With Upfronts behind us in Canada, and as we stagger past the pandemic, it is time for a closer look at what the media companies have planned for the 2022-2023 season. The executives who make the major programming decisions agreed to discuss their priorities in a series of brioux.tv podcast episodes I’m calling, “Battle of
Last, but certainly not least among Canada’s media companies to hold a virtual upfront to advertisers this week was Bell Media. Their pre-packaged ad reel went “live” around 2 p.m. ET and, while there was one drop out on my screen for a minute or two, it wrapped up at the 3:07 mark. Bell boasted
Bell Media’s annual Upfront to advertisers is a week away, but they’ve already released what imports they’ll be featuring on CTV and specialty platforms in 2021-22. Thursday’s announcement includes many of the September starts revealed last month from American broadcasters. In past year’s CTV and other Canadian programming executives would fly to LA and bid
“Is regular network TV programming dead? These four Canadian broadcast execs say no, it’s evolving.” That’s the headline to a feature I wrote appearing in Saturday’s Toronto Star. Read the full story here if you’re a subscriber or, better yet, buy a copy. People have been writing the network TV obit for years. Tina Fey
What if comedy teams were chosen by accountants? It might go something like this: “Okay Laurel, you go with Costello. Rowan? Team up with Hardy. Lewis? Stand next to Shuster…” News this week that Dan O’Toole was being axed at TSN caught many sports viewers and industry observers by surprise. If jettisoning one half of
Come Feb. 21, Bell Media will shut down two specialty channels: Book Television and Fashion Television. The channels were holdovers from Bell Media’s 2006 acquasition of CHUM Limited. Consumer migration to streaming services was likely a factor in the decision. Certain specialty channels have limped along in this era of cord cutting, but fringe brands
I took a chance and emailed Mike Cosentino late Tuesday night after hearing he was out as president, content and programming, at Bell Media. The following reply bounced back immediately: “Hello and thank you for your email. Please be advised that Michael Cosentino is no longer with the company. Please re-direct any inquiries to Justin
The rock ‘n’ roll era is over at Bell Media with Monday’s announcement of the departure of Randy Lennox. Bell Group President and Vice Chair Wade Oosterman will assume operational leadership following Bell Media President Lennox’s departure January 4. No reason was given for the transition. In a release, Mirko Bibic, President and CEO of BCE and Bell Canada, thanked