TORONTO – It’s been a while in the works, but Bell Media, Corus Entertainment, Rogers Sports & Media, and Quebecor Media have announced an agreement in principle to adopt a common set of advanced advertising audience segments, thinktv announced today.
Thinktv member companies are joining forces to adopt a shared set of 19 audience segments for advanced advertising on linear television. It’s not the full integration of Corus’ Cynch platform (which Rogers already uses and which Corus has been trying to get Bell on board), but it’s a good start. Please click here for the breakdown and explanation…
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By Etan Vlessing
CANADA’S INDIENET GROUP of independent TV stations on Thursday skipped their traditional public presentation to national ad buyers in Toronto, and went virtual with a streaming pitch.
Besides touting a fall 2020 programming slate packed with the usual mix of local news coverage, sim-sub U.S. shows, classic shows, game shows and movies, the independent option to Canada’s bigger broadcast groups talked up helping brand marketers make quick changes and decisions around their media buying plans this year as Covid-19 crisis has put the country’s media and advertising businesses on hold.
“I’m sure you will all join me in hoping…
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Including two that won’t cost a cent
By Greg O’Brien
CAL MILLAR DOESN’T want to kick the federal government while it is scrambling hard to keep Canadians healthy and our economy upright. However, broadcasters need more help and Millar and his fellow broadcasters have some ideas.
The president of Channel Zero (owners of CHCH, Rewind and Silver Screen Classics) is genuinely thankful for what the federal government has already done for broadcasters, and the country, in trying to manage an unprecedented health crisis that has decimated the economy while we all tried, and try, to do the right things to make sure…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – The next tranche of funding from the federal government’s $500-million emergency response fund for cultural, heritage and amateur sports organizations during the pandemic announced two months ago will be rolled out in the coming days, while legislation modernizing the Broadcasting Act will have to wait until Parliament resumes its normal sitting this fall, Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault said on Tuesday during a Covid-19-prompted virtual edition of the Banff World Media Festival.
The deadline for applications for the first phase of funding concluded on June 12, and was targeted to organizations which have already received…
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TORONTO — CBC and Radio-Canada Distribution announced Tuesday the CBC original culinary competition series Fridge Wars has been sold to The CW Network in the U.S. for broadcast this summer.
Co-created by CBC and The Gurin Company, Fridge Wars (six episodes x 60 minutes) premiered on CBC in February 2020. The CW is adding the series to its summer 2020 broadcast schedule, premiering August 2.
Hosted by comedian Emma Hunter, the original format series pits two celebrity chefs against one another with a challenge to create extraordinary meals using only the ingredients taken from the ordinary fridges of typical families. The…
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TORONTO — The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and broadcast partner CBC today announced the 2020 Juno Award winners will be revealed in a virtual presentation on Monday, June 29 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on the free CBC Gem streaming service and CBC Music’s website and social media pages.
This follows the cancellation of the 49th annual Juno Awards event, which was set to take place in Saskatoon in March, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The virtual presentation will feature a lineup of guest presenters and special performances, with the award winners announced across all…
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By Ken Kelley
AS THE WORLD continues to grapple with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the television industry mostly remains in a holding pattern that has executives attempting to plot their next move amongst a backdrop of uncertainty on multiple fronts.
That topic and how broadcasters and producers are dealing with systemic racism were at the centre of Media Leaders 2020: The Path Forward, a discussion held Tuesday at the virtual Banff World Media Festival. Moderated by Variety Magazine’s Manori Ravindran, guests on the panel included Lionsgate Television group chairman Kevin Beggs; Sandra Dewey, president, business operations and productions HBO…
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THE BANFF WORLD MEDIA FESTIVAL announced the winners of the 2020 Rockie Awards International Program Competition in a virtual presentation streamed live Monday afternoon.
The virtual edition of the Rockie Awards was hosted by Aurora Browne, Carolyn Taylor and Jennifer Whalen of CBC’s Baroness von Sketch Show, which was this year’s winningest program. The show and its writers won the 2020 Rockie Award for best comedy and variety program, the Canadian Award of Distinction and the Rogers Prize for Excellence in Canadian Content.
In total, Rockie Awards were presented in 26 categories spanning documentary and factual, arts and entertainment, children and…
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TORONTO – The CBC and Scandinavian production company Munck Studios today announced the new true crime podcast series The Conspiracy.
It will investigate the 1986 murder of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme, and shed new light on one of the most notorious political murders in recent history, says the press release. The announcement comes following yesterday’s remarks from Swedish prosecutor Krister Petersson pointing to the late Stig Engström as the murderer, thereby closing the preliminary investigation.
However, many key questions remain unanswered, says the release, which will be addressed by the podcast. Currently in production, The Conspiracy will be released…
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VANCOUVER — Thunderbird Entertainment Group’s kids and family division, Atomic Cartoons, announced Wednesday its animated series Molly of Denali is the 2020 Peabody Award winner in the children’s and youth category.
Co-produced by WGBH Boston and Atomic Cartoons for PBS Kids and CBC Kids, Molly of Denali follows the adventures of a young Indigenous girl, who has cultural heritage from three Athabascan groups, as she helps her parents run the Denali Trading Post in interior Alaska.
Since its premiere in 2019, Molly of Denali has been recognized as the first nationally distributed children’s series in the United States to feature an…
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