By David Farrell
What Was Said
Life has changed for all of us in recent weeks. Each day brings a new set of challenges and opportunities as we adapt to ensure Canadians continue to have access to reliable communications networks across the country. More than ever, Canada’s communications system plays a vital role in our lives.
Broadcasters are doing their best to help Canadians navigate their way through the Covid-19 pandemic by disseminating accurate and high-quality news and information updates, despite facing some challenges. For its part, the telecommunications sector is working diligently to maintain a high level of service so we can all stay connected professionally and personally. And even though there may be occasions when networks are more congested, we know service providers are trying to resolve any issues in a timely manner.
We are paying close attention to the ever-shifting landscape, adjusting our work accordingly and dealing with urgent matters expeditiously. Where we can the CRTC has extended deadlines and postponed or rescheduled public hearings. As well, we are delaying the launch of certain new proceedings. We know the industry’s primary focus, presently, is on the delivery of services to Canadians.
We encourage you to consult our open proceedings page, as well as the Secretary General’s letters, for the latest information. Please keep checking the page regularly to see what deadlines may have changed.
In the meantime, we appreciate the continued efforts to ensure Canadians stay well-informed, engaged with work and entertained during this difficult period. – Ian Scott, CRTC Chair & CEO
Justin Trudeau: The Canadian economy won’t return to normal for at least a year
On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that there will be a "graduated" return to normal economic activity in Canada.
However, that could take anywhere from 12 to 18 months. – Jody Brimacombe, freshdaily
PM: Social distancing could last 12 to 18 months
“What I am saying is until there is a vaccine available, the reality of Covid-19 will still be with us,” Trudeau said, in French, during his daily press conference outside his Ottawa home. “And so for the months that that will take, and there are some estimates that say six or eight months, some say a year or a year and a half, we will have to be vigilant.” – Zi-Ann Lum & Althia Raj, HuffPost
Sportsnet lands 3-hour weekly ‘The Joey Vendetta Show’
The karmic king of all things rock ‘n’ roll, sports and media relations returns to the mic with The Joey Vendetta Show Saturdays on Sportsnet radio stations in Toronto (Fan 590), Vancouver (Fan 650) and Calgary (Fan 960) from noon-3:00 EST. His rebirth behind the mic is Easter Saturday with LA Kings legend Luc Robitaille in hour one, Baltimore Orioles/MASN Network owner John Angelos in hour 2 and NHL all-time great Doug Gilmour in hour 3.
“Each Saturday from noon to 3 pm EST we take an in-depth view of the week’s biggest sports stories with some irreverent entertainment and sports business thrown in for good measure while teeing off on the latest breaking hot button topics,” Joey ‘Vendetta’ Scoleri explains. Continuing: “We’ll talk to name guests who offer one of a kind insights and unique stories. The personal relationships we have in sports & entertainment will create an engaging, enthralling and entertaining experience to deliver a prime audio experience. The audience will also play a large part in the show via call-in & social media.”
Mark Boffo and Andrew Holland will be producing the show and “we may reach out to some of you as guests in the future,” Vendetta advises. Oh, and podcasts are to be available on the usual platforms too.
Scoleri (Vendetta) is a regular on the network in addition to heading Industry Relations for Live Nations.
A peek behind the curtain: How CBC staff are covering the pandemic
Newsrooms across the country are largely empty, with video conferencing the key connection point for staff all day long.
advertisementMany of our radio hosts are broadcasting live-to-air from home (see some of them in action in the photo gallery above).
Staff are also producing our biggest TV programs, including The National and CBC News Network, from home, with only a core group left in our buildings. – Brodie Fenlon, CBC News
Ottawa should address the journalism emergency: Nanos Survey
Canadians place their trust in professional journalism over unregulated social media platforms like Facebook. And with the media industry experiencing layoffs and closures due to Covid-19, a clear majority believes that the federal government should treat the media crisis as an emergency. These are some of the findings of a new survey released Thursday morning, conducted by Nanos Research for Friends of Canadian Broadcasting. – The Suburban
Toronto jazz musicians for JAZZ.FM91 create ‘The Song Is You’
In a remarkable display of solidarity and affection, 26 local Toronto musicians of note came together separately to record a song that is intended both as a lift for the city and a kindly nod to the radio station that has forever been a strong supporter of their endeavours. Below, before the spliced video segments used in the song, a brief note sent to us yesterday by Lorrie Russell, VP/MD, JAZZ.FM
I am a regular reader of your great publication.
I thought I would send this to you.
Never in my career in radio, have I seen this kind of collaboration from great local musicians, to show gratitude for a station. Our station, the only one in Canada, dedicated to jazz and to our local community.
JAZZ.FM91, Canada’s Jazz, and the only non-profit radio station dedicated to jazz music development in Canada.
Perhaps a bit of a sell; maybe just a good “feel-good story.
Be safe, be well. And thanks for your continued great content.
CNN buys ‘private discovery’ app Canopy to focus it on news
NewsCo is expected to launch within the next year, with Canopy’s 15 staff swelling its team to “approximately two-dozen people” – so they’ll clearly have a big impact on its development. The bittersweet element of this news is that it seemingly puts the kibosh on any hopes that Canopy’s technology will be put to work on music discovery. – Stuart Dredge, music:)ally
US radio chain JVC is supporting local businesses with free ad spots
JVC Media’s portfolio of 11 US radio stations has announced a campaign to support local businesses in its Florida and New York markets. The message is simple. In Florida call the Quarantine Speed Advertising line at 407-647-5332, in New York call 631-542-5441, and leave a 30-second voicemail showcasing your business. The JVC team will produce the message and play it on the appropriate radio station free of charge.
JVC/New York Executive VP Bruce Shepard added, "Consumers are spending less time in cars, at concerts, and other out of home locations. With consumers hunkered down in their homes with radios and smart speakers playing radio stations, radio wins. Listeners want interaction, not just a playlist. We have been overwhelmed with calls to our Pandemic Business Shout out and we are happy to help local businesses get the word out".
JVC Media president and CEO John Caracciolo said, "This is the time for radio to shine. We are not closed, we are not automated, we are live, local, and serving our local communities. I don't see the streaming or satellite services offering something like that."
The company founded in 2008 derives its initials from its founder John Caracciolo. It is not associated with the electronics company with the same initials.
BBC begins broadcasting weekly Islamic sermons as mosques remain shut
14 local radio stations are broadcasting Islamic reflections and prayers as places of worship stay closed amid Covid-19. – Middle East Eye
Trump's new press secretary has a history of defending Islamophobia
At a 2014 Fox Business panel, Kayleigh McEnany was all smiles. Sitting next to her was Gavin McInnes, the co-founder of the white nationalist group Proud Boys. Her smiles persisted even as he said that Muslims are genetically inferior because of "inbreeding".
She also appeared to agree with McInnes when he argued that Muslims are "totally irrational". – Ali Harb, Middle East Eye
The legal underbelly of live streaming concerts
Event cancellations and shutdowns due to Covid-19 have wiped out hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from the hands of artists, promoters and venues. In response, music live streams are popping up globally at a rate we’ve never seen before — from artists doing spontaneous performances and DJ sets from their living rooms, to major initiatives like UnCancelled and Minecraft’s in-game showcases bringing the exploratory, all-you-can-eat, multi-stage experience of a festival into a virtual environment.
Amidst this ongoing surge in activity, one important element has been surprisingly under-addressed: Licensing. – Water & Music, Patreon
Seth Meyers doesn’t want to get too good at taping Late Night from home
Meyers is learning how to assemble a late-night show from his attic during a global pandemic, but wishes he didn’t have to: “I would love this to end while I am still shitty at it.” – Julie Miller, Vanity Fair
Too Big to Fail: How Private Equity is winning the Coronavirus crisis
Private equity has made multibillionaires of executives like Blackstone’s Steve Schwarzman (net worth: $17.5 billion) and Apollo’s Leon Black ($7.5 billion). Thanks to the $2 trillion bipartisan bailout bill, the industry’s coronavirus losses will belong to all of us. – Bethany McLean, Vanity Fair
RIP
Bill Anderson, Canadian broadcaster, died April 5, at age 70. There will be a private family interment (Anderson; Capizzano; Kelly) at the Kelly Family Cemetery in Baysville at a later date. What follows is written by his longstanding partner, Heather Kelly.
Most of you know that Bill (Anderson) died at home early Sunday morning. He’d suffered from a virulent variety of lymphoma for the past eleven months. He decided right at the beginning this was not a fight or battle he was engaging in; he preferred a more positive attitude of managing the disease and treatment and to live his life as long as he had it. He quit his consulting job and retired with surprising ease.
We both turned 70 in 2019 and had planned a year-long celebration as opposed to a big party; with cancer added to the mix, it became even more important to move ahead with the celebrating. We shared a love of music, he, much more eclectic; me, more rock and roll. We began our year of celebration at a concert at Koerner Hall with the Canadian group Lighthouse, and the party went on through last summer. Even after a day of chemo last July, he was raring to go to see Jeff Lynne’s ELO; we saw Queen with Adam Lambert, two Classic Albums Live concerts and he even suffered through a Def Leppard blast-a-rama in Hamilton. The man loved me, what can I say? We had such fun!
Throughout, we spent countless hours at Princess Margaret Hospital at their Chemo Day Clinic, waiting to do blood tests, waiting for chemo to be prepared, many lumbar punctures, CT Scans, PET Scans, and radiation. Luckily there were few side effects and our life carried on, even as he grew weaker. I cannot say enough about the wonderful, warm medical people we met. They are saints truly, helping, caring, listening with their hearts.
At our niece’s wedding last September, the family started to notice changes - up to this point, Bill had not told anybody (other than Mike and Caroline, my son and his wife) about his illness - but it was time. Bill was a shy, private guy, but when the decision was made, he took the step to reveal his illness with courage.
When we knew that the latest chemo wasn’t working and he’d grown too weak to continue, we retreated to our little treehouse in the sky (we live at the top of a four-story apartment building in the middle of Rosedale and have a 60-foot spruce tree we can almost touch from the balcony). We got a hospital bed, lots of help from PSWs and nurses and warm supportive counsel from the PMH Palliative Care Team.
Bill died on Sunday morning at 6:20 am; it was pre-dawn, quiet, just the two of us together. It was like he orchestrated it himself - just the way he wanted it.
Bill was born in London, Ontario and lived there and in Lucan until he left home at about 17; three brothers and nieces and nephews still live there. He worked in radio as an operator at many radio stations, London, Windsor, Vancouver and in Toronto at CHUM and Q-107, so now you see where the love and knowledge of music developed. He also did a stint in promotions at CBS Records, working with a variety of musical groups - one of his prized possessions is a platinum album given to him by the members of Loverboy for their self-titled album in November 1980. He met and worked with Dolly Parton, Roy Orbison, Dylan, Elton John, Bob Seger and the Stones to name a few.
Later he worked as Canadian Director of Marketing for Subway Sandwiches, meeting and making many close friends. When Subway Head Office in Milford CT decided that Canada was no different than the U.S. and didn’t need any different marketing strategy (sound familiar?), he was turfed out. He then went on to do consulting for a variety of businesses until the illness took over. He’d originally planned to retire this coming June, but instead, retirement happened immediately after the diagnosis.
We’d travelled four times to Montepulciano in Tuscany, a heavenly, beautiful place, where we ate like kings and drank pure ambrosia and generally lived ’the life’. It was good we went when we were both healthy and had the energy.
I met Bill in December of 1987 at a group therapy weekend - we always laughed and said we were just two fuck-ups trying to get through life. Therapy saved our relationship and our lives and we owe so much to our loving compassionate therapist who helped us navigate life to the end. Marilyn, your love is a gift, and I thank you from my whole heart.
Bill and I eloped to Vermont to get married by a Justice of the Peace in the stunning Montpellier Inn; we’d done a road trip to New England when we turned 40 and fell in love with all the beautiful old country inns. Our honeymoon was spent at the Inn at Weathersfield Vermont; the owners, an older couple treated us royally - she was the chef and he serenaded us on piano with ‘Making Whoopee’. My mother, a staunch Catholic, wondered if our union was legal in Canada! She came to love Bill and his sweet nature, particularly after he reorganized the cottage kitchen cupboards and brought her a rosary from the Vatican, blessed by the Pope!
Bill meant something special to everyone he met; friend, conspirator, playmate, verbal jouster, a joker, often sarcastic, and very quick with the quips. He was a Virgo, very particular in his work and personal life. He loved design and staging - I’d often come home to find him rearranging furniture. He had a keen eye for detail, placement, and a feng shui attitude that he used to make every space we lived in warm, inviting and safe. Efficient use of space and an ability to visualize a dump transforming to a palace was incredibly satisfying fun for him.
Each of you knew him in a certain way and had a special relationship that you’ll miss as I will. I didn’t mean this to go on so long, but I needed to say these things and there is no better opportunity. Hopefully you know him a bit better now.
Attached is a short announcement Bill wrote along with a Spotify link to a playlist he had a lot of fun putting together; 'Songs That Shaped My Life’.
Listen and remember a very good man we all will miss.
Enjoy - my love and gratitude for all the kindness and comfort you have extended to me.
Heather Kelly
