By Connie Thiessen
Blue Ant Media and marblemedia have announced the merger of their respective production and distribution operations into one unified studio and rights business.
The deal sees Blue Ant acquire marblemedia and its international sales operation Distribution360. Former marblemedia co-CEOs Mark Bishop and Matthew Hornburg will helm the combined business, based in Toronto, serving as co-Presidents and reporting to Michael MacMillan, CEO and co-founder, Blue Ant Media.
The combined business, which encompasses the marblemedia, Blue Ant Studios, Saloon Media and Look Mom! Productions prodcos, in addition to distributors Distribution360 and Blue Ant International, will form what’s being billed as a…
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GATINEAU, OTTAWA and TORONTO – The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), public broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada and print and digital news association News Media Canada (NMC) have jointly applied to the Competition Bureau to investigate Meta’s alleged abuse of its dominant market position, after the social media giant last week began officially blocking news content in Canada on Facebook and Instagram.
Meta had threatened back in June to end news availability on its platforms in Canada in response to the passing of the Online News Act, and on Aug. 1 it began the process to do that, saying the…
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CBC calls it “irresponsible” and “abuse of power”; CAB says it shows “tangible disregard for democracy”
Starting Tuesday, Meta has begun blocking Canadian news content on Facebook and Instagram for their users in Canada.
In an update Tuesday to its June announcement of its intention to end news availability on its platforms in Canada, in response to the passing of the Online News Act, Meta says these changes “will be implemented for all people accessing Facebook and Instagram in Canada over the course of the next few weeks.”
The changes mean news links…
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By Connie Thiessen
CBC Podcasts has launched a new channel on YouTube, making a collection of the public broadcaster’s most popular shows available through the platform.
Audiences can now stream series like Someone Knows Something; Uncover; Run, Hide Repeat; and daily news podcast, Front Burner, among a dozen others, on YouTube. CBC says the channel will continue to grow in the coming months with the addition of video podcasts.
“The launch of CBC Podcasts on YouTube furthers a commitment to making our amazing catalogue of podcast content available to audiences on the platform of their choice,” said Continue Reading
TORONTO – Bell is the latest media company to pause advertising on Meta’s Facebook and Instagram social media products, becoming the latest giant to retaliate after Meta’s decision to end news link sharing in Canada.
“As Meta continues with its plan to block Canadian news content from its digital platforms, we are immediately pausing our advertising on Facebook and Instagram,” Bell Media president Wade Oosterman said in a late Friday afternoon statement.
“Like many Canadians, we are concerned about the consequences Meta’s decision to block links from Canadian news organizations will have on Canadians, and all those who reside or work…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA — In a rare display of non-partisanship support for government legislation, Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez – joined by his opposition counterparts Martin Champoux of the Bloc Québécois and Peter Julian of the New Democrats – announced at a Parliament Hill news conference on Wednesday that the federal government will suspend advertising on Facebook and Instagram in response to parent company Meta Platforms Inc.’s decision to end news availability on both platforms prior to bill C-18 taking effect.
Last week, Google followed suit and announced that it would…
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OTTAWA – The Canada Media Fund announced Wednesday the appointment of two new directors and the expansion of its growth and inclusion team.
The fund that supports the production of Canadian content said Karen Tohana will oversee English content and Emmanuelle Petrakis will lead strategic partnerships. French market liaison Gaelle Essoo and coordinator Philippe Sabourin will be coordinator in the growth and inclusion team.
Tohana, who will be based in Toronto, brings public and private broadcasting, production, distribution, and financing experience to the role. She was most recently with the CBC as business and rights manager of unscripted programming.
“Reporting to Rod…
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By Jonathan Daniels, pictured above, vice president of regulatory law at Bell
The CRTC recently announced the first round of consultations on the implementation of the recently adopted Online Streaming Act. Of the three sectors affected by this legislation – foreign streamers, Canadian producers and Canadian broadcasters – it is clear that broadcasters are the group in crisis mode.
It goes without saying that foreign streamers like Netflix are flourishing in Canada. Their success has benefited Canadian producers. The Canadian Media Producers Association recently noted that “in almost every way, was a record year.” Meanwhile, broadcasters are struggling.
The challenge…
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By Connie Thiessen
Twenty-two Canadian broadcasters have come together to form Canadian Broadcasters for Sustainability, committed to working together to increase environmentally sustainable change.
Announced Sunday at Banff World Media Festival, the wide-ranging group of public and private broadcasters includes Accessible Media Inc., Asian Television Network, Bell Media, Blue Ant Media, CBC/Radio-Canada, Channel Zero, CHEK Media, Corus Entertainment, Hollywood Suite, Knowledge Network, New Tang Dynasty (Canada), Nunavut Independent Television Network (Uvagut TV), OUTtv, Pelmorex Corp., Remstar Media, Rogers Sports & Media, Super Channel, Télé-Québec, TFO, TV5, TVO and WildBrain.
The group is committing to embedding environmentally sustainable thinking in their commissioned productions…
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OTTAWA – The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled the CRTC had no jurisdiction to force CBC/Radio-Canada to apologize for using the “N-word” and make internal changes as a result, sending the decision back to the regulator for review.
On appeal by the public broadcaster on freedom of expression grounds, the court said in a Thursday decision the CRTC essentially conflated its ability to make broadcasting policy with an ability to impose a rule of conduct, which “goes against the role that Parliament attributed to this policy.” It also said the CRTC’s majority decision did not address the broadcaster’s right…
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