BANFF – Media leaders from five of Canada’s major broadcast media companies will come together to kick off this year’s Banff World Media Festival.
Phil Lind, vice chairman of Rogers Communications; Paul Robertson, group vice president, broadcasting and president of Shaw Media; Kevin Crull, COO at CTVglobemedia; Kirstine Stewart, executive vice president of English services at CBC; and John Riley, president of Astral Television Networks, have been confirmed for the event’s Media Leaders panel.
Moderated by Gordon Pitts, senior reporter for The Globe and Mail, the executives will speak to the issues they find most pressing for today’s media ecosystem, plus…
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TORONTO – Industry veteran Claude Galipeau is joining social media management company Syncapse Corp. in the newly created role of chief service officer.
Galipeau was most recently SVP and GM of digital media at Rogers before departing abruptly in February. He has also held senior leadership positions at Astral Media, Alliance Atlantis and the CBC. Starting April 1st, Galipeau will be responsible for building and managing a team capable of meeting intellectual and delivery demands across Syncapse’s strategic, technical, measurement and professional services teams. Syncapse delivers solutions that empower brands and agencies to build, manage and measure their digital customer…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has turned down a request from CBC to add a post-transition digital transmitter to its English-language conventional television station CBAT-TV Fredericton/Saint John.
Noting that the proposal would result in a loss of over-the-air TV service to the residents of Saint John, the Commission cited its Revised licensing framework for over-the-air digital television services policy whereby broadcasters are encouraged to provide digital coverage that matches their current analog coverage.
“The Commission notes that the proposed digital transmitter would be located such that it would provide service to only one of the two markets served by the…
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OTTAWA – Tom Pentefountas, the recently appointed vice-chair of broadcasting at the CRTC, stood firm as opposition MPs on the Standing Committee of Canadian Heritage questioned his ability to fulfill the responsibilities of the position.
He said all the right words in his opening remarks, highlighting the challenges facing the CRTC in the face of convergence and the new realities on online viewing. “Convergence is on the verge of erasing the dividing line between broadcasting and telecommunications,” he said. “That is one of our greatest challenges.
“Moreover, to face this new reality, the CRTC must implement 25 year old legislation….
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OTTAWA – Count CBC, the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) and the Canada Media Fund (CMF) in favour of Tuesday’s 2011-2012 Federal Budget, though its ability to be ratified by Parliament appears doubtful.
The public broadcaster said that it was “pleased” that the $60 million in funding that CBC/Radio-Canada been receiving since 2001 for Canadian programming initiatives has been renewed for another year, calling it “crucial” to the implementation of its new five year plan known as ‘Everyone, Every Way’.
"This is great news for Canadians who look to CBC/Radio-Canada for high quality Canadian programming on television, radio and the…
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OTTAWA – Granted, it’s just another in the thousands of oft-ignored parliamentary committee reports, but a new one released today by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage wants the CRTC to hold a public hearing about whether or not the likes of Netflix, Google TV, Apple TV, etc., should be contributing funds to the Canadian television industry.
The report, “Impacts Of Private Television Ownership Changes And The Move Towards New Viewing Platforms,” was informed by five fall 2010 meeting days which heard from 21 witnesses representing Canadian media companies (big and small), carriers, producers, Continue Reading
TORONTO – RTNDA Canada, The Association of Electronic Journalists, has named its Prairie region award winners honouring the best programs, stations and newsgathering organizations in both radio and television.
"We’re pleased to continue a tradition that recognizes the best work of our peers and sets the standard for electronic journalism in Canada", said RTNDA Canada president Andy LeBlanc, in the annoucement. "These awards are named after pioneers and innovators in the Canadian news business. I’m sure they would be elated to see the quality of work that exists in award winning local news coverage today.”
The annual awards will be presented…
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TORONTO – CBC has revamped its senior TV management team, promoting Wilson, Bristow and Platt.
The Corp said Wednesday that effective April 4th, Christine Wilson will assume the role of executive director, content planning; Julie Bristow will become executive director, studio and unscripted programming; and Phyllis Platt will take on the new role of (interim) executive director, commissioned and scripted programming. All three will report to Kirstine Stewart, EVP of CBC English Services.
“In their new roles, Christine, Julie, Phyllis and their teams will be better able to implement our current strategies leading to 2015 and fulfill our mission as a…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has excluded Whitehorse, Yukon; Yellowknife, Northwest Territories; and Iqaluit, Nunavut from the list of mandatory markets for conversion to digital television.
The Commission said Monday that broadcasters intend to shut down five of the six television transmitters in Whitehorse and Yellowknife, and noted that the transmitters are located in small and remote markets, that they do not operate on channels 52 to 69, and that their continued operation would have no impact on television stations in adjacent markets. The CBC transmitter in Yellowknife is scheduled to remain in operation and converted to digital.
The Commission also noted that…
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TORONTO – Money worries and digital strategies seem to be the key business issues keeping radio industry honchos awake at night, judging by their comments during a special radio exec panel session at the annual Canadian Music Week convention held in Toronto last week.
“Our company is in a tremendous growth pattern right now, but I worry about 2008 happening again,” said Christopher Grossman, owner and president of Haliburton Broadcasting Group. Haliburton owns radio stations in 18 small markets in central and northern Ontario, with expansion into two more communities expected soon. “I worry about what would happen if…
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