BANFF – Some of the country’s most notable media leaders will share their perspectives on the key issues facing the Canadian media industry at next month’s Banff World Media Festival.
Shaw Media president Paul Robertson, Bell Media president Kevin Crull, Rogers Media president Keith Pelley, and CBC Executive vice-president Kirstine Stewart will participate in a panel discussion on topics such as the impact of further consolidation and vertical integration within the media industry, as well as how the Canadian content industry can become more globally relevant.
Delegates at the event will have the opportunity to submit questions via Twitter (@BanffMedia) or on…
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TORONTO – Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) has kicked off a new television campaign to help promote its descriptive audio service AMI-audio.
AMI-audio is the world's largest broadcast reading service whereby volunteers read and record current articles from newspapers and magazines, which are then broadcast on TV and online.
The campaign's 30 second TV spot features a blind man walking into a variety store. He sets up the story of an attempted robbery and then clicks on a television set to reveal the AMI audio channel where the announcer completes the news story. It is airing nationally in English Canada on a…
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I DARE ANYONE TO disagree with this statement: “A child without access to the Internet will find life increasingly difficult in the information age.”
National Cable and Telecommunications Association president and CEO Michael Powell said it Monday morning during his keynote speech to delegates in the standing-room-only opening general session at the 2012 Cable Show here in Boston. He was singing the praises of the U.S. industry’s Connect to Compete initiative where all of the major American cable companies have teamed up with the Federal Communications Commission and a large number of other corporations to push…
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TORONTO – Following in the steps of Telus and Shaw, Rogers opened the doors on its new retail store concept Thursday in Toronto, a concept that it says puts the emphasis on service and community.
Customers will now receive more tailored one-on-one service, more of the latest technology and products, and more ways to stay connected and entertained than ever before, in a friendly and interactive retail environment, according to the press release.
"This store opening is part of a larger retail transformation to enhance how we service and sell to our customers”, said retail VP Sian Doyle, in the release. …
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TORONTO – Global is adding two new U.S. talk shows – The Jeff Probst Show and The Ricki Lake Show – to its daytime lineup this Fall.
The network declined to reveal what current programming will be dropped to make room for the new shows, telling Cartt.ca that details will be released at its upfront presentation scheduled for May 30.
The Jeff Probst Show is a one-hour talk show that will cover topics ranging from relationships and family dynamics to newsmakers of the day, and families and individuals facing challenges. Probst is best known for hosting all 11 editions of Global’s reality hit…
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TORONTO – Women in Film & Television – Toronto (WIFT-T) has added three new directors to its board for the 2012-2013 term.
The newly elected directors, announced at the organization’s annual general meeting, include Pat DiVittorio, VP of program planning at Bell Media; Fiona Lee, CA, director of finance, programming, at Corus Entertainment; Kristine Murphy, director of industry development at OMDC; and Natalie Osborne, EVP of business development at 9 Story Entertainment.
Prentiss Fraser will continue as board chair. The board members re-elected for 2012-2013 include:
– Victoria Evans, partner and producer, Stitch Media; – Prentiss Fraser, SVP, worldwide sales and acquisitions, Entertainment…
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by Steve Faguy
GATINEAU – It's the most important decision about private French-language television in Canada in years, but the CRTC's renewal of licenses for major broadcasters contained few surprises.
On Thursday, the CRTC renewed broadcasting licenses for Quebecor's Groupe TVA, Astral Media and the independent specialty channel Canal Évasion. The Commission also reviewed the licenses of the V network (formerly TQS), which was given exceptional relief from its regulatory obligations in 2008 when purchased by its current ownership while in bankruptcy. For the most part, the decisions were based on proposals made during discussions at the hearings in Montreal in…
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IT’S BEEN A NUMBER OF months since we last tried to publicly discomfit the Canadian Internet service provider industry over its lack of action on delivering a cohesive, national, inexpensive broadband program to low income urban Canadians.
As we’ve noted, it’s happening south of the border. A program (the creation of private industry done at the urging of the Federal Communications Commission and with zero government money) called Connect 2 Compete allows qualifying low income families to get access to broadband for $9.95 a month as well as to low cost computers and tech support.
In the…
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TORONTO – There is no shortage of people who believe, thanks to our exploding new media world, that: “Television is dead”, or some variation of that theme.
At the TV Bureau of Canada’s TV Day, held Thursday at the Carlu in Toronto, broadcasters, agencies and media buyers were given ample reasons to believe that not only is TV not dead, it has never been stronger. Of course, one would expect the TV Bureau and all the broadcasters to scream that from the rooftops because that’s their business, however, the numbers and the work being done, seem to back the notion…
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Perry Hoffman
GATINEAU – Telcos Telus and MTS Allstream are urging the CRTC to remove vertically integrated broadcasters/distributors from eligibility under the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF).
While Rogers, Shaw and Quebecor all want the LPIF program eliminated, Bell Media Inc. is neither for or against continuing the program. However, each have local stations who are collectively getting millions from the LPIF fund.
Ann Mainville-Neeson, director of broadcast regulation at Telus, noted during her opening remarks, that of the large vertically integrated providers, only Bell is clinging to LPIF despite the fact that it could save more than $1 million if the…
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