For Imax, the hits just keep on coming, and not the good Hollywood box-office kind.

Michael Hirsh is saying very little – yea or nay – following reports that his Cookie Jar Group is preparing to go public.

In the end, more money on the table made all the difference when, on May 18, Allarco Entertainment won the first new pay-TV licence in Canada in more than two decades, thanks to a cash-rich package for homegrown productions.

Private broadcasters in Canada saw revenues rise almost 4% in 2005 to $2.2 billion, delivering profits of $242 million, according to data released by the CRTC.

A report by Auditor General Sheila Fraser says Telefilm Canada, the Canadian Television Fund and other agencies under the Department of Canadian Heritage suffer from inefficiencies and a lack of clearly defined goals.
‘Canadian Heritage and other organizations spend over $800 million a year on programs that support cultural industries,’ writes Fraser in the 28-page report, released Nov. 22. ‘The department should have a better idea of what it’s trying to achieve.’

The National Screen Institute is adding a few more tiles to the cultural mosaic this autumn by adding to Canada’s stock of aboriginal and minority filmmakers through two programs.

Coming to a pocket or briefcase near you: QuickPlay Media, which delivers interactive media to mobile devices, has merged with Snap Media, producer of award-winning websites for Degrassi: The Next Generation and CHUM.

With the hockey pre-season now underway, TV networks and media buyers are saying viewership of NHL games is set to bounce back despite the league’s 15-month lockout and fears of backlash from the fans.

Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival wants to spotlight northern Ontario as a place to make movies.

The pyrotechnics of human relationships is the underlying theme in TIFF 2005’s Canada First! program.

Bidders for Canada’s first new pay TV network in over two decades are vowing to invest millions in Canadian dramas, films and documentaries, and to boost on-air Canadian content if they win approval from the CRTC.
Four broadcast groups are in contention for licenses – Spotlight Television, Allarco Entertainment, the Canadian Film Channel and Archambault Group – and they have targeted Canadian film and TV producers for support with offers of cash and a market for their work.

The deal is done, the players are putting away their golf clubs, and Canada’s national game will return to the ice this fall. The big question for broadcasters is: will the fans and advertisers be back?
As the dust settles from the NHL players lockout, all sides may well be pondering the fallout that hit Major League Baseball in the U.S. after its 1994 strike – when Americans soured on their national sport, keeping attendance and viewership sluggish for years.
Some marketers and sports consultants predict the same problem will hit hockey and, according to recent reports, Canuck casters have cut their ad rates for the coming season by 20% from those of 2003/04 – banking that one-fifth of fans, in the short term at least, will not tune in this fall.