CHUM Ltd. is not about to change hands despite the death last month of its founder and majority shareholder Allan Waters, according to company president and CEO Jay Switzer.

Not only did Les Boys IV hold off a resilient Maurice Richard for four weeks in a row since its opening Dec. 9, but it elbowed out Peter Jackson’s King Kong for top spot on New Year’s weekend in Quebec, taking in $419,732 on 101 screens to reach a total of just over $3 million, according to distributor Christal Films.

Always a big draw over the holidays, the first four games of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship tournament featuring Team Canada averaged 1.2 million viewers on TSN, a 15% increase over the first four games last year.

The Hot Sheet tracks Canadian box-office results for the period Dec. 23-29 and television ratings for the period Dec. 12-18.

Montreal: The beginning of 2006 brings closure for National Film Board commissioner Jacques Bensimon. This year will mark the conclusion of his five-year mandate as head of the Crown corporation, which – given the straits the NFB was in during much of the ’90s – has been marked by a return of good fortune for its formerly ailing filmmakers.

Projects by Clement Virgo, Jeremy Podeswa and Allan Moyle are among the films getting cash from a new $1.5-million program at the Ontario Media Development Corporation

The complexities of family life sat well with the people behind Canada’s Top Ten for 2005, who gave high marks to features about mom, dad, the kids and the downside of being a preteen widow.

Whistler, B.C.: The Whistler Film Festival enjoyed a busy four days and drew some 5,000 people to its ski resort hometown last month – on course, say organizers, with their five-year plan to put the fest near the top of the Canuck film circuit.

LGE rounds down

Amsterdam, Netherlands: Having hosted 306 movies and more than 130,000 moviegoers, including its one-millionth all-time attendee, the 2005 edition of the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam wrapped a successful 11-day run on Dec. 2.

* Denise Donlon has been elected to the board of directors at CHUM Ltd. A longtime CHUM employee, and former VP and GM of MuchMusic, Donlon was also president of Sony Music Canada from 2000 to 2004.

Shaw Communications has resigned from the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association, but neither party is willing to discuss the split.