News about news
https://twitter.com/mahoneygazette/status/910284100019392515
- Air Canada went on a bit of a childish rant about unfair reporting at the CBC after it was accidentally copied on an email by Michael Enright. Neither side comes out of this dispute looking good, because Enright’s email says his show should explicitly state that Air Canada boards planes using an inefficient method, while the science is far from settled on such things.
- NBC News has created a media reporting unit.
- The Canadian Press talks to the people behind Toronto’s West End Phoenix and Sault Ste. Marie’s SooToday about alternative independent news outlets.
- Google has offered $500,000 to the Canadian Journalism Foundation promote news literacy among students.
At the CRTC
Evanov proposes changes to Toronto stations:
CIDC-FM (Z103.5) 30.7kW > 100kW dir.
CIRR-FM (Proud 103.9) to 103.7FM, 0.225kW > 10kW#CRTC pic.twitter.com/Hm8haE82rU— Steve Faguy (@fagstein) September 15, 2017
- Evanov Radio has proposed a way out of its Toronto problem: A station licensed to the suburb of Orangeville (CIDC-FM Z103.5) that’s being prevented from formally expanding into Toronto, and another licensed in downtown Toronto (CIRR-FM Proud FM 103.9) that for technical reasons can’t expand its signal beyond 225W. Under the proposed changes, Z103 increases power but adopts a directional lemon-shaped signal that avoids Toronto, while Proud FM goes from 225W to 10,000W and changes frequency from 103.9 to 103.7 to greatly expand its reach in Canada’s largest city. The applications are posted here and accepting comments until Oct. 16. The CRTC has screwed over Z103 by on the one hand preventing it from offering a better signal in Toronto because it’s licensed to Orangeville, but on the other hand licensing another station in Orangeville because it determined that Z103 was too Toronto-focused.
- Maclean’s has a story about how RT (Russia Today) is still available on Canadian TV providers, usually for free or at very low cost. (Videotron is not one of those providers.) The CRTC says its status is not under review. But as Greg O’Brien notes, someone could file a complaint.
- The commission has denied a request from Canal Évasion to lower its Canadian programming expenditure quota from 46% to 32%. The commission found holes in its reasoning (comparing Évasion to Astral channels without taking into account changes since their purchase by Bell Media) and determined it would be better to ask for such changes when their licence is up for renewal.
- The commission has denied a request from the CBC to offer an analog subchannel of CBL-FM (CBC Radio Two Toronto) to a Tamil-language service. The commission felt such a service would compete with a recently-licensed ethnic station and an existing Tamil subchannel service.
TV
Moment cocasse : il était minuit à Barcelone et le journaliste @henrydelaguerie n'avait pas prévu le réveil de son enfant #RobertKelly pic.twitter.com/0YxjTvW6mC
— Patrice Roy (@PatriceRoyTJ) September 20, 2017
- Just days after the series finale of 19-2 (*sniff*), we have a new English-language Montreal-set drama starting: Bad Blood, a six-episode miniseries on City starting Thursday at 8pm, dramatizes the story of the Rizzuto crime family. John Doyle gives it a good review in the Globe, and Peter Edwards, whose book the series is based on, writes a bit for the Star about what he learned in helping create the series. In French, reviews by La Presse and the Journal de Montréal.
- CTV is beginning production on The Launch, the new music reality show that it hopes to export internationally. Names like Fergie and Shania Twain have been named as mentors.
- TSN and Sportsnet have released their Toronto Raptors broadcast schedule. Each side gets 41 games. Sportsnet is putting all of its games on Sportsnet One, while TSN has games on various channels.
- Télé-Québec is bringing back Passe-Partout. Not many details yet, and don’t expect to see it before 2019, but the original cast isn’t involved.
- Radio-Canada, which passed on the Louis Morissette series Plan B, which became a critical hit on Corus’s Séries+, will pick up the series for a second season, now that Séries+ has controversially dropped plans for any original series in the coming year.
- Bell Media has signed a deal with Vice to bring the daily news show Vice News Tonight to HBO Canada and Much.
- Fall programming announcement from The Comedy Network (The Beaverton returns Nov. 1).
- Fox News Channel has announced a new 10pm show hosted by Laura Ingraham.
Radio
- CHOM has named Randy Renaud to replace Tootall on the midday show weekdays, starting Monday. It’s a choice few people would take issue with. Now the question becomes who replaces Renaud on the weekends.
- The CBC Montreal radio show formerly known as Cinq à six has been relaunched as The Bridge, hosted by Nantali Indongo. “While the name has changed, our mission has not,” she says in the first episode, promising “in-depth conversations about culture, style and taste.” The show airs Saturdays in Quebec from 5-6pm.
- CBC is relaunching The World This Hour as an hourly (24/7) 4.5-minute newscast, which will give local shows a bit more time for more local news.
- The National Post is losing its theatre critic, Robert Cushman.
- Rolling Stone magazine is up for sale. This as it faces a revived lawsuit over its embarrassing campus rape story.
Online
- The Northern B.C. independent news site 250news.com is shutting down at the end of the month.
- The University of Toronto student paper The Varsity has launched a Chinese website.
News about people
- Brian Wilde will be a “semi-regular” contributor to Global Montreal’s newscasts.
- Peter Kuitenbrouwer is leaving the National Post to pursue a master’s degree.
- Murad Hemmadi moving to Ottawa to cover politics for Maclean’s.
Obituaries
Jobs
@NunatsiaqNews is hiring! Come join our award-winning team or share this ad with someone who might. pic.twitter.com/Z78L3T8VJU
— Nunatsiaq News (@NunatsiaqNews) September 15, 2017
- Assignment coordinator, Global News Toronto (deadline: Sept. 22)
- Senior online national journalist, Global News Toronto (deadline: Sept. 27)
- Lead Editor, Halifax Chronicle Herald (deadline: Sept. 28)
- Host, Power and Politics (deadline: Sept. 28)
- Host, CBC’s Power and Politics (deadline: Sept. 28)
- Digital broadcast journalist, Global News Toronto (plus same job but as a 12-month contract) (deadline: Sept. 29)
- The Walrus fellowship (deadline: Oct. 2)
- Editorial assistant, CBC’s The National (deadline: Oct. 4)
- Managing Editor, Nunatsiaq News (deadline: Oct. 13)
- CBC/QWF writer in residence (deadline: Oct. 15)
- Summer intern, Globe and Mail (deadline: Oct. 27)
- National hockey reporter, The Canadian Press
- Colour commentator for Montreal Canadiennes CWHL home games
as for the maclean’s article on rt being free, this includes being free with rogers’ skinny basic package which is not permitted according to crtc rules. with an “extended free preview” ( forever so far ) this seems to be a loophole the crtc could plug if they wanted to. my opinion.
Sure, but why? What’s the practical difference between including a channel for free in the basic package and offering it as part of a free add-on package?
I like Randy Renaud. He’s knowledgeable and has a comforting voice, not at all harsh. I am happy for him getting the job.
However, I think that Bell missed a bit of a chance here to transition towards younger talent. Randy isn’t a spring chicken, and I am sure to a point he will be comforting for the rapidly aging CHOM demographics. The chance to bring in someone a little younger and a little more on the cutting edge towards modern / current rock is something that I am surprised they didn’t choose.
That said, i am sure he will do well. If nothing else, fans of TooTall will be comforted by a familiar voice, and Bell gets to kick the whole rock station thing down the road a bit longer before they have to consider the implications of the longer term demographic trends for the station.