March 13, 2013 9 years ago

Producers weigh Bell-Astral II. “Mono-culture” or “balanced benefits”?

HOURS BEFORE THE CMPA’s Prime Time in Ottawa convention assembled Canada's English and French producers, broadcasters, funders, regulators and digital platform experts, Bell Media made public its second application to... Continue Reading

March 11, 2013 9 years ago

CMPA PRIME TIME: Starlight pitch recalls timeworn Canadian film debate

OTTAWA – Canadian Media Production Association past-president Norm Bolen focused the final presentation at Prime Time in Ottawa 2013 on the presence - or lack - of Canadian feature films on... Continue Reading

March 8, 2013 9 years ago

CMPA PRIME TIME: With so many new digital avenues, producers ask if we still need broadcasters

OTTAWA ? Every content producer can follow unique logic in deciding whether to extend a content brand beyond its original media platform in today?s transmedia landscape ? and if the... Continue Reading

June 25, 2009 13 years ago

The Cartt.ca Interview: Real Cancon spending and terms of trade are musts, says CFTPA CEO Norm Bolen

IT MAY NOT BE UNTIL 2010 when the CRTC holds licence renewal proceedings for the big Canadian TV companies, but the new chief executive of Canada’s national producers association has... Continue Reading

May 14, 2009 13 years ago

HERITAGE COMMITTEE: Politicians hear from the ones who play them on TV

OTTAWA - After Canada’s major English-language performers’ union and a community TV association testified before the Heritage Standing Committee about Canadian TV content rules, a specialty broadcaster raised concerns about... Continue Reading

May 8, 2009 13 years ago

OTA Hearing: Producers, writers, directors argue Cancon can turn a profit

OTTAWA-GATINEAU - May 7, 2009 - Is Cancon a cost centre or a break-even proposition for Canada’s over-the-air broadcasters? Among all the issues raised Thursday by independent producers, writers and... Continue Reading

April 30, 2009 13 years ago

OTA Hearing: Tensions run high as commissioners push CTV to keep stations open

GATINEAU - This morning, CTV began its second appearance before the CRTC's OTA licence renewal hearing this week with some tense exchanges with the panel's commissioners, some unvarnished attacks on... Continue Reading

April 28, 2009 13 years ago

OTA hearing: Analog dollars becoming digital dimes in conventional TV

GATINEAU - April 27, 2009 - It was low-key, seldom confrontational and sometimes as languid as the 30-degree heat outside, but CTV’s appearance to open the CRTC’s OTA licence renewal... Continue Reading

February 24, 2009 13 years ago

April hearings take centre stage at Prime Time

OTTAWA - As the CRTC considers how the scope of April’s OTA licence renewal hearings might be “significantly narrowed or reduced”, given the severe economic fallout on broadcasters’ balance sheets,... Continue Reading

February 20, 2009 13 years ago

Prime Time 2009: Canadian TV production shrinking

OTTAWA – Before the “economic downturn,” before the impressive decline in advertising revenues and even before the 2008 upfront ad sales began in earnest, the volume of Canadian television production... Continue Reading