Category Archives: Media

May 12, 2018 | Media

Media News Digest: NNA & CAJ awards, Star bringing back paywall, NBC saves Brooklyn Nine-Nine

News about news

National Newspaper Awards were announced: The Globe and Mail won six (including journalist of the year for Robyn Doolittle), the Toronto Star and La Presse each won four.
The Canadian Association of Journalists also handed out its awards.
Ipsos wants to use copyright law to prevent people from using its poll results in aggregate form, arguing that the polls were not designed to be used in this way. Ekos wants to do the same.
City Montreal is finally hiring more journalists for its soon-to-launch evening newscasts. It put up postings for two full-time and one part-time journalist. No word yet on a launch date. City had hired Cora MacDonald and Tina Tenneriello for the job last year. Macdonald has since left for Global Montreal.
La Presse publisher Guy Crevier writes about the decision to go non-profit. As is his habit, there are a lot of statistics. Among them:
- In 1975, 79% of homes received a daily newspaper. Now it’s 2%.
- La Presse did three studies in recent years about a paid subscription model. The most generous on showed it could get 50-100,000 subs paying $5 a month. But up to $6 million in revenue would be offset by “tens of millions” in lost ad revenue.
- Since 2010, the two largest newspaper chains in Canada (Postmedia and Torstar, I’m presuming) held on to only 35% and 42% of ad revenue. La Presse managed to keep 66% despite the fact that it no longer has a print edition.
Le Devoir looks at the Philadelphia Inquirer, which underwent a similar transformation into a nonprofit.
Meanwhile, the provincial government is open to expediting the process of approving La Presse’s transfer of ownership. Its unions want the change to happen ASAP.
Alexandre Taillefer has stepped down from the board of Mishmash Media (owner of L’Actualité and Voir) and dropped his column in Voir to avoid conflicts of interest coming out of his recent decision to become campaign chair of the Quebec Liberal Party.

At the CRTC

Evanov Radio resubmits new joint #CRTC technical plan for Toronto radio stations CIDC-FM (Z103) and CIRR-FM (Proud FM):
CIDC-FM moves to 103.7, increases from 30.7kW to 45kW, points NW
CIRR-FM to 103.5, from 0.2kW to 20kW and doubles antenna height. Will also add HD. pic.twitter.com/6Njy76hm4t

— Steve Faguy (@fagstein) May 10, 2018

Evanov Radio is trying again with its plan to reconfigure its two Toronto-area radio stations to turn at least one into a bona fide Toronto station. Like its last attempt, this new one involves converting CIDC-FM (Z103.5) into a station serving Orangeville (as it was licensed to do) and clearing the way for CIRR-FM (Proud FM 103.9) to increase power to cover all of downtown Toronto. But after the last attempt was deemed technically unacceptable by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (which regulates radio spectrum) because of interference it would cause to other stations, this one tries another option: move CIDC to 103.7, with a signal pointed entirely northwest away from Toronto, and move CIRR to 103.5, allowing it to increase power 100-fold. Evanov also proposed to add an HD transmitter for CIRR, with up to four channels. The first will simulcast the analog signal, but it hasn’t decided what the other three will carry yet.
The Supreme Court of Canada will be hearing an appeal by Bell over the CRTC’s Super Bowl ad substitution policy. The court’s focus isn’t on the CRTC’s rules per se, but on the issue of how the courts can overrule decisions by administrative bodies like the CRTC. It’s unclear if we’d get a decision on this by the next Super Bowl in February, but the court has declined a request to expedite the process.
Kanesatake’s community radio station CKHQ-FM 101.7 is fighting against a proposed new Christian radio station in Lachute on the same frequency. Under Canadian broadcasting regulations, CKHQ is a low-power station and is unprotected, so if another station gets a licence to operate that would cause interference, CKHQ would have to move to another frequency. The problem is that Kanesatake is close enough to Montreal that there aren’t many frequencies available, even for a tiny 11-watt station. Legally it doesn’t have much to go on, but it’s hoping political pressure will push the CRTC to act in its favour. The station, which can’t be heard outside the immediate area of Kanesatake, has been off the air since last July.

At the CBC

CBC says it has digitized about 20% of its content archives over eight years.

Ethical reviews

Another week, another decision against André Arthur. This time, the Quebec Press Council finding he was wrong to call teachers “crazy”, and wrong for his employer BLVD 102,1 to deny he said that on the air.
Other Quebec Press Council decisions:
- A LaPresse.ca story about an assault suspect being sought by police, that was later updated after the suspect was found, should not have included a description of the suspect as “Indigenous” as that was not relevant. La Presse argued the ethnic description was an “artifact” of the previous story as a physical description of a man being sought by police.
- A TVA story about the dangers of sugary drinks was not biased against sugar and obesity, despite the complaint of Fondation Belles rondeurs. A complaint by the same group against a Le Soleil series on weight loss was also rejected.
- A La Presse story about the Quebec City mosque shooter’s like of guns was not sensationalist, despite the complaint of the Canadian National Firearms Association
- A Journal de Montréal story was not discriminatory or prejudicial by noting that a victim in a gang rape case had consumed alcohol before the alleged crime.
- CHOI host Jeff Fillion was within his rights to say that if he was a cop, he would treat protesters in a brutal manner. (A split 4-2 decision.) — We’ll see how his suggestion that protesters be outright murdered goes down.
- A Lise Ravary column in the Journal de Montréal that noted the “climategate” scandal of alleged manipulation of data by climate researchers should have noted that a subsequent investigation found no such manipulation of data.
The Quebec Press Council itself says it has reviewed 83 cases in the past year, and is looking at mediation to accelerate them because they take about a year to process.
Toronto Star Public Editor Kathy English wants to know why more women don’t write letters to the editor.
CBC ombudsman: Broadcasts have to be clear about panelists’ conflicts of interest in political discussions.
CBC ombudsman: A report quoting a witness at a murder trial saying “Jesus fucking Christ” was not inappropriate but should have come with a warning.

TV

RENEW BROOKLYN NINE NINE
I ONLY WATCH LIKE 4 THINGS
THIS IS ONE OF THE THINGS#RenewB99

— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) May 10, 2018

Fox has cancelled sitcoms Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Last Man on Earth and The Mick. But oh wait, NBC has stepped in and saved the Nine-Nine!
Meanwhile, Fox picked up Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing from ABC.
CTV is going ahead with Season 2 of The Launch, and is seeking applications from artists. One of the songs from Season 1 (Ain’t Easy by Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine) went platinum in Canada, four of the songs had short-term success going #1 on the iTunes Canada charts, and the other two (by Ethan Young and Jayd Ink) … didn’t.
CTV has bought the right to premiere a new Martin Scorcese-directed SCTV reunion special in Canada (now with Rick Moranis set to participate). This means the show won’t be available on Netflix in Canada right away, but will be after it airs on CTV.
Most French-language TV broadcasters not owned by Quebecor have agreed to a partnership with Radio-Canada’s Tou.tv that will make some of their content available on Tou.tv Extra. This includes Bell, V and TV5, and possibly Télé-Québec in the future.
V has renewed Le Show de Rousseau, its replacement for Éric Salvail’s nightly talk show, despite its less-than-stellar debut.
Bell’s food channel Gusto is on free preview from May 15 to June 26.
Quebec City’s ComediHa! festival has renewed its TV deals — for three years with Radio-Canada and Bell Media and for two years with Unis.
Thursday’s Winnipeg Jets/Nashville Predators Game 7 unsurprisingly did well in the ratings in Canada. Its 3 million viewers made it the most-watched Jets game ever. It even did okay in the U.S., with 1.6 million viewers on NBCSN and streaming.

Radio

CJAD has added a new name to its wall of fame: former host Melanie King.
Claude Rajotte is returning to CIBL, with a show Wednesday nights starting May 16.
Mario Dumont is leaving Montreal’s 98.5FM in June, where he was a collaborator to the morning show, citing a lack of available time. His replacement, Denis Coderre, will stay on, despite saying last fall that a media job is not what we should expect him to go into.
Vancouver’s Roundhouse Radio went off the air last Sunday, though it looks like the station will be sold. A sale requires CRTC approval before it can take effect.
CBC has renamed its B.C. noon-hour call-in show from B.C. Almanac to BC Today. That was a bit annoying to BC Today, a website that covers the B.C. legislature.

Print

Amid the talk about La Presse going nonprofit, Le Devoir’s Brian Myles discusses its structure, which is technically a for-profit enterprise but one that’s controlled by its director and accepts donations.
Cult MTL has released its annual Best of Montreal readers’ poll results, which includes a section on local media.
The Toronto Star is bringing back the paywall, three years after dropping it. It’s also applying the paywall to StarMetro, even though those are free newspapers.
The Star is also dropping its contract with Pagemasters North America to outsource the editing and print layout of its paper. PMNA is owned by The Canadian Press.
Employees at the Windsor Star have voted 91% in favour of a new three-year labour contract, just before they were set to go on strike. The new deal avoids most of the concessions demanded by the employer, and includes only a 0.5 per cent pay hike in 2020.
The Chicago Tribune’s owner has voluntarily recognized a new union, which will encompass the Tribune and some related publications.

Online

Le Devoir talks to Mike Ward about his podcast series Sous écoute, which features discussions with comedians.
Spotify has pulled R Kelly’s music from its playlists — but not from the service itself — after more reports of sexual misconduct.

Other

Quebecor got an outdoor amphitheatre named after it in Shawinigan.

News about people

In 1975, Jim, who lived down the street, asked me to prom. We had a blast and he moved away. 40 years later we reconnected, fell in love, and last night he proposed! #ISaidYes ? pic.twitter.com/tad1aRpTX3

— Marilyn Denis (@MarilynDenisCTV) May 7, 2018

Marilyn Denis got engaged.
Montreal Gazette cartoonist Terry Mosher (Aislin) and La Presse’s Serge Chapleau are getting honorary degrees from Concordia University.
CBC’s Kate McKenna launched her book about the abortion fight in PEI, first in PEI and on Thursday in Montreal.
Radio-Canada reports the police have ended their investigations into Éric Salvail and Gilbert Rozon. It will now be up to the prosecutors if charges will be laid against them for alleged sexual harassment.
La Presse speaks to Maripier Morin about her personal branding and her reputation.
Robyn Doolittle has a book deal out of her long investigation into police departments dismissing sexual assault complaints.
The Washington Post profiles Lainey Lui (The Social, eTalk) and her LaineyGossip blog.
Amil Niazi is leaving Vice Canada to join the BBC.
Alex Panetta is leaving The Canadian Press, where he was its Washington correspondent, for some other unnamed job.
Tyler Dawson is leaving the Ottawa Citizen to become the new Alberta correspondent for the National Post.
Lindsey Wiebe, formerly at audience development at Rogers Media, is joining the New York Times as its first Canadian audience growth editor.
CTV’s Avis Favaro is getting an honorary doctorate from McMaster University.
Christiane Amanpour has been named Charlie Rose’s replacement at PBS. The new show will be called “Amanpour & Company”
An internal report at NBC has conveniently showed that NBC bosses did not know about Matt Lauer’s behaviour toward women.
Rita Trichur has been promoted to senior editor at the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business magazine

Obituaries

Elizabeth Hughes, CBC Vancouver executive producer
André Payette, journalist and essayist
Peter Mayer, former Penguin Group chief executive (in charge when it published the Satanic Verses)

Good reads

The Walrus on the Toronto Star’s efforts to reinvent itself (not much new here, but a good summary of its history and some insight from star reporter Daniel Dale).

Upcoming events

Jobs

Reporter/photographer, The Eastern Door in Kahnawake (deadline: May 14)
Summer intern, Maisonneuve magazine in Montreal (deadline: May 14)
Student summer researcher at FPJQ in Montreal (deadline: May 18)
Videojournalists, City Montreal
Program Director, K103 in Kahnawake (deadline: June 1)

May 8, 2018 | Media

Quebecor finally rids itself of the Caisse

It’s being eclipsed by some other Quebec media ownership news, but Quebecor announced today at its annual shareholders meeting that it is completing its buyback of shares in subsidiary Quebecor Media owned by Quebec’s pension fund manager, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. Once that sale is complete, Quebecor Media, a company started in 2000 with the Caisse’s help to purchase Videotron (and keep it out of the hands of Rogers) will be completely owned by Quebecor Inc.

The transaction won’t completely eliminate the Caisse’s investment in Quebecor. Some of the $1.69 billion the Caisse is getting is in the form of Quebecor Inc. stock, and the Caisse already has some Quebecor stock from previous deals and investments (its 2017 annual report put the value at between $300 million and $500 million). But getting the Caisse out of Quebecor Media simplifies the situation and means Quebecor can decide what to do with Quebecor Media’s profits and the Caisse becomes just another shareholder.

Through his family’s voting shares, Quebecor is de facto controlled by Pierre Karl Péladeau, who controls 73% of voting power in Quebecor Inc.

Whether the Caisse’s $3.2-billion investment in Quebecor Media was the right one is the subject of some debate. In pure dollar amounts, the Caisse is getting back more money than it invested, but barely keeping pace with inflation if it even did. Had the money been invested otherwise, it may have brought back more. On the other hand, Videotron and TVA might be owned by Rogers now, and it’s hard to predict what the Canadian media industry would have looked like as a result.

Timeline

2000: The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec buys a 45.3% stake in Quebecor Media for $3.2 billion to finance the purchase of Videotron (which also owned TVA). Quebecor Media is valued at $7.06 billion.
2012: Quebecor reduces Caisse’s stake from 45.3% to 24.6% in $1.5-billion deal ($1 billion in cash from Quebecor Media and $500 million in shares of Quebecor). The full 45.3% stake is valued at $2.75 billion, and so Quebecor Media as a whole is valued at $6.07 billion. The Caisse’s remaining share is valued at $1.5 billion, and the Caisse notes it has received $324 million in dividends since 2003.
2015: Quebecor reduces the Caisse’s stake from 24.6% to 18.93% for $500 million in cash. This would value Quebecor Media at $8.8 billion and the Caisse’s remaining stake at $1.67 billion. Quebecor promises to buy back the rest of the Caisse’s interest by 2019.
2017: Quebecor further reduces the Caisse’s stake from 18.93% to 18.47%, buying $38 million worth of shares in cash. This would value Quebecor Media at $8.3 billion and the Caisse’s remaining stake at $1.53 billion.
2018: Quebecor completes the repurchase of the Caisse stake, buying the remaining 18.47% of shares for $1.69 billion (91.1% cash, 8.9% Quebecor stock). This values Quebecor Media at $9.15 billion.

In total, just in terms of share value and not counting for inflation or dividends, the Caisse invested $3.2 billion in 2000 and over the various buybacks got $3.7 billion. (According to the Globe and Mail, the total payback is estimated around $4.1 billion.)

In terms of inflation, that $3.2 billion should have been worth $4.1 billion in 2012 and $4.5 billion today. $3.2 billion in the S&P/TSX composite would have been worth $4.8 billion.

I’m not a stock market expert and I’m not going to do a full analysis here. Maybe someone else has the time and patience to consider all the variables (and someone from Quebecor will spend time refuting those conclusions), but the debate is mostly moot now, because the Caisse’s (direct) investment in Quebecor Media has been liquidated.

May 8, 2018 | Media

La Presse being spun off as a non-profit

La Presse publisher Guy Crevier, left, and president Pierre-Elliott Levasseur announce the news about La Presse to journalists on Tuesday.

Well, TVA was right about La Presse being sold. But its guess about who was buying turned out to be very wrong.

The news giant gathered its many employees at the Palais des Congrès Tuesday morning to announce that the daily is being turned into a non-profit organization, separate from Power Corporation of Canada.

Some details are still to be determined, but here’s what we know so far:

Continue reading →

May 6, 2018 | Media, Opinion

Canada’s emergency alerting system needs some improvement

UPDATED with results of the test below (spoiler alert: a massive failure).

On Monday at 9:55am, people in Quebec will get their first taste of wireless public alerting as their phones blurt out the most annoying sound bureaucrats could conceive and display a test message. (Ontario’s test is at 1:55pm and the rest of the country will get the alert on May 9 at 1:55pm local time.)

At the same time, television and radio stations will interrupt their regular programming to send out similar alerts, and TV set-top boxes will display them or automatically tune to a special channel.

It’s a good step toward building a system that can save lives in the event of an emergency. And though people might complain that it’s taken too long to get to this point, that the CRTC or the government or broadcasters are dragging their feet, the truth is that this is the kind of thing you really want to make sure to get right. The last thing you want is people trying to figure out how they can disable these alarms because there are too many false ones.

Unfortunately, even before the alert goes out, I’ve noticed some problems with the system that authorities should really look into fixing.

Continue reading →

May 4, 2018 | Media

Media News Digest: Stingray buys Newcap, TC sells Métro, National Magazine Awards noms

News about news

A coalition of journalism outlets published an open letter to Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard demanding it expand the province’s access to information law. Signatories are:
- Quebec Press Council
- Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec
- Montreal Gazette
- L’Actualité
- Le Devoir
- La Presse
- Journal de Montréal
- Journal de Québec
- Radio-Canada
- TVA
- Groupe Capitales Médias
- ICI Médias
- Hebdos Québec
- Huffington Post Québec
- La Presse Canadienne
- Cogeco Nouvelles
- 24 Heures
After TVA and every other French media, it looks like there might be a televised debate in English between the four main parties ahead of the provincial election in October. All four have agreed to participate, though these agreements are through scrum answers and tweets so not the most official. CBC, CTV, Global, CJAD and the Montreal Gazette form the consortium that would broadcast it.
The Association des médias écrits communtautaires du Québec handed out its awards. The Rouyn-Noranda Indice bohémien won the award for publication of the year.
The Prix Lizette Gervais for emerging journalists were also given out.
The Quebec Press Council holds its annual general assembly on May 11.
A terrorist attack in Kabul has killed nine journalists, including the AFP’s chief photographer there. A 10th journalist in Afghanistan was killed the same day in a separate attack. It’s the deadliest day for journalists in the country since 2002.
The Denver Post has shut down its cannabis vertical The Cannabist.
The Globe and Mail has finally brought back comments to its website, but will now restrict the ability to comment to paid subscribers. Le Devoir and The Athletic have also done this and it appears to be a very effective way to avoid trolls and increase the level of discourse.
Village Media, which owns SooToday and other Today websites, has expanded to Bradford.
Thursday was World Press Freedom Day. The New York Times and other publications marked the occasion by encouraging people to read and support other news outlets.
High school students at Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation are working on a journalism pilot project with mentors from CBC Edmonton.

Continue reading →

May 1, 2018 | TV

TVA to buy Évasion and Zeste, eliminating another independent TV broadcaster

The number of independent commercial television broadcasters in French Canada can be counted on one hand, and soon that number will decline even further as Bell and Quebecor gobble up whatever they don’t already own.

As Bell’s proposed purchase of Corus’s Historia and Séries+ awaits CRTC approval, TVA announced Tuesday it has agreed to purchase Serdy Media’s specialty channels Évasion and Zeste for $24 million.

The transaction requires CRTC approval, and we’ll learn more when that application is posted. Generally the purchase of TV assets requires a tangible benefits package of 10% of the value of the transaction, which means at least $2.4 million going to production funds or other independent initiatives that benefit the broadcasting system.

Évasion is profitable, with almost $10 million in subscription revenue, $2.6 million in ad revenue and $10 million in expenses in the year ending Aug. 31, 2016. But in 2015 and 2016 it lost bout 5% of subscribers a year. Zeste does not have full financial information published by the CRTC, but had $6.6 million in revenue and $3.8 million in Canadian programming expenses in 2016, which suggests a similar level of profitability.

This is yet another step in the consolidation of French-language television in Canada in two hands: Bell and Quebecor. Each is bulking up to compete with the other, convincing the CRTC that their purchases are necessary because the other has gotten bigger. If the Corus and Serdy sales go through, it would leave only V, children’s channels, non-profit services, some local stations and a handful of others (MétéoMédia and Frissons TV) not controlled by the two giants.

Here’s what Canada’s French-language television landscape looks like:

Quebecor (Groupe TVA):

TVA
addikTV
Casa
LCN
Moi & Cie
Prise 2
TVA Sports
Yoopa

Bell Media (*former Astral channels):

Canal D*
Canal Vie*
Cinépop*
Investigation
RDS
RDS Info
Super Écran*
Vrak*
Z*

Corus:

Historia (pending sale to Bell)
Séries+ (pending sale to Bell)
Chaîne Disney
Télétoon

Groupe Serdy:

Évasion (pending sale to TVA)
Zeste (pending sale to TVA)

V Média:

V
MusiquePlus
MAX

Independent for-profits:

DHX Media: Télémagino
Frissons TV
Pelmorex: MétéoMédia
RNC Media (regional affiliates)
Télé Inter-Rives (regional affiliates)
TéléMag (Quebec City)

Radio-Canada:

ICI Radio-Canada télé
ICI ARTV
ICI Explora
ICI RDI

Other public and non-profit broadcasters:

AMI Télé
Canal Savoir
CPAC
Télé-Québec
TFO
TV5/Unis
Community channels

April 26, 2018 | Media

Media News Digest: RTDNA noms, paywalls going up, National Post union drive fails by one vote

News about news

Former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown has made good on his threat to sue CTV News for the story that got him kicked out of his job. He’s focusing on something CTV got wrong — that a woman he is alleged to have given alcohol to was underage at the time.
The Journal de Montréal summarizes the absurdity that is access to information, from both the provincial and federal governments.
Véronique Lauzon of La Presse studies the gender breakdown of sources cited in the media. You will very much not be surprised by what she found.
Canada has climbed four spots to 18th on the Reporters Without Borders press freedom ranking.
RTDNA Canada has announced its annual national and network award finalists. CBC Montreal, CBC Quebec City, CTV Montreal and CJAD are among the nominees in the national awards, having won regional awards in the same categories.
Plateau Mont-Royal borough mayor Luc Ferrandez said he would no longer speak to TVA’s Yves Poirier after Quebecor media outlets published a story about him apparently falling asleep during a city council meeting. It’s unclear how seriously we should take this apparent boycott.
Radio-Canada is going to hold its televised Quebec leaders’ debate on Sept. 13, broadcast as well on Télé-Québec, V, and online via La Presse+, Le Devoir, HuffPost, Metro and others. TVA is hosting its own debate a week later.
Netflix has a new series following BuzzFeed reporters.
The Peabody Awards for news, radio and public service were announced. This American Life’s S-Town podcast is among the winners.
Bloomberg News is reportedly putting up a paywall. Vanity Fair has also launched a metered paywall.

Continue reading →

April 24, 2018 | Radio

Cogeco Media to acquire 10 of RNC Media’s 15 radio stations

RNC Media is vastly decreasing its role as a major radio broadcaster, and has agreed to sell 10 of its 15 radio stations to competitor Cogeco for $18.5 million.

Affected stations are:

Planète 104.5 in Alma
Planète 93.5 in Chibougamau
Planète 99.5 in Roberval
Planète 100.3 in Dolbeau-Mistassini
Radio X 95.7 in Saguenay (repeater at 96.3 Alma)
Capitale Rock 104.3 in Val-d’Or
Capitale Rock 102.1 in La Sarre (repeater at 95.7 Rouyn-Noranda)
WOW 96.5 in Rouyn-Noranda (repeaters at 103.5 Val d’Or and 103.9 La Sarre)
Pop 104.9 in Lachute
Pop 102.1 in Hawkesbury

The sale leaves RNC Media with five stations in its three largest markets:

CKLX-FM (91,9 Sports) in Montreal
CHOI-FM (Radio X) in Quebec City
CHXX-FM (Pop 100.9) in Donnacona (serving Quebec City, repeater at 105.5 Lotbinière)
CFTX-FM (Pop 96.5) In Gatineau (repeater at 107.5 Buckingham)
CHLX-FM (Wow 97.1) in Gatineau

Cogeco already has two French-language FM stations in Montreal and Quebec City, which means there was no point in Cogeco acquiring them. It has one station (CKOF-FM 104,7) in Gatineau. The acquired stations will be its first in the Saguenay and Abitibi regions.

RNC Media also owns TVA and V affiliates in Gatineau and Abitibi-Témiscamingue. It recently announced it was shutting down its Radio-Canada affiliate in Abitibi, CKRN. RNC said the Montreal, Quebec and Gatineau stations were “not on the market.”

The sale requires approval by the CRTC before it can proceed.

We should also expect some of these stations to join Cogeco’s network brands, particularly Rythme FM.

Continue reading →

April 21, 2018 | TV

Global Montreal splits evening news in two

Global Montreal this week made a small change to its weekday schedule, swapping the second half-hour of its evening newscast with Global National. So as of this week, the evening news works like this:

5:30: Local news
6:00: Global National
6:30: Local news
7:00: ET Canada

~~As far as I can tell, this is the only Global station to do this so far.~~ Okay, there are some counterexamples in the comments.

I watched three of the five newscasts this week to see how the new format works. The two newscasts are virtually identical, with the same stories (sometimes repackaged differently), same weather segments (literally the same prerecorded segments played again for the second newscast), and same stories taken from other Global stations to fill the schedule.

A typical 5:30 or 6:30 newscast comes down to roughly this:

A minute-long intro
10-12 minutes of local news (four packaged or live reports, plus 2-5 briefs)
A minute-long weather segment (pretaped with the weather presenter in Toronto)
Commercial break
One or two stories from another Global station or a U.S. news source
Commercial break
A three-minute weather segment
Closing market numbers
Teaser to a local story being discussed on Facebook
Commercial break
More briefs, a promo for Morning News, and either a promo for Global National (during the 5:30 newscast) or a two-minute ET Canada promo that doubles as entertainment news (during the 6:30)

On average:

12m15s local news
3 min non-local news
4m15s weather
15 sec business
2m30s promos, bumpers and other filler

There’s no duplication with Global National, so this new schedule means you can sit down for an hour starting at 5:30, or an hour starting at 6. It also means that people who get home after 6pm can still catch a local newscast (though CTV’s newscast does a top stories recap at the top of the half-hour).

The Global Montreal news team has also expanded by two, hiring away Kalina Laframboise from CBC as a web producer and Cora MacDonald from City as a photojournalist. MacDonald had been hired at City Montreal for their new newscast, but that hasn’t even launched yet. No news about it has been announced.

April 20, 2018 | Media

Media News Digest: Pulitzer winners, BNN radio in Vancouver, farewell Carl Kasell

News about news

Winners of the Pulitzer Prize have been announced. Among them are stories on the #MeToo movement, the Roy Moore U.S. Senate scandal, Russian interference in the U.S. election, and Kendrick Lamar. They also include this story by the Cincinnati Enquirer, which mobilized dozens of journalists to cover one week of the heroin epidemic in the area.
Families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Conn., are suing InfoWars’s Alex Jones for repeatedly saying they don’t exist.
CBC Montreal is publishing stories out of a collaboration with Concordia journalism students on Montrealers’ relationships with food.
CBC published a news story about Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam, the eighth victim of Toronto alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur, translated into Tamil.
Someone not only stole Bruce MacKinnon’s editorial cartoon about the Humboldt bus crash to sell on T-shirts, but didn’t do so as a fundraiser. The Australian website the shirts were being sold through is now donating proceeds to charity.
The RCMP says it needs another 80 years to work on an access to information request
SABEW Canada (Society of Business Editors and Writers) has announced its Best in Business journalism awards. Among the winners are the Globe’s telecom reporter Christine Dobby.
Canadaland got a copy of a Toronto Sun internal memo offering editorial guidance on how to cover the Ontario provincial election. The memo says the paper is “advocating for change”. (The Toronto Sun’s parent company is the same as my employer’s). The union is not pleased.
TVA has set Sept. 20, 8pm as the date and time for its Quebec provincial leaders’ debate. The election is Oct. 1. The two-hour debate will feature the four leaders of parties with seats in the National Assembly.

Continue reading →

April 19, 2018 | TV

Eight proposals to replace OMNI

Updated April 20 with a clarification from Rogers, and Nov. 4 with clarifications based on feedback from Ethnic Channels Group.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has released eight applications for national ethnic television services, and set a hearing for ~~Oct. 15~~ Nov. 26 to discuss which of them would be the best candidate to replace OMNI.

Last year, the commission caved to OMNI’s demand that it be given mandatory subscription fees from all television subscribers, under the threat of surrendering the licence and leaving the country without a multilingual TV service offering newscasts. But in giving in, the CRTC also set a limit of three years (until Aug. 31, 2020) and said that it would ask other broadcasters if they had better proposals for such a mandatory ethnic service, and consider them at a future hearing.

On Tuesday, the CRTC released eight applications, seven for TV services (including OMNI’s proposal for renewing its status) and one for an ethnic described video guide. Each makes proposals for multilingual programming including national newscasts and proposes a mandatory monthly fee.

I analyzed the nearly 200 documents submitted for the eight applications and below present an analysis of the applicants, proposals and programming:

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April 12, 2018 | Media

Media News Digest: CTV Vancouver anchors fired, La Gatineau paper shuts down, Monique Lacombe leaves CBC

News about news

I spent the day reading messages, texts, tweets and emails. I’m in a puddle of tears, overwhelmed by your kindness. It’s been my privilege to have grown up with you the past 21 years. The love you have shown me is with me forever. xx pic.twitter.com/KIaaT488Bu

— Tamara Taggart (@tamarataggart) April 11, 2018

CTV has made some changes (a “major refresh” in PR-speak) at its Vancouver station, the most notable of which is dismissing both evening news anchors, Mike Killeen and Tamara Taggart. In a 25-second statement on Monday’s newscast (starts at 18:30), Mi-Jung Lee announced the co-anchors “are no longer with CTV News” and praised them on their careers. “We thank them both and wish them well.”
Surveillance video showing the mass shooting at a Quebec City mosque last year won’t be broadcast, but journalists were allowed to describe what happens in them. Radio-Canada’s Michel Cormier explains why the media would want permission to be able to broadcast such horror. The FPJQ also issued a statement denouncing the decision.
A judge has determined that the media attention it drew should be a factor in sentencing against former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre’s son, who used his family’s credit cards and then falsely told his family and police that he had been the victim of identity theft.
A roundup of TV news graphics getting foreign countries wrong on maps.
Bloc Québécois leader Martine Ouellet is continuing to threaten journalists with libel suits. The latest threat is against Radio-Canada radio show Médium Large, which brought on psychologists to talk about stubborn politicians. Despite explicitly saying on air that they’re not diagnosing Ouellet, Ouellet said it’s clear that they were diagnosing her. Radio-Canada responds here.
As Mark Zuckerberg testifies before a U.S. congressional committee, Craig Silverman points out that some of the Facebook features that allow companies to scrape data about people have also been used by journalists.
Blacklock’s Reporter reports that the federal government paid half a million dollars to a company called News Canada that distributes royalty-free news to small newspapers across the country desperate for free content. The information highlights risks about small newspapers republishing government-written news stories without disclosing that.
The group Canadian Journalists for Free Expression is in a crisis after its communications coordinator published a statement on its behalf condemning assaults on journalists in Gaza. The group’s board will have tighter control over communications in the future.

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April 11, 2018 | Sports, TV

Sportsnet keeps Jets playoff games off CBC

The Toronto Maple Leafs are Canada’s team. Or at least the CBC’s.

That much has been made abundantly clear this season. Every Saturday night, if the Leafs are playing, they’re on CBC (except when CBC was broadcasting the Olympics). With a market that encompasses a third of Canada’s population, it makes sense that this team would get more attention, but the one-sidedness has been particularly striking.

Habs fans too cheap to pay for Sportsnet have been complaining the past couple of seasons that Canadiens games on Hockey Night in Canada have been punted to Sportsnet rather than broadcast on free TV channels CBC or City. Sportsnet has admitted this was done mainly to drive subscriptions to Sportsnet.

And as the NHL playoffs begin tonight, and CBC devoting its entire primetime schedule to hockey, it seems they’re doing it again, this time to the Winnipeg Jets.

The Jets and Leafs are the only two Canadian teams to make the playoffs, and even though their games both start at 7pm ET (6pm in Winnipeg, but in the playoffs you need to be either an early game or a late game), not a single one of the up to 14 games involving the two teams overlap — they’re all scheduled on different nights.

But there won’t be any Jets games on CBC, at least not until Game 5 and likely not until next round at the earliest. Instead, all Leafs games will be broadcast on CBC but all Jets games are on Sportsnet. And while the Jets are on Sportsnet, CBC viewers will get to watch the all-American Philadelphia-Pittsburgh series instead. Even those in Winnipeg.

I asked Sportsnet about the decision, and this was the response I got:

As you can imagine, there are numerous factors taken into consideration when coordinating the broadcast schedule for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In this case, with two series featuring Canadian teams in the first round, the decision was made that Sportsnet and CBC would each have the opportunity to broadcast one of those two series. Winnipeg is a key priority for Sportsnet and Sportsnet is thrilled to be broadcasting the entire Jets series to Canadians from coast-to-coast.

In other words, the Jets are on Sportsnet because Sportsnet wanted a Canadian series. Which sounds reasonable (similar to how CBC and TSN split playoff series before the Sportsnet/NHL deal) until you remember that Sportsnet controls the CBC broadcast as well.

So why keep the Jets off CBC during a time when lots of casual fans might tune in, and Sportsnet is looking to maximize ratings?

Because of money. Of the 82 regular-season Jets games, 60 are on TSN3. Casual Jets fans in Manitoba don’t have much incentive to subscribe to Sportsnet if they’re not otherwise interested in sports. So Sportsnet is hoping to drive subscriptions from those potential fans, even if it means many fans just won’t watch the games and they’ll lose potential ad revenue.

But, of course, that logic doesn’t apply to the Leafs. The Leafs are so popular that ad revenue is more important than subscription revenue. So the Leafs get CBC.

On one hand, Manitoba Jets fans should just subscribe to Sportsnet (it’s available over-the-top for $25 a month). On the other hand, this definitely does feel like a middle finger to a market that has had to suffer for a long time, and hasn’t seen a playoff game win in more than 20 years.

TVA Sports, by the way, is also not giving priority to the Jets. Of the first four matches, three will be broadcast on TVA Sports 2 because of conflicts with Flyers-Penguins or Capitals-Blue Jackets.

The NHL playoffs begin Wednesday with the Jets and Wild playing at 7pm on Sportsnet. The Leafs and Bruins play Game 1 on Thursday at 7pm on CBC. For channel assignments for these and other series, see sportsnet.ca/schedule.

April 6, 2018 | Media

Media News Digest: CBC’s new CEO, Workopolis sold, Michèle Ouimet’s final column

News about news

A case between the RCMP and Vice News reporter Ben Makuch about getting access to original source material of communications he had with an ISIS fighter will go to the Supreme Court. This despite the fact that the man Makuch interviewed has been reported dead.
Reporters with the Toronto Star explain their frustrations with access to information laws and how they’re applied.
Disney has offered to buy Sky News in order to make it easier for regulators in the U.K. to approve Rupert Murdoch’s takeover of the larger Sky plc network.
The chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group says he doesn’t understand why everyone is against his company pushing “must-run” segments on its local news broadcasts across the country. Meanwhile, employees of Sinclair are confidentially opening up to Deadspin (which compiled the video of them delivering a “must-run” statement written by corporate denouncing “fake news”) about their dislike of corporate policies and how they can’t say anything about it.
A report on local TV news shows, among other things, that local TV stations are a primary source of information for local news in many smaller markets.
Doug Ford is not going to have a bus for media during his provincial election campaign, which is unusual for politicians but kind of expected for a Ford.
April Fool’s Day was kind of a dud this year, with not much enthusiasm for it locally (or, say, appreciation for a handsome local blogger’s efforts). I found only two press releases on newswire.ca — one from CAA Quebec about pets being made employees, and one from Swoop, WestJet’s discount airline, charging for toilet use. The only hoax to really pique media’s attention was a statement by Jaggi Singh saying he would run for the NDP.
J-Source and The Discourse have joined the National Newsmedia Council.
The winners of the Concordia Student Union executive elections were all disqualified, and the runners up declared elected, because student newspaper The Link published an editorial supporting them. Seriously. That’s what happened. Apparently there’s a rule that limits communication with student media right before polling, and it was deemed a disqualifying offence even though The Link says there was no communication before its editorial was published. The CSU’s judicial board will meet Friday to discuss the issue.
A Vice/Motherboard story about Chinese techie Naomi Wu prompted backlash from its subject even before it was published for asking her about her personal life and rumours about her on Reddit. Wu alleges she made that stuff off limits and that Vice agreed, and is mad that they reneged on their word. Vice, meanwhile, says it did not agree to avoid asking specific questions. The conflict quickly degenerated into Wu accusing Vice of publishing personal details about her (it didn’t even publish her real name) and then publishing the home address of the writer of the story, which led to social media sites suspending her accounts. This Twitter thread provides a good summary (and argument) of how ridiculous Wu’s accusations and behaviour got.

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April 2, 2018 | Media

Toronto Star rebranding Metro newspapers to form pseudo national chain

Metro is dead. Long live StarMetro.

Torstar, which owns the Toronto Star and the remaining Metro newspapers in English Canada, announced Monday that it will be rebranding the Metro papers to StarMetro and bringing them closer to the Star fold, moving their websites to thestar.com and sharing stories between the two. At the same time it is adding 20 journalists to three of the Metro newspapers — Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.

The Star’s story on the announcement, as well as nearly identical insert-city-name-here stories in each of the Metro papers (Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Halifax), don’t give much details beyond that, but expect to see more Metro content in the Toronto Star, and more Toronto Star content in the Metro papers.

Despite the this-is-good-news nature of the announcement, there are no plans to resurrect Metro papers that have been killed recently. Metro Ottawa and Winnipeg were sold to Postmedia in November to be shut down. Metro also previously had papers in London, Regina and Saskatoon, plus digital-only editions in four other cities.

Métro Montréal, Canada’s only French-language version of the paper, is owned by Transcontinental, which has put it up for sale.

The Torstar changes take effect on April 10. At that point, the Metro app will also be shut down, and visitors to the metronews.ca websites redirected to The Star’s new pages for each city.

This relates to online only, so pure addition. Metro commuter papers rebranding, adding more local copy in western markets. Halifax continuing its local coverage. Star print remains the same size. But online becomes deeper, richer, with much more local content in some cities.

— Eirene Gentle (@IreneGentle) April 2, 2018