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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PINEHOUSE, SK – Radio broadcaster Minahik Achimowin Inc. will receive $167,592 in funding from the federal government this year to support the production of up to 45 hours of radio programming per week, including 30 hours per week of new original content in the Michif-Cree language.
Rob Clarke, Member of Parliament for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, made the announcement Tuesday on behalf of Shelly Glover, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages.
The programming will include daily news, weather, sports, health messages, storytelling, and interviews about community issues. The content will air on CFNK Radio 89.9 FM, which reaches an audience of approximately 1,400…
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IQUALIT, NU – The Inuit Broadcasting Corporation will receive $1.3 million in funding from the federal government to support the production of 40 hours of original new television programming to be filmed and aired in Inuktitut.
Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of the Environment, Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency and Minister for the Arctic Council, made the announcement Friday on behalf of Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, Shelly Glover.
Aimed at Inuit living in Nunavut, the IBC will produce five series, including children’s program called Takuginai, a cooking show known as Niqitsiat; a comedy series called Qanurli; a documentary series…
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OTTAWA – CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan this week filed a Federal Court Application seeking a judicial review of CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais over an internal investigation of allegations of harassment made against Shoan.
The investigation, done by an outside third party, found that Ontario regional commissioner Shoan did commit harassment and so chairman Blais imposed five corrective measures which placed limits on how Shoan can communicate with staff. According to the court application, Shoan wants the decision Blais made on the harassment complaints to be cancelled, or that it be remitted to the Governor-in-Council (which appoints CRTC commissioners)…
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CALGARY – Add Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi to the growing list of Canadians opposed to more staff cuts at the CBC.
In an April 1st letter addressed to CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix, with copies to CBC/Radio-Canada board of directors chair Rémi Racine, Heritage Minister Shelly Glover, Industry Minister James Moore, and Calgary Members of Parliament, Mayor Nenshi said that he was “confused” by the decision to cut nearly 25% of staff at CBC Calgary.
“It is my understanding that a loss of 20 positions in Calgary would put its staff size on par with that of CBC Newfoundland…
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