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March 18, 2010
PRIVATE CONVENTIONAL TV STATIONS LOST $116.4 MILLION LAST YEAR
Despite major cuts in 2009, Canada's biggest private TV broadcasters still booked a big financial loss. The CRTC says the private-sector – including CTV and Global -- reported losses before interest and taxes of $116.4 million. In 2008, the stations saw a massive 93% drop in profits to $8
million.
The Commission says national ad revenues fell by 10.3% to $1.32 billion in the year ended Aug. 31, 2009, while local ad dollars were also down more than 10%. At the same time, the cost of running TV operations was reduced by 2.4%. Most of that money went to pay for buying and producing programming. In fact, says the CRTC, the money spent on foreign programming reached 59% of spending – the highest level ever recorded – at about $846 million. That was a 9.2% increase over 2008. The private broadcasters spent 3.3% less on Canadian programs.
Many of Canada's biggest broadcasters have asked the Commission to approve fees that Broadcast Distribution Undertakings (BDUs [cable and satellite]) would pay for them to carry their channels.
A decision on that is expected next week.
At the same time that the CRTC released private television’s financial results it also reported that Canadian cable operators booked profits before interest and taxes of $2.3 billion, up from from $2.1 billion in 2008. And direct-to-home (DTH) satellite distributors reported profits before interest and taxes of $82 million, up from $81.4 million a year earlier.
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March 18, 2010
Record Interactive and Online Viewing for CTVOlympics.ca & RDSolympiques.ca: The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Review
Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium set a record in online viewership for a Canadian broadcaster during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games with 28.5 million videos viewed, totaling 7.2 million hours of video consumption. Canadians responded to the online offering in unprecedented numbers as 215 million pages were viewed by 12.3 million unique visitors*. By the end of the Closing Ceremony, CTVOlympics.ca and RDSolympiques.ca had served up nearly five times more page views for Vancouver 2010 than Beijing 2008.
On average, online viewers watched 54 minutes of video each day of the Games.
With 14.4 million live HD video views and 14.1 million on-demand HD video views, Consortium websites delivered nearly six times the amount of video reported online for Beijing. Included in these numbers are 259,079 mobile video views. The most mobile streams (34,743) for Vancouver 2010 were delivered during the men’s gold medal hockey game.
“These are staggering numbers. As proven by the average length of online viewers, the Consortium set a benchmark for what can be achieved through a quality video experience online,” said Alon Marcovici, Vice President of Digital Media and Research, Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium. “Canadians were given choice as to how, when and where they wanted to experience the Games, and we’re ecstatic they responded with such enthusiasm.”
From a technical standpoint, 6.2 Petabytes (or 620,000,000,000 megabytes) of video were delivered through CTVOlympics.ca and RDSolympiques.ca during the 17 days of the Games. For comparison, a high traffic Canadian Internet site would serve approximately 2Pb/month.
The CTVOlympics.ca-branded YouTube site saw an additional 5 million views (more than all video views for the Beijing Games). Social media sites resulted in 675,000 referrals to Consortium sites, while viewers took advantage of social media interactions through Facebook and Twitter.
Digital Highlights Summary
· Total Page Views – 215,048,706, nearly five times the amount achieved for Beijing 2008
· Total Unique Visitors** – 12.3 million. Nearly half of all Internet users in Canada visited at least one of the two sites during the Games
· Total Video Views* – 28,589,989
o Live Video Views* – 14,445,942
§ Highest number of concurrent streams – 133,785 (Closing Ceremony)
o VOD Video Views* – 14,144,047
· Hours of Video consumed – 7,212,106
· Average minutes online (per video visitor) – 54 minutes
· YouTube video views – 5,708,830 from time of launch (Dec. 2009) to March 10
· Cover It Live interactions
o Readers: 1,450,605
o Comments: 98,781
· Total referrals from social media – 675,554
· Mobile app downloads – 234,000 from launch of app to end of Games
· Page views via smartphones and mobile devices – 7.8 million in the month of February
· Mobile Video Views***
o Total mobile streams: 259,079
o Live mobile streams: 248,558
o CAN/US men’s hockey gold medal game: 34,743
o On-demand mobile streams 7,944
o Radio streams: 2,394
· Top 5 on-demand videos
1. Tragedy at the luge track
2. Alexandre Bilodeau winning first gold medal on home soil
3. Virtue/Moir gold medal in figure skating
4. The romance of Games
5. Highlights: men’s hockey – Canada vs. Germany
· Top 5 most-viewed athletes
1. Joannie Rochette
2. Cheryl Bernard
3. Kevin Martin
4. Alexandre Bilodeau
5. Johnny Weir
· Top 5 photo galleries
1. Latest Photos
2. Wipeouts
3. Canada vs. USA men’s hockey gold medal game
4. Ladies’ figure skating short program
5. Latest figure skating photos
All numbers quoted for time period Feb. 12-18, 2010, unless otherwise noted.
All numbers c/o Omniture or source (Facebook, YouTube etc.), except:
- *Conviva
- **Estimation based on Omniture data
- ***Bell Mobility
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March 17, 2010
ACT to honour Cécile Bellemare and Jean-François Grenier
At its Awards of Excellence Gala to be held at Montreal’s Maison de Radio-Canada on May 27, the Alliance for Children and Television (ACT) will honour two exceptional people who have made their mark in Canada’s French-language youth television industry: Cécile Bellemare will receive the Outstanding Achievement Award and Jean-François Grenier will receive the Emerging Talent Award.
Bellemare served as Radio-Canada’s Director of Youth and Family Programming from September 2003 to July 2009. With her previous employer, Télé-Québec, she worked as Director of Program Development from 1997 to 2003, bringing to life many youth series.
Grenier’s award is given to promising professionals 30 or younger whose achievements have made them a rising star in children’s programming. For the past few years, he’s been designing websites and developing TV programs. Web-wise, his work includes one of Quebec’s most popular teen sites, KWAD9.
For 35 years, ACT has been monitoring the quality of Canadian children’s content, while actively contributing to the vitality of the industry. ACT is the only association in Canada that recognizes and rewards the work of children’s and youth programming creators and producers through its Awards of Excellence. In addition, it provides professional training opportunities specifically designed for them; undertakes research initiatives to help better understand youth production issues; and maintains a dialogue with the CRTC and other government agencies regarding matters affecting Canadian productions intended for children.
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March 16, 2010
2010 RTNDA Canada President's Award Winner
TORONTO -- Eric Morrison, CEO of The Canadian Press, is this year's recipient of the RTNDA Canada President's Award.
RTNDA's highest honour is presented annually to recognize individuals or groups that have brought distinction to, or made major contributions to, broadcast journalism. Eric Morrison has led Canada's national news agency since 1997 when he became the first individual from outside the organization, and the first broadcaster, to be appointed its Chief Executive Officer. Under his leadership the news agency launched its video news service and developed Canada's first national mobile news application for smart phones.
Morrison's first media jobs were in Peterborough during his university years in the 1970s. His weekend radio work lead to cable television and soon to CJOH-TV Ottawa. Prior to The Canadian Press, he worked at the CTV network for 20 years in a variety of positions, including overseas postings and management. While VP of CTV News, the CTV National News with Lloyd Robertson expanded to a half hour and became Canada's most watched newscast.
The RTNDA President's Award will be presented at the President's Award Gala during the RTNDA National Conference in Edmonton on Friday, June 18, 2010.
RTNDA Canada is the voice of electronic journalists and news managers in Canada. The members of RTNDA Canada recognize the responsibility of broadcast journalists to promote and to protect the freedom to report independently about matters of public interest and to present a wide range of expressions, opinions and ideas. The RTNDA Canada Code of Ethics, adopted by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, is used to measure fairness and accuracy in the profession.
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March 15, 2010
What’s Next for Journalism?
In the seventh edition of their annual report on the health and status of American media, the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism finds the most immediate worry for news companies is how much lost revenue the industry will regain as the economy improves. But the future of news depends on longer-term concerns: What are the prospects for alternative journalism organizations forming around the U.S.? Will traditional media adapt and innovate amid continuing pressures to thin their ranks?
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March 14, 2010
CHANGES IN THE ROGERS RADIO SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM
Chuck McCoy has become VP/Cluster Manager for Toronto/Kitchener Radio and Julie Adam is now VP Programming & National Program Director for the Radio Division. As well, she will retain duties as PD at either CHFI or KISS 92 in Toronto, depending on the results of a PD search. And Derek Berghuis, the General Manager of 680News Toronto and Exec VP of Sales, adds the focus of maximizing revenue for Rogers Radio across the country.
Most recently, McCoy was the Rogers’ National Program Director. Adam was GM/PD of CHFI Toronto and added Assistant National Program Director duties in 2008. Berghuis joined Rogers in 1995 as GSM of 680News and took on the role of GM shortly after. He became EVP of Sales in 2005.
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March 12, 2010
2010 Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Awards Winners
Music Director of the Year –– Major Market Chris Lynch, X92.9 Calgary
Music Director of the Year –– Medium Market Trapper John, 104.9 The Wolf Regina
Music Director of the Year –– Small Market Darren Robertson, 99.9 Sun FM Kelowna
On Air Talent of the Year -- Roger, Darren and Marilyn, CHUM FM Toronto
Program Director of the Year –– Major Market David Corey, CHUM FM Toronto
Program Director of the Year –– Medium Market Doug Elliott, K Rock 105.7,Kingston
Program Director of the Year –– Small Market Mark Burley, 99.9 Sun FM Kelowna
Promotion of the Year -- Peak Performance Project, 100.5 the Peak Vancouver
Station of the Year CHR -- Virgin Radio 99.9 Toronto
Station of the Year Hot AC – CHUM FM Toronto
Station of the Year Mainstream AC -- 98.1 CHFI Toronto
Station of the Year Classic Gold -- Q107 Toronto
Station of the Year Country -- Country 105 Calgary
Station of the Year Medium Market – Q104 Halifax
Station of the Year Multicultural -- 101.7 World FM Edmonton
Station of the Year News/Talk/Sports -- 680 News Toronto
Station of the Year Rock -- Sonic 102.9 Edmonton Station of the Year Small Market -- 99.9 Sun FM Kelowna
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March 11, 2010
THE RADIO MARKETING BUREAU TOASTS THE 2010 CRYSTAL AWARD WINNERS
Toronto - Western Canada Lottery Corporation and their agency Venture Communications, Calgary, won the big lottery at this year’s Radio Marketing Bureau Crystal Awards!
This year’s judges unanimously awarded the Best-in-Show Platinum Award and the $10,000 Grand Prize to Venture Communications’ entertaining radio advertising for Western Canada Lottery Corporation. The winning spot, “Crossword Scratch ‘n Win – Lip Paint”, produced by 6 Degrees, also garnered the Gold Award in Performance and additional Craft Awards.
The gala luncheon at the Fairmount Royal York, hosted by Gary Belgrave, President of the Radio Marketing Bureau, awarded 31 Crystal trophies in ten categories to outstanding Canadian radio creative.
This year’s winners are from agencies, advertisers and radio stations which reflected the strength and depth of radio creative talent in this country.
The Gold Crystal winners included: Brick Brewing, GJP Advertising & Design, Toronto; British Columbia Lottery Corporation, DDB Canada, Vancouver; Vancouver Alpen Club, Jim Pattison Broadcast Group, Vancouver; Durham RCC, CHUM Radio/CTVglobemedia, Toronto; ABC Canada Literacy Foundation, zig, Toronto; BMW Canada, Cundari, Toronto; Dream Easy Kitchens, Vista Radio, Kelowna; 107.5 Dave FM, Corus Radio, Kitchener; and Curve 94.3, CHUM Radio/CTVglobemedia, Winnipeg.
To see the complete list of winners and to listen to all the winning spots, log on to www.rmb.ca. For a video snapshot, click below...
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March 9, 2010
CANADIAN BROADCAST STANDARDS COUNCIL TO RECEIVE THE BILL HUTTON AWARD OF EXCELLENCE FROM RTNDA CANADA
TORONTO -- RTNDA Canada - The Association of Electronic Journalists says the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) will receive the 2010 Bill Hutton Award of Excellence.
Formerly known as the Friend of RTNDA Canada Award, it was renamed in 2009 to honour the late Bill Hutton, RTNDA Canada's first president. The award is given to individuals or organizations, which have shown a true commitment to RTNDA and the betterment of broadcast journalism in Canada.
CBSC is responsible for ensuring broadcasters live up to the high journalistic standards of the RTNDA Code of Ethics.
The Bill Hutton Award of Excellence will be presented at the association's national conference June 17-19, 2010 in Edmonton.
Previous recipients of the award include The Canadian Press, CNN Newsource Sales, CNW Group, WIC, VOCM Radio, Golden West Radio, Broadcast Dialogue, CTV, Taylor Enterprises, media lawyer Dan Burnett and the U.S. RTDNA.
RTNDA Canada is the voice of electronic journalists and news managers in Canada. The members of RTNDA Canada recognize the responsibility of broadcast journalists to promote and to protect the freedom to report independently about matters of public interest and to present a wide range of expressions, opinions and ideas.
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March 9, 2010
Canadian designer label NADA showcases Fall 2010 collection with 3D short film
Canadian-based fashion designer Nada Shepherd, creative director of NADA, is set to unveil a fashion industry’s first ever stereoscopic 3D women's wear short film - featuring her 2010 fall collection. Action packed 3D cinematography pairs with superior design to create a futuristic, martial arts meets gladiator vibe in this worldwide fashion first.
Taking the place of the traditional runway show, fembots clad in NADA take to the screen in a virtual 3D computer environment designed by Pheinixx Paul of Pencil. The film is directed by Grant Padley, with Producer Kevin Hedley of Atomic Clock Cinematic Arts in conjunction with Stereo 3D Unlimited's Paul Rapovski and 3D Cinematographer / Post-Supervisor Tim Dashwood. It features the use of innovative software from Dashwood Cinema Solutions, PHYX and Noise Industries, a leading developer of visual effects tools for the post production and broadcast markets.
The production of this 3D fashion-first was documented by CTV's FashionTelevision team. On March 14 at 5 p.m. ET, IN FASHION provides viewers with an exclusive glimpse into the making of the film - airing on CTV.
NADA Fall 2010 film Launch will take place March 17, 2010 at Cineplex Entertainment's Scotiabank Theatre in Toronto, Canada to an invited audience of media and fashion industry insiders.
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March 8, 2010
ONTARIO ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS CAREER DEVELOPMENT DAY (2010) -- MARCH 8, 2010
Over 225 Ontario community college broadcast students were in Toronto today for the annual OAB Career Day.
An entire range of hosts -- each from different roles within the industry -- were on hand at each table offering students their expertise, input and advice.
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March 8, 2010
TVOKids welcomes new host Kara Harun to The Space
On Monday March 15, young viewers are invited to meet Kara Harun, the newest member of the TVOKids team. Kara joins TVO co-hosts Mark Sykes and Jackie English in TVOKids' live afternoon program block, The Space.
Kara makes her debut during the March Break Sunshine Week in The Space. Kara and Mark host a week of wild and crazy fun that includes game day and lots of opportunities to win prizes throughout the whole week.
An actress, and musician, Kara is a graduate of the University of Waterloo, where she studied theatre and business.
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March 6, 2010
THE 2010 JUNO AWARDS Tickets Sold Out in 14 Minutes!
Music fans were eager to secure their spot for THE 2010 JUNO AWARDS in St. John's, helping to sell out 3000 tickets within 14 minutes of going on sale at 12:00 pm (NDT) today.
The rush for tickets is attributed to the line-up confirmed for CTV's April 18th broadcast of THE 2010 JUNO AWARDS, including JUNO Award nominated artists Billy Talent, Blue Rodeo, Drake, Johnny Reid, Justin Bieber, Metric and Michael Bublé!
JUNO Week takes place April 12-18, 2010, in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, culminating in the live broadcast of THE 2010 JUNO AWARDS on Sunday, April 18, on CTV at the Mile One Centre.
Sponsors of the 2010 JUNO Awards include FACTOR, Canada's Private Radio Broadcasters and the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage's "Canada Music Fund," with commitments from The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, the City of St. John's and Radio Starmaker Fund.
Official JUNO Awards website: www.junoawards.ca
CTV's JUNO Awards website: www.junos.ctv.ca
St. John's Host Committee: www.ruckusontheedge.com
CARAS website: www.carasonline.ca CTV Website: www.ctv.ca
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March 4, 2010
LEONARD ASPER RESIGNS
Leonard Asper has resigned as President/CEO at Canwest Global Communications Corp. His action is to avoid a conflict of interest as Canwest undergoes the sale process and as it restructures. His positions will not immediately be filled.
The company has been operating under protection from creditors since last year after it ran into trouble paying down a $4-billion debt.
Shaw Communications has struck a deal to take control of Canwest's broadcasting assets and other
suitors have bid separately for the newspapers.
Asper will continue on as a consultant to Canwest until the restructuring process has been completed.
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March 4, 2010
RADIO AND TELEVISION BROADCASTERS FROM ACROSS CANADA ARE INVITED TO BCAB
British Columbia Association of Broadcasters' 63rd Annual Conference
May 5 - 7, 2010
Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort
Victoria, British Columbia
The BCAB 63rd Annual Conference is going to be a blast! Conference Registration is still open and our fantastic Early Bird price of $249 plus 5% GST is available for both BCAB members and non-members! To register, visit www.bcab.ca.
This year’s theme -- “Stayin' Alive” -- will see presentations from world-class speakers on many of the topics that are on the minds of Canada’s broadcasters, including:
Mark Ramsey
Author, Making Waves: Radio on the Verge
Bob Garfield
Author, The Chaos Scenario
Kyle MacDonald
Blogger and Author, One Red Paperclip
Larry Rosin
President, Edison Research
John Parikhal
CEO, Joint Communications
Stephen Simpson
Commissioner, CRTC-BC Region
Roy Osing
Author, BE DiFFERENT or be dead
Eric Samuels
EnterTrainer, Magic Motivation
Panels Include:
PPM Panel: What's Happening in a New PPM World?
Moderated By: J.J. Johnston
Panelists Include: Jeff Vidler, Lesley Conway-Kelley, Catherine Kelly, Gary Belgrave and Tim Monaghan
Programming Panel: How Should Radio Change for a New Decade?
Moderated By: Dave Charles
Panelists Include: Mark Burley, Chris Duncombe, Tom Plasteras, Mark Addams and Ronnie Stanton
Radio Presidents Panel: Radio's Major Challenges in a Digital Age
Moderated By: Dave Charles
Panelists Include: Chris Gordon, Rick Arnish, Paul Ski, Jacques Parisien, Terry Coles and Doug Rutherford
TV Panel: The World is Flat Screen... The Next Chapter for TV
Moderated By: John Parikhal
Panelists Include: Gerry Belec, John Pollard, Renato Zane, Theresa Treutler and Tom Haberstroh
$249 Registration Includes:
Access to all Speakers
President’s Reception on Wednesday
Continental Breakfast on Thursday and Friday
Refreshment Breaks
Buffet Lunches on Thursday and Friday
Stayin' Alive Reception on Friday
President’s Dinner & Awards Gala on Friday
Aside from this spectacular broadcast conference, there’s the added value of Victoria’s MAGNIFICENT weather: A head start on Spring!
We’d love to see you!
Don Shafer
Convention Chair
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March 3, 2010
Rogers Sportsnet launches MMA Buzz
Rogers Media announced that it has launched MMA Buzz on sportsnet.ca. Powered by thoora.com, MMA Buzz collects and displays only the most popular and interesting mixed martial arts stories based on what is happening within social and traditional media, and provides fans with a new way to keep up-to-date.
"The MMA fan is super committed and engaged. They blog, they tweet, they shout. MMA Buzz gathers the best-of-the-best in fan conversations, and serves it to one dashboard," says Claude Galipeau, SVP & GM, Digital Media, Rogers Media. "Thoora is the perfect platform to power MMA BUZZ, since it's all about live search on blogs and tweets. We're really excited that our audiences and ad clients will adopt this new product."
Chul Lee, CTO and Founder, of thoora.com says that MMA Buzz uses Thoora's "proprietary, cutting-edge filtering, clustering, and ranking algorithms to identify the stories that people are talking about most in real-time."
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March 2, 2010
JOHN HARDING TO BE NABA’S NEW SECRETARY GENERAL
Toronto -- At the recent North American Broadcasters Association’s (NABA) Annual General Meeting, John Harding was appointed the new Secretary General of the organization. Harding has been serving as NABA’s Executive Director since August 2008.
Prior to his involvement with NABA, he served as President of the Radio Marketing Bureau and before that as Executive Vice President of the Institute of Communications & Advertising. Harding will continue to work out of NABA’s headquarters in Toronto.
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March 2, 2010
LEONARD RAMOS TO SERVE SECOND TERM AS NABA’S PRESIDENT
Leonard Ramos will serve a second term as President of the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA). Also elected as Vice Presidents were Michael Starling, Executive Director & CTO, National Public Radio (NPR) Labs and Robert Winteringham, Deputy General Counsel, Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
In addition to the Executive, NABA also elected members to the Board of Directors at their Annual General Meeting held at HBO in New York City. Those additional Board members include:
• Dany Harrison, General Manger, Technical Production, CBC/Radio Canada
• Joe Flaherty, Sr. VP, Technology, CBS
• Hanno Basse, Vice President, Broadcast Systems Engineering, DIRECTV Inc.
• Andy Setos, President, Engineering, Fox Entertainment Group, Inc.
• Bob Zitter, Executive VP & CTO, Technology & Operations, HBO
• Glenn Reitmeier, VP, Technology Standards, Policy & Strategy, NBC Universal
• Robert Briskman, Technical Executive, Sirius XM Radio Inc.
• Sergio Sarmiento, VP, Editorial Committee / Editor-in-Chief, TV Azteca
• John Harding, Secretary General, NABA (ex officio)
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March 2, 2010
Bob McLaughlin to receive Distinguished Service Award from RTNDA Canada
TORONTO -- Bob McLaughlin is the recipient of the 2010 RTNDA Distinguished Service Award.
The Award recognizes an individual who is deemed to have rendered exemplary service to the benefit of both RTNDA and broadcast journalism in Canada.
McLaughlin, the Vice President and General Manager at Toronto's CP24, is a broadcast veteran who has worked in markets from coast to coast as a front-line journalist, producer and broadcast executive. He has served on the board of RTNDA Canada for more than eight years in various roles including Central Region Television Director and VP for Television.
In 2006, he was elected President of RTNDA Canada, a position he held for two years.
McLaughlin will receive the award at RTNDA's 2010 National Conference in Edmonton June 18.
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March 1, 2010
Recipients of this year's Academy Achievement, Claude Jutra and Golden Reel Awards to be Honoured at the 30th Annual Genie Awards
The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television announced the recipients of the 2010 Special Awards, to be presented at the upcoming 30th Annual Genie Awards, taking place on Monday, April 12th in Toronto, Ontario.
This year's Special Awards recipients are:
Academy Achievement Award - Mel Hoppenheim
Claude Jutra Award - Xavier Dolan - J'ai tué ma mère / I Killed My Mother Golden Reel Award - De père en flic / Father and Guns
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