TORONTO – Former Corus Entertainment exec Barbara Williams is joining the CBC as its executive vice-president effective May 1st.
In a memo to employees on Wednesday, CBC CEO Catherine Tait described Williams (pictured) as a “veteran media executive with deep knowledge of Canada's ever-changing media landscape”, noting her past roles as EVP and COO at Corus Entertainment, as well as senior positions at Shaw Media and CanWest Broadcasting.
This had been a widely rumoured landing spot since she left Corus at the end of October.
“A visionary leader, Barbara brings with her a wealth of experience with…
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OTTAWA – It was billed as the first time Canada’s key broadcasting leaders would debate the “critical issues at the heart” of the current review of the federal Broadcasting and Telecommunications acts.
However, the “Beyond Disruption: Crafting a Framework for the Future of the Industry” panel at last week’s Canadian Media Producers Association Prime Time annual national conference in Ottawa was more about how a key global streaming giant is messing up the existing framework of the Canadian broadcasting system.
Bad luck for him or prescient planning by organizers situated Stéphane Cardin, Netflix’s director of public policy for Canada, in the…
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OTTAWA-Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism Minister Pablo Rodriguez’s first appearance at the annual Canadian Media Producers Association Prime Time national conference in the capital last Thursday was short – lasting 17 minutes – and sweet, based on the effusive reception that greeted the Argentinian-born, guitar-playing Liberal cabinet minister.
“What I’ve noticed in the past few months since your appointment is what I’ve been calling Rodriguez-mania,” the CMPA’s affable president and CEO, Reynolds Mastin, said of his special guest prior to beginning a friendly question-and-answer session with Rodriguez. “You just effortlessly relate to people, and people open up to you…
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OTTAWA – As talk of Canadian broadcasters battling Netflix and needing online scale dominated last week’s Prime Time conference, spare a thought for kids TV producers also struggling to reach audiences on tablets, smartphones and TV Everywhere.
It turns out a combination of streaming VOD services buying up high end kids fare to entice new subscribers and reduce churn, and the global explosion of YouTube and user-generated content is putting the squeeze on kids content creators.
"The trend is the middle is going away. You're either producing something very high cost, industrial, or entering the space by doing something low cost…
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Also, own your IP
OTTAWA – As Netflix gobbled up most of the attention at Prime Time – roughly equal to the dominance it has gained over the wider Canadian TV market – conference delegates were also offered a panel on alternative streaming services where consumers are also spending their time, and money
And the conclusion from content creators and streamers assembled is the web series may be the new TV pilot as they help build and sustain online audiences.
"We're now in a position where the web series is the next TV pilot," said Steve Hulford, CEO of Toronto-based Underknown, a…
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TORONTO – Production company Big Coat Media is expanding into scripted content and growing its factual division with the return of Christine Diakos.
Diakos, who takes on the role of SVP of development and production for scripted and factual, previously worked with several production companies and television networks in Toronto including CBC, CTV and Slice Network, both in front and behind the camera. Most recently, she was the SVP of content for Peacock Alley Entertainment where she helped oversee the second season of A Users Guide to Cheating Death, as well as produced a new, yet-to-be-announced North American version of…
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TORONTO – The CBC should be forced to track how it creates awareness of Canadian authors and their works, the federal panel looking at Canada's communications legislation has been told by a prominent publisher.
"What CBC says it does and its mandate and its commitments to Canadian content are very strong and positive,” James Lorimer, head of his namesake publishing company, told the Broadcast and Telecom Legislative Review (BTLR) panel Saturday at the annual DM@X conference at the University of Toronto,
But "follow though" in terms in measuring whether it meets targets is missing, he said.
"The writing and publishing of books…
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TWO WEEKS AFTER THE DEADLINE for filing comments with the Broadcast and Telecom Legislative Review panel – and on the eve of this week’s CMPA Prime Time conference in Ottawa, Netflix made its submission public.
Stephane Cardin, Netflix’s director of public policy, Canada, told the Canadian Press that since he was going to be on a panel with other stakeholders which had made their positions public, it was appropriate to do so. Bell Media, Corus Entertainment, CBC, CMPA and BTLR panel chair Janet Yale will be with him on the panel on the first day.
(That said, neither Bell nor…
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TORONTO – Over-the-top video providers like Netflix offer many benefits to countries outside the United States, but they are also a threat to film and TV makers, a digital media conference has been told.
“If we don't do something about bringing the OTTs into the domestic regulatory sphere, the disparity in treatment between domestic and international services will grow” in countries that have local content or spending rules, warned Stuart Cunningham, a professor of media and communications at Queensland University of Technology in Australia.
At the same time, he added, the pressure from local content creators to eliminate those minimum rules…
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MONTREAL – With just days to go before Bell Let's Talk Day on January 30, Bell issued a public thank you to the Canadian organizations supporting the initiative and promoting its messages around mental health.
"Everyone's engagement in mental health is crucial to making progress, and we can all join the conversation on Bell Let's Talk Day by sending messages of support to fight the stigma, call for action and directly drive Bell's funding for mental health programs”, said Bell Let's Talk chair Mary Deacon, in the news release. “We're grateful to these leading organizations for encouraging everyone to get engaged in the…
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