AC Experts: Top Canadian TV Moments of 2014

Posted on Friday, December 19th, 2014

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(Ottawa, December 19, 2014) Algonquin College TV Broadcasting Coordinator Jeremy Atherton flips through five great moments in Canadian TV in 2014.

5. SOCHI WOMEN’S HOCKEY GOLD

There were many golden Canadian moments in these games. From watching sister Justine and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe share the podium, to Alex Bilodeau pulling his disabled brother over a security barrier to help celebrate his gold, Canadians were glued to their screens and cheered on as a nation.

The dramatic come back and sensational overtime win by the Canadian Women’s hockey team stands out as a defining Canadian moment. Like the team, we never gave up! The overtime goal by Marie-Phillipe Poulin should be up there with Henderson’s 1972 winner for iconic Canadian TV moments.

Half a world away, supported by social media, television was the medium Canadian turned to. Online streaming also continued to grow, with the CBC reporting almost 14 million hours of Olympic coverage. Proving that content is still king, there were reports during the games of Americans acquiring Canadian IP addresses so they could enjoy CBC’s online streaming.

4. NETFLIX SNUBS CRTC

The CRTC spent much of 2014 in a “Let’s talk TV” conversation with Canadians and industry. Canadians seem happy about a ‘pick and pay’ model for broadcasting that will unbundle channels and allow Canadians to only pay for the channels they want.

However, broadcasters warn that jobs will be lost and channels shuttered if they cannot rely on the subscription revenues. The defining moment was Netflix’s decision not to co-operate with the CRTC by refusing to hand over subscription data and other business data including their investment in Canadian productions.

This underlines the challenge the CRTC has in regulating a space that does not have traditional borders. Other than dusting off The Trailer Park Boys for an eighth season, there has been little investment in Canadian productions from Netflix. Let’s hope that Netflix and other streaming services see the value of investing in Canadian productions, and take risks on new productions which keep the industry strong.

3. KNOWLTON NASH DIES AT AGE 86

There were far fewer sources for news in the ‘80s, and Knowlton Nash was the authoritative voice that gave context to the world. A journalist first and news reader second, he was given the title ‘Chief Correspondent’ rather than anchor by the CBC.

Even how he retired speaks volumes about the man; he stepped down to make way for current anchor Peter Mansbridge to help convince Peter not to move to greener pastures south of the border. Television broadcasting students can look at Knowlton’s career as a blueprint for building a career on storytelling and integrity.

2. HNIC MOVES TO ROGERS

Nothing shook up the Canadian broadcasting landscape in 2014 more than the first edition of Rogers Hockey Night in Canada. Rogers’ willingness to pay over 5 billion dollars for the rights reflects the lasting value of live sports broadcasting. The Stanley Cup final is ‘must see TV’ for Canadians, and whether you are watching on a traditional television or streamed online, only live coverage will do.

Rogers is wisely keeping much of the HNIC coverage familiar by only tweaking things and not shaking things up too quickly. It will be sports broadcasting that will pave the way to 4K UltraHD broadcasting, and Rogers is in a good position to be a leader in this technological transition. The loss of hockey for the CBC has caused an identity crisis, and time will tell if the venerable public broadcaster can bounce back. With recent cuts to CBC supper hour news, the fallout isn’t over yet.

1. COVERAGE OF THE OTTAWA SHOOTING

The tragic shooting of Corporal Nathan Cirillo on October 22 as he stood sentry at the National War Monument in Ottawa struck at core of the Canadian identity. Our institutions were under attack, and it was television that we turned to for balanced and thoughtful coverage.

Twitter proved unreliable as frenzy reports of multiple shooters and additional gun shots in the Rideau Centre streamed by on news feeds. The appealing immediacy of Twitter did not hold up to the standards of journalism. CBC’s Peter Mansbridge was applauded in Canada and around the world for his measured delivery of events in the very fluid situation.

With a concurrent power outage that day, Algonquin College broadcasting students got a master class in News Production. A first-year Algonquin Television Broadcasting student paints a lasting image in his journal from that day: “We were in class when it happened, and after a little while, with no power, we decided to watch the CBC report on the events on somebody’s laptop in the dark. The whole class was silent, and the only light was what was emanating off the screen. It was under these conditions that I watched the news broadcast, and gained a greater appreciation for the medium.”

Knowlton would be proud.


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