TORONTO — Three Canadian shows – Intelligence, MVP: The Secret Lives of Hockey Wives, and jPOD – have been axed by the public broadcaster and will not be airing this fall.
The decision has outraged the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), who called it a “clear example of inexperienced CBC executives who don’t understand their mandate to support Canadian programming, especially drama.”
ACTRA National president Richard Hardacre stated Monday in a media release, “The CBC is a public broadcaster, and they have a responsibility to actively support and promote Canadian critically acclaimed series like Intelligence,…
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TORONTO – CBC Television says it has broken viewership records with this season’s programming line-up, reeling in a prime-time share so far of 7.9, the highest in six years.
With Canadian content rising significantly over the last two years, by 68 per cent among drama series and 41% among comedy series, the CBC says their viewer success means several new hit shows will return, as will some old favourites.
“This has been an outstanding year for CBC Television,” said Kirstine Layfield, CBC-TV’s executive director of network programming, in a statement. “These returning shows will be the cornerstone for next…
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OTTAWA – The rising incidence of childhood obesity is cause for serious concern, but banning advertising to children is not the quick-fix solution to a complex problem, says the Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA).
In a presentation to a conference on childhood obesity here this week, Bob Reaume, the ACA’s Vice President of Policy and Research, said the amount of food and beverage advertising on television directed to children has actually been decreasing in recent years even as obesity rates have climbed.
Reaume’s comments stood in contrast to those of a panel, comprised of academic and community representatives, who…
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TORONTO – CBC Radio is gearing up for the final phase of its overhaul of CBC Radio 2, continuing the shift away from classical music to offer a range of musical styles that it hopes will appeal to a broader audience.
A few details were released this week of the programming changes scheduled to be introduced next September. They will turn Radio 2 into a “multi-dimensional” music service to reflect the “musical diversity” of the country, the CBC says.
Weekdays will still feature mostly classical music in the middle of the day, but both the morning and drive-home shows…
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TORONTO – The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) has named Leonardo Ramos Mateos, Director of High Technology with Grupo Televisa Mexico, as its new president. He succeeds Ray Carnovale, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for CBC/Radio-Canada, who’s served as NABA President since 2006.
Ramos comes to the NABA Presidency at a time of great change for the broadcasting industry, the Association said in a statement. As a longstanding member of the NABA Board of Directors and Executive, Ramos has developed a great appreciation for the rapid pace of change and innovation at work in the NABA, and “brings…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – Canada’s private conventional broadcasters recorded their highest ever revenue total in the 2007 broadcast year (ended August 31st) at $2.17 billion, says the CRTC.
That number was up slightly from 2006 while expenses were held in check, too, which meant that profits before interest and taxes rose to $113 million, up 24% over the 2006 total. As well, the PBIT margin rose from 4.24% to 5.2% during the same period. However, these totals are pretty skinny and remained below those reported between 2003 and 2005 when it was closer to 15%.
Overall, revenues from the…
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VANCOUVER – Earlier this month, media activist group Adbusters lost the court battle it launched against CBC and Canwest Global when the two broadcasters refused to sell the group airtime for its commercials.
Adbusters claimed the CBC and Canwest Global had violated its right to free speech under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by refusing to sell air time, “but the court decided that the Charter does not apply to private corporations,” says an Adbusters release.
(Ed note: Actually, the ruling says no such thing. It was more along the lines of saying broadcasters, like retailers, can…
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OTTAWA – The CBC has welcomed a report from the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage that recognizes the role of the public broadcaster as an essential institution that requires long-term support and reinforcement.
But there were mixed reviews from ACTRA and words of warning from the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.
ACTRA said the government already missed a chance in this week’s budget to back up the Committee’s words with money, while the Friends pointed to the dissenting opinion from the Committee’s Conservative minority which it said sets the CBC up to fail.
The majority report, CBC/Radio-Canada: Defining Distinctiveness in…
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OTTAWA – Linda Black, Mary McNeil, and Brian Mitchell have been added to the board of directors of CBC/Radio-Canada announced Josee Verner, Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages.
"The varied backgrounds and experiences of these three individuals will be great assets," said Minister Verner in a release. None of the new board members are broadcasters.
Black has worked in various senior executive government roles and served as the founding general counsel at the University of Calgary. She is currently a member of the Alberta Secretariat for Action on Homelessness, a member of the Law Enforcement…
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TORONTO – CBC English Services unwrapped its new organizational structure, “bringing radio, television and digital platforms into alignment under one integrated management framework,” says the companys internal memo to staff.
“This new model has been designed to allow English Services to better support the creation and distribution of all its programming content,” said Richard Stursberg, executive vice president of English Services. “The structure itself – and the teams which will bring it to life – recognize the unique characteristics and demands of each platform while bringing an improved focus to how each is supported in meeting audience programming requirements….
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