Industry News

Happy Birthday to Eugene Levy, Bill Pullman, Chris Mathews, Tommy Banks, Art Neville of The Neville Bros., and Julia Meade of the early live TV commercials. ‘The Simpsons’ began their 25 year run on FOX; Edgar Bergen made his national debut with Charlie McCarthy, as pictured, on NBC radio; Moose Jaw’s only radio station got official ‘commercial’ status as CHAB, after 11 years in the experimental stage; Wayne & Shuster and Paul Anka were headliners on CBS-TV’s ‘Ed Sullivan Show’;and Tiny Tim & Miss Vicky were wed to much national acclaim on Johnny Carson’s ‘Tonight Show.’ Obits include Don Chevrier, Dana Andrews, Rex Allen Sr., performance artist Captain Beefheart and muckraker Jack Anderson. Details and ALL the Dec. 17th milestones INSIDE.

In a blockbuster shake-up of Canada’s mobile phone industry, cable and Internet giant Shaw Communications is buying upstart WIND Mobile in a deal valued at about $1.6 billion.

"I was able to calm my nerves and have a candid, wide-ranging conversation with Letterman on the telephone from his home in New York State."

CH management cut dozens of employees in order to form a new company “free of old Union employees and their demands,” according to an email from an accounts manager.

Netflix is an unlikely partner for Bell Media, which a year ago launched its own subscription VOD service, CraveTV, to fend off competition from the U.S.-based video streaming giant.

Happy Birthday to Steven Bochko, Lesley Stahl, JB Smoove, Jon Tenney and ABBA’s Benny Andersson. ‘One Day at a Time’ began its 9-year run on CBS-TV; the same network aired the 50th episode of ‘All in the Family’; Vancouver’s first TV station CBUT began transmitting from Mount Seymour; Jack Webb’s ‘Dragnet’ got a sneak preview on NBC-TV’s ‘Chesterfield Sound Off Time’; and Howard Stern did his last terrestrial broadcast before moving to Sirius Satellite Radio. Obits Dec. 16 include Dan Fogelberg, the West Wing’s John Spencer, Kojak’s Dan Frazer, Arthur Godfrey’s Haleloke, Madlyn Rhue, and Nicolette Larson. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

Also, three producers are said to have lost their jobs at Bell Media’s CTV2 operation in Edmonton, the “educational” arm of CTV Alberta that began life as the provincial government’s Access TV operation

With Lester Holt out sick, Williams anchored an NBC News special report on the closures of Los Angeles public schools.