Changing CanCon rules might benefit from broader consultation, CRTC panel told

| 05/27/2025 6:40 pm EDT

A media company appearing at the last day of a CRTC hearing on redefining...

Bell expanding content distribution with majority stake in global distributor

| 03/26/2025 5:39 pm EDT

BCE Inc.’s Bell Media is branching further into global content...

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

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

Blue Ant Media is promoting three staff members to new ranks.  Jamie...

Blue Ant joins broadcasters in call for CanCon relief

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

Blue Ant Media Inc. is calling on the CRTC to lighten its CanCon spending obligations, blaming its...

Blue Ant says contribution regime should be flexible

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

Foreign streamers must pay their fair share of contributions to the Canadian broadcasting system, but should be able to choose how they do it, the CRTC was told Friday. The commission was wrapping up the second of three weeks of hearings into modernizing the broadcasting...

Blue Ant and marblemedia announce merger

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

Blue Ant Media and Marblemedia have decided to merge their operations into one firm, the companies said...

Unions opposed to broadcasters’ calls to lighten regulatory load until C-11 is fully implemented

Media | 06/16/2023 4:35 pm EDT

Several trade unions representing Canadian media...

CRTC grants CanCon producers flexibility on stock footage costs

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

The 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

OTTAWA–Streaming is the way of the future, a panel told the Canadian...

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

Quebecor 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

A 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/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

The CRTC has dismissed in part a complaint lodged against BCE Inc.’s Bell Fund earlier this year by a coalition of media producers including CBC/Radio Canada and Blue Ant Media Inc., which alleged bias in how it decides on distributing funding. The complainants had...

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 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

On 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

In a press release on Monday, Blue Ant Media Inc. announced the promotion...

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 regulator said in a decision Wednesday that 360tunebox, a music channel originating from Poland, “concentrates on those same genres that are core to Stingray Vibe and features styles of programming that are very similar to those broadcast on [Blue Ant’s] A.Side,” among other reasons it denied the application. It added that all three channels “target the same...

Blue Ant Media CEO Raja Khanna steps down

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

In 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 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 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

Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron has filed a Part 1 application with the CRTC...

U.S. broadcasters look to resume retransmission row

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

A 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

The 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 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

Alex 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 history production house NHNZ and game developer Runaway Play, Beach House Pictures, a production company in Singapore, and children’s nature broadcaster ZooMoo Networks, as well as the documentaries of Australia-based Northern Pictures. Blue Ant said in a Wednesday press release the acquisition is part of an “ongoing international content expansion.” The...

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...

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 a Monday press release the announcement involves over "55 hours of content from its expanding catalogue of premium lifestyle and factual entertainment series.” The deals include the show Post My Party, “a home and design lifestyle series” featuring a professional event planner, Paranormal Survivor, which tells “true stories of terrifying...

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...

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 Toronto. “Blue Ant International’s non-fiction catalogue continues to grow exponentially and adding Cream Productions’ top-tier content to our offering emphasizes our promise to deliver a reliable pipeline of high quality content,” Solange Attwood, senior vice-president at Blue Ant International, said in the release. “Cream...

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...

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 market. TableRock Media, based in Toronto with less than 10 employees, announced this month it will launch three online video subscriptions services in the new year — covering guitars, aviation and motorcycles — for worldwide distribution. Asked why it is targeting the whole world right off the bat, TableRock CEO and co-founder Jeffrey Elliott said in a...

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...

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 is the first — and so far only — original Canadian show commissioned by U.S. streaming giant Netflix Inc. and new Canadian rival Shomi. The world of streaming services “is a little uncharted, so you can sort of make some of the rules as you go, or at least be on the first edge of creating those new rules,” Cormican, executive vice-president of...

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...

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 Ant International, and it will be using the upcoming MIPTV conference in Cannes, France, to raise awareness about its new business. “The launch of Blue Ant International is an integral part of the growth strategy for our company,” Raja Khanna, Blue Ant’s CEO of television and digital, said in the release. “In such a crowded marketplace we hope to stand out by focusing on superior service and by continuing to build a roster of top-tier content partners to create an industry-leading catalogue of high quality programming.” The Wire Report reported in January that Blue Ant had appointed...

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...