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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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By Connie Thiessen
WHEN WADE OOSTERMAN took the helm of Bell Media early last year, he signalled that the division was going through unprecedented transition following three rounds of top-down layoffs – from the executive level to more than 200 front-line employees – many well-known and long-serving anchors, reporters and hosts across radio and television.
In his first memo to employees as president of Bell Media in Feb. 2021, the former head of Bell Mobility called the restructuring “an unfortunate and often high-profile reflection of the change necessary for Bell Media to prevail in a transforming sector that has also been uniquely impacted by COVID-19.”
He added that the…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC today announced on Twitter that its Quebec Commissioner Alicia Barin (above) was appointed by the Governor in Council as interim vice-chair, broadcasting on Monday for a six-month period.
Barin takes over the role from Caroline J. Simard, who is set to begin her new role as Commissioner of Elections Canada starting Aug. 15.
Simard was previously scheduled to leave the Commission in September. She was a dissenting voice on two recent CRTC decisions regarding the CBC – the decision to renew its licences with significant changes to its conditions of licence, and the decision…
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TORONTO and MONTRÉAL — The Canada Media Fund (CMF) today announced a $10.7-million investment through its Pilot Program for Racialized Communities (PPRC) for 19 audiovisual projects by production companies owned and controlled by Black people and people of colour.
“The Pilot Program for Racialized Communities, which forms part of the CMF’s Convergent Stream, recognizes the historic barriers members of equity-deserving communities face and is designed to support the growth of English- and French-language audiovisual production by underrepresented creators,” explains a CMF press release.
“The CMF has made — and will continue to make — every effort necessary to ensure Canada’s…
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TORONTO — Asian Television Network International Limited (ATN), Canada’s largest South Asian broadcaster, announced today it is now renting out its Markham, Ont., studio space for various productions including television, movies, music videos, commercials and corporate videos.
ATN has more than 40,000 square feet of studio and office space “which is ideal for small and large productions on a short and long term basis,” says an ATN press release. The studio spaces include a full studio, a studio with a green screen and “a Dry Studio with high ceiling.”
In addition to the studio spaces, ATN offers a large make-up…
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