OTTAWA – Heritage Canada has kicked off a national search for two individuals to be nominated by Minister Mélanie Joly to the TV5 Québec Canada Board of Directors.
According to the appointment notice, the two part-time directors will serve for a four year period, renewable at the Minister’s discretion. The current structure of the TV5 Québec Canada Board consists of 11 directors, two of whom are designated by the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
TV5 Québec Canada reaches more than 10 million Canadian homes and operates two French-language channels, TV5 and Unis TV, which are included in the basic digital television services…
Continue Reading
Release date likely September 28th
I FEEL FOR HERITAGE MINISTER Mélanie Joly. Seventeen months ago when she kicked off her wide-ranging review into Canadian Content in a Digital World, she bravely put “everything” on the table. She said that a LOT and you know what, if you want to take a holistic look at Canadian content in the midst of a swirling media world that seems to evolve daily into something new, it’s a good idea.
However, it’s gone a bit off the rails.
The problem with everything on the table – is that it’s a damn crowded table, complete with stakeholders…
Continue Reading
TORONTO and NASHVILLE – Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. subsidiary Impact Wrestling will stage its annual pay-per-view event Bound For Glory from Ottawa’s historic Aberdeen Pavilion on November 5, 2017.
Built in 1898 and located in Lansdowne Park, the 33,000-square foot Aberdeen Pavilion has been home to many significant events throughout the city’s history, including Stanley Cup challenge matches in 1904. The venue was designated a national historic site of Canada because it is the only surviving large-scale exhibition building from the 19th century in Canada.
Bound for Glory will feature world champion Eli Drake, former champion Alberto el Patron…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – A coalition of cultural organizations have banded together in “an urgent appeal” to press the federal government to shore up and protect Canada’s cultural and media industries in the digital era.
In a declaration entitled Continuity, Fairness, Support, the groups lay out three principles that they say should guide any new policy development, referencing Heritage Minister Joly’s pending CanCon policy review decisions as well as the Quebec government’s review of its cultural policy and digital strategy.
The emergence of Internet giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Spotify have further disrupted the culture and communications sectors that…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading