OTTAWA – Canadians are spending more time watching video content online and their genres of choice is largely long form action and drama, says a new report from Media Technology Monitor (MTM).
Genre Preferences for Online Viewing: Analysis of the English-Language Market examines what type of content Anglophones are watching online, as well as which genres they tend to access through various online sources.
Highlights from the report include:
– Comedy comes in as the second most popular genre to view online after action/drama;
– Men are more interested in watching sports and news content online than are women. However, men and women…
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OTTAWA – CBC/Radio-Canada unveiled a new three-year plan this week that it says sets out its strategy to reflect the full range of Canadian perspectives through its content, workplace culture and workforce.
The 2018-21 Diversity and Inclusion Plan provides workforce results for all of the ‘pubcaster’s main business units, details action plans by major services, and lays out the objectives for the coming years.
The plan says that having a diverse workforce is only the beginning, and that its workplace culture must be truly inclusive, where everyone feels that his/her voice, views and ideas are valued.
"We want to make sure…
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OTTAWA – The Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications started to examine how the three federal communications statutes (the Telecommunications Act, the Broadcasting Act, and the Radiocommunication Act) can be modernized In light of the evolution of the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors in the last decades.
Last week they heard from university professors and today, Konrad von Finckenstein, former chair of the CRTC, and the Commissioner of Competition met the committee.
Von Finckenstein submitted six points for the Committee to examine. “First, in the reform of our communication legislation, examine everything from an Internet-centric point of view. To borrow a…
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TORONTO – To compete with OTT players, does ad-funded TV in Canada need a ‘Big Hairy Audacious Goal’ to focus the entire industry? If so, what would that rallying cry look like?
The BHAG was one of the stated aims of an industry panel session on the future of ad-funded TV in Canada at the Future TV Advertising Forum Canada at the Steam Whistle Brewery in Toronto last week.
The panel did not unite over a single big hairy goal, but did identify some smaller furballs – like broadcasters needing to collaborate more on content creation, strengthening channel branding and…
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OTTAWA – Despite issuing over 100 updates and wireless alerts warning of high-risk emergencies, Canadians still have questions about how the national public alerting system works and which devices are compatible, says CRTC chief consumer officer Scott Shortliffe.
Speaking Monday before the Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence, Shortliffe said that the system, publicly branded as Alert Ready, has been used successfully to warn of dangerously high water levels and flooding in Alberta, wildfires in Saskatchewan, Amber Alerts in Ontario and Saskatchewan, and drinking water advisories in several communities. On Friday, it also warned of tornado watches in…
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MONTREAL – The majority of members of the Syndicat des communications de Radio-Canada (FNC-CSN) have voted in favour of an agreement in principle reched with CBC/Radio-Canada on a new collective agreement.
The public broadcaster said that the agreement was reached after two and a half years of bargaining plus an “intensive blitz” that began on September 5.
A meeting will now be organized to formalize the ratification of the new collective agreement. The agreement will come into force at that time and will form the employment contract for the next three years, through 2021.
"Over the next few weeks, we will ensure that the transition…
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WHEN NOW-FORMER Heritage Minister Melanie Joly announced the launch of public consultations with consumers and creators to bring Canada’s cultural properties (everything from the Broadcasting Act to the CRTC) into the digital age, there was great excitement.
That was in April, 2016, nearly two and a half years ago.
Her extensive consultations led to the publication of the Creative Canada Policy Framework in September, 2017, which included a request to the CRTC to examine future programming distribution models and report back to her by June 1, 2018. The Commission used a variety of consultation tools in preparing…
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TORONTO – Production will kick off this week for a six episode reboot of ‘80s legal drama Street Legal, CBC confirmed Wednesday.
The public broadcaster said that the new series, like the original, will “combine cutting-edge storylines with ongoing serialized character development, focused on the people who practice law and the lives they lead both on and off the job”.
Cynthia Dale (pictured) will reprise her role as Olivia Novak, with Cara Ricketts (The Book of Negroes), Steve Lund (Haven) and Yvonne Chapman (The Crossing) joining the series as the next generation of Toronto lawyers fighting the good fight. Original cast members Eric Peterson (“Leon Robinovitch”) and Anthony Sherwood (“Dillon Beck”) are…
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TORONTO – More than CAD$162.7 million has been pledged collectively so far in connection with Friday’s star-studded Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) "roadblock" fundraising telecast in Canada and the United States, organizers said Monday.
The live show was SU2C's sixth biennial fundraising telecast since the organization was launched in 2008 and marks ten years of impact in the fight against cancer. The telecast, which also streamed live in Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square on Bell Media's Astral large-format digital screens and the Citytv Big Screen, featured a cast of celebrated figures from the worlds of entertainment, music, sports, and science, as…
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TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund (CMF), in partnership with the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), will host and participate in an industry session this Saturday during the industry track of the festival dedicated to “Engaging Today’s Consumers: Building a National Brand for Film, TV, and Digital”.
CMF president and CEO Valerie Creighton will moderate a panel discussion on why now is the time to think outside the box and build a consumer-facing brand for the Canadian audiovisual industry that has the power to inspire audiences; to change the way Canadians and the world perceive Canadian content; and to shine…
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