By Etan Vlessing
TORONTO – Each June the Canadian fall upfront presentations traditionally allow broadcasters to sell advertisers on their returning hit dramas and comedies for broad mainstream audience reach.
While CTV’s virtual Homefront presentation on Tuesday was long on clips from returning hit shows like This is Us, Grey’s Anatomy, The Masked Singer and Amazing Race Canada, advertisers know Canadians increasingly stream their favourite TV shows and are devoting more dollars to digital media, search and social media platforms. Until recently, broadcasters have been hard-pressed to offer real-time ad outcome reporting for linear TV households.
So it was welcome news…
Continue Reading
CANADA’S TRADITIONAL CABLE companies have banded together on a new website to promote the reliability of their networks to customers across the country.
The networksyoucancounton.ca website, registered to Quebecor’s TVA Group, displays the logos of Cogeco, Eastlink, Rogers, Shaw and Videotron, with links to each service provider.
“We know how important it is to have networks you can count on,” reads the website.
“We provide high-speed Internet access to more than 6.9 million Canadian households and businesses across the country, including in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities,” it continues. “Our physical networks — built, maintained, and upgraded over many years at…
Continue Reading
By Etan Vlessing
TORONTO – The L.A. screenings went quick and quietly and virtually this year for Rogers Sports and Media, but there’s big moves afoot elsewhere with the broadcaster.
The annual Hollywood shopping spree for Citytv came and went with only four new shows purchased from studio suppliers for simulcast, while another 21 shows are returning for the fall and mid-season campaigns. “We had a tremendous amount of success in a number of places,” Hayden Mindell, vice president of television programming at Rogers, told Cartt.ca as he stressed stability for the Citytv schedule after most U.S. networks besides Fox chose…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — Sportsnet is launching a new interview series, Top of Her Game, which will celebrate and profile female leaders in sport and culture, Rogers Sports and Media announced Monday.
Hosted by Tara Slone, the weekly 30-minute show will premiere Sunday, June 28 at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet Now with an in-depth discussion with WWE’s Stephanie McMahon and Charlotte Flair.
In addition to the weekly televised episodes airing on Sundays over the next several weeks, the interviews will also be available online the following day on sportsnet.ca and Sportsnet’s YouTube channel.
“When it comes…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — Citytv’s Cityline announced Monday the show’s Tracy Moore will host a new limited digital series, Live: #CitylineReal on Race, where she will tackle important discussions on race and inequality in Canadian society.
Premiering tomorrow at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT, the weekly series will run until July 21, with new 30-45 minute episodes airing live every Tuesday afternoon exclusively on Cityline’s YouTube channel.
“We’ve been looking for a format that would support open and honest learning sessions on race in Canada for a while. We’ve found it with Live: #CitylineReal on Race,” said host Tracy Moore, in the Continue Reading
By Ken Kelley
OTTAWA – In an already competitive landscape where ad dollars are becoming tougher to secure, the Covid-19 pandemic piled yet a new challenge on top of several long-simmering issues for independent broadcasters in the country.
Appearing virtually before the Standing Committee of Finance, Luc Perreault, an advisor to Stingray (and former Pelmorex executive), outlined the challenges the Independent Broadcast Group (IBG), a consortium of 10 independent Canadian TV broadcasters, have seen over the last three months.
“We estimate the broadcast advertising market has shrunk by 50%, or more since January,” Perreault said. “Before Covid-19, the Canadian ad market was…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – It’s been a while in the works, but Bell Media, Corus Entertainment, Rogers Sports & Media, and Quebecor Media have announced an agreement in principle to adopt a common set of advanced advertising audience segments, thinktv announced today.
Thinktv member companies are joining forces to adopt a shared set of 19 audience segments for advanced advertising on linear television. It’s not the full integration of Corus’ Cynch platform (which Rogers already uses and which Corus has been trying to get Bell on board), but it’s a good start. Please click here for the breakdown and explanation…
Continue Reading
CALGARY – Rogers Communications and the University of Calgary today announced they have established the Rogers Internet of Things Chair with research led by Dr. Steven Liang, PhD, a renowned researcher at the Schulich School of Engineering
The five-year agreement is meant to advance innovative Internet of things (IoT) research in support of Canadians, and Canadian businesses, says the announcement.
“This initiative will bring ground-breaking IoT research and innovation to Canadian businesses and Canadians overall,” said Dean Prevost, president, Rogers for Business, in the press release. “This exciting research is critical to developing the applications and IoT business solutions necessary to…
Continue Reading
By Etan Vlessing
CANADA’S INDIENET GROUP of independent TV stations on Thursday skipped their traditional public presentation to national ad buyers in Toronto, and went virtual with a streaming pitch.
Besides touting a fall 2020 programming slate packed with the usual mix of local news coverage, sim-sub U.S. shows, classic shows, game shows and movies, the independent option to Canada’s bigger broadcast groups talked up helping brand marketers make quick changes and decisions around their media buying plans this year as Covid-19 crisis has put the country’s media and advertising businesses on hold.
“I’m sure you will all join me in hoping…
Continue Reading
Including two that won’t cost a cent
By Greg O’Brien
CAL MILLAR DOESN’T want to kick the federal government while it is scrambling hard to keep Canadians healthy and our economy upright. However, broadcasters need more help and Millar and his fellow broadcasters have some ideas.
The president of Channel Zero (owners of CHCH, Rewind and Silver Screen Classics) is genuinely thankful for what the federal government has already done for broadcasters, and the country, in trying to manage an unprecedented health crisis that has decimated the economy while we all tried, and try, to do the right things to make sure…
Continue Reading
