OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Well, this will douse some of the fire that was sure to burn at this week’s Canadian Film and Television Producers Association Prime Time conference in Ottawa beginning Wednesday evening.
With Heritage Minister Bev Oda and new CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein as scheduled speakers at the conference this week, one can bet that producers were prepared to pepper them with repeated questions on the Canadian Television Fund and TV production funding in Canada in general.
However, with Shaw’s announcement today that it will turn its cash spigot to the CTF back on plus this Commission…
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OTTAWA – Saying he is "sufficiently assured" that change is in the works with the Canadian Television Fund, Jim Shaw told the Standing Committee of Canadian Heritage this morning "we will restore our payments," to the CTF.
As reported by Cartt.ca, Shaw began withholding its $5 million a month in monthly payments to the $250 million annual fund, saying the fund is not accountable, pays for too few shows that are success stories and that too much money goes towards programs that appear on the CBC.
Shaw’s regulatory head Ken Stein said that the CTF funding, when established over…
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CALGARY – True to its word, Shaw Communications will not be resuming monthly payments to the Canadian Television Fund.
On Friday, Minister of Canadian Heritage Bev Oda was informed of the decision by the company which owns Star Choice and Shaw Cable – and is the largest CTF contributor.
"I am disappointed to learn that Shaw is not going to resume their payments to the Canadian Television Fund," she said. "Clearly Shaw does not recognize the importance of abiding by regulations in a regulated world.
"All cable and direct-to-home satellite companies are regulated by the CRTC," continued Oda’s statement….
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MONTREAL – Quebecor Media has decided to pull in its horns over the funding of Canadian television productions and will resume monthly payments to the CTF, at least for now.
Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau said late Tuesday he was encouraged by the commitment made earlier in the day by the new CRTC Chair, Konrad Von Finckenstein, to become involved in finding solutions to the issues raised by Quebecor and Shaw Communications.
Von Finckenstein said the two companies had highlighted “serious issues that need to be resolved”, and that Quebecor, with its funding proposal outlined Monday, had…
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MONTREAL – After announcing suspension of its monthly payments to the Canadian Television Fund (CTF), Quebecor Media now says it wants to opt out of the CTF entirely and put all money owed by its cable company, Videotron, into a fattened Fonds Quebecor, under its own control, for the support of home-grown productions destined exclusively for broadcast by its own properties.
Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau told a press conference Monday, broadcast live on the company’s all-news channel LCN as well as on its canoe.qc.ca web site, that the proposal is the “best way to ensure the…
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GATINEAU – In his first public statement since becoming chairman of the CRTC, Konrad von Finckenstein today told Shaw Communications and Videotron that they should resume their required monthly payments to the Canadian Television Fund.
However, he also told the leaders of the CTF to start addressing the concerns raised by both companies, which have been reported on repeatedly by Cartt.ca over the past month.
The Commission statement reads:
"The CRTC recognizes the important role that the funds administered by the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) play in supporting the production of Canadian programs. This programming in turn assists Canadian…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications has again rejected the arguments made by those who support the Canadian Television Fund and its aims.
Today the company "categorically rejected" a suggestion made by former Shaw executive Richard Stursberg, who is now CBC TV’s executive vice-president, that withholding payments to the fund will "unravel" the Canadian broadcasting system.
"It is unconstructive and misleading. The CBC is the biggest recipient of CTF monies. Canadians deserve a fair and independent accounting of how billions of dollars that they paid out in taxes and fees were spent by the CTF and the CBC," said Jim Shaw,…
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IN THE DR SEUSS CLASSIC How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, the Grinch is robbed of his revenge when the good burghers of Whoville preserve their Christmas spirit and retain their celebrations despite having been robbed of their gifts and sustenance.
In the modern Canadian retelling, the Grinch is not Jim Carrey but Shaw Communications CEO Jim Shaw, who started sledding off with the Canadian content money our regs say he’s obliged to pay, just before Christmas – and has since encountered fewer effective voices preserving its spirit than there are moguls on a ski run.
Instead, while Mr. Shaw…
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TORONTO – Canadian Women in Communications have announced the winners of its CWC Annual Awards for 2006.
Four Canadian women and one communications-industry employer are recognized annually for their contributions to the Canadian communications industry.
“Celebrating the achievements of women is one of CWC’s most important and rewarding tasks,” said Stephanie MacKendrick, CWC president, in the press release. CWC holds an Annual Awards Gala in Ottawa that celebrates the achievements of women, and those who support their advancement in the Canadian communications industry.
Participants in the awards presentation program will include: Minister of Industry, the Hon. Maxime Bernier, Minister…
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IT’S STARTING TO LOOK like this year could be the final one for the Canadian Television Fund in its current form.
With two of its four largest contributors (#1 Shaw Communications and #4 Videotron) adamant that they will forward $0 to the CTF – and with a Heritage Minister in Bev Oda who may be sympathetic towards their complaints – at the very least, upheaval is a certainty.
Oda, who on Monday renewed her government’s $100 million annual commitment to the fund, met with representatives of the four primary private sector contributors: Rogers Communications’ vice-chair Phil Lind, Bell…
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