Search Results for: Canadian Heritage

Cable / Telecom News, Radio / Television News

COMMENTARY: Our broadcasting system is broken

Our specialty channels are in danger TVA GROUP’S SPECIALTY CHANNELS, which include amongst others TVA Sports, LCN, addikTV and CASA, are enormously popular with Québec television viewers. We are proud to carry content made by Quebecers for Quebecers, shows that reflect their tastes and expectations. However, as everywhere in the world, the digital revolution and globalization have disrupted an already precarious business model that also suffers from patently unequal treatment of industry players under increasingly obsolete regulations. Today, the survival of our channels is at risk. All specialty channels depend on subscription revenues from the cable and satellite carriers (such as… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Shaw Rocket Fund marks 20th anniversary of backing CanCon

CALGARY – The Shaw Rocket Fund is celebrating 20 years of fuelling high-quality, Canadian-made media. Since 1999, Shaw Rocket Fund has invested more than $220 million in 865 audio-visual programs and associated digital media content for children, youth and families. It supports creative programming in both of Canada's official languages, as well as Indigenous and various languages, on all platforms that air Canadian children's and youth programming. When it was first established, the Fund provided top-up equity funding for Canadian children's television programs based on investment applications from the independent production sector. In 2004, it shifted its approach and became a… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

One Caribbean Television arrives on Bell Fibe

TORONTO – Bell Fibe TV subscribers may now tune in for a taste of the tropics with the launch of One Caribbean Television, a destination channel devoted to all things Caribbean.  One Caribbean Television offers daily news, weather, sports and entertainment programming about the Caribbean and its people, plus boasts the most Caribbean carnival coverage anywhere.  The service is available now in free preview on Bell Fibe’s channel 2481 until early April. “We are excited about accomplishing our goal to bring One Caribbean Television to the millions of Canadians who are connected to the Caribbean through culture, heritage or travel,” said network GM… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Prime Time: “No free rides” says heritage minister in his debut appearance

OTTAWA-Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism Minister Pablo Rodriguez’s first appearance at the annual Canadian Media Producers Association Prime Time national conference in the capital last Thursday was short – lasting 17 minutes – and sweet, based on the effusive reception that greeted the Argentinian-born, guitar-playing Liberal cabinet minister. “What I’ve noticed in the past few months since your appointment is what I’ve been calling Rodriguez-mania,” the CMPA’s affable president and CEO, Reynolds Mastin, said of his special guest prior to beginning a friendly question-and-answer session with Rodriguez. “You just effortlessly relate to people, and people open up to you… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

CMPA’s PTiO to stream four sessions Thursday

OTTAWA – Four sessions from the Canadian Media Producers Association’s Prime Time in Ottawa conference this week will be available for livestream. No advanced registration is required, just click on the links available here when the events begin as follows: – Opening address by CMPA president and CEO Reynolds Mastin: January 31 at 9:00 AM ET; – Beyond Disruption: Crafting a Framework for the Future of the Industry: January 31 at 9:15 AM ET; – Keynote: The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism: January 31 at 12:35 PM ET; – The Battle for Talent: Overcoming Scarcity to Build a Winning Team: January… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News, Radio / Television News

Altering the Acts: It’s (still) the Internet, stupid

THE START OF GOOGLE’S submission to the Broadcast and Telecom Legislative Review panel may be just be a boilerplate presentation of what they do (“Google’s ​mission​ is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”), but when it gets to the subject at hand, boing! The digital giant’s submission calls out the discrepancy between the Creative Canada Policy Framework​ (former Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly’s pet project) and the policy objectives in Broadcasting Act (the Principles). “Most of the policy objectives articulated in the ​Broadcasting Act​ are primarily focussed on cultural policy, namely the protection and preservation of… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez to keynote PTiO

OTTAWA – Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism Pablo Rodriguez has been confirmed as a keynote speaker at Prime Time in Ottawa (PTiO) later this month. Scheduled for January 30 – February 1, 2019 at the Westin Ottawa, PTiO is a national conference for some 600 of Canada’s most prominent business leaders from the feature film, television, interactive media, broadcasting and telecommunications industries. Including a series of keynote speakers, plenary panels, breakout sessions and roundtables, the 2019 conference will grapple with the important issues currently facing the screen-based content industry. www.primetimeinottawa.ca Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Feds help fund expansion of Radio communautaire Cornwall-Alexandria

CASSELMAN, ON – Christmas came early for non-profit community radio broadcaster Radio communautaire Cornwall-Alexandria which received $253,104 in government funding to expand the reach of its antenna. The funding is part of the Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023: Investing in our Future that was unveiled in March by Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie Minister Mélanie Joly. The plan supports official-language minority communities and promotes Canada’s two official languages. "I am proud of our government's support for Francophone communities in this country”, said Glengarry–Prescott–Russell MP Francis Drouin, on behalf of Minister Joly, in Tuesday’s news release.  “By… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News, Radio / Television News

Copyright Act Review: Copyright Board needs more information, more transparency, clarity, if it’s to make better judgements

OTTAWA – Given the breadth of witnesses and many proposals that have been put before the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology over the last number of months, Copyright Board CEO Nathalie Théberge says the review and potential impact of the proposals will take time to assess. “There will be a transition period, during which all players involved, including the Copyright Board and the parties that appear before it, will need to adapt and change their practices, behaviours, and, to some extent, their organizational culture,” she said, speaking about potential Act changes before the committee in Ottawa on Wednesday. She… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News, Radio / Television News

Canadian film needs more broadcaster support; vertical integration has not helped

OTTAWA – Without the regulatory framework that has existed for the last number decades, the Canadian feature film industry would not be what it is today, according to Emily Harris, President of Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters (CAFDE). Harris was speaking before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in Ottawa on Thursday, and noted that it is CAFDE’s members that tirelessly work to bring the work of actors to the forefront of audiences. The committee is studying remuneration models for artists and creative industries. While Canadian creatives are celebrated the world over, Harris noted that of the almost $1… Continue Reading