For the first time since the heights of the pandemic, the CSAs will not air on CBC, nor any other TV channel; instead, the show will be live-streamed via CBC Gem.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
With the Canada-U.S. trade war compelling Canadian audiences to ditch Hollywood fare and seek out homegrown entertainment, the long-embattled Canadian Screen Awards may have just stumbled onto their breakthrough moment. But the 13th annual CSAs will have to champion the year’s best in Canadian film, television and digital media next month without their traditional broadcast home: For the first time since the heights of the pandemic, the CSAs will not air on CBC, nor any other TV channel; instead, the show will be live-streamed exclusively via CBC Gem.
“We wanted to deliver a level of accessibility and flexibility by moving to CBC Gem – there’s just so many positives for us,” said Tammy Frick, the chief executive officer of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, which oversees the CSAs. “One thing is that we get to show the gala in its entirety – 90 minutes instead of an hour – which is difficult to do when you’re in a linear-broadcast situation. People are also consuming content differently. Being on a streaming platform affords us an opportunity to engage with audiences in a different way.”
With the exception of the pandemic-era years of 2020 and 2021 – during which the CSAs were only presented virtually, via the academy’s website and social-media feeds – the awards ceremony has aired on CBC, either live or in a pre-taped format. But ratings for the gala have been consistently lacklustre.
In 2023, the show hosted by comedian Samantha Bee garnered an average audience of 136,000 in what ratings firm Numeris categorizes as the “2+” age market – and only 31,000 in the 25-54 demographic. Last year, when director Matt Johnson’s comedy BlackBerry swept the awards, the show earned a 2+ average audience of 141,000 – a 4-per-cent increase over the previous year – but just 21,000 in the coveted 25-54 market. (Both ceremonies were also simultaneously streamed on CBC Gem, but the service does not disclose viewership figures.)
There are several other changes coming to the 2025 CSAs. While last year’s one-hour broadcast was edited down from a week’s worth of separate awards ceremonies, this year’s edition will be a fully live affair, hosted by comedian Lisa Gilroy (Interior Chinatown) inside the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in downtown Toronto. And whereas the academy typically spreads a series of smaller awards ceremonies across an entire week, this year’s slate of events will be concentrated over a Friday-to-Sunday stretch toward the end of May, capped off by the live gala on June 1.
“We talked a lot with our membership, and some of the feedback was that it was difficult to dedicate a whole week to the awards, so having a focused time allotment helps,” Frick said. “There will also be some ancillary industry events that we’ll be talking about down the road.”
Industry-calendar timing is another issue. Last year, the CSAs were held in late May instead of the traditional early April slot – a change the academy chalked up to a last-minute switch in venue. At that time, Frick said the 2025 CSAs would be back in their usual April slot, which historically provided just enough distance from the Academy Awards on one end and the Cannes and Banff media festivals on the other. Yet this year’s CSAs are once again kicking off in late May.
“As we know, everyone’s so incredibly busy that time of the year, but we tried a new venue that worked exceptionally well for us, and that came with some challenges around moving the date,” Frick said. “It’s about laying that foundation – not changing venues, maintaining the same time of the year, building on what we created previously. It’s being done in a meaningful way.”
Nominations for this year’s CSAs will be announced March 26.
