OTTAWA – While about half of Canadians say that they are aware of the new Amazon Prime Video offering, that awareness far outshines subscription and use, according to new research from the Media Technology Monitor (MTM).
Key topics this year, according to its free Sneak Peek Report, include fake news, AM/FM online radio players, live video on social networking sites, and pirated television, as well as Amazon Prime. The MTM Sneak Peek Report is being offered as well as the English- and French-language Media and Technology Adoption Reports and the most recent spring 2017 data set, available to subscribers…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The Canadian Media Guild (CMG) not only applauded Heritage Minister Joly’s announcement of an independent advisory committee for appointments to the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors, it offered a helping hand.
CMG, which represents a number of CBC staffers, wants a Board that includes employee representatives chosen by the public broadcaster's unions, a practice that it says has “proven invaluable” in other sectors and other countries.
“A committed and skilled Board of Directors, together with workers at CBC/Radio-Canada and all levels of management, owe the Canadian public nothing less – strong value in return for public investments including the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly has created an advisory committee tasked with compiling and submitting a list of potential candidates for the Board of Directors at CBC/Radio-Canada.
The independent, non-partisan committee, announced Tuesday, consists of experts in broadcasting and digital technology, representatives of cultural sectors from across Canada, Indigenous Peoples, official-language communities and youth, reads the announcement.
The committee, who will serve a six month term with the possibility of extension, will provide the Minister with the names of qualified candidates for each vacant position, as well as supplementary qualified candidates to create a pool to fill posts in the…
Continue Reading
BANFF – The recent controversy about cultural appropriation is only the latest Canadian flashpoint regarding Indigenous peoples and their relationship with centuries of non-indigenous immigration.
But can such grappling with identity, nationhood, and creativity be catalysts for constructive change?
Indigenous stories are already welcoming audiences here and around the world, for example Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001) which won ACCT, Genie and Claude Jutta Awards in 2002; or more recently We Were Children (2012, pictured), the acclaimed documentary about the experiences of First Nations children in the Canadian residential school system.
With the success of APTN, the work underway at the NFB,…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Canada has no plans to levy a new tax on Internet service providers, despite a recommendation from a House of Commons Heritage Committee report suggesting that such a tax could help to fund Canadian journalism.
Heritage Minister Joly and the Prime Minister made that clear after Thursday’s release of Disruption: Change and Churning in Canada's Media Landscape. The report is the result of year-long study on access to local and regional media and the impact of media consolidation and digitalization.
It offers 20 recommendations, including the creation of “a new government funding model that is platform agnostic and…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – CBC has launched a new dedicated portal as it counts down to the start of the 2017 North American Indigenous Games (NAIG 2017) in Toronto.
As premier media partner of NAIG 2017, CBC will offer a range of content at cbc.ca/naig from CBC News’ Indigenous Unit, CBC Sports, CBC Radio, CBC Arts and CBC Kids, including original journalism, documentary storytelling and news coverage; special video and audio programming including sports features; and social media content.
Once the Games begin on July 16, the portal will serve as the primary home for CBC’s live and on-demand streaming…
Continue Reading
AS OF THIS WRITING, it appears the next CRTC chair will be an interim one – someone who will keep the lights on and the bills paid through the summer, at least.
It could be vice-chair telecom Peter Menzies (although according to sources he’s made it known to associates and others he does not want the job), one of the other four remaining commissioners (Yves Dupras, Stephen Simpson, Chris MacDonald and Linda Vennard) or perhaps the recently departed interim vice-chair broadcasting Judith LaRocque will be asked to return for another six-month stint, except this time as interim chair.
This was not…
Continue Reading
WELL, GIVEN THAT WE'RE celebrating media in Alberta, let's just start by saying that CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais demurred from simply mumbling "adios" and riding quietly into a western sunset.
This was his final Banff rodeo as CRTC chair and he went out with hot guns a blazing. (At right is an artist’s conception of the CRTC chair and his speechwriter leaving Banff for the Calgary airport Tuesday…)
To put it mildly, some of the delegate chattering classes were upset with the bullets, many of which – they winced – were dipped in venom.
In my view, there was nothing conceptual in…
Continue Reading
“I will be presenting my vision for the creative sector in September”
OKAY, FULL TRANSPARENCY, I wasn't going to scribble about this.
I went to the advertised keynote partly to hear the Minister of Canadian Heritage "discuss how digital technology is transforming our world, and explore the role of government in supporting innovation and creativity to create new opportunities to bring the best of Canada to the world.”
Yikes there's a mouthful.
Also partly because the smart money at Banff was betting that she wouldn't have anything new to say, that we would get the same old drone we've been hearing for…
Continue Reading
THE ANNUAL CANADIAN MEDIA LEADERS panel at the 2017 Banff World Media Festival pivoted from the future of production, development, and broadcast screen-based content to the onslaught of streaming opportunities commanding the increased attention of domestic advertisers and viewers.
Those leaders included: Rick Brace, president of Rogers Media; Randy Lennox, president, Bell Media; John Brunton, chair and CEO of Insight Productions; Sally Catto, general manager, programming, CBC; and Barbara Williams, EVP and COO, Corus Entertainment.
Running throughout the discussion was a strong sentiment that non-Canadian OTT services should be paying their fair share of domestic taxes and other tithings for the…
Continue Reading
