December 2007
• The CRTC approves Canwest Global’s takeover of Alliance Atlantis

January 2008
• The loonie remains at par with the greenback; the Canadian service sector is hit hard as U.S. productions retreat across the border
• CBC and CTV join iTunes to offer downloadable versions of hits like Little Mosque on the Prairie and Corner Gas
• The Quebec government’s Société générale de financement invests $100 million to obtain a 51% voting stake in Alliance Films and a 38.5% ownership stake, with Goldman Sachs holding the rest
• With the Writers Guild of America on strike, CBS picks up the CTV cop series Flashpoint. This will be followed by NBC buying CTV’s The Listener and Fox buying format rights for Little Mosque

February
• CRTC hearings on the future of the Canadian Television Fund begin
• The Tories introduce a controversial amendment to Bill C-10, giving government officials the power to deny tax credits to film and TV projects they deem offensive. It is quickly condemned by the Canadian arts community as censorship
• The Writers Guild of America strike ends after nearly four months
• Then-Heritage minister Josée Verner announces the government will make the final decision on the CTF, taking into account recommendations from the CRTC

March
• Ottawa chops $2.5 million off the National Film Board’s annual allocation; the NFB downplays the cuts by saying it hadn’t requested funding for the Canadian Memory Fund and official-language community programs for this year
• Remstar Corporation wins approval from a Quebec judge to buy TV channel TQS, which had earlier filed for bankruptcy protection. Previous owners are Cogeco (60%) and CTVglobemedia (40%)

April
• The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada looks to the courts to appeal the CRTC’s decision to allow Canwest’s move to centralize production of local news in four cities
• The CRTC denies separate bids from HDTV Networks and YES TV to launch high-definition over-the-air TV channels
• The CRTC holds three weeks of hearings on the future of broadcast distribution

May
• The Tories snub a special ‘see for yourselves’ Ottawa screening of the feature Young People Fucking, which reportedly partly inspired the feds to move on Bill C-10
• Sturla Gunnarsson is elected president of the Directors Guild of Canada
• Blindness kicks off the Cannes Film Festival, marking the first Canadian feature to open the fest in 30 years

June
• The CRTC wraps its report on the CTF. Key recommendations include splitting funding into two distinct streams – public and private, with two boards of directors; and increased emphasis on audience success
• CTV scoops iconic music The Hockey Theme from CBC, which had played it on Hockey Night in Canada for 40 years, after the Ceeb can’t come to terms with composer Dolores Claman
• Former CRTC exec and Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television chair Paul Gratton is announced as the new CTF chair, replacing Douglas Barrett

July
• Entertainment One announces its intention to acquire Maximum Films, Oasis International, Barna-Alper Productions and Blueprint Entertainment
• The Canadian Cinema Editors association launches; models itself after the American Cinema Editors association
• Flashpoint debuts on Friday, July 11, winning the night on both CTV and CBS. It will be moved to Thursday nights and is picked up for a second season
• Cookie Jar Entertainment buys the rights for Strawberry Shortcake and The Care Bears from American Greetings for $195 million – allowing Cookie Jar’s previous $87 million bid for brand management giant DIC Entertainment, to which American Greetings had licensed the properties, to go through
• The comedy Cruising Bar 2 earns $3.1 million in five weeks at the Quebec box office

August
• Ottawa reveals plans to slash culture funding; eliminates its annual contributions to the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund, Trade Routes, National Training Schools Program and PromArt
• Filmport, Toronto’s long-awaited first megastudio, officially opens its doors, but will find clients hard to come by in the sluggish summer shooting season

September
• Telefilm Canada names Stephanie Azam its new head of English-language features. Executive director Wayne Clarkson had been filling the role since 2006
• Global stock markets crash; stocks at publicly traded entertainment companies including Cineplex, Canwest Global and E1 decline sharply
• E1’s acquisition of Maximum, Oasis, Barna-Alper and Blueprint finalizes. It also engineers a ‘reverse takeover’ deal with DHX Media

October
• Prime Minister Stephen Harper vows to scrap the censorship clause in Bill C-10 if re-elected. Political pundits point to the C-10 controversy and arts cuts as factors in denying the Tories a majority in the election
• The Tories appoint media-savvy B.C. MP James Moore as the new heritage minister
• The CTF announces the Digital Media Pilot Program, which will dole out $2 million to new media content providers
• The US$700-million Wall Street bailout contains incentives to keep Hollywood producers shooting at home, causing potential further grief to the service sector. On the plus side, the loonie sinks to 85 cents against the greenback
• Fundraising for the TIFF Group’s Bell Lightbox is put on hold; CEO Piers Handling says a four-month fundraising dry spell has left the project about $49 million short of its $196-million requirement
• In its latest review of the broadcast system, the CRTC once again denies the conventional networks’ call for fee-for-carriage from the BDUs, although it does allow them to enter negotiations with the distributors over payment for distant signals

November
• Paul Gross’ war epic Passchendaele surpasses Cruising Bar 2 as top feature film earner, taking in more than $4.3 million
• CBC reporter Mellissa Fung is home after being held captive in Afghanistan for 28 days. Her release follows an unprecedented news blackout to ensure her safe return
• Canwest reports a $1-billion non-cash write-down of its conventional TV business; lays off 560 staffers across the country
• CTV cuts 105 jobs at its Toronto operations
• U.S. Screen Actors Guild seeks strike mandate, pointing to further woes for service
• Rogers Communications, following the death of founder Ted Rogers, lays off an unspecified number of employees