By Ahmad Hathout
Pushing back against the assertion that the public broadcaster should take up the mantle of at-risk programs where private broadcasters have struggled, CBC’s executive vice president said this must be a whole-of-system effort.
“We feel that we should not be seen as a gap filler for the problems of the other broadcasters – that where market forces don’t come easily to their decisions about programming – it shouldn’t just be assumed not to worry about it, the CBC will do it,” Barbara Williams told the five-member CRTC panel on the second-last day of its hearing into the definition…
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Toronto-based independent production company Cameron Pictures Inc. (CPI) announced Monday it has appointed former Pier 21 Films executive Karen Tsang to the newly created role of vice president of creative affairs.
In this role, Tsang will oversee the creative pipeline of original scripted series, reporting to CPI co-founders and sister filmmakers Tassie and Amy Cameron. CPI is the award-winning prodco behind Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, Mary Kills People and Pretty Hard Cases.
“Karen is so smart and she has a remarkable eye for developing standout stories and characters,” Tassie Cameron said in a press release. “Her creative expertise, strong relationship with writers, and…
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Access Canada in partnership with The Hollywood Reporter announced Monday the advisory board for the inaugural Access Canada Summit, which is scheduled to take place Sept. 8-10 at the Omni King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto, coinciding with the Toronto International Film Festival.
The advisory board members include:
Mark Bishop, co-president of Blue Ant Studios
Allison Brough, senior vice president of unscripted television at Blink49 Studios
Vanessa Case, vice president of content for Paramount+ and Pluto TV in Canada
Mike Cosentino, president and executive producer of CosMedia.Inc
Jocelyn Hamilton, president of television for…
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Quebecor Media subsidiary TVA Group announced Wednesday several layoffs, primarily in its television division, as the broadcaster faces an uncertain future due to ongoing financial challenges, the Montreal-based company said.
“TVA Group, like other private broadcasters, is operating in a steadily deteriorating business environment and continues to absorb substantial financial losses while competing on an uneven playing field,” Quebecor President and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau, who is the acting president and CEO of TVA Group, said in a press release.
“In this alarming situation, TVA Group is forced to cut some 30 jobs,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Quebecor executives said Wednesday that Radio-Canada, the French-language version of the CBC, should be made to step-up on producing children’s programming because it has become economically difficult to do so for private broadcasters.
The company’s vice president of public and regulatory affairs told the five-member CRTC panel in response to a question about how to sustain the delivery of children’s programming that the public broadcaster — which is already required by the CRTC to broadcast a certain number of hours of kids programming — should pick up where private broadcasters have failed.
“We hope the mandate of Radio-Canada will…
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Corus Entertainment’s Global News announced Tuesday veteran journalist Kevin Gallagher will be the new anchor of its weekend news programs, airing on Global TV across Canada from the Maritimes to Saskatchewan, beginning Saturday, May 31.
In addition to his weekend anchor role, Gallagher will appear on Toronto’s late newscast every Friday and also as a reporter one day a week on Global News at 5 and Global News at 6.
Gallagher is a former parliamentary correspondent for CTV National News, a position he was laid off from as part of Bell Media’s 4,800 staff…
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By Connie Thiessen
CBC/Radio-Canada’s board of directors has announced it’s discontinuing executive performance bonuses, following an independent review.
The executive bonus structure, known as the Short-Term Incentive Plan, sparked outrage in late 2023 when the Canadian Taxpayers Federation released data indicating that in 2022, the CBC paid out more than $16 million in bonuses in the face of a looming $125 million budget shortfall. Catherine Tait, then president of the public broadcaster, went on to defend the bonus structure before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage saying that “like every other Crown Corporation” performance pay was a key part of the…
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Newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new cabinet was sworn in Tuesday morning in Rideau Hall, with Mélanie Joly becoming Minister of Industry and Steven Guilbeault staying in his role as Minister of Canadian Culture and Identity.
A one-time Minister of Canadian Heritage from Nov. 2015 to July 2018 in former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first cabinet, Joly most recently served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under both Carney and Trudeau. In addition to her new industry minister role, Joly is also Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions. Her new appointment…
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By Peter Menzies, former newspaper executive, past vice chair of the CRTC, and a Macdonald-Laurier Institute Senior Fellow
On June 1, the Vancouver Whitecaps will play one of the most important games a Canadian club sports team has ever played.
In most countries – in fact in almost any country – broadcasters would be clamouring over each other for the ability to show it. The national public broadcaster might be claiming it as a program of national interest and politicians would be weighing in to play a little hero ball of their own and grab the spotlight.
The Whitecaps’ Concacaf Champions League…
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APTN, CBC and Netflix announced Tuesday they have renewed hit Canadian comedy series North of North for a second season.
Series star Anna Lambe announced the renewal via Instagram on April 29. Lambe plays Siaja, a young Inuk mother who dreams of reinventing herself in her tiny Arctic community of Ice Cove. After a spontaneous and very public exit from her marriage, she finds herself navigating the often-hilarious highs and lows of relationships, motherhood, a new job and finding her way.
The first season cast also included Maika Harper, Braeden Clarke, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Jay Ryan, Zorga Qaunaq, Bailey…
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