Search Results for: cbc

Radio / Television News

Banff Connect TO probes what Canadian broadcasters are seeking

TORONTO – Save March 8 for this year’s Banff Connect TO event which will see executives from Canada’s major broadcast players discussing original content strategies and programming needs, as well as an exclusive masterclass session that will examine the making of an innovative new prime-time scripted series. ‘Future-Proofing Content Strategies’ will feature Sally Catto, general manager, programming, CBC; Corrie Coe, senior vice-president, original programming, Bell Media; and Lisa Godfrey, vice-president, original content at Corus Entertainment. Set for the St. Lawrence Centre in Toronto, Banff Connect TO offers a chance to learn, mingle and get a taste of what’s to come at… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

CBC Olympic coverage to blanket TV; include streaming, VR, new podcast

TORONTO – With just days to go until the start of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, CBC revealed plans to air 18 hours of live coverage daily, plus offer free live-streaming and on-demand coverage from every event. Through broadcast, web, mobile apps, social media and radio, CBC’s coverage will be “as in-depth as any Olympic Games the network has covered before”, the public broadcaster said.  The Olympic Winter Games officially kick off with the Opening Ceremony on February 9, beginning with a pre-show at 5:30 AM ET/2:30 AM PT followed by the Ceremony itself at 6:00 AM ET/3:00 AM PT. For the second consecutive Olympic… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Prime Time in Ottawa: Evaluating the digital disruption, opportunities and challenges

OTTAWA – Digital disruption has opened up tremendous opportunity for broadcasters, distributors and producers alike, but has also created significant challenges, according to speakers in the first panel session at the Canadian Media Producers’ Association’s annual Prime Time conference Thursday morning. For CBC/Radio-Canada, going digital and implementing its own over the top (OTT) service has allowed the national public broadcaster to reach new audiences. Heather Conway, executive VP of English services at CBC, acknowledged that the corporation skews to an older, linear TV oriented demographic but said the move into the digital realm has given CBC a wider audience. “As we… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

ANALYSIS: Why more mergers may not be the answer for the Canadian broadcasting system (part one)

FIRST DISNEY BUYS FOX’S MEDIA LIBRARY, so then maybe Corus buys Bell Media – or the other way around? If so, is this a good idea or a bad one for our system? A Scotiabank report from December 2017 entitled “Converging Networks” and reported by Cartt.ca has suggested that Corus and Bell Media should merge in order to “make them more competitive.” It’s hard to know if this report is a trial balloon or just mere speculation, but we’ve seen support in other quarters for this point of view. The research also says Facebook and Google now… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Wente named director of CMF Indigenous Screen Office

TORONTO – Jesse Wente has been appointed director of Canada’s Indigenous Screen Office, a role he will assume starting February 1, 2018, it was announced today. The ISO is an initiative first announced by the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage, at the Banff World Media Festival in June. A film expert, broadcaster and cultural industries leader, Wente (pictured) has spent two decades working in the creative community and advocating for Indigenous rights. He has been director of film programmes at the TIFF Bell Lightbox for the past seven years, and has contributed to CBC Radio as a critic,… Continue Reading

Investigates

Cartt.ca Enquête: Réécrire les Lois, Partie I. Doivent-elles toutes être modifiées?

CELA FAIT PLUS DE 25 ans que la législation qui régit le secteur des communications a été promulguée. Malgré des changements mineurs, la Loi sur les télécommunications et la Loi sur la radiodiffusion sont essentiellement restées inchangées, leurs objectifs demeurant les mêmes. Elles ont résisté à l’épreuve du temps selon certains. D’autres, en revanche, exposent l’impact phénoménal de l’Internet pour demander des changements significatifs à ces Lois. "L’Internet est devenu le mode de communication principal dans nos vies et pourtant nous demeurons avec des lois qui font encore une distinction entre la radiodiffusion et les télécommunications et aussi entre les communications… Continue Reading

Investigates

Cartt.ca INVESTIGATES: Rewriting the Acts, Part I. Should they be touched at all?

IT’S BEEN MORE THAN 25 years since legislation guiding the communications sector came into force. There have some minor changes, but both the Telecommunications Act and the Broadcasting Act have remained largely the same – their objectives essentially left untouched. They have stood the test of time, some say. Others, however, point to the enormous impact of the Internet in arguing for big changes to these laws. “The Internet has really become the central communication mode in our life now, and yet we have legislation that makes a distinction between telecom and broadcasting and also between wireless and wireline. It… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Kirstine Stewart joins TribalScale

TORONTO – Digital developer TribalScale has hired Kirstine Stewart as president and chief revenue officer, effective immediately. In her new position, Stewart will be responsible for the company's continued international expansion and will lead the sales and revenue growth of the organization. Sheetal Jaitly will remain CEO of TribalScale. "Today, technology is vital to an organization's survival – it's no longer on the fringes, all companies should be tech companies. TribalScale provides essential, innovative services unlike anything I've seen and has the means to invest in and create new tech businesses through its Venture Studio arm. I believe this is where… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Choose words wisely when asking for government support for Canadian content creators

TORONTO – Winning the struggle to get Canadians to pay attention to the financial problems of content producers hammered by the digital revolution will depend on how the debate is framed, experts told a digital media conference Saturday in Toronto. “Words matter and how we frame our thoughts matter, and how one frames an issue has a huge impact on the outcome,” Michael MacMillan, CEO of Blue Ant Media, a Toronto-based international content producer, distributor and channel operator, told the fourth annual Digital Media at the Crossroads conference. “We’ve been attacking the CRTC for 40 years,” he said, and try to… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Why the Canadian broadcast industry is “in a death spiral”

TORONTO – The Canadian film, television and print production industry “is in a death spiral” that only government action can halt, several experts agreed at a digital media conference held Saturday in Toronto. The former Harper government, current Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly, the CRTC and private broadcasters came in for heated criticism for failing to give content producers the tools to fight the falling advertising which print publications have been seeing – and the flight of viewers from conventional television to Netflix, Facebook, Google and others. There were no shortage of solutions offered, but speakers on a film and TV panel… Continue Reading