Cineplex Galaxy’s new digital cinema network offers flexibility, efficiency, and targetability
Cineplex Galaxy is making cinema much more attractive to advertisers with the launch of its new digital pre-show cinema network, Reel Entertainment. The pre-show is scheduled to run 20 minutes before the start of each film. Reel Entertainment premiers April 1 on 215 screens in 21 theatres in the Toronto extended market area and is expected to expand to 400 screens across the country by the end of the year.
Clear Channel moves into Montreal
Clear Channel Outdoor (CCO) has opened a Montreal office and appointed Alain Simard as general manager, Quebec and Eastern Canada, responsible for expanding CCO into those regions. Most recently, Simard has been working as a media consultant but has previously held posts with the Montreal offices of Rogers Media magazine division; Societe Radio-Canada sales and marketing; Planon Telexpertise; Nielsen Research Marketing; and BCP.
CCO properties include mall media, banner ads, airport advertising, signage in Toronto, and transit shelters in Ottawa. The Canadian operation is based in Toronto and is part of international OOH, radio and TV company, Clear Channel Communications of San Antonio, Texas.
Cortex to launch new international women’s magazine
Cortex Publishing, which currently publishes PLUS magazine, is in the final stages of development for their second publication dubbed, Beautiful. While Cortex has announced plans to market the mag in both Canada and the U.S., the company has not finalized details on an editorial profile or target market. For advertising information, contact Jack Krosinski at (416)521-9415.
CMDC conference lineup confirmed
The Canadian Media Directors’ Council (CMDC) has unveiled the full speaker and session lineup for the April 5 conference, Called to Account! – Managing Risk and Accountability. In addition to the keynote address by Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP Group, London, the conference is bringing in some other notables from beyond our borders. Jack Myers, editor and publisher of the Jack Myers Report will present his view of the media business in a morning timeslot. One of the afternoon sessions, ‘The Auditors and the Audited’, features John Billett, chairman of media audit firms Billets and MPMA (Media Performance Monitor America) and Stephen White, founder and chairman of UK-based EMM International (Effective Media Management). Session topics also include ‘The Performance of Ideas, A View From the Top’ with Ian Greenberg, president and CEO of Astral Media; ‘This Panel Brought to You By… The Future of Sponsorship and Branded Entertainment’, and ‘More than Media: Accountability in Business, Sports and Entertainment.’ Philip E. Donne, president of Campbell Company of Canada, is the scheduled luncheon speaker.
More on the conference can be found at www.cmdc.ca.
BBM Media Snapshot: Canadians online
More than three-quarters of Canadians have Internet access
– 72% of Canadians have Internet access at home.
– Of those who don’t have Internet access at home, one third (33%) have access either at work, school or some other location. This brings the total proportion of Canadians with some form of Internet access to 81%.
– Over half (57%) of Canadians with Internet access at home have high speed access – either cable or DSL based.
– Average weekly time spent online is 5.2 hours for Canadians with Internet access at home and 5.9 hours for Canadians with high speed access at home.
– The most popular activities online among all Canadians 18 or older who connected to the Internet yesterday are: e-mail (96%), searching for specific information (94%), browsing (84%), accessing information on specific products and services (78%), and accessing current news (66%).
– Teenagers who connected to the Internet yesterday are twice as likely to participate in chat groups and are 1.7 times as likely as adults to download music/MP3 files. Teens are less likely to access news or information on specific products than adults.
– Interestingly, yesterday exposure to TV and radio is about average (85% and 81% respectively) among Canadians spending more than 15 hours on the Internet each week.
Source: BBM RTS Canada Fall ’03 / Spring ’04
The preceding information is from BBM RTS, a syndicated consumer-media survey of over 55,000 Canadians, conducted twice a year by BBM Canada. For more information contact Craig Dorning of BBM Canada: cdorning@bbm.ca.
Falcon Beach expanded to 13-part series on Global
Canadians want more Falcon Beach. That’s what the research says, and more Falcon Beach is what Canadians are going to get. After the successful airing of the original two-hour movie/pilot on Jan. 29, Global has evaluated the research and will expand the youth-driven drama into a series of 13 one-hour episodes.
The series will follow the young adults through the summer as the cottagers collide with the locals at the fictional resort of Falcon Beach. Production is set to begin this summer through Manitoba’s Original Pictures and Toronto’s Insight Pictures. No airdates have been set.
For more information, visit www.canada.com and enter searchword Falcon Beach.
TVO sends teens around the world
For teens, the ever-important search for someone they can identify with can often be confined to the limits of their high school, but TVO has set out to change that on Saturday afternoons. Debuting April 2 at 12:30 p.m., Get Outta Town! is a 13-part reality series (already airing in the U.S. on WAM), that shows what it’s like to be a teen in other parts of the world.
For more information visit www.getouttatown.tv.
SPACE premieres new co-pro
Charlie Jade, a new 20-episode South African/Canadian co-production, is set to debut April 16 at 8 p.m. with two-full hours on SPACE. The series, airing regularly on Saturdays at 8 p.m., takes place in three parallel universes and stars Jeffrey Pierce as a rogue detective. SPACE will also air a half-hour special, Charlie Jade: Behind the Scenes, on Saturday, April 16 at 7:30 to provide viewers with a candid look at the production of the series.
CMT brings Canadians the best in country music (live)
Country music’s only awards show as chosen by the fans is coming live to Canadians this April on CMT. Online voting will determine the winners of the 2005 CMT Music Awards, the first round of which has already started in the U.S., with the final nominees to be announced on March 16. The winners are revealed Monday, April 11 at 8 p.m. Video Of The Year, voting will be opened worldwide at the beginning of the telecast with the winner being announced at the end of the show. Canadians can vote for their choice on www.cmtcanada.com.
Hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, the awards will feature a wealth of talent from the world of country music. Nominees include Shania Twain, Tim McGraw and Loretta Lynn and the likes of Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson and Toby Keith will perform.
OJ who? Michael Jackson case takes celebrity trial coverage to the next level
Because of the trial judge’s ruling, cameras will not be allowed in the courtroom as Michael Jackson defends himself against grievous charges of child molestation. Thanks to E!’s new show Michael Jackson: The Trial, airing six days a week on Star! and MuchMoreMusic, the letter of that law will be strictly upheld, but its purpose will be completely disregarded. Monday to Friday at 7 p.m., MuchMoreMusic will broadcast half-hour re-enactments of the previous days events, starring famed MJ impersonator Edward Moss (Scary Movie 3). Sundays at 7 p.m., Star! will air a one-hour recap of the previous weeks circus featuring commentary from legal experts and polls. If found guilty, MJ can expect to lose millions of dollars from civil suits, and will also likely lose the custody of his three small children.
40th Annual Crystal Awards
March 3, 2005
Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Toronto
www.cmw.net/crystalshtm
The Crystals, hosted by the Radio Marketing Bureau, recognizes the best in Canadian radio advertising. A morning seminar with Terry O’Reilly, Pirate Radio & Television, will host ’10 Best Radio Spots of All Time’. The Crystal Awards gala hosted by Sean Cullen with musical guests Matt Dusk and David Usher starts at 12:30 p.m. A post-gala keynote address will be given by Dr. Jackie Freiberg, co-author of Guts!: Companies that Blow the Doors Off Business-As-Usual.
Magazines Canada Seminar Series
March 9
Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar, Toronto
Geared to media planners, MC will discuss how regional and national mags complement one another, and deliver an engaged audience.
For more info, contact Magazines Canada prez Gary Garland: 416-596-5318
ggarland@magazinescanada.com
PMB Factoid
Teens are more than twice as likely to eat flavoured popcorn
Message in a bottle (Sending out an SMS)
Odds are that if you are sitting in front of your computer right now, you have MSN Messenger running; a claim supported by the fact that MSN has 10 million registered Canadian users among the 18 million regular Internet users in all of Canada. MSN unveiled its latest incarnation of its Search engine in early February and just days ago released Messenger 7.0 with several software upgrades including a new in-message-window search feature that has performed extraordinarily well with test markets. The initiatives are cementing MSN’s position on the global Internet ad market, where it has recently gone up against the likes of Yahoo and Google.
CanWest launches new mag for young Canadians, by young Canadians
CanWest is set to launch a new free daily magazine complete with comprehensive interactive services dubbed Dose, April 4, 2005. The new pub will distribute 320,000 magazines every weekday spanning five major Canadian cities (Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver) and will be complimented by an online service (www.dose.ca) as well as a wireless portal. The target for Dose will be urban, intelligent and fun 18-34 year-olds and will offer news and ‘other relevant information’. The on-line version of Dose will provide breaking news and in-depth coverage as well as a local search tool and an easy-to-use music channel. The wireless portal will offer movie listings, contests, polls, images, ring tones and games. Published by Harvard Business School grad and former media investment banker with Salomon Smith Barney, Noah Godfrey, Dose will available through select retail outlets and strategically located publication boxes.
