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Bold move raises questions
The CBC is being hauled before the CRTC to explain how rebranding Country Canada as bold did not violate its terms of licence. The regulator will hold a June 2 public hearing to determine if bold, which relaunched last March, airs programming that ‘provides information, interaction and entertainment from a rural perspective.’ Country Canada, initially called Land and Sea, was licensed in 2000 under these conditions.
Network quiet on new budget
CBC’s board has approved a new, leaner budget, but won’t confirm if layoffs are imminent, says a pubcaster spokesman. ‘We will inform our staff before we go to the media,’ CBC spokesman Marco Dubé told Playback.
Online rights: ‘Use them or lose them,’ says minister
Ontario Culture Minister Aileen Carroll and the Ontario Media Development Corporation sided with the creative community in calling for Internet and wireless service providers to contribute to the creation of online content. Carroll noted at the CRTC’s new media hearing that it is difficult for producers to get their content on closed new media platforms, especially mobile, and that they rarely have the bargaining power to ensure broadcasters will make use of new media rights.
Canwest’s Aussie network not for sale
Canwest Global Communications denied Australian reports it has begun to shop its controlling stake in Network Ten to potential buyers. Canwest spokesman John Douglas said the March 16 report in the Australian Financial Review was ‘sheer speculation’ and that the Winnipeg-based broadcaster will remain an investor in the network and
Lenders cut Canwest some slack
Canwest Media has secured an April 7 extension on talks with its bankers to rejig its $300-million credit facility, as it opens up a second channel of talks with lenders to recapitalize the company. In February, lenders cut Canwest’s access to the credit facility to $112 million. The latest extension will allow the Canwest Global subsidiary to continue shopping assets to raise cash to rework its balance sheet.
SAG faction wants strike
A hard-line faction of SAG members, dubbed Membership First, has posted a notice on its blog (membershipfirst.blogspot.com) that calls for a rejection of the recent offer made by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, and an immediate strike vote. Says SAG VP Anne-Marie Johnson in the post: ‘What are we waiting for? In my opinion, the deal is not going to improve… It is a bad deal. Forty-four days of actual negotiations, two days of mediation and three days of resumed negotiations with the revamped task force proved that the AMPTP had/has no intention of working with SAG to create an acceptable deal.’
Pact responds to ad ban
Pact, the U.K. producer body, has called for a re-evaluation of the recent government ban of product placement. Says the group: ‘Relaxing the usage of product placement would inject more than £72m [$128 million] into the UK television market in the short term, while creating more opportunities for UK production companies to compete worldwide and attract overseas investment, at a time when UK broadcasters are reeling from the effects of the recession… We believe the main issue is not whether or not it should be allowed, but how it is governed, to ensure transparency and restrict it from being overtly prominent.’
Sesame Workshop cuts 20%
Big Bird is watching his back after the Sesame Workshop announced that one-fifth of its 355-member staff would be let go. Beyond money raised through sales and government funds, the non-profit relies heavily on corporate donations and has been seriously impacted by cutbacks brought on by the recent economic downturn.
Has Rogers landed a new CEO?
Speculation has it that 52-year-old telecom exec Nadir Mohamed has been tapped as the new CEO of Toronto TV and wireless giant Rogers Communications. The position has been vacant since the passing of Ted Rogers last December. Company chairman Alan Horn has been acting CEO since October.
Big Apple eyes little tax break
A move by New York State to pour another $350 million into its stalled film/TV incentive program has been called too little and too late…
Filmmakers rally behind NFB
In the past, the National Film Board was an extraordinary place, today it’s in the process of disappearing.
A capital idea to move the Genies to Ottawa
In a wily pseudo-political move, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television is moving the 29th Genie Awards show live to the nation’s capital for the first time.
Horse races, new faces
Last year’s Genies might have been called The Sarah Polley Show – the debut director and her crew walked away with seven statuettes. This year presents a horse race with new faces – in all three ‘official languages’ and Hindi. Inuktitut is recognized as an official language in Nunavut, home to the hero of Benoît Pilon’s eight-times-nominated Ce qu’il faut pour vivre/The Necessities of Life.
Genies’ red-carpet ride to Parliament Hill
The Genie Awards ceremony has played in Toronto since its inception in 1980, with the exception of a couple of botched road trips down Highway 401 to Montreal in the mid-’90s. If those moves were made to appease the French, they didn’t work.
Critics’ picks for best picture vary wildly
Critics’ picks for best picture vary wildly
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