TORONTO – CBC News Network, the world’s third-oldest and Canada’s first news channel, celebrates its 25th anniversary on July 31st.
First established in 1989 as CBC Newsworld and re-branded as CBC News Network in 2009, it has grown into Canada’s most popular news channel, says the release it issued today. Check out some early video here.
“For the past 25 years, CBC News Network has been the destination Canadians turn to when news breaks and major events unfold,” said Jennifer McGuire, general manager and editor-in-chief, CBC news and centres. “It’s an integral part of CBC’s future, and…
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TORONTO – CBC announced Monday the appointment of Munro Cullen as the new senior creative director of CBC’s communications, marketing and brand department.
Cullen joins CBC with more than ten years’ experience building brands and prominent marketing campaigns. In his most recent position as senior copywriter at Shaw Media, he was integral to the creative direction of off-air print, radio and online advertising for more than 18 brands.
He was also the head writer for the Shaw Media upfronts, with the scope of his work including corporate brand-building. Prior to Shaw, Cullen worked at Alliance Atlantis, first as a promo producer;…
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GATINEAU – Local TV is struggling mightily. Ad revenue is down and showing no signs of growth, while the ever growing lineup of new specialty channels and the rapid rise of Internet-based alternatives are blasting away at what has always been the bedrock of the television system in Canada.
Some are telling the CRTC that it’s time to adopt a radically different approach for local TV, one that would bolster the revenue side of the ledger while also helping to encourage the development of compelling Canadian content.
For example, Bell Canada and CBC/Radio-Canada suggest shutting down over the air infrastructure completely…
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MONTREAL – Quebec customers of Telus’ Optik TV can now access the CBC’s French language video portal Tou.tv directly on their televisions.
"What our customers want is more flexibility. They want to watch their favorite shows at the time and with the device of their choice, said Clément Audet, vice president, consumer market Telus Québec, in a French-language press release.
The Tou.tv application is integrated directly within the Optik TV service via the customers’ set top boxes. Subscribers can then get quick access to nearly 1,200 titles in French, of which 300 are renewed each month, and they don’t need a…
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TORONTO – CBC, CineCoup Media and Just For Laughs Television are joining forces on a new digital comedy accelerator called CBC ComedyCoup for Canadian content creators.
The accelerator offers the chance for the best, brightest and funniest creators from across Canada to enhance their careers and provide them with the ‘foot in the door’ necessary to garner a potential development deal.
Starting in August, applicants will be challenged to create and submit a two-minute video demonstrating their comedy chops. The teams will then have 10 weeks to engage with fans through digital and social platforms to garner support and feedback while…
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TORONTO – Combat sports channel Fight Network is now available on Bell Mobile TV with the Bell TV app.
Effective immediately, existing Fight Network subscribers on Bell TV can now access the channel at no extra charge with their smartphone or tablet.
“As part of the evolution of traditional television, making our content accessible on all platforms is core to our business strategy,” said Leonard Asper, CEO of Anthem Media Group Inc., the parent company of Fight Network, in the news release. “We are pleased to work with Bell to ensure that their customers and our viewers are able to access…
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GATINEAU – It will surprise no one that the cost of sports television are front and centre for so many of the submissions to the CRTC’s TV Policy Review
Telus, for example, called the amount of cash being sent to various leagues and teams for the rights to live games “irrational” and has requested the CRTC address the soaring price of sports services and eliminate penetration-based rate cards in sports packaging.
Lined up on the side of Telus, are Shaw Communications, Cogeco and Canadian Cable Systems Alliance members, distributors who own no sports channels. While vertically integrated companies like Rogers and…
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GATINEAU – Broadcast distributors and programmers are divided over rules governing television service provision in Quebec and official minority language communities across the country. Some say current rules are doing a fine job, while others argue changes are needed to ensure a diversity of programming for these two markets in their submissions to the CRTC’s TV Policy Review.
In the official notice (BNC 2014-190), the Commission noted market forces alone won’t ensure the provision of “an adequate number of services to OLMCs,” and that it has instituted several measures, including minority language programming access rights and genre protection, to address…
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TORONTO – The 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil on CBC/Radio-Canada was the most-watched FIFA World Cup ever with 30.7 million Canadians tuning in overall, the national broadcaster said.
Nearly 89% of the population (30.7 million Canadians) tuned in to at least some coverage of the tournament between June 12 – July 13 on CBC/Radio-Canada or its broadcast partners across all platforms, compared to 86% in 2010. Of those 30.7 million people, 6.6 million (or one-in-five Canadians) tuned in to watch a live game online.
Sunday’s thrilling Final match that saw Germany defeat Argentina 1-0 in the second half of extra time was…
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GATINEAU – The quest of both the CRTC and the federal government to ensure consumers have more choice in their TV packages is running into some difficult headwinds. Vertically integrated broadcast distributors as well as content developers acknowledge that Canadians do say they want more channel flexibility, but they don’t want a so-called “skinny basic” tier of TV channels.
In the official TV Policy Review Notice of Consultation (2014-190), the Commission has proposed a basic cable package that only includes local Canadian TV stations, the 9(1)(h) must-carry channels, provincial educational services if they exist, and in some cases, the community…
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