The year just passed burst at the seams with significant industry stories. One major broadcaster bought another; much debate surrounded the direction of our national pubcaster; a Canadian feature film smashed box-office records; more production found its way onto new media platforms; the CRTC heard arguments aimed at influencing its TV Policy review; and union conflicts across the country threatened production stability.

Now, welcome to 2007, which promises its share of important developments. One major broadcaster, Alliance Atlantis, looks to sell all or parts of its business; much debate will surround the direction of our national pubcaster, with the federal government – whichever party heads that up – possibly weighing in; hyped new features such as Silk and Fido will look to take a bite out of the box office; even more production will find its way onto new media platforms; the CRTC will announce the results of its TV Policy review; and union conflicts will either be resolved or continue to undermine production volume.

And, of course – and what makes covering this stuff so fascinating – the industry will no doubt be rocked by events that come completely out of the blue. And, as it has for the past 20 years, Playback will be there to cover them. But we’re going to do it in new and better ways.

There’s nothing particularly different in the format of the issue of Playback you now hold. But, going forward, Playback will change in two respects.

First, on Jan. 22, we will be launching a new daily online newsletter. Subscribers to the publication will receive the free e-mail newsletter every day Monday through Friday. It will contain news items covering the industry’s most compelling developments of the day, linking to a redesigned, state-of-the-art website. (For those who are not subscribers, you can register for the newsletter at www.playbackmag.com as of that date.)

This new outlet for our coverage will enable Playback to respond more quickly to events than we have been able with our biweekly publication schedule. Longtime readers will recognize the newsletter as a direct descendant of First Take, a twice-weekly newsletter initially sent out to Playback subscribers via fax, later migrating to e-mail. A number of industry decision-makers lamented the phasing out of First Take, and the nearest we’ve had since is the Playback Preview (which may have linked you to this column), an e-mail which gives readers an early taste of some of the top stories coming up in our next print edition.

But the newsletter will be a separate animal from Playback magazine, which will still publish every two weeks. There will, of course, be some overlap in content, but the journalistic approach towards each will be distinctly different. The newsletter will be about breaking news and the freshest ratings, box office and deal info – all of which we have tried to cover fortnightly in print, and which has long represented the front section of the book. The newsletter, however, will make this part of the magazine somewhat redundant, and so, the magazine will change.

Starting with the Feb. 5 issue, you will see the beginning of a new look to Playback magazine, with more emphasis on feature stories, columns, punditry, industry opinion, and, it is hoped, fun. We believe that the launch of the newsletter, coupled with a retooled magazine, will enable us to provide the most useful and entertaining coverage of the Canadian film, TV and new media industries available.

Of course, producing this magazine is an ever-evolving process. We will continue to change as the industry and its needs change. You, our readers, are our partners in this goal, so I invite you to share with us at any time your feedback and suggestions regarding the content of our two new entities.

It stands to be another exciting year in the industry, and at Playback we share that excitement. We look forward to bringing all the latest to your mailboxes – both the real and the virtual kind.