GATINEAU – After 27 years at the CRTC in various roles, secretary-general John Traversy has decided he will retire as of December 11, 2015.
He has held the position since former SG Robert Morin retired in 2011. Prior to that he was executive director, telecom for five years. The secretary general is the top operations job at the Commission, overseeing all of the administration. Every complaint, submission and other filing which telecom and broadcasting companies make to the Regulator have Traversy’s name at the top.
“Over the years, I had the opportunity to work on countless files in both the Broadcasting…
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TORONTO – As Canadians mark the 35th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope this September, a new Heritage Minute about Terry Fox debuted Tuesday across Bell Media television properties.
Produced by Historica Canada and Calgary-based Corkscrew Media & Stir Films, CTV News’ Lloyd Robertson delivers the Minute’s classic end narration. Days after the Marathon of Hope ended in September 1980, Robertson hosted a star-studded telethon on CTV that raised $10 million, and later served as honorary chairperson of the Terry Fox Run.
"Of all the news stories I've covered, very few have touched me as deeply as the Terry Fox…
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“WHY IS OUR PM SHILLING for Netflix during the first week of our federal election campaign?” I wondered when I saw this video of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
We learned in the video tweeted early yesterday evening that one of his all-time favourite TV shows is Breaking Bad, reminding us it “is even available on some online streaming services, if you’ve never seen it.” Well, it’s only available for streaming online from Netflix (not some), unless you want to purchase individual episodes for download from Google Play or iTunes.
Oh, it’s also available on demand from our…
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TORONTO — CBC/Radio-Canada announced today that long-time executive producer Mark Starowicz is leaving the public broadcaster to launch a new career as an independent producer.
In an email circulated to CBC/Radio-Canada employees this morning, Heather Conway, executive vice-president of English services, said Starowicz had informed CBC of his decision several weeks ago but stayed on until the transition of CBC’s documentary unit was completed.
“Over almost five decades at CBC, Mark has become a giant on the Canadian documentary landscape. His vision and talent have guided generations of reporters and documentary producers to deliver award-winning shows,” Conway wrote.
“The programs Mark created…
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OTTAWA – The ongoing rift between CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais and Ontario regional commissioner Raj Shoan appears to have deepened, after Blais allegedly refused to approve Shoan's proposed travel for 2015-16.
According to a Canadian Press report this week, Blais nixed Shoan’s potential trips to Las Vegas, Amsterdam, New York City and Mont Tremblant, travel that totaled $78,000. Shoan later reduced the amount to $48,000 "under protest," describing it instead as a wish list of conferences and meetings from which he invited Blais to pick and choose which ones to approve.
"Given that you have refused to provide me with…
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OTTAWA – Rogers Media resolutely defended its decision to cut all news programming from its ethnic OMNI stations and replace it with current affairs shows before a Parliamentary committee on Wednesday.
Speaking before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Rogers Media president Keith Pelley (pictured on CPAC.ca, which streamed the meeting) said the company really had no choice but to make changes to its programming. With viewer consumption patterns moving to digital platforms, the ongoing piracy problem, the significant drop in advertising revenue, as well as a plethora of ethnic specialty channels launched in recent…
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BANFF – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) and ProMéxico did a little bonding at the Banff World Media Festival this week to further their joint goal of developing coproduction opportunities for content creators from both countries.
“Our initial meeting in 2014 to share our experience as MIPCOM Country of Honour has led to a series of discussions that have provided great insight into each other’s industry and funding ecosystem”, said CMF president and CEO Valerie Creighton, in a statement. “We have discovered a natural affinity between Canada and Mexico that we intend to build upon in the very near future. …
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LA RONGE, SK – The Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation will receive $380,815 in funding from the federal government this year to support the production and broadcast of up to 168 hours of radio programming per week, including 20 hours per week of new original content in in Aboriginal languages.
Rob Clarke, Member of Parliament for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, made the announcement this week on behalf of Shelly Glover, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages.
The programming will be offered in English, Cree and Dene and include current events, local and national news, weather forecasts, sports community announcements, interviews and music. The broadcasts…
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BANFF – While it has certainly morphed, like the media it celebrates, The Banff World Media Fest remains the only gathering of its kind dedicated to the global business of television – particularly in the broadband era – and this 36th chapter opened with a touch of déjà vu all over again.
The Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters lamented that the six major U.S. studios controlled 72% of the Canadian market, leaving only mince for Canadian independent distributors – and there was the expected echo of Canadian Media Production Association, and others, bemoaning that change had inflicted unkind…
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OTTAWA – The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has decided to invite representatives from Rogers Media to explain recent cutbacks made to the news programming at its multicultural OMNI TV stations.
According to the minutes of Monday’s committee meeting which were made public today, the committee will “invite representatives from OMNI to discuss their recent programming changes, specifically as they relate to local news coverage in Punjabi, Cantonese, Mandarin and Italian; and that the meeting take place prior to Thursday, June 18, 2015, and that the meeting be scheduled for 2 hours.”
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