NHL renews SiriusXM deal for six years

The NHL has announced an extension of its broadcasting agreement with SiriusXM and SiriusXM Canada, giving subscribers to the satellite radio service coverage of every NHL game through the 2028-29 season.

SiriusXM currently offers channels dedicated to every NHL team, in addition to the league-wide SiriusXM NHL Network Radio, which provides 24/7 news, analysis and interviews.

Prior to merging with Sirius, XM had been broadcasting NHL games since 2005, becoming the exclusive provider for the league in 2007.

Bayer hires new media director

Life sciences company Bayer has hired Tracy Ball, adding her to its in-house media team as director of media and digital platforms.

Ball joins from Home Depot Canada, which she joined in 2019 as manager of programmatic marketing before being promoted to senior manager of enterprise digital marketing. She also brings experience from the programmatic team at Innocean Worldwide, as well as director-level positions at AcuityAds. Ball also works with IAB Canada as a presenter for its programmatic trading certificate program.

New radio station will serve London’s South Asian community

The CRTC has approved a broadcast license for CIAL FM in London, Ont.,

The station will be run by Malayalam Community Radio, a group of volunteers looking to start a station for Malayalam speakers in London’s South Asian community. According to the CRTC’s ruling, the station plans to broadcast 126 hours of local programming per week, at least 87.5% of which would be devoted to third-language programming, with an even split between spoken word and music programming. The station also plans 5.5 hours of news content per week.

In addition to being the first ethnic radio station approved for broadcast in London, it is also Canada’s first radio station focused on the Malayalam language. According to the most recent census data, there are 3,175 people in London who listed Malayalam as their mother tongue.