OTTAWA – Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly will once again return to Prime Time in Ottawa (PTiO) for a sit down with CMPA president and CEO Reynolds Mastin on the state of the Canadian screen-based industries.
This will mark the third time that Minister Joly has attended the annual confab. The 23nd edition of PTiO will take place January 31 to February 2, 2018 at The Westin Ottawa.
“Canadians are fiercely proud of our creators and creative industry professionals,” said Minister Joly, in a statement. “I am delighted to join industry leaders here at Prime Time to discuss how we can…
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TORONTO – Broadcast and music industry pioneer Denise Donlon will be awarded the 2018 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS).
Named after famed Canadian publisher and trailblazer Walt Grealis, the award recognizes industry leaders who have vastly contributed to the growth and development of the Canadian music industry.
Donlon began her career in the Canadian music scene in 1985 as a host and producer of Much Music’s The NewMusic. In a few short years she rose to the executive level, appointed MuchMusic/CityTV director of music programming in 1992 and vice president and general…
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OTTAWA – The CMPA’s Prime Time In Ottawa conference is opening up more slots for both its 'Breakfast With' and noon hour topic tables due to popular demand.
Sign-ups will open at 12:00 PM ET on Friday, January 26 on this page and will be reserved for registered PTiO delegates only.
‘Breakfast With’ allows seven delegates to meet for an extended conversation with a featured industry guest over breakfast before the first session of the day, starting at 8 am. It’s a great way to pick up some information, and to start a relationship with the speaker and…
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Q HOST TOM POWER is a good interviewer. But even he can’t penetrate Heritage Minster Mélanie Joly’s ability to avoid giving a direct answer to a direct question.
The Minister appeared on CBC’s Q last week (screen-capped at right) to talk about the #MeToo movement (she was in Toronto to meet with a number of groups on that topic) as well as discuss Canadian content in the new, digital era. We’ll pick up the chat at the 6:40 mark.
After mentioning Netflix’s planned $500 million investment in making content in Canada, which was the centrepiece of Minister…
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Commission itself could reverse this, prior to the game
TORONTO – To the surprise of no one, Bell Media has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada looking to strike down CRTC’s Super Bowl simsub decision – and has asked for a stay of that policy for this year’s game, scheduled for February 4th.
As readers will be aware, last month the Federal Court of Canada ruled against Bell, saying the CRTC is within its rights to make rules for individual programs. However, the court also noted the “irony” of deploying rules normally used to…
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Distributel vows to seek other opportunities to bring residential services to remote, underserved regions
MONTREAL – Distributel Communications is partnering with Eeyou Communications Network (ECN) to bring high speed Internet, TV and home phone services to more than 4,000 homes in northern Quebec.
A not-for-profit corporation founded in 2004, the Eeyou Communications Network was established to provide modern telecommunications services and to develop the social economy within the 14 communities of Eeyou Istchee and James Bay for the benefit of the population, institutions and local businesses.
Starting this spring, Distributel said that it will launch the triple play service bundle using…
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TORONTO – Broadcast and music industry veteran and philanthropist Gary Slaight will receive the 2018 Humanitarian Award at this year’s Juno Awards.
Given out annually, the Humanitarian Award celebrates and recognizes the philanthropic efforts made by Canadian artists or industry leaders who have made a positive impact on social welfare worldwide. It will be presented at the Juno Gala Dinner & Awards on March 24, 2018 in Vancouver.
Slaight personifies the essence of the award through his devotion to Canadian music and emerging Canadian artists as well as his philanthropic support of health care, social service, culture and at-risk youth at…
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GATINEAU – Thanks to two CBC.ca news stories in late 2017 which allege some unsavoury, high pressure sales tactics are being deployed by Bell Canada, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre is calling on the CRTC to launch a formal inquiry.
“Recent media stories in late 2017 have revealed disturbing practices by agents of at least one major Canadian telecommunications and TV service provider, including “upselling” and overselling, as well as allegations of misleading sales practices. Many of these aggressive sales practices appear to have targeted vulnerable consumers, including…
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I WAS NOT SURPRISED to learn that one of Jim Shaw’s role models was former U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
In his time, Churchill was considered a political outsider, a brash maverick, seemingly unwavering in his convictions, fiercely loyal to his homeland and someone who inspired similar loyalty in so many others. Along the way of course, Churchill was exactly what his country needed at the time and he found enormous successes – but his sometimes irascible nature also antagonized more than a few.
For those of us who have been in the cable industry for a while, there are many…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications vice chair and former CEO Jim Shaw has died at the age of 60, the Shaw family announced today.
“It is with great sadness that the family of James R. Shaw (Jim Shaw) announces his passing on Wednesday, January 3rd, 2018 after a brief illness,” reads a statement from the family.
“A leader and visionary who never stopped caring for others,” says the statement, Jim is survived by his wife Kathryn, his mother Carol, his father JR, his children Haley (Fred), Parker (Megan), Kennedy, Kathryn’s children Monty, Katelyn, Carly, his mother-in-law Janet, his sisters Heather (Jim) and…
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