All day today, as I sat in my cubicle at the mothership, I overheard people congratulating their colleagues.

If you work in TV in Canada, or even know people who do, you know what that means.

The Gemini nominations have been announced.

The ceeb picked up a ton of nominations this year, 151 in total, topping last year’s count of 142 nominations.

Surprisingly, given the public reaction to the new format, The National was amongst the top nominated shows with a total of nine nods, the rest of the list includes a number of perennial fan favourites and a couple of docs and mini-series. They are:
The Summit (9);
Guns (9);
Love, Hate and Propaganda (8);
the fifth estate (7);
Keep Your Head Up, Kid (7);
Being Erica (6);
The Tudors (6);
Republic of Doyle (5).

CTV show led the pack in terms of total nominations for individual shows. Their Olympic coverage picked up 13 nods, while the cop drama Flashpoint, garnered 15 nominations. Flashpoint will face off against a couple CBC shows in the best drama category, rookie nominee Republic of Doyle and veteran The Tudors.

The corporate website also said the “CBC swept five categories—guaranteeing wins in best local newscast, small market; best host or interviewer in a news info program or series; best news anchor; best performance by an actress in a featured supporting role in a dramatic program or mini-series; and best news information series.”

Vote For Your All-Time Favourite Canadian TV Show
If you’re feeling left out from this year’s crop of nominations, this year you can still participate in picking your all-time favourite TV show. Starting on September 15, nerdy couch potatoes will be able to vote from a list of 25 shortlisted programs for their all-time favourite pick. You will be able to vote on this site, or on Twitter and Facebook.

Why do I have the feeling that the Beachcombers are going to win this?

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	Awards	Posted at 11:30 pm (31 Aug 2010)

Torontoist, a popular Toronto blog, named both Jian Ghomeshi and the CBC as two of its heroes from 2009. Ghomeshi got the nod for his interview with Billy Bob Thornton, during which he “never lost his cool, maintaining a level of skillful professionalism while doling out enough rope for Thornton to hang himself.”

The CBC was on the list because, despite the cutbacks “this year has probably been the CBC’s most impressive year of television production in decades. Little Mosque On The Prairie, Being Erica, Heartland, and The Border have all had banner years (and ratings deserving of their critical success), while Battle of the Blades was so successful that other countries are copying it for their networks (the first Canadian reality show in television history to earn such an accolade).”

Former CBC host Jesse Brown was also recognized for enduring through while his show, Search Engine, got canceled twice before finally landing at TVO.

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	Awards	Posted at 5:01 pm (16 Dec 2009)

Two CBC reporters won individual awards for their work at a gala ceremony in Ottawa last night.

The award for Excellence in Science and Technology Reporting from the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance in English language media went to Peter Nowak. He wrote about the award on his blog. He said “the award is particularly satisfying because it’s a stamp of approval on the type of journalism I try to do, which is issues-based rather than so much of the product-based tech reporting out there.”

Reporting on important consumer issues such as net neutrality, copyright reform and competition problems – like the woeful state of Canada’s cellphone market – often rubs those in power the wrong way, especially when exposing a lot of the bull that goes on, so it’s nice to see some back-up from the people who matter most: the readers.

The same award for French language media also went to a CBC reporter, Bruno Guglielminetti, according to Nowak, Guglielminetti said it was ironic that two CBC reporters grabbed the top honours, while the corporation is laying off hundreds of people: “The CBC, if you haven’t heard, is cutting 800 people, most of whom (myself included) are anxiously waiting until next week to find out if they have jobs or not,” Nowak wrote on his blog.

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	Awards, News & Journalism	Posted at 10:35 am (20 May 2009)

Three CBC hosts are up for Juno awards in different categories.

Molly Johnson, the weekend host of Radio 2 Morning, has been nominated for Vocal Jazz Album of the year. Pat Carrabré, the Friday to Sunday host for The Signal, has been nominated for Classical Composition of the year. And George Stroumboulopoulos, host of The Hour, along with his fellow co-worker Alex Liu, have both been nominated for best music DVD of the year.

The awards will be held on March 29th. For a complete list of the nominees, go here.

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	Awards	Posted at 10:21 am (05 Feb 2009)

At the Friday Night Gemini Gala in Toronto, the CBC picked up seven more Gemini Awards, including George Stroumboulopoulos’ third Gemini as host of The Hour.

This Hour Has 22 Minutes won the best comedy series award for the seventh time, beating fan favourite Corner Gas, which is now in its last season.

The Englishman’s Boy picked up two more Geminis for Best Dramatic Mini-Series, and best lead actor for Nicholas Campbell’s work on the Guy Vanderhaeghe television adaptation.

Ron McLean won the best sports host Gemini for his work on Hockey Day in Canada. And Ian Hanomansing won for Best News Anchor for his work on CBC News at Six in Vancouver, beating out Peter Mansbridge and Kevin Newman.

The CBC series Intelligence, which was cancelled this year, won the Gemini for Best Dramatic Series.

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	Awards	Posted at 6:04 pm (30 Nov 2008)

The CBC’s Peter Mansbridge will become an officer of the Order of Canada, according to a list of 75 appointees released yesterday by Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean.

Mansbridge, the chief correspondent of CBC News, anchors the flagship nightly news program The National and also hosts Newsworld’s Mansbridge One on One.

Born in London in 1948, the newsman — who turns 60 on Sunday — was educated in Ottawa and served in the Royal Canadian Navy in 1966 and 1967.

His career with the CBC began by chance when someone from the public broadcaster overheard him on the public address system at an airport in the town of Churchill, Man., where he was working for the airline Transair, and asked him to come work at the local radio station. He was 19.

More at cbcnews.ca

I wonder if Canada is recognizing journalists and story-tellers as becoming people who actively shape the nation, as opposed to “just” reporting on it? Should our role be simply to reflect the changing nation, or do we have some responsibility to participate in that reshaping? I mean, I’m totally happy for Peter and the CBC, but — and I can’t quite put my finger on why — but this one’s not quite as cut-and-dry for me.

What do you think?

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	Awards, Personalities, The National	Posted at 4:21 pm (02 Jul 2008)

This is the final week of voting for the Webbys People’s Choice and CBC Radio 3 needs your help.

For public broadcasters like CBC Radio 3, we are not judged by how much revenue we take in (which is none), but by how relevant we are to our community of listeners. And an award like the Webbys People’s Voice is a great way to document community support.

If you like what Radio 3 is doing, and you want to help us champion independent Canadian musicians in this country and on the international stage, than please take the time to vote. (Once you’ve confirmed your registration, you’ll find R3 under Website / Media / Radio.)

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	Awards, CBC Radio 3	Posted at 2:52 pm (28 Apr 2008)

CBCNews.ca is a finalist in three categories for the EPpy [sic] Awards, one of the biggest international digital journalism awards. Most impressively, it’s a finalist for the big award, the Best Overall News Site category — along with The New York Times, MSNBC.com, Slate.com, and BBC News (last year’s winner). That means the judges consider CBCNews.ca one of the top five news sites in the world. CBC is also in the running for Best Overall Radio-Affiliated Web Site, and Best Use of Video in a Web Site for the Archives site. The awards are run by Editor & Publisher and Mediaweek, who will announce the winners next month.

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	Asides, Awards, CBC.ca web site	Posted at 9:56 pm (25 Apr 2008)

CBC Radio 3 has been nominated for a prestigious Webby Award, in the radio category.  The nomination, which was unveiled earlier today by The Webby Film & Video Awards, puts CBC Radio 3 in the company of BBC Radio 1, iCat fm, NPR and Virgin Radio.

As one of five nominees from around the world in this category, Radio 3 and the team behind it are eligible for the Internet industry’s two most sought-after awards: The Webby Award and The Webby People’s Voice Award. This is the second year in a row that Radio 3 has been nominated.

CBC overall was also named an “official honoree” for CBC Podcasts—an honour granted to fewer than 15% of entrants and one that signifies an outstanding caliber of work.

Unlike other awards shows, where only judges choose the winners, The Webby Awards also give the global Web community an opportunity to decide who will take home a Webby. Starting today, and running through to May 1, the public can cast their votes in The Webby’s People Voice Awards.  Award winners will be announced May 6, and honoured at a star-studded ceremony ceremony for the 12th Annual Webby Awards in New York City on June 9.

Hailed as the “Oscars of the Internet,” The Webby Film and Video Awards are the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. Established in 1996, the Webbys are presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. This year, the Awards received a record 9,500 entries from across the U.S. and over 60 countries worldwide.

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	Awards, CBC Radio 3	Posted at 2:45 pm (09 Apr 2008)

At the Junos this weekend, CBC Records celebrated another win for its acclaimed album featuring Canadian violinist James Ehnes, bringing to three the awards for this album.

James Ehnes’ recording, Barber, Korngold, Walton: Violin Concertos, with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra yesterday won the Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year – Soloist with Large Ensemble. In his acceptance speech, Ehnes singled out CBC producer Denise Ball and Recording Engineer Don Harder.

Two other nominations for CBC Records this year included Live! Jazz Legends / Légendes du jazz nominated for Traditional Jazz Album of the Year and Celso Machado’s Jogo da Vida for best World Music Abum

It has been a banner year for CBC Records given the international recognition it received with a Grammy award, and through the national profile achieved with Juno and Western Canadian Music Awards wins. CBC Records has won a total of 29 Junos. – Text condensed from a CBC news release

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	Asides, Awards	Posted at 3:12 pm (07 Apr 2008)

CBC Records received its first-ever Grammy Award at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards Sunday night. The winning album — Barber, Korngold, Walton (Violin Concertos) — features violinist James Ehnes and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Bramwell Tovey. The award came in the category of Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra, and conductor Bramwell Tovey was in attendance at the Grammys to personally accept it on behalf of James, the Orchestra and CBC/Radio-Canada. The recording was produced in Vancouver by Denise Ball, with recording engineer Don Harder, and with technical assistance from Bruce Dierick.

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	Asides, Awards	Posted at 11:51 am (12 Feb 2008)

Robin Rowland, CBC News’ photo editor, knew he had a good shot when he snapped six-year-old Jeffrey Versluis workin the controls of a game called Verticon.

Earlier this month, the News Photographers Association of Canada agreed and gave him a third-place finish in its “Clips” contest. (CBC News has won lots of awards over the years, but this is likely a first for still photography.)

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	Awards	Posted at 12:24 pm (08 Feb 2008)

Elizabeth Hay wasn’t planning on being a writer. In the mid 70s, she was an on-ar host at CBC Radio in Yellowknife — good experience that would later form much of the content of Late Nights on Air, which won the Giller Prize for Canadian literature this week.

The book follows a group of Northerners trying to run a radio station. Hay later worked for CBC in Winnipeg, then CBC Radio’s Sunday Morning in Toronto. By the mid-80s, she left broadcasting mostly behind to focus on writing.

Her first book was a collection of short stories. She has also written two novels.

But, as the Globe and Mail reported, it may be tough to find a copy of the book:

…Copies of Late Nights on Air were rather hard to find yesterday among the independent retailers who were foremost among Hay’s early champions.

One Toronto independent, Ben McNally Books, had about 35 in stock but only because its proprietor had “ordered up” to take advantage of Hay’s appearance last month at the International Festival of Authors, where he was the on-site bookseller.

Hay receives $40,000 for the Giller Prize award.

Photo: Movzulski/CP

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	Awards, Personalities	Posted at 9:45 am (08 Nov 2007)

CBC personality George Stroumboulopoulos was named best talk-show host or interviewer and his show The Hour was hailed as best talk series at Tuesday’s Gemini Awards.  [more at cbc.ca]

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	Asides, Awards, Personalities, The Hour with George S.	Posted at 12:17 am (17 Oct 2007)

Alex Shprintsen has been a journalist for more than 15 years, first with the BBC and the Los Angeles Times, then the last 12 years with The National. During that time, he has been covering elections — democratic and and non-democratic — and shooting documentaries around the world.

Last night, he accepted the 2007 Peter Gzowski Literary Award of Merit.

The award, named in honour of the late veteran broadcaster and journalist Peter Gzowski, recognizes Mr. Shprintsen for his documentary series Canada’s Shame, which revealed the wide-ranging problem of low literacy among Canadian adults and profiled people who have been challenged with low literacy, including Jacques Demers, former coach of the Montreal Canadiens.

Alison Gzowski, daughter of Peter Gzowski, presented the award.

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	Awards, The National	Posted at 4:15 pm (04 Oct 2007)