TORONTO – Canadians have quickly taken to music streaming services, says a recent study by Toronto’s Solutions Research Group.
As of October of 2016, the company’s research found that 62% of all online Canadians use a streaming service – and for the 12-29 year-old set, the number goes up to 88%. The survey is a part of the company’s ongoing Digital Life Canada research series.
Other findings showed that Spotify is officially the leading streaming music service in Canada. The survey found it is the top ‘favourite’ music streaming service – free or paid (favoured by 26% of survey respondents)….
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TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has set its 2017-2018 program budget at $349.7 million, some $21 million less than last year’s budget.
The CMF program budget is supported by revenue estimates for the coming year based on contributions from the Government of Canada; Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV distributors; and recoupment and repayment revenues from funded productions. The program budget reflects a stable contribution from the Government of Canada and an expected decline in Broadcast Distribution Undertakings’ contributions to the CMF for the year to come.
“We understand that a program budget decrease of 5.8 per cent will have…
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FIRE UP THE LOBBYISTS, lawyers and regulatory experts, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has opened up a once-in-a-generation chance to change everything about the cable, radio, television and telecom (CaRTT) business in Canada.
You think the new “Let’s Talk TV” rules are challenging, or the new Basic Service Objectives might hurt or Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly’s Cancon review was perplexing? Wait until the feds begin the overhaul of the Broadcasting Act (last updated in 1991) and Telecommunications Act (1993) later this year – as the 2017 Budget said is going to happen. Everyone with skin in…
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TORONTO – Bell Media cut the sports departments at its local TV stations in Kitchener, London and Windsor Tuesday as part of its ongoing rationalization of operations in its local broadcasting division.
In January, the company cut a number of employees across radio and TV – and eliminated the sports department at CTV Two in Barrie.
Its union, Unifor, issued an angry release. "People turn to local television to keep up on what is happening in their communities," Unifor media director Howard Law said in the release. "These cuts give people less of a reason to turn to…
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TORONTO – Hollywood Suite’s Julie Kumaria is headed to Harvard in June as this year’s recipient of the CTAM Canada Fellowship Award, also known as CTAM U.
Kumaria (pictured) is vice-president of marketing and content distribution at Hollywood Suite, a movie service package with 4 HDTV channels that launched in early 2011. Prior to joining Hollywood Suite, she worked for Astral Television, handling affiliate marketing for TMN, HBO Canada, Family Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD. Her television experience also extends to Insight Sports, where she was the senior director of content/affiliate distribution for GOLTV, GameTV and WFN in both Canada…
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OTTAWA – While some might say that a review of the Broadcasting Act and Telecom Act has more or less already begun with Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly’s “everything is on the table” consultations on Canadian Content in a Digital World, the federal government’s 2017 budget, released Wednesday, confirmed that a more formal review will begin this year.
While Minister Joly and the federal government have not given any formal indications on where her consultation will lead when it comes to new law or policies (so far, just a detailed summary of her cross-country consultations has been released), the budget…
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GATINEAU – In honour of Canada’s 150 birthday, the CRTC unveiled the names of 23 trailblazers that have helped shape the Canadian communications system. Representing a broad cross section of Canadian society, they come from the broadcasting and telecommunications worlds as well as science and journalism.
Well-known personalities such as Ted Rogers, founder of Rogers Communications, Israel (Izzy) Asper, founder of CanWest Global and Harold Greenberg, one of the founders of Astral Media made the list.
Jeanne Sauvé, Canada’s first woman Governor General and one of the first women to make a career in television, was selected. Also making the list…
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MONTREAL and WINNIPEG – Former Eastlink and Bell Aliant exec Dan McKeen will lead the new Bell MTS, the company said Friday as BCE officially completed its acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services.
After receiving all final approvals last month, the $3.9 billion deal sees Bell gain approximately 710,000 wireless, Internet and IPTV customers in Manitoba, a 5% lift in its total broadband service subscribers. The merged company also has over 470,000 total Bell and MTS wireless subscribers in the province.
Bell MTS reiterated its pledge to roll out a five-year, $1 billion broadband network expansion plan for Manitoba's cities, traffic corridors, rural…
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GATINEAU – Canada has become the first country outside of Europe to join Eurimages, the Council of Europe's common film coproduction fund.
Established in 1989, Eurimages promotes the European audiovisual industry by providing financial support to feature films, animation and documentaries produced in Europe. It has an annual budget of about EUR22 million (C$32.2 million), which is granted to approximately 70 films per year.
Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly said Wednesday that membership in the fund will help to increase the number of audiovisual co-productions between Canada and European countries.
"Our government understands the importance of supporting Canadian creators in accessing international markets and…
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MONTREAL – Telefilm Canada has selected award-winning Canadian actress Karine Vanasse as the new ambassador of the Talent Fund.
Established in 2012 by Telefilm Canada, the Talent Fund is a private donation fund that supports Canada’s emerging film talent. It aims to raise $25 million over five years through the financial support of private companies and individual donors.
Vanasse (pictured) will help with the Talent Fund’s fundraising initiatives by raising the profile of Canada’s next generation of directors, writers, producers and actors, reads the announcement. Perhaps best known for her role in Denis Villeneuve’s Polytechnique, Vanasse has also appeared…
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