OTTAWA – The dichotomy of the old and new media was clearly on display at a Parliamentary committee hearing last week. The Canadian music lobby faced off against a new media consulting firm at the Heritage committee which is studying the challenges and opportunities arising from emerging and digital media.
The Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) and the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) told the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage that the more money is needed to support Canadian artists (something talked about today in the House of Commons as the latest re-write of the Copyright Act, Bill C-32, has…
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OTTAWA – Lobby group OpenMedia.ca took centre stage Tuesday at the House of Commons Committee on Canadian Heritage concerning the future of media.
In an effort to “ignite Canada’s digital media revolution”, OpenMedia.ca said in a statement that it brought “citizen voices to Ottawa” on issues such as net neutrality, media ownership, independent media, and broadband access.
The Committee on Canadian Heritage is exploring the developments in emerging and digital media, how these developments are affecting Canadian cultural industries, and what federal institutions could do to assist Canadians and Canadian cultural industries.
The group is also scheduled to appear at…
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TORONTO – After officially opening its doors on April 1st, the Canada Media Fund (CMF) will stage information sessions across Canada to further explain its new funding guidelines and answer questions from potential recipients.
The first of the outreach sessions are scheduled for Victoria and Vancouver on April 12, before crisscrossing the country. Click here to register to attend one of the 15 sessions.
The meetings will be led by Nathalie Clermont, director of CMF program management, along with Roxane Girard, director of CMF program administrator/Telefilm Canada, Francesca Accinelli, director of the English market, and Stéphane Consantino, director…
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IF YOU TALK TO ANYONE under 20 they will consider it quaint to hear tales of phones that were connected to walls; notes that were sent with a stamp; and televisions that were housed in large cabinets offering four channels, if you were lucky, accessible with the turn of a dial.
Online and offline; wired and wireless, the world is a dramatically different place than it was 19 years ago. Yet the Canadian media market is still governed by broadcasting legislation from 1991 at a time when urgent action is needed to bring regulation in line with technology to meet…
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GATINEAU – Despite the majority’s decision today to stick to the August 31, 2011 deadline where all over-the-air TV transmitters in Canada have to switch from analog to digital, commissioner Suzanne Lamarre echoed what many in the industry have been thinking for a long while:
We’re not going to make that date, despite close to six years of notice the industry was given by the CRTC and that the U.S., which made its switch in 2009, has given Canada a road map to follow.
“No one can be expected to achieve the impossible. Based on the evidence on the public…
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GATINEAU – With a light dusting of snow outside and a grey beginning to yet another week of talking about paying for conventional television signals, you’ll hopefully forgive us for feeling just a little like this.
This is the fourth hearing inside of two years (and the second one in the past month!) whose focus is on compensating local TV broadcasters for their signals). This one, as CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein pointed out right at the start, will not set policy, but instead will inform a report to be filed in the new year with Canadian Heritage Minister…
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GATINEAU – Protect Canadian feature films and drama, expand the reach of the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF), and create a credit system for Canadian content were a few of the things advocated Friday during the CRTC hearings, which wrapped early.
The Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters (CAFDE) urged the CRTC to ensure that more, not less, Canadian drama is commissioned under the new broadcast framework. Canada’s film industry is also in peril because not many homegrown movies are getting shown on the small screen, according to CAFDE president Ted East.
“Of all the sub-genres of drama, we believe…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian government has pledged $25 million over five years to TV5Monde and TV5 Quebec Canada.
The news came at the conclusion of the two day Conference of the Ministers responsible for TV5, held in Ottawa. Canada chaired the both the 2008 and 2009 editions of the conference, and its term as chair expires in January, 2010.
"Canada wanted to show the way by being the first partner government to announce an additional contribution of $25 million over five years to TV5Monde and TV5 Quebec Canada," said Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore, in the announcement. "This investment addresses Prime Minister…
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OTTAWA – Telus’ Michael Hennessy says that it all comes down to priorities.
In advance of his company’s presentation in front of the CRTC on Tuesday, the SVP of regulatory and government affairs said that the current fee-for-carriage discussions are “doing everything backwards” because they failed to set priorities, and to recognize consumer sovereignty in today’s digital world.
“Our fundamental position is that what we’re talking about now is a tremendous waste of our time and resources because we’re not giving consumers enough credit, and listening to how they want to define the television world, or the entertainment and informational world…
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TORONTO and CALGARY – With Industry Canada’s review of the CRTC decision on Globalive still on-going, it’s hurry up and wait for the potential new wireless entrant.
With nothing but time on its hands, the company has sent 400 of their newly trained employees out in Calgary and the Greater Toronto Area to commit ‘random acts of kindness’ such as distributing hand sanitizer and pumping gas, or helping with charities such as the Salvation Army and local food banks.
In the meantime, incumbent telcos and even Globalive itself have been busy compiling their submissions for Industry Minister Tony Clement to aid in the review process. All…
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