By Neal McDougall
ART IS MADE BY artists. Canadian art is made by Canadian artists.
The truth of this simple statement should be self-evident. The link between creator and creation is well-recognized, from their fans and arts scholars to the relationship at law between “authors” and “works” under the Copyright Act.
And since “Canadian content” is typically creative content – in the broad sense of the word, it is art – such a statement should sit at the core of the expressly cultural legislation that is the Broadcasting Act, which is fundamentally about supporting Canadian content.
Yet months into Bill C-11, the debate…
Continue Reading
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – In a tweet yesterday, the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) announced it would grant leave to the CBC/Radio-Canada (SRC) allowing it to appeal the CRTC’s decision, issued in June, to force the SRC to apologize to a complainant (Ricardo Lamour) for the use of the N-word on air and to outline the measures it will take to avoid such incidents in the future.
Back in August 2020, a SRC commentator on the radio program Le 15-18 used the offensive word four times during the show in reference to a book by Pierre Vallières written…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA — Newcomers to Canada have a greater preference for listening to online audio content than traditional radio, according to a new report from CBC/Radio-Canada’s Media Technology Monitor (MTM) released last week.
The report looks at how both newcomers and Canadian-born individuals consume traditional AM/FM radio and various forms of online audio, including music streaming services, AM/FM radio streaming and podcasts. It also looks at the devices used for listening and time spent consuming audio content.
A little over three quarters (77%) of newcomers consume online audio, which is almost on par with Canadian-born individuals (80%), according to the report.
When it…
Continue Reading
By Connie Thiessen
THE CANADA MEDIA Fund’s 2021-22 Annual Report indicates that its investments in the screen-based industries triggered a record-breaking $1.9B in production.
According to the report, every $1 of CMF funding generated $5.16 in production activity, the highest leverage ratio since the public-private partnership was founded in 2010, helping create close to 217,000 jobs in Canada’s screen sector.
“The industry we serve is on the verge of a magnitude of change—and it’s long overdue,” said Valerie Creighton, president and CEO of the CMF, in a release. “We are proud to generate record-breaking production activity across Canada’s screen-based industries, but even more…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Traditional broadcasting media rebounded closer to pre-pandemic levels for advertising revenues in 2021, but still lagged behind the last complete reporting of pre-pandemic data in 2019, according to data released this month by the CRTC.
While conventional and discretionary television service revenues increased by 6.9% ($91 million) and 0.8% ($30 million) respectively compared to 2020, those numbers are lower when compared to 2019 – whose conventional TV service revenues totaled $1.56 billion compared to 2021’s $1.4 billion, while 2019’s revenue for discretionary was $4.2 billion compared to 2021’s $3.9 billion.
Overall traditional broadcasting revenue saw a…
Continue Reading
By Connie Thiessen
CBC/Radio-Canada has unveiled its original podcast slate for fall 2022, with the lineup featuring new investigative series Pressure Cooker and The Outlaw Ocean, a collaboration with L.A. Times Podcasts.
“Powerful storytelling is the throughline of our fall docket, from investigating modern-day slavery on the lawless oceans to telling the tale of a couple caught in a precarious swirl of conspiracy, and sharing the recollections of a woman working to unravel the mysteries of her childhood spent on the run,” said Arif Noorani,…
Continue Reading
By Connie Thiessen
Tara Mora has been appointed to the newly-created role of senior director of radio, talk and music programming at CBC.
Mora will lead the strategy, programming and development of the unscripted team’s audio content and schedules for CBC Radio One, CBC Music and CBC Listen, in addition to overseeing CBC Music, CBC Books, q, Now or Never, and Under the Influence. She’ll also lead development for new unscripted audio content, excluding CBC News and Current Affairs and CBC Podcasts. She will report to Jennifer Dettman, executive director of unscripted content.
Mora has been with CBC…
Continue Reading
By Connie Thiessen
A GROUP OF Canadian business leaders, artists, academics, journalists and former politicians have signed an open letter to the BCE and Bell Canada board of directors and management in support of Lisa LaFlamme.
Printed as a two-page ad in the weekend edition of The Globe and Mail, the letter is signed by well-known Canadians like Anne Murray, Jann Arden, and Sarah McLachlan, in addition to women known for their own efforts to crack the proverbial “glass ceiling” including Kim Campbell, the only woman to serve as Canada’s prime minister; Kathleen Wynne, the first female premier of Ontario; and Linda…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Federal minister of diversity Ahmed Hussen announced today in a statement posted on Twitter the government has cut the funding it awarded to the Community Media Advocacy Centre (CMAC) to develop an anti-racism strategy for Canadian broadcasting after concerns were raised about a consultant on the project.
The project, which was awarded $133,822 by the federal government, has also now been suspended, according to the statement.
In April, CMAC launched a series of consultations as part of the project, which aim “to develop and disseminate an Anti-Racism Strategy that will reduce barriers to participation in media and broadcasting…
Continue Reading
WITH THE 1972 CANADA-USSR SUMMIT SERIES marking its 50th anniversary this September, CBC announced last week the first episode of its new original four-part documentary series Summit 72 will premiere on CBC and CBC Gem on Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. local time (8:30 NT).
The remaining three episodes will air the following consecutive Wednesdays in the same time slot.
“The 1972 Canada-USSR Summit Series of Hockey changed the game forever, playing out dramas of national identity, pride, politics, and ideology while the world watched, enraptured, during the Cold War,” reads a press release.
The Summit 72 docuseries “tells the definitive…
Continue Reading
