Everything about Industry News, eh?

Quebecor looking for the next TV hit

From a media release:

Quebecor, in collaboration with C2 Montreal, invites all television and film media creators and designers to a formidable challenge: to pitch “the” big idea that could give rise to a new TV format that’s likely to appeal to producers and — who knows? — possibly reach across the planet!

The P.I.T.C.H competition offers an unprecedented opportunity to put daring, innovation and imagination in the spotlight! Open to all designers — professional or not — aged 18 and older, Canadian citizens residing in Quebec, P.I.T.C.H wants to showcase the breadth and strength of Quebec’s audiovisual creativity. Non-scripted television formats, original and unpublished, as long as the intellectual property is fully owned by the individual submitters, will be eligible.

Three P.I.T.C.H grants will offer something to inspire participants. The first prize consists of a $25,000 development grant offered by the Quebecor Fund. The second prize, offered by Armoza Formats, entitles the recipient to participate in the April 2016 MIPFormats in Cannes. The third prize will be a four-week development course with the QMI Content Creation team.

Will the next La Voix, Les enfants de la télé or L’amour est dans le pré come from Quebec? That’s the P.I.T.C.H competition challenge!

To enter the P.I.T.C.H competition, simply submit an outline of a TV format by April 15, 2015.

Proposals will be evaluated under the supervision of Quebecor. Selected finalists will then be retained for four weeks to work on and submit their presentations to a jury of five public figures from the audiovisual industry in Quebec and abroad during the 2015 edition of C2 Montreal, to be held from May 26 to 28.

For more details, visit www.pitchformat.com.

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Link: Sun News Network goes off the air

From James Bradshaw of The Globe and Mail:

Sun News Network has gone dark.

The television station that launched in 2011 promising “hard news and straight talk” went off the air at 5 a.m. Friday morning. No on-air announcement was made as the screen went dark and was replaced moments later with the Sun TV logo.

The closing will mean the loss of 150 full-time jobs and affect about 200 employees and contributors. Continue reading.

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Link: Employees believe Sun News about to go dark as sale to Zoomer falls through

From Greg O’Brien of Cartt.ca:

Employees at Sun News believe they are soon to be the recipients of some very hard news. According to several sources, many staffers have become convinced that the last day of operations will be this Friday, February 13th because a deal for the sale of the channel has fallen through.

As first reported by Cartt.ca in December, ZoomerMedia held an exclusive negotiating window with Quebecor Media, the owner of Sun News, to buy the struggling TV channel and it was hoped that the company controlled and run by Moses Znaimer would keep it afloat. Continue reading.

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CBC schedule garners record-breaking numbers

From a media release:

CBC-TV is a primetime destination for Canadians this winter season, with a lineup of new and returning hits that continue to deliver strong ratings across all key demographics.With 1.3 million Canadians on average tuning in to watch THE BOOK OF NEGROES miniseries on Tuesday night, new confirmed data shows THE BOOK OF NEGROES debuted to an audience of 1.941 million people. THE NATIONAL also garnered impressive numbers on Tuesday night, with an audience of just over 1 million Canadians tuning in following THE BOOK OF NEGROES.

CBC WINTER SEASON RATINGS HIGHLIGHTS:

THE BOOK OF NEGROES premiere captured an audience of 2+AMA of 1.941 million. Confirmed audience data shows that more than 1.9 million Canadians watched the premiere episode of THE BOOK OF NEGROES on Jan. 7, with 1.6 million returning for the second episode the following week

SCHITT’S CREEK premiere captured an audience 2+AMA of 1.581 million, followed by 1.55 million for episode two at 9:30pm on January 13

MURDOCH MYSTERIES returned on Jan. 12 to a 2+AMA of 1.387 million viewers, which was the highest-rated episode of the season

RICK MERCER REPORT captured an audience of 2+AMA of 923,000 upon return on Jan. 13, with 1.109 million viewers tuning in on Jan. 20 — the highest viewership for RMR of the season so far

THE NATIONAL saw an audience of  2+AMA of 1.208 million on Jan. 7 and 1.001 million on Jan. 13, a record number for the 2014/15 season

HEARTLAND consistently garners more than 1 million viewers per episode, bringing in an audience of a 2+AMA of 1.027 million on Jan. 11 and 1.036 million on Jan. 18

THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES secured an audience of  2+AMA of 889,000 on Jan. 13, and 977, 000 on Jan. 20, which was its highest-rated episode since the 2013/14 season

DRAGONS’ DEN continues to capture the attention of Canadians, bringing in an average audience of about 1 million viewers each week

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Link: Why the Super Bowl simsub decision is the beginning of the end of the system, and of vertical integration

From Greg O’Brien of Cartt.ca:

Four Canadian broadcasters we talked to, none of whom wanted to go on the record against the CRTC chairman, believe the decision to ban simsub for the Super Bowl is a horrible one and is nothing less than the beginning of the end of simsub altogether – and has now thrown the entire Canadian rights market into panicky flux. “I don’t know how to do deals anymore,” said one broadcaster who spoke frankly about the decision on condition of anonymity. Continue reading.

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