By Connie Thiessen
CBC News Explore has launched, the public broadcaster’s new free ad-supported streaming (FAST) news channel, available on digital and connected TV platforms.
The channel, announced today, will feature a curated selection of CBC journalism from across the country in addition to original programs, led by new Andrew Chang vehicle About That – a look at the day’s most compelling stories in a blend of conversation and feature interviews.
Other original programming includes This Week in Canada, a weekly show featuring original CBC News stories chosen for their ability to resonate with audiences across the…
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OTTAWA — The Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC) announced today the election of three new members to its board of directors — Melissa McAvoy, Shane O’Neill and Sandra Hines.
All three were elected to two-year terms by CRFC members at the organization’s annual general meeting held on Nov. 22.
McAvoy is chief financial officer at Pacific Tubulars Ltd., a position she has held since 2019, overseeing the accounting, business support, financial planning and analysis, treasury, investor relations, internal audit and tax functions within the company, a press release says. She was previously chief financial…
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OTTAWA – The Senate Transportation and Communications Committee defeated five of six amendments introduced by a Conservative senator intended to define parameters in bill C-11, a proposed around proposed legislation that would allow the CRTC to further regulate online streaming platforms.
The bill, also known as the Online Streaming Act, went through a clause-by-clause process at committee on Wednesday.
Saskatchewan Conservative Senator Denise Batters introduced six amendments, five of which did not survive. The first was to amend the definition of community channel to use “language of their choice” rather than “language used in a…
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PUBLIC FUNDING FOR and independence of public broadcasters around the world is under increasing threat, according to the Global Task Force for public media.
The task force, which is chaired by CBC/Radio-Canada president and CEO Catherine Tait and serves the purpose of promoting and defending public media values, met recently for its first in-person meeting in Tokyo ahead of the annual conference of Public Broadcasters International (PBI).
“Public broadcasters’ public funding, operational and editorial independence, and media freedom and safety are all under increasing threat in too many parts of the world — and the consequences are damaging democracy,” reads a…
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CBC NEWS ANNOUNCED today Marcia Young (above) and John Northcott (below) will host the national public broadcaster’s flagship morning audio newscast CBC News: World Report on CBC Radio.
Young was previously part of the World Report’s weekend team and will now host the show Monday to Thursday permanently starting immediately, a press release explains. (Former weekday host, Nil Köksal is now co-host of CBC Radio’s As it Happens.)
Northcott, who will host Friday through Sunday starting Nov. 26, comes to the program from his role as a CBC News Network anchor.
“Together they will deliver the morning’s top news from…
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OTTAWA — CBC’s Media Technology Monitor (MTM) announced today it has released new data on the podcast listening habits of anglophone and francophones Canadians, which shows listening increased for both during the pandemic.
“Podcasts have carved out their own niche in the audio/radio space,” a press release says. “By focusing on long form, episodic content and often more niche topics than radio broadcasts, podcast content has become a notable part of the media diet of many Canadians.”
The anglophone report highlights that 36% of anglophones listen to podcasts, and shows that listenership increased 20% during the pandemic.
Younger anglophones are…
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By Alex Freedman
HURRICANE FIONA RECENTLY tore a swath through the Atlantic coast leaving tens of thousands of Canadians without power, water, heat or access to supplies. They pulled out their radios and some batteries and tuned into their community radio station. It was the only source of local information they could rely on.
CFIM in the Magdalen Islands ordered pizza, bought bottled water, and broadcast survival information right through the storm. At CKOA in Cape Breton, the entire station shifted on its foundation while the team stayed on-air. Callers told CKOA they were the only voices they could hear for days, and it helped…
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CBC/RADIO-CANADA and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) announced today two projects from the Kindred ABC/CBC Animation Collaboration, launched in March, have been given co-production development deals with CBC Kids and ABC Kids.
One of the projects is My Shadow is Pink, “a preschool series for kids ages 3 to 7, from Headspinner/Sticky Pictures and created by Scott Stuart and Ken Cuperus, based on Stuart’s best-selling book,” reads a description in a CBC press release.
The other project is The Eerie Chapters of Chhaya, “a series for tweens ages 10 to 14, created by Suren Perera, Georgina Love and Thomas Duncan-Watt,”…
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By Monica Auer
IN JUNE 2022, the House of Commons passed Bill C-11-3, the Online Streaming Act, to amend Canada’s 1991 Broadcasting Act. The bill was then sent to the Senate for study and debate. The Senate’s Transport and Communications Committee (TRCM) began its pre-study of C-11 in early June, and has so far heard nearly 130 separate witnesses. It is unclear precisely when TRCM will submit its report and recommendations about Bill C-11 to the Senate, but the latter is expected to sit from now until Dec. 22, 2022, and to resume sitting in early 2023, perhaps as early as…
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OTTAWA — Bell Media’s CTV News today announced award-winning journalist Vassy Kapelos (above) is joining the news organization as chief political correspondent and will host CTV News Channel’s daily political program Power Play and CTV’s weekly show Question Period, effective Dec. 1.
Kapelos’ hiring follows the departure of Evan Solomon, the former host of the two programs, in October.
Most recently, Kapelos was host of CBC News Network’s daily program Power and Politics, a role she took on in March 2018. Prior to that, she was Global News’ Ottawa bureau chief and host of The West Block. Before working in…
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