CBC/Radio-Canada on Wednesday announced Barb Williams, executive vice president of English services, is retiring from the CBC.
“Over her six year tenure at the national public broadcaster, Williams reimagined the way the CBC could serve existing audiences and welcome new ones, all while navigating the complexities of a global pandemic and the relentless pace of digital transformation,” reads a CBC press release announcing Williams’s retirement.
“The CBC we know today was born out of Barb’s vision to make our English Services platform-agnostic, a transformation that repositioned how Canadians consume CBC’s content,” CBC/Radio-Canada President…
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Rogers claims the telco failed to comply with its ad rules
By Ahmad Hathout
Telus is alleging Rogers is refusing to allow the telco to advertise on the cable company’s valuable media properties in a move it says is harming its ability to compete.
The Part 1 application – dated June 9 but only made public on the CRTC website Tuesday – claims the issues started with Rogers refusing “on extremely short notice” to run two Telus ad campaigns on Rogers’s radio stations in November 2024, despite over 30 years of ad inventory purchases. Those cancellations have allegedly “grown into a blanket…
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Bell Media announced last week it has expanded its previously announced partnership with Shopsense AI to now include TSN.
Launched last Friday during the CFL on TSN’s Friday Night Football broadcast, the new TSN Shop delivers a curated shopping experience for TSN viewers through Shopsense AI’s shoppable TV technology.
“During TSN broadcasts, viewers scan an on-screen QR code to browse and purchase merchandise, including wardrobe items inspired by those worn by TSN personalities, CFL team gear, road trip essentials, and much more,” a Bell Media press release explained. “Viewers can select…
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The CRTC will hold a virtual hearing on Oct. 30 as it considers separate broadcasting applications from CBC, Quebecor Media and Résonance Média.
CBC is asking for a broadcasting licence to operate an English-language commercial FM radio station to replace its English-language AM station CBY Corner Brook and to transfer its transmitters CBDT-FM Deer Lake, CBNA-FM St. Anthony, CBNC-FM Stephenville, CBNE-FM Port-aux-Basques, CBNF-FM Boone Bay, CBNH-FM St. Andrew’s, CBNJ-FM Port Saunders, CBYM-FM Mount St. Margaret, and CBYP-FM Portland Creek, in Newfoundland and Labrador, to the proposed new FM station. CBC is also asking for the…
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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 Ahmad Hathout
The Shaw Rocket Fund is asking the CRTC to rule that Rogers must continue funding the Certified Independent Production Fund (CIPF) through to the next licence renewal period or hold a public consultation on its intention to cut off payments at the end of this month.
The fund, which bankrolls children’s programming, has been receiving $2.2 million in tangible benefits spread over seven years (around $300,000 annually) from the cable giant as a condition of its purchase of Shaw’s broadcasting assets, which was approved by the CRTC in 2022. At issue is the approximately $4.7…
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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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