Banff, Alta– The second panel I moderated at Banff was “Broadcasting the 4K Way.” The panelists were Mary Ellen Carlyle, SVP & GM of Dome Productions, Scott Moore, President of Sportsnet and head of all things NHL at Rogers and my cousin Ken MacDonald, GM & VP of Discovery Canada. MacDonald, who I’ve been interviewing
BANFF, Alta.–There should be a law against blogging at Banff. It is just too damn beautiful outside. Everywhere you look is a picture postcard. So let’s run through Monday’s Banff World Media Festival experience as quickly as possible. I moderated two sessions. The first was called, “The Future of Canadian Content” and the Alberta room
BANFF, Alta.– “We can work together to create risks,” says Heritage Minister Melanie Joly. “Yes–a politician talking to you about risks.” Joly was speaking to a room full of nervous television industry stakeholders as the keynote speaker Sunday at the Banff World Media Festival. The Minister got a lot of her talking points from the Canadian
I only had one encounter with the great Gordie Howe and while it was indirect, it was a beaut. “Mr. Hockey” died Friday at 88. In June of ’93, Mike Norris, then the sportswriter at TV Guide Canada, invited me along to join him at the opening of the newly relocated Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
Thursday in Toronto Corus hosted the third leg of the Canadian private network Triple Crown. Front and centre at Thursday’s Corus upfront was EVP and COO Barb Williams. The savvy network executive has had a Tartikoff-like ride in the TV game, making tons of money for her company although never exactly the poster child for Canadian TV
Random highlights from CTV’s really big shew for advertisers Wednesday night at Toronto’s Sony Centre: The venue was the same but the cast has changed. Just last year, Phil King was centre stage at the CTV upfront, changing T-shirts between clips. This year Phil got to sit out front; he’s now on the supply side, having
Day Two of Upfront Canada Week began bright and early Wednesday at 8 a.m. in Toronto. CTV likes to get journalists fresh off a punishing commute along the Gardiner before turning them loose on their executives. The reward was some Canadian bacon (nice) and artery-choking sausages and plenty of fresh fruit. There were some delicious
Day One of the Upfront Canada Week began Monday in the spacious press room known as the Rogers Centre. Rogers Media made smart use of the ballpark Ted picked up for Uber money. Reporters were escorted into a breakfast nook with a cool view of the baseball field below, where workers were hoisting Ferris wheels,