Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:
- On Thursday, Rogers Media Inc. cut 110 jobs from its broadcast television operations bringing Breakfast Television here in Edmonton to an end as well as ending all OMNI newscasts. Former BT Edmonton host Ryan Jespersen was among the first to tweet the news, and I have heard that nearly two dozen people were let go here in town. BT Edmonton will be replaced with a new show called Dinner Television, which will air from 5pm to 7pm and will be replayed the following morning from 7am to 9am. The new show will feature Bridget Ryan and Courtney Theriault from BT Edmonton, along with Jason Strudwick. You can follow Dinner TV on Twitter and watch for the debut episode on May 19.
- Gig City notes that newcomer Claire Hanna will also be joining the cast of Dinner TV.
- There was an outpouring of support for BT Edmonton on Twitter after the news broke. It seems the show had really formed a connection with Edmontonians over the years. They were always pretty savvy at connecting with the social media community, largely thanks to the efforts of Ryan Jespersen. I really enjoyed kicking off Bloggers Week on BT Edmonton a few times.
- A report at BNN says that Asian Television Network could benefit from the shutting of OMNI and other changes to the TV landscape.
Ryan & Bridget on BT Edmonton in 2012
- Congratulations to all of the winners of the 2014 Yeggies! A special lifetime achievement award was handed out to Dave Cournoyer who has been writing his popular Daveberta.ca blog for ten years now.
- I joined YouTube on August 14, 2005, exactly six months after the site launched. Sandra Sperounes took a look back at some of the most popular YouTube videos to come out of Edmonton over the last ten years (like most of you, none of my videos have ever come close).
- You can find the neon sign that used to hang at Mike’s News Stand at the Neon Sign Museum on 104 Street. Lawrence Herzog wrote about the “Edmonton institution” that used to sell newspapers and magazines on Jasper Avenue.
- Here’s a profile of NOW! 102.3 FM host Mark Drelich. “Despite his late night timeslot, Mark admits that he’s happy where he is and with what he sees for his future in radio.”
- The winners of the 2015 Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards have been announced. Edmonton had 14 nominations and won 2: Garner Andrews won on air talent (major market) and 107 World FM won multicultural station.
- Today was the start of the Crosbie & Cross show on 95.7 CRUZ FM. You can check out some promos of Nicola Crosbie and Lochlin Cross here. Best of luck to you both!
- This sounds pretty cool: The Magnificent Malls of Edmonton, a zine produced by Vivek Shraya. It features “thirty Edmontonians sharing their funniest, saddest, most treasured, or most symbolic mall memory.” It launched on Sunday at the Capilano Public Library. You can learn more about the project here.
- We’re less than a month away from the kickoff of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup taking place right here in Edmonton. You can find the CTV, TSN, and RDS broadcast schedule here.
- Here’s Edmonton Journal photographer Larry Wong talking about some of his best photos from 2014.
- Kick Point tracked the #abvote hashtag and wrote up the statistics. As expected, we used the hashtag a lot during this election!
- Here is Karen’s latest round of local blog posts.
- Maybe the paywall will never make its way to the Journal after all? Addressing the International News Media Association World Congress today, Julie Murtha from the Toronto Star said paywalls did not work for them and that promoting stories on the front page didn’t appear to affect readership.
- Postmedia has teamed up with SiriusXM Canada to launch National Post Radio. The radio show will be hosted by Matt Gurney.
- This should be interesting: Reddit is launching a video division to create original content.
You can follow Edmonton media news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegmedia. For a great overview of the global media landscape, check out Mediagazer.
So, what have I missed? What’s new and interesting in the world of Edmonton media? Let me know!
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