By Etan Vlessing
BILL C-11 IS A POTENTIAL threat to the golden goose of Canadian creativity, YouTube’s chief business officer Robert Kyncl (above, bottom right) warned today during a panel on digital innovation at the Canadian Media Producers Association’s virtual Prime Time conference.
Kyncl told the Prime Time audience YouTube in 2020 contributed $923 million in economic benefits to Canada, and 34,000 jobs, as homegrown user-generated content generated revenues from streaming on the open Google platform that flowed back into the wider economy.
“It’s a net contributor to the country. It’s a lot of self-employment happening by amazing creative entrepreneurs creating other jobs,” he…
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TORONTO — Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) announced today two of its original series, Double Tap TV and Four Senses, and its original documentary White Cane Journeys are now available on CBC’s free digital streaming service CBC Gem.
AMI’s announcement comes during White Cane Week, which is celebrated during the first full week of February and “raises public awareness of the challenges facing Canadians living with vision loss and is marked by events across the country,” explains an AMI press release.
On Double Tap TV, veteran radio broadcaster Steven Scott (above, right) and producer and broadcaster Marc Aflalo (left) “help viewers…
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TORONTO – The Black Screen Office (BSO) today announced it has published Being Seen: Directives for Creating Authentic and Inclusive Content – the first of six reports to be released to support Canada’s television, digital media and film industries.
Being Seen: Directives for Creating Authentic and Inclusive Content “reveals how Canada’s screen industries are falling short in representing people from Black, People of Colour, 2SLGBTQIA+, and People with Disabilities communities, and also provides clear guidelines for industry leaders to meaningfully engage these underrepresented groups,” a press release explains.
“BSO formed out of the knowledge that underrepresentation of the Black community is a significant…
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MONTREAL — CBC & Radio-Canada Media Solutions announced today the appointment of Julie Kerr to the newly created role of senior director of digital ad product and revenue management, effective today.
Fluently bilingual, Kerr is based in Montreal, but she “will spend significant time in the Toronto market as well,” according to a CBC/Radio-Canada press release.
“Julie comes to CBC/Radio-Canada with an impressive track record on both the agency (GroupM, Glassroom) and media (Rogers Media, TC Media, Bell Media) side of the business,” the release reads.
Most recently, Kerr was vice-president of strategy and development for the Quebec market at marketing agency…
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THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT for Canadian broadcasting – if the recently announced Bill C-11, also referred to as the Online Streaming Act, manages to be passed, that is.
This was the general consensus of a panel of industry veterans who came together today to talk about the Broadcasting Act and the future of Canadian broadcasting at the Canadian Media Producers Association’s (CMPA) Prime Time event.
The panel, titled The Future is Now, was presented in partnership with Telefilm Canada and was moderated by Reynolds Mastin (above, bottom left), president and CEO of the CMPA.
The panel featured Christa Dickenson (top left),…
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OTTAWA – Social media is an important news source for newcomers to Canada, according to CBC’s Media Technology Monitor (MTM), which today released an exclusive report that focuses on how newcomers are using social media.
More specifically, “42% of newcomers that have consumed news in the past month cite social media as their go-to news source,” a press release announcing the report’s release says. “This ranks higher than other news sources such as news websites (27%), linear TV (21%) and radio (6%).”
The MTM report is based on a sample of over 4,000 newcomers. It “explores how new arrivals engage with…
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TORONTO — FRIENDS (formerly known as Friends of Canadian Broadcasting) announced today Marla Boltman (above) has been appointed as the organization’s executive director and spokesperson, effective immediately.
Boltman’s hiring follows the departure of FRIENDS’ former executive director Daniel Bernhard last summer.
“With the imminent arrival of key pieces of legislation, Boltman will serve as a powerful advocate for Canadian voices at a critical time for the country’s cultural media policy,” reads a FRIENDS press release announcing her appointment.
Under her leadership, “FRIENDS will continue to engage Ottawa on CBC’s mandate and budget while working to ensure that social media and streaming…
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TORONTO — The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and CBC announced today the 2022 Juno Awards will take place in-person this year with Simu Liu (above, Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings, Kim’s Convenience) hosting the live broadcast on Sunday, May 15.
The Juno ceremony has not been done in-person since 2019 due to the pandemic, and for the first time in Junos’ history the show is moving to an open-air venue at Budweiser Stage in Toronto.
The 51st annual Juno celebration will be broadcast and streamed live across Canada on May 15 at 8 p.m….
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NEW YORK — Sports-first live TV streaming platform fuboTV Inc. announced today CBC and ICI Radio-Canada Téléchannels are now available on fuboTV in Canada.
“The new partnership brings CBC/Radio-Canada’s wide range of high-quality, engaging programming and newscasts to the fuboTV platform,” reads a press release.
fuboTV’s launch of CBC and ICI Radio-Canada Télé channels “comes just in time for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, for which CBC/Radio-Canada hold the broadcast rights in the Canadian market,” the release says.
“CBC/Radio-Canada’s offerings, which include important news coverage, reinforce the core value that fuboTV provides as a live streaming TV platform,” said Ben Grad,…
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OTTAWA — The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) today announced more details for its virtual Prime Time event, which gets underway Wednesday, Feb. 2.
The conference’s opening reception will be held online at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT on Feb. 2 and will feature comedy from Debra DiGiovanni, appearances by Mark Critch (This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Son of a Critch) and Andrew Phung (Kim’s Convenience, Run the Burbs), and trivia from the cast of Amazon Prime Video’s LOL Canada.
On Thursday, Feb. 3 at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT, CMPA president and CEO Reynolds Mastin will moderate a virtual session…
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