TORONTO – SIRIUS Canada announced the bulk of its channel lineup today featuring 10 Canadian channels but no mention of bringing Howard Stern – who’s now basically becoming the feature channel on SIRIUS in the U.S. – back to Canada.
Sirius Canada will offer 100 channels of music, news, sports, and entertainment available and looks right now to be the only satellite radio provider to include 10 Canadian music and information stations in both English and French, including a multilingual service. This is an increase over its original goal of 80 total channels, eight of which were to be…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Astral Media may have been one of the CRTC’s most vociferous critics when it came to its satellite radio decision this year, but the company’s radio division has signed on to produce two French language channels for SIRIUS Canada.
Adult Contemporary format Rock Velours will play the best Canadian soft rock and include new French artists like Jorane, Pierre Lapointe and Ariane Moffatt. Rock Velours will also feature newer Canadian artists like Daniel Powter, Feist and Divine Brown.
Contemporary Hit radio (CHR) format Energie2 will have a play list that includes Pop Rock, Modern Rock and popular…
Continue Reading
IS CTV DESTINED FOR TOTAL Canadian television domination? Ratings currently available for the season-to-date, measuring from the first week of September, can be spun to suggest almost anything. But depending how the analysis is done, Canada’s largest broadcaster can surface with up to 15 of the top 20 programs.
It’s hard to compare the varying ratings analyses from CTV and Global since they seldom focus on similar markets, dates and demographics. But an opening gambit might be to see how the reality is playing out compared with certain predictions from the upfront market.
Back in the summer, media buyer…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Specialty TV service The Score announced a deal with SIRIUS Canada today to provide a 24/7 all-sports radio channel for the satellite radio company.
The Score is the first Canadian sports station on the SIRIUS Canada channel lineup, “with an exciting programming format that will deliver on the high expectations which have been set by The Score on television,” says today’s press release.
SIRIUS provides The Score with what could be an important additional platform in Canada (not to mention North-America-wide). "Canadian sports fans will embrace The Score to quench their thirst for the sports information they…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – After enduring a winter of cranky Canadian curling fans, frustrated at how and where their beloved game was being put on TV, the Canadian Curling Association officially righted a wrong today.
The CCA came to an agreement with the CBC – curling’s primary rights holder – to let TSN back in the game.
The CBC, which holds the exclusive broadcast rights for the CCA’s Season of Champions events, will broadcast the final weekend of each event on its main network. A minimum of two draws daily of round robin play will be broadcast on TSN, via a…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Effective immediately, Christine Shipton will oversee all original programming, both fiction and non-fiction, for CanWest MediaWorks, as vice-president, original programming. Since joining Global last spring as director, dramatic programming, Shipton (right), “has focused her efforts on building a robust development slate of fiction programs and overseeing the production of our new drama series, Falcon Beach (which is coming in January). She has been working with Shaftesbury Films to redevelop The Jane Show, which has resulted in the series being given the green light for broadcast in the spring of 2006,” says the press release….
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Veteran CBC journalist Mary Lou Finlay has decided to retire as of November 30th.
In a note to staff today, vice-president, radio Jane Chalmers called Finlay “one of our most outstanding journalists and hosts. Finlay (left) has co-hosted As It Happens for eight years and spent many more years with the English networks as a respected journalist and host. “She is ready to leave the rigors and intensity of a daily program in order to have the time to develop her own projects,” wrote Chalmers.
“It’s just the right time for me, even though it…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Ken Finkleman’s The Newsroom, which airs on CBC, received an International Emmy award nomination for comedy Monday in Cannes at MIPCOM.
An earlier version of this story said it won an Emmy, but the awards are not presented until next month.
Writer, director and executive producer Finkleman, who produces the show with Jan Peter Meyboom through their company 100 Percent Film & Television Inc., stars as George Findlay, the acerbic and self-absorbed news director. “We are thrilled and honored to be recognized for a second consecutive year by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences”, said Meyboom who was…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Standard Radio today announced the appointment Liz Janik as program manager for its all-Canadian commercial free music channel soon to be available on SIRIUS.
In her new role, Janik will oversee music programming and play a key role in the management and operation of the station.
With over 15 years experience in the broadcasting industry, Janik has had an extensive career in both Canada and the U.S. Most recently, as president of her own consulting company, she provided consulting and research services to the broadcast media, music and internet industries.
As a consultant, Janik has worked with…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Not every intervention filed with the CRTC over the four new pay TV license applicants were negative. Many were overwhelmingly supportive.
As reported previously, four groups are vying for new must-carry pay TV licenses from the Commission and will face a hearing on October 24th.
The applicants are: Spotlight TV, a bid led by former Alliance Atlantis executive George Burger (backed by Insight Media and now Bell ExpressVu); One from Allarco (backed by the Allard family, the former owners of WIC Broadcasting); another from a division of Quebecor Media for BOOM TV, and a unique…
Continue Reading
