By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – In leaving behind environmental activism to enter federal politics, new Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault will now be responsible for combating online hate speech; helping to develop a new set of online rights; expanding the CBC’s news coverage; and ensuring that web giants contribute to making, and carry Canadian content.
In the ministerial mandate letter he received from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which was released on Dec. 13 Guilbeault is tasked with creating “new regulations for social media platforms, starting with a requirement that all platforms remove illegal content, including hate speech, within 24 hours or…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA — The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) announced the first speakers lined up for the Prime Time 2020 conference to be held January 29-31 in Ottawa.
The speakers who have been announced include:
Soumya Sriraman — Founding President & CEO, BritBox
Craig Engler — General Manager, Shudder
Catherine Tait — President & CEO, CBC/Radio-Canada
Amal Baggar — Vice-President, Scripted Programming, NBCUniversal International Studios
Madeline Buxton — Culture & Trends Manager, YouTube
Nataline Rodrigues — Director of Original Programming, Rogers Media
Christa Dickenson — Executive Director, Telefilm Canada
Andrew Peterson — Head of Content Partnerships, Canada, YouTube
Valerie Creighton —…
Continue Reading
MISSISSAUGA, ON — Canadian Music Week has announced the members of its CMW 2020 co-chair committee, representing a wide range of music, media and entertainment industry players.
The CMW 2020 co-chair committee includes:
Adam Countryman — Agent, Paradigm Talent Agency
Gil Moore — Owner/Founder, Metalworks Studios
Helen Murphy — CEO, Anthem Entertainment
Iain Taylor — President & CEO, Cadence Music Group
Jackie Dean — COO, Music Canada
Jake Gold — President & CEO, The Management Trust Ltd.
Kwende Kefentse — Cultural Industries Development Officer, City of Ottawa
Lisa Logutenkow — VP Canada, The Orchard
Lisa Zbitnew — Owner/Operator, The Phoenix Concert Theatre
Margaret McGuffin — Executive Director, Music Publishers Canada
…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – When Cartt.ca wrote about CBC/SRC CRTC licence renewal last month, one of the questions which remained was: How much money will the Corporation be able to draw upon to meet its obligations, and how can the CRTC impose obligations in the absence of budgetary certainty?
It’s not the first time the CRTC and the CBC/SRC found themselves at this junction, but this time there was some guidance from the 2016 Federal Budget.
However, the 2016 Budget used language which created more confusion. “The Minister of Canadian Heritage will work with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada to develop a five-year accountability…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — Chris Howden has been announced as the new co-host of CBC Radio’s national current affairs show, As It Happens. Howden will join the program’s longtime host, award-winning journalist Carol Off, on Monday, January 6, 2020.
Howden is replacing former co-host Jeff Douglas, who left As It Happens in May 2019 to host Mainstreet, the CBC Radio One afternoon show in Douglas’s home province of Nova Scotia.
As It Happens listeners may already be familiar with Howden’s voice as a fill-in host and behind-the-scenes writer for the show. As It Happens broadcasts weekdays at 6:30 p.m. (7 p.m. NT) nationwide…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA — The Broadcasting Accessibility Fund will award $744,479 in grants to six new projects designed to advance accessibility to broadcasting content for Canadians with disabilities.
These six projects represent the completion of the Fund’s fifth round of grants, with approximately $3.3 million committed to date through five rounds of funding, to address gaps in broadcasting accessibility.
The projects approved by the Board of Directors are:
Understanding User Experiences of Play-by-Play Captioning in Fast-Paced Live Sports — Canadian Association of the Deaf — $191,570: Fast paced live sports (such as hockey) continues to be one of the most difficult genres of programming…
Continue Reading
VANCOUVER — Kim’s Convenience and Highway Thru Hell (among others) maker Thunderbird Entertainment Group reported $17 million in revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2020, ended September 30th, an 18% increase over the first quarter of last year.
Net income for the quarter was $849,000, down from $1.45 million in Q1 2018. Adjusted EBITDA was $3 million, down from $4.2 million in the first quarter of 2018.
The company also noted it has 21 programs currently in production, nine of which it owns or is part-owned.
During the first quarter, the company had 21 programs…
Continue Reading
Commission invites CBC/SRC to potentially use digital media to meet its regulatory obligations
GATINEAU – On Monday, the CRTC officially opened the process for the renewal of the CBC/SRC licences, asking Canadians on Facebook what they think about the public broadcaster.
The public hearing will be held in May.
While we had heard and read the CBC/SRC is asking the Comission to include its digital platforms when it comes to meeting its substantial regulatory objectives, in reading the 200-page application, we found that it is the Commission itself which actually invited the Corporation to do so.
A renewal process such as this one…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Radioplayer Canada, the radio streaming app that delivers more than 500 radio stations to Canadian listeners across multiple platforms (loads of stations, except for Bell Media’s), has surpassed one million downloads in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, combined, the company announced this week.
“Two and a half years ago the majority of Canadian radio broadcasters joined together to collaborate on technology in order to make radio listening easy for the audience – wherever, whenever, and however they want,” said Julie Adam, board chair of Radioplayer Canada and senior vice president of Rogers Radio. “Clearly,…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – The CRTC said today it wants to know what Canadians think of CBC/Radio-Canada’s programming.
As part of the CBC/Radio-Canada licence renewal process, which started today, the Commission wants to “ensure the content produced and distributed by the public broadcaster reflects the diversity of Canada’s population, while meeting its needs in both official languages,” reads its press release.
“Given changes in the models for the production and distribution of content, the Commission is inviting Canadians to review how CBC/Radio-Canada content is made available to them on various platforms. They will also have an opportunity to share their opinion on how…
Continue Reading
