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TAGGED AS BLUE ANT MEDIA INC.

Blue Ant announces new COO, plus new heads of global channels and Canadian media

Media | 02/27/2025 3:45 pm EST

Blue Ant announces new COO, plus new heads of global channels and Canadian mediaBlue Ant Media is promoting three staff members to new ranks.  Jamie Schouela is the production studio’s new chief operating officer, while Carlyn Staudt has become...

Blue Ant joins broadcasters in call for CanCon relief

Media | 07/18/2024 5:30 pm EDT

CRTC proposes code of conduct for ISPsBlue Ant Media Inc. is calling on the CRTC to lighten its CanCon spending obligations, blaming its “inability” to compete in the broadcasting market on the company’s restrictive licence conditions.  In a request submitted to the CRTC last month but made public on...

Blue Ant says contribution regime should be flexible

Internet and Governance | 12/04/2023 3:32 pm EST

Blue Ant says contribution regime should be flexibleForeign streamers must pay their fair share of contributions to the Canadian broadcasting system, but...

Blue Ant and marblemedia announce merger

Media | 08/10/2023 4:26 pm EDT

44.5% of under-30 households don’t have TV: reportBlue Ant Media and Marblemedia have decided to merge their operations into one firm, the companies said...

CRTC grants CanCon producers flexibility on stock footage costs

Media | 03/24/2023 5:30 pm EDT

CRTC releases described video statisticsThe CRTC has adjusted how it considers the use of stock footage for the...

Unscripted series the wave of the future for streamers, CMPA conference hears

Media | 02/06/2023 1:31 pm EST

CRTC releases described video statisticsOTTAWA–Streaming is the way of the future, a panel told the Canadian Media Producers Association with tweaks to the way content is produced. The Prime Time conference held a...

Broadcasters opposed to STB measurement system proposal

Media | 12/18/2019 6:12 pm EST

Several independent broadcasters have written to the CRTC to say the regulator shouldn’t grant a request by TV providers to change a rule forcing cable and IPTV services to hand over viewership...

Unclear who owns set-top box data, broadcasters argue

telecom | 08/21/2019 5:48 pm EDT

Incumbent competition ‘very aggressive’ against Fizz at launchQuebecor Inc. hasn’t established that it actually owns the set-top box data at the centre of a new...

Content exporters ask consulting panel for CMF envelope they can access, match

Media | 03/12/2019 7:07 pm EDT

Content exporters ask consulting panel for CMF envelope they can access, matchA trade association for Canadian-based television and content distribution...

CBC calls for site-blocking provisions for ‘manipulated content’

Media | 01/11/2019 4:09 pm EST

CBC president Catherine TaitCBC/Radio-Canada wants the federal government to grant the CRTC the ability...

CRTC dismisses bias complaint against Bell Fund

Media | 01/08/2019 5:37 pm EST

Bell Fund can’t boost limit for interactive content: CRTCThe CRTC has dismissed in part a complaint lodged against BCE Inc.’s Bell Fund earlier this year by a...

Blue Ant buying Saloon Media

Media | 10/11/2018 3:45 pm EDT

Blue Ant Media Inc. is acquiring Saloon Media, a Toronto production company “specializing in globally relevant factual television,” it said in a press release Thursday. Saloon Media’s shows include Mummies Alive and...

Blue Ant names new VP, says it will focus on Canadian, U.S. market

Media | 10/10/2018 1:58 pm EDT

Blue Ant names new VP, says it will focus on Canadian, U.S. marketBlue Ant Media Inc. has named Julie Chang its new vice-president of...

Change Bell Fund rules, media companies ask

Media | 05/15/2018 7:08 pm EDT

Change Bell Fund rules, media companies askOn Monday, the CRTC published a complaint from a group of media production companies including...

Jamie Schouela to helm Blue Ant’s Canadian media operations

Media | 01/08/2018 12:28 pm EST

Jamie Schouela to helm Blue Ant’s Canadian media operationsIn a press release on Monday, Blue Ant Media Inc. announced the promotion of Jamie Schouela to president of Canadian media at the content production company. Initially brought on as vice-president of marketing and then moving to the role of executive vice-president of...

Music channel denied Canadian distribution

Media | 12/21/2017 10:36 am EST

The CRTC has denied an application by Ethnic Channels Group Ltd. (ECGL) to bring a Polish music channel to Canada after Blue Ant Media Inc. and Stingray Digital Group Inc. said it would interfere with their own services. The...

Blue Ant Media CEO Raja Khanna steps down

Media | 11/21/2017 5:17 pm EST

Blue Ant Media CEO Raja Khanna steps downIn an emailed statement, Blue Ant Media Inc. has confirmed the resignation of its CEO of television and...

Blue Ant makes two int’l executive hires

Media | 11/14/2017 11:00 am EST

Blue Ant makes two int'l executive hiresBlue Ant Media Inc. has hired two new executives at its Kids & Global Networks division, the company...

Blue Ant opening animation studio

Media | 10/12/2017 2:38 pm EDT

Blue Ant opening animation studioBlue Ant Media Inc. is launching an animation studio, the company said in a press release Thursday....

Videotron takes Wholesale Code dispute with Rogers to CRTC

Media | 10/05/2017 6:27 pm EDT

Videotron takes Wholesale Code dispute with Rogers to CRTCQuebecor Inc.’s Videotron has filed a Part 1 application with the CRTC over a disagreement with Rogers Communications Inc. concerning carriage of some sports-focused TV channels. It’s accusing Rogers of violating the CRTC’s Wholesale Code by insisting the carriage...

U.S. broadcasters look to resume retransmission row

Media | 07/21/2017 2:52 pm EDT

U.S. broadcasters look to resume retransmission rowA group of American TV stations seems to be renewing its efforts to put compensation for signals...

CMF appoints two board members

Media | 07/06/2017 4:51 pm EDT

CMF appoints two board membersThe Canada Media Fund (CMF) has made two new appointments to its board of directors. Michael Schmalz...

Sam Sniderman takes on new role at Blue Ant

Media | 06/26/2017 2:17 pm EDT

Sam Sniderman takes on new role at Blue AntSam Sniderman has been named global head of commercial affairs and production at Blue Ant Media Inc.,...

Blue Ant names Alex Maldini VP of international sales

Media | 06/20/2017 12:11 pm EDT

Blue Ant names Alex Maldini VP of international salesAlex Maldini is the new vice-president of international sales and acquisitions at Blue Ant Media Inc.,...

Blue Ant buys Racat in int’l expansion move

Media | 05/24/2017 4:17 pm EDT

Blue Ant Media Inc. has acquired Racat Group, with international assets that include production houses and mobile game developers. As part of the deal, announced Wednesday, Blue Ant gets Racat’s New Zealand-based natural...

Nick Solowski joins Blue Ant

Media | 03/08/2017 5:15 pm EST

Blue Ant Media Inc. has appointed Nick Solowski as its new director of international sales and acquisitions. He will be responsible for licensing Blue Ant content in various international markets, including the U.S. Hispanic...

Canadian tech, telecom community offers support in wake of U.S. travel ban

Media | 01/30/2017 4:08 pm EST

More than 1,700 people representing a variety of tech and telecom companies have signed on to an open letter opposing U.S. President Donald Trump’s weekend executive order blocking entry of...

Blue Ant partners on Canadian BBC Earth channel

Media | 12/06/2016 5:47 pm EST

Blue Ant Media Inc. and BBC will launch the BBC Earth channel in Canada in January, the companies said in a Tuesday press release. The channel, scheduled to begin broadcasting on Jan. 24,...

Industry association for CanCon exports formed

Media | 11/17/2016 10:45 pm EST

An industry association representing Canadian distributors and exporters of TV and digital content has been formed, with the intention of helping develop content at home and export it abroad.   The Canadian Association of Content Exporters – Association canadienne des exportateurs de contenu (CACE-ACEC) announced its formation and founding members in a Wednesday press release. The group will be “focused on building a more sustainable Canadian industry by supporting a policy framework that encourages risk-taking by internationally competitive Canadian-based content...

Blue Ant sells 4 shows to Discovery Communications

Media | 11/14/2016 7:11 pm EST

Blue Ant Media Inc. has sold four reality shows to Discovery Communications Inc., which will be broadcast on Discovery’s channels airing in the United States and Latin America. Blue Ant said in...

Bell’s Wholesale Code appeal, conditions of licence ask face stiff opposition

Media | 08/26/2016 9:14 pm EDT

BCE Inc. has “unclean hands” in its effort to have the Wholesale Code overturned by the federal Appeal Court while simultaneously applying to have removed certain conditions of...

Blue Ant sells lifestyle series abroad

Media | 06/28/2016 9:15 pm EDT

Blue Ant Media Inc. has sold several original series to international buyers, the company announced Tuesday. In a press release, the content distribution company said four home sales and renovation series will be...

Heritage’s CanCon review could take a decade to play out, panel hears

Media | 05/05/2016 10:06 pm EDT

OTTAWA — The results of the sweeping review of Canadian content in a digital age announced by Heritage Canada last week could take 10 years to materialize, University of Ottawa law professor...

Blue Ant launches 4K streaming app

Media | 02/23/2016 4:49 pm EST

Blue Skye Entertainment, a joint venture between Blue Ant Media Inc. and Smithsonian Networks, announced Monday it has launched a 4K subscription video-on-demand app called Love Nature. It’s available in 32 countries that include the U.K., Australia, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand and Switzerland. Sarah Etherden, spokeswoman for Blue Ant, said in an email that the service plans to launch in Canada later this year. She was not able to provide a launch date or the cost. It said in the press release that subscribers will be able to watch documentaries, series, featured themes and...

4K’s appeal extends beyond sports, say experts

Media | 01/22/2016 9:22 pm EST

While Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. are getting the ball rolling on 4K broadcasting in Canada with a heavy emphasis on sports, others feel food, nature, music videos and outdoor adventure programming are also the kinds of content that would work well in ultra-high definition. Chris Knight, CEO at Ottawa-based Gusto TV, said in a phone...

Freemantle’s Jens Richter slated for Prime Time keynote

Media | 01/11/2016 3:26 pm EST

The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) said Monday that Jens Richter, CEO of FremantleMedia Ltd.'s international division, will be part of a keynote conversation at this year's Prime Time in Ottawa event. He will be joined on on the morning Friday, Feb. 5, by Raja Khanna, CEO of Blue Ant Media Inc.'s...

Blue Ant partners with Smithsonian Networks to create content

Media | 12/14/2015 2:33 pm EST

Blue Ant Media Inc. announced Monday it has partnered with Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between CBS Corp.’s Showtime and the Smithsonian Institution, to create Blue Skye Entertainment,...

Blue Ant sells content to Asia

Media | 11/27/2015 2:59 pm EST

Blue Ant Media Inc.’s international division announced Friday it has made sales of more than 175 hours of content from its catalogue of factual, factual entertainment, nature and wildlife, lifestyle and documentary series to...

Blue Ant to distribute Cream Productions content

Media | 11/24/2015 2:26 pm EST

Blue Ant Media Inc.’s international division announced Tuesday in a press release that it has signed a multi-year, exclusive distribution deal with Cream Productions Inc., an international factual content creator based in...

Blue Ant makes several leadership changes

Media | 11/18/2015 6:56 pm EST

Blue Ant Media Inc. on Wednesday announced several changes to its leadership team, including the appointment of Jamie Schouela to the newly created position of executive vice-president of Canadian networks. Blue Ant said in a...

Blue Ant makes 4K channel available worldwide

Media | 10/01/2015 1:26 pm EDT

Blue Ant Media Inc. announced Thursday that its 4K Love Nature channel content is now available for worldwide distribution. The content company said in a press release that the 4K content will be available on linear and streaming...

Blue Ant launches new 4K content at MIPCOM conference

Media | 09/22/2015 1:42 pm EDT

Blue Ant Media Inc. announced Tuesday that its international division will launch new 4K titles in the nature, wildlife and documentary categories at MIPCOM, a global entertainment content conference. Blue Ant said in the press...

Blue Ant seeks CanCon quota reduction

Media | 08/31/2015 3:55 pm EDT

Blue Ant Media Inc. has asked the CRTC to require less Canadian content on its Cottage Life specialty channel for the remainder of its contract that expires in three years. Blue Ant said in its application, which appeared on the CRTC's website Monday, that its licence mandates Cottage Life to have at least 80 per cent Canadian content during a broadcast day, and at least 50 per cent in the evening. It asked that the daily requirement be reduced to 50 per cent, with no change asked for in the evening quota. "The proposed amendment would provide Cottage Life with regulatory parity...

Canadian OTT startup looks to take on the world

Media | 08/17/2015 8:01 pm EDT

An emerging Canadian provider of over-the-top (OTT) video content hopes that reaching viewers around the world, and particularly those with very specific interests, translates into keys to success in the fast-changing television...

Canadian company plans niche OTT channels

Media | 08/11/2015 3:47 pm EDT

Toronto-based TableRock Media announced on Tuesday plans to launch niche Internet-based video channels for worldwide distribution, starting next year. The company said in a press release that it would create channels dedicated to...

Blue Ant sells content to Eastern Europe

Media | 06/09/2015 3:08 pm EDT

Blue Ant Media Inc. announced Tuesday sales of more than 100 hours of nature and wildlife content from its factual, lifestyle, reality and documentary series catalogue for distribution in Eastern Europe and other international...

Broadcasters, BDUs at odds over proposed wholesale code

Media | 05/08/2015 8:49 pm EDT

While many broadcasters and TV providers expressed support for the CRTC’s proposed changes to its wholesale code, which governs carriage agreements for TV channels, they took differing positions...

Jean-Pierre Blais to speak at Banff conference in June

Media | 04/17/2015 8:00 pm EDT

CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais will give the keynote address to the Banff World Media Festival on June 7, according to a press release from the organizers of the event. Blais will speak to the conference, which bills itself as “the world's largest and most important gathering of entertainment industry and digital media executives,” about the recent Let’s Talk TV proceeding as well as the future of telecom regulation in Canada, the release said. Other guests at the conference will include Heather Conway, executive vice-president of CBC/Radio-Canada’s English...

Bell Media’s Crull takes aim at U.S. channel retransmission

Media | 03/06/2015 10:04 pm EST

OTTAWA — The retransmission of U.S. networks in Canada is the equivalent of Aereo, the service ruled illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court last year, Kevin Crull, president of BCE Inc.'s media...

Friends of Canadian Broadcasting at odds with Bell over TV ad

Media | 02/25/2015 9:54 pm EST

Advocacy group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting say a television ad was turned down by Canada’s largest broadcasters, yet at least one company says it has no record of the denial. In the...

Blue Ant appoints Kate Blank to run international arm

Media | 02/18/2015 3:34 pm EST

Blue Ant Media Inc. said Wednesday it has appointed Kate Blank as director of international sales for the Asia-Pacific Region, German-speaking countries, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. In a news release, the company said...

VMedia secures Blue Ant content for cloud-TV service

Media | 01/22/2015 8:14 pm EST

VMedia Inc. said it has secured its first specialty-TV channels for the cloud-based PVR service it makes available to IPTV customers. The company said in a news release Thursday that it has reached a deal to include Blue Ant...

Streaming services present ‘exciting’ opportunity: production exec

Media | 11/14/2014 10:03 pm EST

It makes sense that David Cormican is optimistic about the impact new streaming services will have on Canadian producers. He’s halfway through the shoot of a new show called Between. It's a teenager-focused drama about a group of youth quarantined by the government after the outbreak of a mysterious disease. It...

Laura Pearce new brand strategy VP at Blue Ant

Media | 10/20/2014 8:56 pm EDT

Laura Pearce is the new vice-president of brand strategy and fan engagement at Blue Ant Media Inc. “Her expertise will be a key asset in growing the company’s 10 media brands, including Cottage Life, T+E, Oasis and...

Blue Ant to make 4K programming

Media | 10/09/2014 6:15 pm EDT

Independent broadcaster Blue Ant Media Inc. will make 200 hours of 4K, or ultra high-definition, “nature and wildlife” content each year, the company said in a press release Wednesday. “Over 150 hours of...

Penetration-based pricing biggest barrier to pick-and-pay: analyst

Media | 07/09/2014 1:51 pm EDT

The biggest challenge standing in the way of a pick-and-pay TV system is the current penetration-based rate card regime, Scotia Capital telecom analyst Jeff Fan said in a research note....

Blue Ant Media partners with YouTube-focused music network

Media | 04/01/2014 7:35 pm EDT

Blue Ant Media Inc., a Toronto-based media group, said Tuesday it has struck a partnership with Omnia Media, which it said is the third-largest largest music-focused network on Google Inc.’s YouTube platform. Blue Ant said in a press release that it has become Omnia’s “exclusive sales representative” and “the preferred production partner for original content creation and brand integrations.” Blue Media said Omnia has a roster of more than 650 musical artists and gamers, and is among the top 10 YouTube multi-channel networks....

Blue Ant Media goes international

Media | 03/21/2014 5:36 pm EDT

Blue Ant Media Inc. has officially launched its international distribution arm, the company said this week. The Toronto-based distributor of television content said in a press release Thursday that its new division is called Blue...

Variety on television must be preserved, says Bell’s Crull

Media | 02/20/2014 10:26 pm EST

OTTAWA — Industry executives disagreed about the best way to give consumers more choice as they discussed the CRTC’s ongoing review of the television system during a panel discussion at...

Shaw offering free previews of Blue Ant channels

Media | 05/29/2013 9:44 pm EDT

Blue Ant Media Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. reached an agreement to offer Shaw cable subscribers free previews of three Blue Ant specialty channels. Shaw cable customers will have free access to HIFI, eqHD and radX until...

Blue Ant appoints new production exec

Media | 02/15/2013 12:54 am EST

Blue Ant Media Inc. appointed Sam Linton as its executive in charge of production, Blue Ant said Wednesday. In a release, Blue Ant said Linton has more than 24 years of experience in production and programming. He previously held the position of vice-president executive producer at Toronto-based RTR Media Inc., the release said. Blue Ant...