YES, A MUST-CARRY TV license is not the lottery win it once was and yes, making a linear ethnic programming service in various languages work as a business within the Canadian TV system has always been a challenge which has only grown more difficult of late.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t people who think they can make a national ethnic TV channel work. In fact, including the incumbent, there are eight companies with some pretty bright ideas.
OMNI has long been the mainstream ethnic channel, serving up a mix of Italian, Cantonese, Mandarin, Punjabi and other programming over the…
Continue Reading
CALGARY – Shaw Communications on Tuesday announced the successful completion of its first 5G technical trials at its Barlow Campus Technology Centre in Calgary.
Conducted in collaboration with Nokia, CableLabs and Rohde & Schwarz, Shaw said that the trials used pre-commercial equipment and leveraged developmental 28GHz licenses provided by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. As part of this trial, Shaw also conducted comparative testing between 28GHz and 3.5GHz spectrum in an effort to better understand the interoperability between two of the bands considered vital to the growth and proliferation of 5G.
Shaw added that it will continue to conduct technical…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Boat Rocker Media has acquired a majority stake in TV producer Insight Productions, the companies announced Friday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Insight is behind hits such as The Amazing Race Canada, Big Brother Canada, and The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration (pictured), as well as 24 years of The Juno Awards. Most recently, Insight and Bell Media partnered on The Launch, and the company is also producing the upcoming SCTV comedy special with Second City Entertainment and Netflix.
“Effective immediately, this investment enables Insight to increase and diversify its content offerings and move more aggressively…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television has named Netflix as the principal partner of the Apprenticeship for Women Directors program which this year has expanded to include French-language participants.
A Netflix spokesperson said that the partnership agreement stems from the streaming giant’s commitment to support industry development opportunities in Canada, and is part of the $25 million development fund that it announced last September.
The Apprenticeship for Women Directors program aims to provide emerging female directors the opportunity to further develop and enhance their careers across all platforms (for the purposes of this program, the Canadian Academy defines…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The Banff World Media Festival has unveiled the recipients of its inaugural Diversity of Voices Initiative that will assist select emerging and established independent Canadian creators in attending the confab next month.
The Initiative will provide up to 100 producers with full registration access to the festival, a special market introduction curriculum, and access to networking opportunities with key industry buyers.
In addition, 25 of this year’s applicants will also participate in the Diversity of Voices Pitch Program, where they will receive individual mentorship from media leaders, as well as the opportunity to take private pitch meetings with international buyers…
Continue Reading
By Konrad von Finckenstein and Philip Palmer
THE 2017 BUDGET CALLED FOR A REVIEW of the Telecommunications and Broadcasting Acts. The review is both timely and necessary, but it ignores that there is a third pillar of Canadian communications law: the Radiocommunication Act.
The late 1980s and early 1990s proved a fertile time in the history of Canadian communications law. In the years from 1989 to 1993, Parliament adopted a new Radiocommunication Act (1989), a new Broadcasting Act (1991), and a Telecommunications Act (1993).
Both the Telecommunications and Broadcasting acts emerged from policy considerations of the late 1980s. The Broadcasting Act attempted…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — As a medium known for its engaging on-air personalities who are able to connect with listeners and create an atmosphere of intimacy, the spectre of artificial intelligence being employed by radio stations may worry many.
However, no one should feel threatened that AI is going to take over anyone’s job in the newsroom or sales department at the radio station — instead, AI holds the promise of making some programming jobs easier, while also providing better tools to prove the effectiveness of radio campaigns to advertisers. That was the message from a panel of radio experts at the…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The winners of the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards (CMBIA) were unveiled Thursday night in Toronto, celebrating the best and brightest in all fields of the Canadian music and broadcast industries.
Paul Anka received the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award, while Robert "TooTall" Wagenaar, Patti-Anne Tarlton, David Farrell and Jeff Craib were also in attendance as 2018 inductees to the Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame.
In addition, Régine Chassagne and Win Butler of Arcade Fire (pictured) were on hand to receive the 2018 Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award in recognition of the band's humanitarian efforts to…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — With a little more prep time, the radio executive superpanel at Canadian Music Week’s annual Radio Interactive Summit may have turned into a drinking game, if moderator Sharon Taylor’s last-minute idea to offer panellists a choice between answering questions or downing a shot had come to fruition…
As it was, discussion among the radio execs was free flowing during Thursday afternoon’s panel, with topics ranging from the impact of smart speakers and voice assistants in the home, to audio streaming, to some of the business challenges related to audience measurement and big data.
Despite ad revenue continuing to diminish…
Continue Reading
BRANDON, Man. – Westman Communications Group’s chief technology officer, Jeffrey De Sarno, has been named the 2018 “Independent Technology Executive of the Year” in the Cablefax Top Ops Awards.
The awards honour influential companies and individuals in the communications industry and the award winners represent the best in a variety of areas including marketing, technology, finance, lifetime achievement, customer service, and community involvement, says the press release.
“I am humbled to be recognized by Cablefax and my peers for this award and am honoured to join a group of past recipients who I look up to within the industry,” said De…
Continue Reading
