.
The Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS), the Fédération des télévisions communautaires autonomes du Québec (the Federation), and the National Campus and Community Radio Association (the NCRA/ANREC) said in a press release today that the contentious legislation, which passed third reading in the House this week and is now before the Senate for pre-study, more…
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