RECENT MOVES BY GLOBAL MEDIA PLAYERS to go over-the-top (OTT) and direct-to-consumer (D2C) mark a tipping point for the media industry and could have profound, long-term implications for the Canadian media landscape, says a Bay St. analyst.
A research report by BMO Capital Markets telecom/media/cable financial analyst Tim Casey notes that Canada’s traditional television broadcasters, (whose business models rely on “reselling” content from Hollywood), are at a greater risk than television distributors (BDUs) who offer broadband service, which he describes as “a natural business hedge against changing viewing habits”.
“Television distribution is a lower-margin business compared with broadband given roughly half the revenue…
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Feds underscore support for CanCon ahead of fall’s ‘Canadian Content in a Digital World’ announcement
GATINEAU – Heeding the outcry from Canada’s creative community, the Governor in Council has ordered the CRTC to reconsider its group licence renewal decisions for large television broadcasters that, among other changes, lowered the amount that major broadcasters must spend on Programs of National Interest (PNI).
The rare move came late Monday, followed by a statement by Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly who said that the federal government wants the Commission to review its May decisions to renew the licenses for the television services of…
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OTTAWA — The Government of Canada announced Wednesday it is seeking input into proposed legislative and regulatory changes to the Copyright Board of Canada’s decision-making processes.
The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), and the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage, jointly with the Copyright Board of Canada, launched consultations to allow interested parties to share their views on proposed reforms to the Board.
The government has made available a discussion paper that presents 13 possible options for legislative and regulatory reforms. In addition, the government said it will consider any other reform options…
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Bidding starts at $1.54 billion
OTTAWA – The auction of 600 MHz wireless spectrum, when it happens, will favour the smaller newcomers like Freedom Mobile and Vidéotron and looks to offer no payments to TV broadcasters which will be forced off the band.
While the Canadian bandwidth plan is to be harmonized with the United States (something we’ve known for a while), our auction for the valuable low frequency spectrum sure won’t be the same. In its consultation paper released late Friday (Ed note: right before the long weekend, so no questions, media!) Innovation, Science and…
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Free preview during September
TORONTO — Canadian designer Sarah Richardson undertakes her most ambitious project yet in her latest series for HGTV Canada, premiering this fall. Sarah Off The Grid will follow Richardson and her family as they design and build an off-the-grid, sustainable dream home in Creemore, Ont.
Premiering Sunday, September 10 at 10 p.m. ET/PT during HGTV Canada’s free preview month, the six-part Sarah Off The Grid series offers an unvarnished look at Richardson’s day-to-day as she juggles being a business owner, a mother to her two young daughters Robin and Fiona, and now, the challenges of sharing the…
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OTTAWA — The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) shot back at Canada’s English-language private broadcasters today after Bell Media, Corus Entertainment and Rogers Media released an open letter to the CRTC yesterday in which they asked the Commission to maintain status quo on recent broadcasting decisions.
In their letter, the big three broadcasters urged the Commission to stand firm on its recent decisions regarding reduced minimum spending requirements on programs of national interest (PNI) as part of the CRTC’s group licence renewal decision in May.
Bell, Corus and Rogers were responding yesterday to a joint open letter released…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Media Producers Association, Film Ontario, the Directors Guild of Canada, the Writers Guild of Canada, Unifor and 14 other trade groups and unions have banded together to continue to push Heritage Minster Mélanie Joly to overturn a recent CRTC decision which set spending on programs of national interest (PNI) at 5% of broadcaster revenues.
In an open letter to the minister printed this morning in The Hill Times newspaper, the creative groups and unions (some of which have already officially appealed to cabinet) amped up the pressure on the minster using the same…
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THE RECENT CRTC DECISION to reset broadcaster minimum spending requirements on programs of national interest (PNI) to a lowest-common-denominator level of 5% (see here for more) dealt a blow that the Canadian television industry is still reeling from. In the aftermath, the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) filed a petition to Cabinet seeking to set aside or refer back the decision.
There was very little in the decision that provided a rationale as to why PNI minimums were so summarily slashed, making a letter that former CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais sent to Hedy Fry, the Chair of the…
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OTTAWA – On Tuesday morning, the federal government will name former Telesat and Telus executive Ian Scott as chairman of the CRTC, Cartt.ca has learned. (Scott is pictured in a screen cap from cpac.ca during 2016's basic services objective hearing.)
As well, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada legal counsel Caroline Simard will be named vice-chair, broadcasting. Both will assume their new duties and begin their five-year terms in September.
CRTC senior legal counsel Christianne Laizner will also be named interim vice-chair telecom, effective immediately, filling the slot left open by Peter Menzies’ departure last week to…
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TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has added two new members to its board of directors following its annual meeting of members held earlier this week in Montreal.
Lori DeGraw and Michael Schmalz succeed outgoing directors Cheryl Barker and Glenn Wong. They join current BoD chair Alain Cousineau and directors Alison Clayton, Guy Fournier, David McLennan, and Rob Scarth.
DeGraw is executive director of the Ontario Land Trust Alliance, and brings 25 years’ experience in the audiovisual industry plus extensive corporate governance experience to the role. She held the role of VP media operations at Blue Ant Media for 10…
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