The broadcaster is the owner of more than six decades of Canadian news, music and entertainment history dating back to the 1960s. As the owner of the MuchMusic archive, newsmagazine W5 and countless hours of other content, the media company has a major trove of Canadian news, music and entertainment content.
Now, they'll be digitizing it and making it available on YouTube.
The archive spans an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 physical tapes. By the end of 2026, Bell Media reports that they’ll have converted more than 100,000 tapes.
Dave Daigle, vice president of local TV at iHeartRadio & Bell Media Studios, says the initiative is a part of the company’s digital strategy to ensure that its content is accessible to reach audiences everywhere.
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“Our archive is one of our greatest assets, and by investing in the technology and vision to unlock it, we’re preserving Canadian history,” he explains.
The large-scale digitization project is using Google’s Gemini models to generate metadata and build a searchable and categorizable database of footage. Bell Media is also evaluating “AI-enabled partnerships” to help with automated clipping and publishing content.
While the announcement comes this week, the project started with the launch of Much Rewind last July. Coined the “digital time machine,” that YouTube series shares golden era artist interviews from some of the biggest stars on the now-defunct Much Music, including Céline Dion, Christina Aguilera, Noel Gallagher and more.
Legacy Revived will serve as an archive of some of Canada’s biggest news shows, including W5, while Etalk will make its 25-year archive available on its YouTube channel.
For external documentaries and high-profile content, Cultural Restoration will support projects outside of Bell Media, including an upcoming HBO project by QuestLove and the annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
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For Bell Media, the new partnership with YouTube, a primarily free and ad-supported video platform, is the ideal way to unlock the archive.
“By preserving this content digitally, we’re ensuring that Canadian creativity continues to inspire and reach new audiences across the globe for years to come,” Stephanie Wilson Chapin, lead of TV, sports and news at YouTube Canada. She calls the site “the world’s stage.”
No details have been shared yet about the platform’s official launch.
