Actors poised to strike
Canada’s actors have handed a hefty bargaining chip – in the form of an overwhelming vote to strike – to their reps in the continuing face-off against the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, the Canadian Film & Television Production Association and its Quebec counterpart, APFTQ.
CanWest newspapers now downloadable in 12 more languages, audible in seven
Responding to Canada’s multicultural reality big time, Canwest has launched electronic versions of all 11 of its chain’s newspapers in a dozen languages as well as English. And not only can subscribers read stories in their preferred language – plus see the day’s ads – some can also hear the news read aloud in their native tongue.
Global gets two top fivers
BBM/Nielsen Top 30 – Dec. 4-10, 2006
CTV’s C.S.I. is back at the top, while the net’s Criminal Minds fell from #1 to #8 in BBM/Nielsen’s peak AMA rankings for Dec. 4-10. Global’s House dropped from #2 to #7, but the rival net kept second place with Survivor: Cook Island. While Global’s hold on second place still lags far behind CTV’s numbers for C.S.I., it finally has two shows in the top five.
Astral hires Green for strategic marketing & sales
He started with Hershey and Nabisco. Entertainment One had him in sales for video games. Now, Stephen Green’s in charge of strategy for Astral Television’s plans for its brands.
TV Land puts Mr. T into reality
I Pity the Fool – anybody who remembers this trademark line will know that Mr. T is the star of the show. The ’80s pop cult icon is back, and he’s putting his brand of motivation into a reality series whose name echoes his own most famous four words.
Air Dogs appeals to aviation nuts
Discovery Civilization Channel is taking viewers into some pretty rare cockpits for some high flying at the end of January.
CRTC weighs in on future of broadcasting
The just-released CRTC report on the future of broadcasting in Canada predicts a major shift of audio-video via personal digital technologies over the next five years. Not exactly a big surprise – but some of the Commission’s other statements may raise eyebrows.
BGM’s Fecan named Playback‘s
Person of the Year
As federal regulators ponder Bell Globemedia’s $1.4-billion purchase of CHUM, the architect of the landmark deal – its president/CEO Ivan Fecan – has been named Person of the Year by Playback, Canada’s preeminent film and television production journal.
TSN Broadband gets a full roster
Off The Record, SportsCentre, Insider – it’s all there. It’s not quite surprising, but it is now official. TSN has launched the first fully-programmed broadband sports channel, and the net’s packed its player with features that give the user control.
Canadians, especially males, warming to online newspapers: BBM Media Snapshot
How many Canucks are now consuming virtual news? As of last week, the number was up to 4.2 million, or 15% of the total population of the great, but not currently so white, north.
Space bets on Sci-Fi reality
Space has imported Sci Fi Investigates from the US for its January schedule. The show’s got some healthy multiplatform activity backing it up south of the border – such as podcasts, online polls, webisodes and an active forum for fans – but will it grab Canadian eyeballs?
Dentsu goes 100% viral with Christmas rant for WaySpa.com
Bouncing off the insight that hordes of men feel horribly pressured at this time of year to come up with desirable gifts for significant others, a Dentsu Canada team crafted a series of hilarious, Rick Mercer-calibre rants and posted them on YouTube plus a slew of other sites.
Pampers puts viral spin on popular seasonal spot
P&G’s trusted diaper brand is putting its popular sleeping-baby holiday ad online. Watching it brings a sense of peace during the hectic Christmas shopping craze. It’s a momentary relief, a reminder that there’s hope – and just the kind of feeling you can’t help forwarding to a friend.
Lavallée named publisher for Les Affaires
Transcontinental Media has named Stéphane Lavallée the next-in-line publisher for one of its most prestigious business publications. But the current publisher was too good to let go, so new partners of the paper can expect to see him sticking around.
Ads for escapes, cameras and cellphones dominated radio spots: Media Monitors Spot 10
SellOffVacations zoomed from #152 to #4, while Henry’s Camera climbed from #91 to #7, and Rogers boosted its presence for both wireless and personal TV.
