From Greg O’Brien at Cartt:
Link: Neck deep in skinny basic folly
Last month I spent almost an hour on the phone with the CBC’s Maritime Noon telling callers that no, the cable and telecom companies aren’t ripping you off by pulling channels like Sportsnet and CTV News Channel out of basic. The carriers want to offer that in a basic package and the Commission forced them to take those out. Continue reading.Â
From CBC News:
Link: Peter Mansbridge to step down from The National next year
Peter Mansbridge — the veteran CBC News anchor who has been informing Canadians of the day’s top stories, broadcasting into their living rooms each night for decades — is retiring as anchor of The National.
Mansbridge, 68, has announced that he plans to step down from the helm of CBC’s flagship show next summer, after anchoring special Canada Day coverage on July 1, when the country will mark its 150th birthday. Continue reading.
From John Doyle of The Globe and Mail:
Link: Nobody will watch TV out of patriotism
Now, it’s fair to say that the funding of Canadian TV is an enormously complex business. An army of lawyers and accountants earn a good living interpreting all the rules. I’ve heard from several experts and the upshot of the feedback is that there has been a false alarm. One expert told me, “The CRTC simply decided to align the funding rules for the CIPFs (Certified Independent Productions Funds) with its “normal†rules for a Canadian program and with CAVCO’s (Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office) “normal†rules (which are in the Income Tax Act of Canada) for the Canadian film or video production film tax credit – that is, a minimum of six out of 10 Canadian points.†Continue reading.
From a media release:
Global News is pleased to announce that its flagship newscast, Global National is expanding to four additional television stations. Starting today, Global National will air on CKSA, a Newcap-owned television station in Lloydminster. Beginning Tuesday, September 6, the show will also run on three additional Corus-owned stations: CKWS Kingston, CHEX Peterborough and Channel 12 Durham. The program will be broadcast at 5:30 p.m. local time in each city.
Global News is also delighted to unveil new local versions of the network morning program, The Morning Show. Launching on Monday, October 17 on CKWS Kingston and on Monday, October 24 on CHEX Peterborough, the show will air from 6-9 a.m. With these programs, CKWS and CHEX will deliver local morning news to their respective viewers for the first time in history. The Morning Show will feature local news and community interviews with network cut-ins from Global’s national team in both markets.
Global National with anchor Dawna Friesen is Canada’s only early-evening national newscast. The multiple award-winning program offers a distinctive voice and approach to the day’s top stories.
With bureaus and correspondents in every major Canadian city, Washington, London and around the world, the Global National team provides Canadians with in-depth analysis and perspective on important national and international events, connecting with audiences coast-to-coast and bringing clarity to the issues and news of the day.
CKWS-TV is Southeastern Ontario’s news leader with videographers covering stories throughout the region. The on-air team, which began broadcasting in 1954, brings experience, commitment and insight to the coverage of news, sports, weather and special events.
Since 1955, CHEX Television has been serving the Kawartha Lakes and east-central Ontario from its studios in Peterborough. CHEX is available on 52 cable systems throughout the province and across the country.
Channel 12 has been serving the Durham Region in Ontario since 1993. Channel 12 is the only local, conventional television station in the region and has taken on a leadership role in promoting and covering hundreds of events each year.
From a media release:
Mistakes get made, but most are not newsworthy. This one is.
The CRTC’s recent decision regarding “Certified Independent Production Funds†(CIPFs) includes a significant factual error. It claims that the Canada Media Fund (CMF) argued in favour of reducing the points needed for Canadian productions to receive funding from the CIPFs. The CRTC stated:
“The CMF argued that this amendment would give producers creative flexibility in the development of Canadian productions, which would lead to international market appeal and the potential for international investment. This, in turn, would lead to better recoupment for CIPF-funded programs and would therefore provide more money for CIPFs to invest back into Canadian projects.â€
In fact, the CMF didn’t say any of that. Documents on the public record of this proceeding, submitted by the CMF and available on the CRTC’s website, show that the CMF never made these arguments, nor did it even address the issue in any substantive way.
The CMF is a well-established and respected funding body, whose views on the subject would presumably carry significant weight in a proceeding such as this. This makes the misattribution particularly concerning, and the WGC believes the error calls into question the rigour of this CRTC process.
