New three-year plan
OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC has released its new three-year plan that includes a review of the CBC, a decision on phasing out the local service subsidy regime, and a potential overhaul of the framework for interconnection between carriers.
Other planned activities include licence renewals for the country’s biggest BDUs, its new broadband funding mechanism, and a concerted effort to improve Canadians with disabilities’ awareness and knowledge of available accessibility products and services.
Those initiatives are among the goals that the Commission has outlined for completion during 2017-2020 under the pillars of ‘create’, ‘connect’, and ‘protect’, that support its…
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TORONTO – The CBC is feeling the heat from viewers decrying its much ballyhooed docu-drama series Canada: The Story Of Us.
The 10 episode series, which debuted March 26, uses a mix of fact-based drama, CGI sequences and documentary-style virtual reality experiences to tell the country’s history. But some viewers, including politicians in Nova Scotia and Quebec, have complained publicly that the series misrepresents history.
The national broadcaster defended itself in a statement on its website, noting that “thousands of difficult editorial decisions were made as to what to include and the focus was deliberately placed on stories that haven't often…
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TORONTO – Guy O’Sullivan, founder and president of Canadian production company Proper Television, passed away suddenly over the weekend at the age of 49.
With a career in the television industry spanning more than 20 years, O’Sullivan began as a print journalist in the U.K. before producing and directing shows for the BBC between 1994 and 2000. He moved to Canada and founded Proper Television in 2004, which had success with original shows such as Don’t Drive Here and Vegas Rat Rods.
Proper Television is also behind CBC’s True North Calling as well as the creation of Canadian versions of major…
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TORONTO – CBC has launched a new original online series that takes a comedic yet poignant look at lives on the brink of a 911 emergency incident.
Save Me is a 10-part original anthology about people in the moment just before their lives change – often drastically – and the people who show up to help with a medical emergency. The series candidly finds the humour in the unexpected and surprising paths to trauma, and delves deep into the lives of a vast cast of characters, all loosely connected by the paramedics that treat them.
Viewers can ride along as first responder…
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VANCOUVER – RTDNA Canada will recognize two individuals in the British Columbia region with lifetime achievement awards next week.
Global BC’s John Daly and CBC’s Cecilia Walters will be honoured on April 22 during the BC Regional Meeting. The organization says that the duo have distinguished themselves through outstanding service and continued excellence during the course of their careers in journalism and news management.
John Daly (pictured right) is one of British Columbia’s best journalists, in any medium, reads the announcement. In over 35 years with BCTV and then Global BC, he broke some of the province’s biggest stories, from the night police…
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TORONTO – RTDNA Canada has released the 2017 finalists for its annual Network Awards.
The RTDNA Canada Awards honour the best journalists, programs, stations and news gathering organizations in radio, television and digital. Network winners will be announced at the 2017 National Conference & Awards Gala in Toronto on May 27.
The nominees are:
Digital
Adrienne Clarkson Award – Diversity
CBC News Investigates: Behind the Headlines: Syrian Refugees
CBC News: Missing & Murdered: Who Killed Alberta Williams?
Global News: Experiments on Canada's Indigenous Populations
Data Storytelling Award
CBC News: Presidential Poll Tracker
CBC News Manitoba: Transport Canada List of 500 'Highest Risk' Railway Crossings Not Widely Shared
Digital Media Award
CBC News:…
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TORONTO – Bell Media said today it has signed a deal with Ole, an independent rights management company, to market the Canadian media company’s original music, worldwide.
The deal is an exclusive music publishing and administration partnership “encompassing Bell Media's extensive in-house music catalog. With this deal, ole has concluded $20-million in acquisitions in the first quarter of 2017,” reads the press release.
The multi-year deal will increase revenue generated from Bell Media's collection of more than 12,000 tracks, including TV music such as "The Hockey Theme" (the original Hockey Night in Canada theme music which was commissioned by CBC…
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HALIFAX – RTDNA Canada will recognize two individuals in the Atlantic region this week with lifetime achievement awards.
The CBC’s Debbie Cooper and Global News’ Jim Haskins will be honoured on April 8 at the RTDNA Atlantic Regional Awards. The duo have distinguished themselves through outstanding service and continued excellence during the course of their careers in journalism/news management.
Debbie Cooper has been a fixture of Newfoundland and Labrador television for more than 27 years. As the backbone of Here and Now, she has conducted thousands of interviews, including every premier since Brian Peckford. Her broadcasting experience spans more than three decades on radio…
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FIRE UP THE LOBBYISTS, lawyers and regulatory experts, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has opened up a once-in-a-generation chance to change everything about the cable, radio, television and telecom (CaRTT) business in Canada.
You think the new “Let’s Talk TV” rules are challenging, or the new Basic Service Objectives might hurt or Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly’s Cancon review was perplexing? Wait until the feds begin the overhaul of the Broadcasting Act (last updated in 1991) and Telecommunications Act (1993) later this year – as the 2017 Budget said is going to happen. Everyone with skin in…
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A TRUE CHAMPION of Canadian TV (and an excellent writer of it and about it), Denis McGrath, died Thursday in Toronto of pancreatic cancer. He was 48.
A staunch defender of the Canadian TV business (even when he was staunchly criticizing some of it), McGrath was an accomplished TV writer and producer with a long resume making Canadian TV, including the likes of X Company, Bitten, Continuum and Aftermath. He worked for CHUM for many years, too, and was one of the original producers of the groundbreaking show MediaTelevision.
Denis was certainly fun to follow on Twitter and before that his…
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