TORONTO – BBM Nielsen’s early overnight data says that 3.65 million Canadians watched the Grey Cup on TSN and RDS, up 5% over last year, when it was on the CBC.
On TSN, 2.439 million Canadians watched the Calgary Stampeders defeat the Montreal Alouettes in the 96th edition of the Grey Cup, while an additional 1.215 million viewers watched French-language coverage on RDS.
Audience numbers for the broadcast on TSN peaked at 3.14 million viewers between 8:56 and 8:57 p.m. ET, just as time expired on the Alouettes’ failed final attempt to tie the game in the fourth quarter….
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TWO OF CANADA’S BIGGEST media conglomerates have announced cuts as fallout from the bursting financial bubble spreads. Last week, Canwest announced it was cutting 560 jobs in its TV and newspaper operations; this week, CTVglobemedia warned of looming layoffs.
The economic crisis makes the announcements seem reasonable and prudent, but the cuts are unfortunately part of a longer trend. Why invest in local programming and reporting when the real money is in newspaper monopolies, cable specialty channels and prime-time simulcasting of American hit shows?
In the midst of the debacle, the CRTC – which approved media mergers as the…
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OTTAWA – Shaw Communications’ DTH company Star Choice must distribute French news channel Le Réseau de l’information (RDI) to all digital subscribers living in Anglophone markets as part of its digital basic service, the CRTC has ruled.
The CBC filed a complaint with the Commission in May, alleging that Star Choice refused to offer RDI as part of its ‘English Essentials’ basic service package in Anglophone markets, despite “repeated efforts” on its part to secure carriage. The CBC argued that this is contrary to objectives in the Commission’s Distribution Order 2007-3, set out as appendix 4 to Broadcasting Decision…
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TORONTO – Friends of Canadian Broadcasting has a message for the Conservative party convention taking place in Winnipeg today: don’t cut funds to the CBC.
The broadcast watchdog group has launched an ad campaign beginning with a published a print ad in today’s Prairie edition of the Globe and Mail. The ad cites a recent Nanos survey that it commissioned which found three-quarters of Canadians would support maintaining or increasing funding to CBC.
"Friends intends to take every opportunity during this Parliament to urge Prime Minister Harper to strengthen Canada’s sovereignty through policies that promote Canadian culture," says spokesperson Ian Morrison….
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TORONTO – After reading the internal memo sent to the employees of Canwest’s broadcasting division on Wednesday – which explained the job cuts – a few times, one thing is certain: The company has only just begun its battle with the CRTC.
The memo – from the desk of imminently departing Canwest Broadcasting president Kathy Dore – adds much more color to the announcement that 210 people will be let go from the division (part of 560 being terminated by the company as a whole). It’s worth noting that this is in addition to 200 who were terminated Continue Reading
TORONTO – The CBC and Al Gore’s Current Media are getting together to launch Current Canada, a new "cross-platform media company" aimed at young adults, the two companies announced today.
Retracing the history a little shows the new channel is a completion of a circle – of sorts anyway – as Current comes home to its ownership roots with this launch.
An American news/information/opinion channel and online presence aimed at young Americans – Current was in its past life Newsworld International – a cable news channel launched by the CBC and Power Corporation in the 1990s in the U.S….
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TORONTO – CBC/Radio-Canada confirmed Saturday that CBC News reporter Mellissa Fung has been freed from captivity after being abducted on October 12 in Kabul.
Fung appears to be “well” and is within the Canadian Embassy in Kabul. The company report said that she will undergo a full medical evaluation before being re-united with her family.
"In the interest of Mellissa’s safety and that of other working journalists in the region, on the advice of security experts, we made the decision to ask media colleagues not to publish news of her abduction," said CBC news publisher John Cruickshank. "All of…
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MONTREAL – CBC/Radio-Canada is planning to “modernize” its downtown Montreal offices and develop on-site real estate, the company announced today.
The project, along René-Lévesque Boulevard at the eastern limit of downtown Montréal where CBC Montreal already sits, will cost $1.6 billion for 2,000 housing units, offices, and commercial and public spaces, according to the press release. Public information sessions will be held later this month in Montreal.
The new buildings, reaching up to 44 metres in height, will be constructed around the existing tower, on the site of large parking lots to be relocated underground. The tower would be re-converted…
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OTTAWA – Perhaps a little lost in the explanation of the CRTC’s policy release on BDUs, specialties and fee-for-carriage was a warning from the chairman that the Commission’s pace may have to slow a little, due to a shortage or resources.
While introducing Konrad von Finckenstein Monday morning, Canwest’s head of regulatory, Charlotte Bell, noted the CRTC was “tackling many issues at a breathtaking pace,” and that he has “called as many hearings as any chair that I can remember.”
However, when he took the stage Monday morning for his highly anticipated explanation of how the Commission came to…
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SAVE FOR THE CONVENTIONAL broadcasters who wanted their new fee, many in the industry are, if not slapping the Commission heartily on the back, recognizing that coming up with new regulatory frameworks for BDUs and discretionary TV channels wasn’t likely an easy task and that the Regulator has done a decent job in addressing the myriad issues.
Click here for our summary of Thursday’s release.
Sure, cable, satellite and telco TV companies don’t want to divert another 1% of revenue to yet another programming fund, the broadcasters’ bet on fee-for-carriage didn’t come through and many wish advertising in…
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