GATINEAU — The CRTC has approved a broadcasting licence for a radiocommunication distribution undertaking (RDU) that proposes to broadcast CBC Radio One programming to the Yukon community of Mount Jubilee for the first time.
In approving the licence application from the Yukon Government, the CRTC is granting permission for the signal of CFWH-FM Whitehorse to be rebroadcast to Mount Jubilee, bringing the CBC Radio One programming service at the 103.1 MHz frequency to that community.
The licence for the RDU expires August 31, 2026. The undertaking must be in operation by June 3, 2022, according to the terms of the…
Continue Reading
SMI launches in Canada today
By Greg O’Brien
MOST PEOPLE BUYING or selling advertising will likely tell you a rate card is merely the beginning of a conversation – and what clients actually pay is sometimes far different than the published price.
What ad buyers, and to a lesser extent, broadcasters, publishers and others, have long craved is a reliable way to figure out what ads truly cost in the market and beginning this month, they’ll be able to know that with Standard Media Index coming to Canada.
Since its launch 10 years ago in Australia, SMI has become a trusted source…
Continue Reading
By Steve Faguy
MONTREAL — Evanov Radio has pulled the plug on its only French-language station, Montreal’s CHRF 980 AM, which it admits “never really got off the ground” and was draining millions of dollars from the company.
Carmela Laurignano, vice-president and radio group manager, lays some of the blame with the CRTC, saying the Commission’s failure to accept its frequency swap plan for its Toronto stations prevented it from getting enough additional revenue to keep subsidizing the station.
CHRF launched in 2015 after a competitive proceeding in 2011 to award licences for two clear-channel AM frequencies in Montreal. Evanov won neither,…
Continue Reading
By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – While a National Post consumer reporter shared his story of having his phone number ported against his will last week, the next day, coincidentally, the CRTC sent a request for information to wireless providers asking them further information on that very subject.
At the beginning of this “process” (although it’s not an official CRTC proceeding at this point) the Public Interest Advocacy Centre had voiced its reservations about the nature of this exercise, asking for a public hearing.
In effect, this started in January 2020 with a CRTC staff letter (not a notice initiating a…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — During its virtual upfront presentation today, CBC revealed its 2020-21 slate of original programming that features 1,300 new hours of television for its fall schedule, including 22 new and returning series.
New series include: the documentary Enslaved (6 episodes x 60 minutes), executive produced by Samuel L. Jackson and directed by Canadian filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici; the factual series Orangeville Prep (6×30, pictured), which looks at the high-pressure world of basketball’s most successful preparatory program; the Canada/New Zealand co-produced thriller The Sounds (8×60), directed by Peter Stebbings and starring Rachelle Lefevre and Matt Whelan; Indigenous-led drama Trickster (6×60), which…
Continue Reading
By Etan Vlessing
IT’S A LIVE TV PRODUCER’S worst nightmare: Take eight months to get the Canadian Screen Awards off the ground, then cancel your in-person, live gala ceremony just before going to air due to a sudden coronavirus pandemic spread, and then be forced to pivot online with entirely preproduced segments.
That’s what confronted the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television suddenly cast into disarray last March by a world in the grip of a Covid-19 crisis.
“You don’t make money by cancelling a show two weeks out. It threw us into a bit of a financial panic,” Beth Janson,…
Continue Reading
THE DG7, AN international group of public service media organizations including CBC/Radio-Canada, issued a joint statement Tuesday saying they have seen strong audience increases since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, and that this reflects the confidence global audiences have in the reliable and independent information the DG7 organizations deliver on television, radio and digital media, says the statement.
In addition to CBC/Radio-Canada, the publicly funded media organizations from seven democratic nations include France Médias Monde, Deutsche Welle, BBC World Service, U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), NHK World Japan and ABC Australia.
“Our organizations have adapted to the consequences of…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — CBC announced today its new original podcast series, This Is Not a Drake Podcast, will launch Wednesday, June 3.
The five-part series explores the history and evolution of hip-hop, R&B and Black culture through the lens of Drake’s career, 10 years after the release of his first studio album. The series provides context on Drake’s deep musical roots and his transition from an actor on teen series Degrassi to his top-tier music stardom. It also explores rap and R&B’s complicated history, the evolution of gender dynamics in hip-hop, the rise of the Nice Guy rapper, and how the…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — Long-time CBC broadcaster Michael Enright (pictured) is stepping down from hosting CBC Radio One’s The Sunday Edition to create a new one-hour radio program for the public broadcaster.
Enright has hosted The Sunday Edition for its entire 20-year broadcast run and his last day as host will be Sunday, June 28. According to the news release, CBC will redevelop the show for the Sunday morning time slot this fall featuring a new host. More information will be provided in the coming months, the release says.
“Hosting The Sunday Edition for 20 years has been the greatest experience and…
Continue Reading
Tech support mimes and other stories
By Ruby Pratka
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC has forced many industries to radically, and quickly, reform the way they work and the telecommunications sector is no exception. Across Canada, independent telecommunications providers are adapting to the massive spikes in Internet usage and the need for contactless customer service (for its employees and consumers).
Weeks before the Quebec City region recorded any cases of Covid-19, Maryna Carré and her colleagues at Coopérative de câblodistribution de l’Arrière-Pays (CCAP) in the Charlesbourg sector of the city held a strategy session — just in case.
“Even before the state of emergency was…
Continue Reading
