OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Canadians appetite for content continued to grow last year in all media including TV, radio and Internet. But increasingly that content is being purchased primarily through the five largest communications companies (Astral, Corus, BCE, Newcap, Rogers) who together captured 83% of revenues. In comparison the next five companies captured 10%.
This according to figures released in the CRTC’s Annual Monitoring Report that provides an overview of the Canadian communications industry. Given the level of industry consolidation, the commission says it has acted to ensure these companies “do not harm their competitors or restrict consumer choice.” For example,…
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HALIFAX – Canadians will have an opportunity to add their voices on the future direction of the CBC when the national public broadcaster's licenses are reviewed this fall. The public is invited to attend when the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting convenes The CBC We Want, a town hall meeting scheduled for September 6, at the Lord Nelson Hotel, 1515 South Park Street in the Regency Ballroom from 7 pm to 9 pm.
Moderated by Costas Halavrezos, former host of CBC Radio's Maritime Noon, these sessions will include opinion and ideas from experts and viewers and listeners alike. Speakers include:
Wayne…
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WE DRILL DOWN into the analytics of our content quite a lot at Cartt.ca, studying what resonates with our valued readers and what doesn’t. We learn a lot and try adjust our coverage accordingly. So, to give you a peek at what the folks in the cable, radio, television and telecom business have been paying the most attention to for the past year, we publish the top 25 stories of the past 12 months on the day after Labour Day.
As those in the TV business will tell you, September is really the beginning of the year – and September…
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OTTAWA – As Canada hones in on its 150th birthday in five more years, CBC/Radio Canada is stepping up as party planner.
The national broadcaster said that it will host a series of regional conferences starting next January under the ‘2017 Starts Now’ banner, which will bring Canadians together to generate local, regional and national projects to mark the occasion. The networks will also launch a specialized website this fall, concurrent with the announcement of the conference host cities.
The conferences and related initiatives will be produced in partnership with Canadian organizations already at work on planning 2017 celebrations, including YMCA…
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TORONTO – Sportsnet confirmed Thursday that it bought the Grand Slam of Curling from sports media and entertainment company Insight Sports, as Cartt.ca reported on Wednesday.
Part of the World Curling Tour, the elite series of men's and women's curling events will feature teams from across Canada and from around the world. Sportsnet will own and operate the series through a newly created in-house events division, and will share broadcasting duties of the tour with CBC via a sub-licensing agreement. The tour itself has been around in one form or another since 2001 and Rogers has…
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OTTAWA – CBC/Radio-Canada is looking for buyers for its surplus transmission assets after pulling the plug on its analog over the air network earlier this summer.
The national broadcaster said that the assets include the land, transmission towers, analog TV transmission equipment, and related buildings at 100 different sites across the country. While 607 transmitters were shut down on July 31, only a small portion of the sites at which those transmitters were located are now for sale. Many of the decommissioned transmitters were operating at sites where the CBC/Radio-Canada was leasing space from another company, while others are located…
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TORONTO – Women in Film & Television – Toronto (WIFT-T) is once again teaming up with CBC for its annual reception during next month’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Scheduled for September 11 in the Barbara Frum Atrium inside the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in downtown Toronto, the by-invitation-only gala will honour the contributions of Canadian women to the international entertainment industry. Red carpet proceedings will kick off the event, with the list of expected guests to be announced over the next two weeks.
“WIFT-T is thrilled to recognize Canadian women's excellence at a time when the international industry is gathered in…
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TORONTO – Rogers Sportsnet has invited journalists to the Real Sports Bar & Grill at Maple Leaf Square Thursday morning at 11 a.m. for a “major announcement.”
While company officials were tight-lipped on what that might be, a Twitter search revealed a couple of blogs which seem to have spilled the beans – that the sports channel will team up with the CBC to televise curling’s Grand Slam event series.
However, a well-placed source with direct knowledge of the negotiations has confirmed to Cartt.ca that Sportsnet has acquired the Grand Slam of Curling…
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TORONTO – Editor, producer and journalist David Walmsley has returned to CBC News as director of news content.
The former Globe and Mail managing editor helped to launch the National Post newspaper in 1998 before moving to CBC News, where he was executive producer of newsgathering and later, the managing editor of CBC News Ottawa. In his new role, Walmsley will drive foreign and domestic newsgathering for all programs and platforms.
“We already have an impressive leadership team in place at CBC News,” said Jennifer McGuire, GM and editor in chief for CBC News, in the announcement. “David’s proven track record with…
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TORONTO – Blue Ant Media said Friday that it has entered into an agreement to purchase digital specialty channel bold from the CBC.
Financial terms were not disclosed, and the transaction is conditional upon CBC obtaining the necessary approvals set out in its various licensing, regulatory and statutory terms of operation.
“Acquiring bold will give Blue Ant another platform to engage audiences with unique entertainment content,” said Blue Ant Media CEO Michael MacMillan, in a statement Friday. “We definitely see a lot of opportunity with the channel, while also expanding our array of channel offerings.”
“The decision to sell bold was very difficult,…
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