LAST WEEK’S 9(1)(h) renewal hearing was the fourth such one for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network and each one has been a new test for APTN’s leadership.
“The challenge we face every time for APTN is to justify its existence – and obviously it generates a fair amount of reaction from the rest of the industry, especially the BDUs,” said CEO Jean La Rose in an interview last week.
“Many are supportive of the network, but it has an impact on their bottom lines and they would rather not have that… We are asked the same questions…
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TORONTO – The Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) has elected showrunner and award-winning screenwriter Dennis Heaton as its new president for a two year term effective May 1, 2018.
Heaton (pictured) has been a member of the WGC since 2001 and has served on the Guild’s council since 2012. Based in Vancouver, he is currently showrunner of the upcoming Netflix show The Order, plus was showrunner of the internationally renowned police procedural Motive (CTV/ABC seasons one and two), and has written for The Listener and Blood Ties, among other shows.
“We’re very excited to work with Dennis,” said WGC executive director…
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MONTREAL and DARTMOUTH, N.S. – Stingray Digital Group, until now known mostly as a global, multiplatform provider of music channels to subscription TV companies and their customers, has made a significant move into a more traditional music format: broadcast radio.
The company announced today after the close of trading it has acquired Newfoundland Capital Corporation (NCC, or as it’s more commonly referred in the radio business, Newcap), one of Canada’s largest radio broadcasters with 101 licences (82 FM and 19 AM) across the country in a deal valued at $506 million.
According to Stingray, this move will significantly strengthen its position…
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It’s now the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance
QUISPAMSIS, N.B. – The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance today made official the association’s rebrand to the ‘Canadian Communication Systems Alliance’, replacing the word ‘Cable’ in its company name.
The comprehensive rebrand for the organization, which includes a new logo, new email domain and upcoming new website, “reflects the association’s forward focus as it both celebrates its 25th Anniversary and collectively embraces the future of the Canadian communications industry,” reads the company’s press release.
The CCSA represents more than 115 independent companies which provide broadband, television and telephone services to Canadians from coast to coast to…
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JURISDICTIONS AROUND THE world are moving to make sure foreign over-the-top media companies such as YouTube, Netflix and Amazon contribute to their local economies.
The latest move came last week when the European Union finalized a new directive requiring Netflix and others like it to ensure 30% of its library is stocked with made-in-Europe TV shows and films. On top of that, the EU’s new rules will require streamers to invest in locally made content.
The EU already has regulations on the books which ensure its member country media companies invest in and display quotas of locally-made…
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TORONTO – The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and Netflix announced today the Hot Docs Canadian Storytellers Project, a new five-year program which will provide core funding and professional development for Canadian filmmakers.
“In recognition of the systemic barriers that continue to exist within the documentary film industry, the Project will serve filmmakers from groups whose stories have been historically underrepresented on screen,” reads the press release. These groups include Indigenous, Francophone, Deaf and/or have a disability, or who are persons of colour. The announcement came at the start of Hot Docs’ industry conference taking place now until…
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WHILE IT WORKS ON the report requested by the federal government on future programming distribution models, on Monday, the CRTC will hold a hearing on the renewals of four speciality channels that benefit from the traditional way of doing things: mandatory distribution.
Pelmorex (The Weather Network and MétéoMédia), TV5/Unis (TV5 programming focused on the international Francophonie; and Unis programming focused on official language minority communities), APTN , and the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) – although CPAC's file is considered complete and…
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TORONTO – The Radio Television Digital News Association Canada announced last week Sandie Rinaldo will receive its lifetime achievement award.
“In her 45-years with CTV News, calling Sandie Rinaldo an icon would be a major understatement”, said RTDNA president Ian Koenigsfest, in a press release. “Her trailblazing work as a journalist has inspired dozens of people in our industry. Her list of career achievements stands in an esteemed class of its own. This RTDNA Lifetime Achievement Award epitomizes Sandie’s consummate professionalism and recognizes her outstanding contribution to journalism in Canada.”
She will be presented with her award during the…
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TORONTO – Seamless customer care experiences directly correlate with a consumer’s view of their wireless provider and appetite to remain a loyal customer, says an annual study by J.D. Power & Associates released Thursday.
According to the J.D. Power 2018 Canada Wireless Customer Care Study, Bell’s Virgin Mobile ranks highest in wireless customer satisfaction for the second year in a row, followed closely Telus’ Koodo Mobile, SaskTel, and Videotron.
The study measured wireless customers’ perceptions of their carrier’s performance and is based on an online survey of more than 5,500 wireless customers in February-March 2018. Satisfaction is measured in two factors: assisted…
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THE CRTC WILL SOON make a decision on Bell’s bid to get its hands on Séries+ and Historia again.
Bell had been forced to sell off the two specialty channels in 2013 when it took over Astral. It’s high time for the CRTC to start promoting innovation instead of shoring up Bell’s dominance.
Does the CRTC realize that its decisions are helping to increase TV ownership concentration and giving Bell enormous bargaining power, enabling it to crush the competition by snapping up the most coveted content in both languages? The CRTC is also allowing channels that were…
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