TORONTO – Blue Ant International has sold over 600 hours of 4K and HD programming to several broadcasters in the Asia-Pacific region ahead of Asia Television Forum (ATF).
The distributor has licensed over 25 hours of programming to Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific. In India, Discovery pre-bought the rights to natural history series Deadly Australians, (4×60’4K + HD; Wildbear Productions), Wild Survivors (3×60’4K+HD; Plimsoll Productions), Untamed Valley (3×60’ 4K+HD; Plimsoll Productions – pictured) and lifestyle series I’ve Got Something To Tell You (6×60’HD; Zig Zag Productions for UKTV).
National Geographic Channels International (Asia) acquired returning lifestyle series What’s For Sale? With A View,…
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Internet complaints on the rise; PIAC wants a new code of conduct
OTTAWA – The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) said today it saw an 11% increase in the number of complaints received from Canadian telecom customers in 2016-17, a turnaround of a three-year trend of declining complaints.
While Canadians continue to complain most often about their wireless services, they represent a declining proportion of all complaints to the CCTS, says the organization in its press release. What’s on the rise, however, are consumer complaints about their broadband services.
“The CCTS is the administrator of the CRTC’s Wireless Code, and…
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OTTAWA – Decreases in CO2 emissions and water consumption helped to boost results in the CBC/Radio-Canada’s latest corporate Environmental Performance Report.
The report highlights the public broadcaster's environmental performance from April 2016 to March 2017.
Footprint decreases were recorded in most company categories, most notably with fleet vehicle CO2 emissions dropping 10.7% and water consumption decreasing 8.6% versus 2015-2016. In terms of industry benchmarks, the report says that the broadcaster performed better than the BOMA BEST certified building standard for water consumption and the Natural Resources Canada standard for energy consumption.
Other highlights from the report include:
– Electric car charging stations…
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TORONTO – Canadian business journalist Amanda Lang is rejoining Bell Media’s Business News Network (BNN) in January 2018.
In addition to her role on the network, Lang (pictured) will also contribute to other Bell Media properties including CTV News and iHeartRadio.
Lang has been covering business news in North America for 20 years. She started her journalism career at The Globe and Mail and then the National Post. As New York correspondent, she was a key part of the team that launched BNN's predecessor, ROBTV, in 1999 before moving to the channel's partner, CNN, as a reporter and anchor.
She returned to BNN/ROBTV in 2002 as anchor…
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TORONTO – Principal photography is underway for the second season of the CBC/Netflix series Anne (With An E).
The series, currently shooting in various locations in Ontario and PEI, will return for 10 episodes on CBC in Canada and in markets outside of Canada on Netflix in 2018.
Inspired by the timeless Anne of Green Gables young adult novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery, the re-imagined Anne series stars Amybeth McNulty as the young heroine, as well as Geraldine James (Marilla Cuthbert), R.H. Thomson (Matthew Cuthbert), Corrine Koslo (Rachel Lynde), Dalila Bela (Diana Barry), Aymeric Jett Montaz (Jerry Baynard), Lucas Jade Zumann…
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OTTAWA—Public policy should not dictate matters of jurisdiction, lawyers for Bell Canada argued on Tuesday before the Federal Court of Appeal in the company’s nearly two-year-long quest to have the court overturn the CRTC’s mandatory Wholesale Code.
Bell Canada argues that nothing in the Copyright Act or Broadcasting Act gives the Commission the right to impose certain prices and other commercial terms for TV programmers to license their programming to BDUs, which is Bell’s main beef with the Wholesale Code.
“There is no doubt that the CRTC has wide discretion” to regulate programming negotiations, “but its power to do so is…
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SEATTLE – Amazon’s voice-activated digital assistant Alexa is coming to Canada and bringing the company’s voice-controlled Echo speakers.
Amazon said Wednesday that it is now accepting pre-orders for Alexa-enabled devices Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Plus at the special introductory prices of $99.99, $49.99, and $169.99. The devices will begin shipping on December 5.
Alexa will come with a new English voice with a Canadian accent, local knowledge, and local skills from Canadian developers, reads the news release. Amazon also announced the expansion of the Alexa Skills Kit and the Alexa Voice Service, and said that Canadian companies including Telus, CBC, The Weather…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – While Canadians increasingly opt for platforms and devices connected to the Internet for their video and audio content, traditional television and radio services still play an important role, says the first part of the CRTC’s 2017 Communications Monitoring Report.
Canadians aged 18-34 years old are leading the trend with 23% watching TV exclusively online. Nationally, 13% of Anglophones watch TV exclusively online, more than three times the number of Francophones (4%). Overall, Canadians aged 18 years or older watched 3.1 hours of Internet TV per week in 2016, compared to 2.7 hours in 2015.
Although Canadians are spending…
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TORONTO – Production exec Carol Commisso is the new vice-president of development at Halfire Entertainment.
An industry veteran, Commisso (pictured) was the production executive for original scripted programming at Rogers Media and prior to that, executive in charge of production for CBC TV Comedy.
In her new role, based out of Halfire’s Toronto offices, Commisso is responsible for overseeing all development and the growing slate of scripted series, as well as continuing to foster relationships with the international creative community.
“Carol has been in the industry for more than 30 years and has worked as both a writer and network executive, so she…
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New show, hosts, format, launches Monday
CBC HAS LONG BEEN home to some giants in Canadian journalism, but when you walk into the broadcaster’s Toronto headquarters now you can’t miss its most recent famous retiree. An enormous, red and black, Peter Mansbridge likeness decorates what is now called Mansbridge Hall, hovering over all who arrive at the Front Street entrance.
It’s a pensive pose struck by the former anchor and chief correspondent of CBC News, a look longtime viewers of The National came to know very well during his 29 years helming the flagship show, where he’s intently watching, hearing, perhaps…
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