Tag Archives: CBC

‘Hockey Night’ will sing different tune

BANFF, Alberta — Canadian broadcaster CTV has swooped in to snag the rights to rival CBC’s iconic theme song for “Hockey Night in Canada.”

CTV will use the hockey anthem for its own National Hockey League telecasts on cable channel the Sports Network and its French-language counterpart RDS.

CTV also will use the theme song for its Vancouver 2010 Olympic hockey coverage.

The acquisition follows the collapse of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s licensing negotiations to keep the anthem to “Hockey Night,” a 40-year-old TV sports institution here.

Canada’s public broadcaster will now seek a replacement theme song in partnership with the Nettwerk Music Group.

The opening theme song has been heard by Canadians on CBC “Hockey Night in Canada” on Saturday nights from 1968.

As part of its deal with Copyright Music & Visuals, which represented the song’s composer Dolores Claman, CTV gained the rights to “The Hockey Theme” in perpetuity.

CTV last week reupped its broadcast deal with the National Hockey League for an additional six years.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

CBC, Sundance pact for documentaries

TORONTO — The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. has acquired a block of programming from the Sundance Channel for its newly branded digital documentary channel.

Canada’s public broadcaster said Friday that its digital channel, known simply as Documentary, will air a range of feature films, documentaries and series produced by the Sundance Channel, in addition to titles that the U.S. cable channel airs and represents.

Larry Aidem, Sundance Channel president and CEO, said that the U.S. channel has aired a range of Canadian documentaries and was “delighted to return the favor.”

The CBC documentary channel will air Sundance Channel programming in blocks on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and on weekends, under the “Sundance Channel presents” banner.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Feds search for new president of CBC

OTTAWA (CP) _ The federal government has started looking for a new president for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. to replace Robert Rabinovitch, whose second term ends in November.

The headhunting firm of Egon Zehnder International has been hired to seek out potential candidates and make recommendations. The final decision will be made by the Prime Minister’s Office.

An advertisement for the job appeared Wednesday in select newspapers and listed bilingualism as a criteria as well as broadcasting savvy.

The future president will work at the Crown corporation’s head office in Ottawa and will be responsible for the English- and French-language networks of the CBC, Radio Canada International and the aboriginal language stations in the North.

The candidate should be an innovator with good judgment and strong ethics, the ad said. Ian Morrison, spokesman for the watchdog group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, viewed the effort positively.

He said by undertaking a formal process, it appears the Conservative government is trying to avoid any suggestions it is playing favourites. Morrison said that this is the first time such a process has been used as far as he can remember.

He did say he hopes the new president will have a wide knowledge of the country and have a strong background in production, scheduling and marketing.

The CBC has a budget of about $1.5 billion, of which $950 million comes from the federal government.

Marc Normandin, a spokesman for Egon Zehnder, said the fact a headhunting firm has been engaged does not mean internal candidates have been ruled out. He said the process just means the pool of candidates will be deeper.

Rabinovitch has been president of the CBC since 1999. His tenure has been marked by the development of Internet services and a number of labour conflicts, including a seven-week lockout in 2005.

CBC contest for best digital filmmaker

CBC Television is giving emerging digital filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their talent on mainstream television and have a chance to win a $25,000 online entertainment development deal when the new, six-part one-hour series EXPOSURE hits the airwaves Sunday, July 29 at 11 p.m.

The series is looking for Canada’s best digital storytellers to submit their short films to www.cbc.ca/exposure and compete for a spot in the show. Canadians will help determine which digital videos will be featured on the television broadcast by rating and voting for their favourite films on the EXPOSURE website.

Each telecast episode of EXPOSURE will showcase an hour of the most popular videos from www.cbc.ca/exposure, and feature a Yahoo! Canada Showdown of the top three web rated shorts. Viewers can vote online to decide who wins the weekly prize package worth $1,500 and the chance to advance to the Showdown during the season finale on Sept. 2. 

During the Showdown, finalists will go head-to-head as they vie for the grand prize: a development deal worth up to $25,000 to create a new online entertainment series for CBC. Viewers will determine who wins the grand prize by voting online until Tuesday, Sept. 4. The winner will be announced online in an exclusive webisode on Friday, Sept. 7.

“The pool of Canadian talent in new media is on the rise,” said Kirstine Layfield, CBC’s executive director of network programming. “Exposure is an opportunity for the CBC to guide future generations of Canadian storytellers to the next stage in a national broadcast arena.”

EXPOSURE host Lara Doucette, best known for playing the vivacious Lala on the hit podcast Tiki Bar TV, will guide and navigate the viewers through the roundup of videos, and introduce celebrity guests. She will be joined by co-host Billy Reid, an acclaimed and talented artist from Victoria, B.C., whose video hits on his website verytasteful.com and Youtube have reached more than one million. He has also appeared on CBC On Demand, ZeD Television and the Gemini Awards.

CBC and Yahoo! Canada invited emerging filmmakers to share their stories and upload films and short video clips ranging from one to ten minutes in length to www.cbc.ca/exposure in June. Hundreds of provocative short films were received, including funny animations and innovative video clips.

The executive producer of EXPOSURE is Kevin Teichrob; the senior producer is Sean Embury.

Second City’s Next Comedy Legend debuts on CBC July 10

TORONTO – First-class sketch comedy, Canada’s hottest new comedians, ruthless competition and biting satire come together under one roof as comedic hopefuls from across the country battle it out on CBC Television’s THE SECOND CITY’S NEXT COMEDY LEGEND, beginning Tuesday, July 10 at 9 p.m.

There are some pretty big shoes to fill! The Second City alumni list reads like a Who’s Who of comedy. Sketch comedy performers from all over Canada will compete and be judged by SCTV alumnus Joe Flaherty, comedienne Elvira Kurt and director Mick Napier for a chance to join the ranks of such legendary Canadian performers as John Candy, Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, Mike Myers, Dan Aykroyd, Dave Thomas and Eugene Levy, all of whom got their start at The Second City. The series is hosted by Trish Stratus, the most decorated (and funniest) diva in WWE history.

Two winners from each of four audition cities—Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax and Toronto—will come together in Toronto for two weeks of competition, climaxing in a finale where the judges will select The Second City’s Next Comedy Legend! But while the competition is sure to be intense on stage, the contestants will also have to deal with their fellow comedians in the lodging they share.

Personality clashes, jostling for special rewards, back-stabbing and hidden agendas will make the road to stardom rocky and hilarious. By capturing all the action on stage and off, viewers will see the tension and conflicts; the plotting and scheming; and the hilarity that comes from challenging up-and-coming comedians not only to be funny, but to be funny on the spot!

Posts navigation