After nearly two years, Andy Sykes has left his post as VP business development at Toronto post-production house Deluxe Sound & Picture to start a new business.

Even as Alliance Atlantis’ Bon Cop, Bad Cop closes in on Quebec box-office history, the distrib’s corporate woes are providing even more compelling drama.

Summer series report card

In its controversial $1.4-billion bid to acquire CHUM Ltd., Bell Globemedia/CTV says it just wants what chief competitor CanWest Global already has.

Ruling on Bell Globemedia’s proposed takeover bid of CHUM Ltd. will show just how much teeth the federal regulators have.

Darned if the CBC isn’t the most fascinating network to follow these days. Every week it is caught in another imbroglio or two.

To get a sense of what is moving in the current stock market, Playback asked five major suppliers what kinds of footage they are getting the most requests for, both in terms of format and content.

The call for another pair of reports on the state of the TV industry is hardly out of the ordinary, except when the CRTC indicates that their results may lead to amendments to its controversial 1999 Television Policy.

God Only Knows: Same Sex Marriage took the Playback Best Canadian Award at the June 12 Banff World Television Awards as the jury favorite among 18 projects nominated in the fest’s international categories.

As I write this, I cast the occasional glance over my shoulder to the TV, tracking game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. The broadcast is as surefire a ratings bonanza as the CBC can expect – with a Canadian team playing, no less. But it makes me wonder how else the Ceeb can attract major eyeballs, on the heels of its long-awaited upfront presentation.

As Playback goes to press, the private networks are putting on their annual dog-and-pony shows, trotting out stars of their programs and trumpeting the new series they picked up at the recent L.A. screenings. The occasion, of course, is upfronts season, and, as always, this year contains its share of subplots, the main focus again being the CTV-Global rivalry.

The news out of both the CBC and the U.S. network fall launches is bad news for some Canadian prodcos – or, at least, it’s going to force them to rethink their business plans.