Blue Ant Media announced Wednesday the appointments of Dervla Kelly as chief marketing and communications officer and Surani Adamesco as chief technology officer.
Their appointments follow the completion of the company’s reverse takeover transaction and listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
“Now as a public company, we’re embarking on an ambitious growth strategy to strengthen our position as an international streamer, production studio, and rights-management leader,” Jamie Schouela, chief operating officer of Blue Ant Media, said in a press release. “Dervla and Surani bring exceptional expertise and strategic vision in their respective areas. Their leadership will be key as…
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By Connie Thiessen
Corus Entertainment has announced that Telus marketing exec Christopher Mercer is joining the company as Barb McKergow, senior vice president of advertising, gets set to retire this fall.
McKergow started her broadcast sales career with WIC (Western International Communications) in 1992, focused on national sales. She joined Canwest Mediaworks in 2000, moving on to Shaw Media for the next 14 years, where she ended her time as head of marketing ventures. She officially joined Corus in 2019 as SVP of national advertising revenue, holding the title of SVP of advertising sales for the past year, overseeing all advertising sales, revenue management, research, advanced advertising and data teams.
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By Ahmad Hathout
Canada’s largest broadcasters are asking the nation’s highest court to determine whether the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) overstepped its authority when it effectively supplanted the Copyright Board’s decision in setting rates for the retransmission of distant signals.
Rogers, Bell, Telus, Videotron, Cogeco and the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance (CCSA) are named as applicants on a leave to appeal application, filed late last week, which seeks clarification about whether a relatively new judicial standard of review called Vavilov — which prioritizes the reasonableness of a tribunal’s decision on review and restrains courts from immediately jumping to correct issues…
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By Connie Thiessen
The CRTC has issued a follow-up decision approving a number of Certified Independent Production Funds (CIPFs) to receive contributions from online streaming services.
The approvals – which include applications from the Bell Fund, the Independent Production Fund, and the Telus Fund – follows the commission’s 2024 decision on base contributions under the Online Streaming Act, requiring certain audio-visual online undertakings to contribute five per cent of their Canadian revenues as a base contribution to support the Canadian broadcasting system.
That decision outlined that the new funding stream be directed to areas of immediate need, including producers from official language minority communities (OLMCs) and…
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Blue Ant Studios announced Tuesday it has partnered with Toronto-based Titan1Studios to co-develop a video game adapted from the animated YouTube series Armadillo Avalanche.
Produced by Blue Ant Studios and based on the animated IP created by Celeste Koon, Armadillo Avalanche originally launched as a series of digital shorts. It was produced with support from the Shaw Rocket Fund and the Canada Media Fund.
The series “centers around a group of girls who face both real-world and supernatural challenges as they navigate tweenhood together through music, friendship, and monster fights,” reads a description in a Blue…
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By Linda Stuart
Following a Globe and Mail story published July 11 that was further reported on by online publication iPhone in Canada, Rogers has told Cartt that it has made changes to its “vendor mix” when it comes to outsourcing some of its customer service roles to third-party companies.
Rogers provided a statement July 17 to Cartt in response to questions about the Globe report that Rogers had ended its contract with Foundever, a Luxembourg-headquartered company that had reportedly been providing Canada-based customer service personnel for Rogers until recently.
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CBC last week unveiled its Canada Day programming lineup offering a full day of special content July 1 across its platforms, celebrating and showcasing the country and its people, its artists and great achievers.
CBC’s Canada Day coverage will be available on CBC TV, CBC News Network, CBC Gem, CBC Radio, CBC Music, the CBC News YouTube channel and CBC News streaming channels.
CBC News will provide live coverage from locations across the country, beginning at 6 a.m. ET. on CBC News Network and CBC streaming platforms (starting at 8 a.m. ET on…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC is expanding eligibility for the independent news fund by including Corus’s 15 Global stations into the fold.
Because Corus is a large media company vis-à-vis other eligible services – and would likely receive the majority of the funding – the CRTC said it is also instituting a funding cap of 45 per cent to any one entity to ensure the other recipients of the Independent Local News Fund (ILNF) are not adversely affected by its inclusion.
“The Commission notes that Corus plays an important role in producing and broadcasting locally reflective and locally relevant news and information…
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Corus Entertainment on Wednesday announced changes to its management leadership team, including the promotion of John Gossling to CEO, the departure of former co-CEO Troy Reeb, and role expansions for Jennifer Abrams and Jennifer Lee.
Gossling is formerly co-CEO of Corus, a position he was appointed to at the same time as Reeb after former CEO Doug Murphy’s sudden retirement in June 2024. Gossling has also been serving as Corus’s chief financial officer, and he will continue to act in that role on an interim basis, Corus said in a press release…
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Quebecor said it welcomes the decision
By Ahmad Hathout
The Federal Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday that the CRTC did not err when it chose Quebecor’s rate to access Rogers’s wireless facilities as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) during final offer arbitration (FOA).
The court rejected all three arguments the cable giant put forth for why it believed the regulator erred when it chose the lower rate, which it argued was unjust and unreasonable per the Telecommunications Act.
Rogers argued that the CRTC erred by ruling in July 2023 that just and reasonable rates can “include rates that may…
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