BANFF – Although the combination of two major regulated TV assets was the talk of the 2007 Banff World Television Festival (Hello, Rogers/Citytv), the focus of the event’s final panel was on the potential impact of unregulated new media vs. the fortunes of old media.
In fact, the first question posed by moderator (and festival CEO) Robert Montgomery during his closing session on the BWTVF green Paper to the diverse collection of opinion leaders was: Will the TV industry collapse in the face of broadband Internet and other unregulated platforms?
The question may sound like a Chicken Little approach…
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TORONTO – CBCNews.ca has partnered with blog and social media search engine Technorati.com to give its web readers access to more than 86 monitored blogs.
CBCNews.ca stories now include direct links to blogs around Canada and the globe that discuss the news.
The CBC said the deal is “part of its continuous commitment to enhancing the web experience for users.”
The CBC articles that generate the most discussions on blogs can be monitored at http://cbcnews.ca/blogwatch.
The CBC has a social networking site of its own, called The Great Canadian Wishlist, where Canadians can share their wish for the nation….
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TORONTO – Thirty-five-year CBC veteran Tony Burman announced Tuesday he’s leaving his position as editor-in-chief of CBC News, Current Affairs and Newsworld on July 13. He has been in the position since February 2000.
“Since so much of my life has been connected with the CBC, I obviously have mixed emotions about this, but mostly I have feelings of elation. And – can I say it? – liberation,” Burman said in a note sent to CBC staff Tuesday.
Esther Enkin will serve as acting editor-in-chief, and Don Knox will oversee Television News and Newsworld during the transition period. A…
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TORONTO – The CBC will launch a website called CBC Aboriginal on June 21, which is National Aboriginal Day. The website, at www.cbc.ca/aboriginal, will contain CBC’s coverage of Aboriginal issues from its television, radio and web properties.
The public broadcaster noted in a media release that the new website is part of its commitment to offer diverse regional and cultural perspectives.
“Our goal is to provide better access to the volume of quality programming produced by CBC that reflects Aboriginal life in Canada,” said CBC Television manager of diversity initiatives Alden Habacon. “We’re hoping this website will improve our…
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TORONTO – Is Afghanistan Canada’s Vietnam? This is one of the panel topics on the agenda of the sold-out RTNDA Canada national conference, running June 21-23 at Vancouver’s Sutton Place Hotel.
Another session includes Canada’s top three national anchors – CTV’s Lloyd Robertson, CBC’s Peter Mansbridge and Global Television’s Kevin Newman – discussing blogs, YouTube, MySpace, cellphones and where the world is getting its news these days.
Other panel topics include The Future of News, which will include a look at RSS feeds, IPTV, HD and citizen journalism; and Owning the Podium: Fact or Fantasy, a discussion of whether…
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TORONTO – Global Ontario was named Monday the winner of the 2007 National Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Continuing Coverage in a large market from the U.S. Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA).
Global Ontario’s winning entry, “Terror Threat,” was a series of stories highlighting the threat of terrorism in Canada. The news team covered the arrests of terror suspects in Toronto, their trial, and how communities were affected.
Other Canadian award winners include the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. in the radio network division for its hard news feature “A North Korea Border Tragic Comedy in One Act,” and in…
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BANFF – The Canadian Television Fund, saying it was responding to “a concern” but declining to name whose concern, said it would put off any changes to its bylaws until the CRTC is finished its review of the fund.
Two weeks ago, Shaw Communications CEO Jim Shaw sent a blistering letter to the CTF saying the fact the organization was planning to alter its bylaws at the same time the CRTC is examining the fund and its operations “flies in the face of common sense.”
Today, buried in a press release of the CTF’s report to stakeholders, the…
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TORONTO – Recognizing that there was probably no way out of last week’s CRTC decision that disallowed the purchase of the Citytv franchise by CTV (a story first broken by Cartt.ca), CTVglobemedia agreed today to sell the five stations to Rogers Media for $375 million.
Today’s deal scraps an earlier agreement that had Rogers acquiring the secondary market A Channels (Barrie, London, Wingham, Windsor and Ottawa Ont., as well as Victoria B.C.), which CTV will now hang onto. Rogers new stations will be Citytv Toronto (CITY-TV), Citytv Winnipeg (CHMI-TV), Citytv Edmonton (CKEM-TV), Citytv Calgary (CKAL-TV) and Citytv…
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TORONTO – The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) has announced a new, three-year, $600,000 sponsorship initiative with CBC Television to help foster emerging Canadian television talent.
The advanced training program, to be known as the CBC Prime Time Television Program, is considered to be an essential source of trained writers and newly developed projects for the TV marketplace.
“The CBC is recognized as the major leader in producing and broadcasting Canadian episodic drama, while the CFC has a proven track record of developing successful television writers/creators,” said Slawko Klymkiw, CFC executive director and former CBC Television programming chief, in a…
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BANFF – Award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster David Suzuki arrived at the Banff World Television Festival on Monday to be a guest panelist and came away as the inaugural recipient of a new award, created in his honour, at the Alberta Film Annual Lunch Awards.
The “David Suzuki Science and Environmental Media Award” recognizes outstanding professional and/or personal achievements in raising public awareness and understanding of science and environmental issues through the visual media.
The award, presented by actress Darryl Hannah, came as a complete surprise for Suzuki. But festival Executive Director Jennifer Harkness said organizers “wanted to show…
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