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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OTTAWA – Minister of Industry Jim Prentice has been “about to” introduce new copyright legislation for about three months now at least, according to Ottawa sources.
Perhaps March will be the month it happens…
In the meantime, the Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright has submitted a position paper to the minister “urging the government to strike a balance in copyright reform that reflects the needs of users and creators,” says its letter.
Besides the members in the headline, the BCBC also includes smaller stakeholders like EastLink, Cogeco Cable, SaskTel, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association and the Retail Council of…
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TORONTO – The Directors Guild of Canada filed comments yesterday with the CRTC in support of public disclosure of aggregate financial data for over-the-air television and radio broadcasters.
DGC requested that revenue and expenditure information for media giants such as CTVgm, CanWest and Rogers be made public “in order to evaluate the manner in which CRTC policies are being applied, and the extent to which broadcasters are contributing to the system,” says the Guild’s release.
"This information is critical for analytical purposes. Without this data, industry stakeholders cannot properly participate in the public process," said Brian Anthony, DGC national…
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MONTREAL – The CBC this week announced the appointment of Suzanne Laverdière as director, cross-cultural fund.
She will report to Yvan Asselin, general manager of integration. Suzanne will also have a dotted line to the executive director, English television network programming, as well as to the executive director and general manager of CBC Radio and Radio de Radio-Canada, respectively, said the Corp’s internal memo.
“These inter-network responsibilities highlight the Corporations strategy of emphasizing cooperation among all of its components,” says the memo.
With a budget of $10 million, Laverdière will be responsible for collaborative, cross-cultural productions, building on the successes…
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