OTTAWA – Statistics Canada’s release yesterday of radio listenership data that’s a year old is the final one it will compile, the government’s numbers arm said.
This release (some of which we’ve quoted below for old time’s sake…) was based on a survey of Canadians aged 12 and older. The radio project of the Culture Statistics Program was a joint endeavour of the CRTC, the Department of Canadian Heritage, and Statistics Canada. The basic radio listening data are provided by BBM Canada.
The last television viewing data were released on March 31, 2006, for the fall of 2004.
Radio…
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OTTAWA – Despite complaints about the CRTC’s decision to allow the new owners of Quebec private conventional TV broadcaster to dramatically cut local programming, Minister of Canadian Heritage Josee Verner said late Friday she’s not going to get involved.
The TQS union and the opposition Liberals had demanded the decision to let Remstar Diffusion take over the broadcaster while cutting local news to the bone be referred back to the CRTC for a re-think.
Without Remstar’s bid to purchase, it’s thought that former co-owners Cogeco Inc. and CTVglobemedia were tired of losing money with the station and were considering shutting…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC will put off a review of its benefits policy until after the federal government renders its views on the Canadian Television Fund.
The Commission issued a public notice in July, asking for comments on altering its benefits policy so that some money could be directed to new media initiatives. Currently, when one broadcast company buys another, a certain percentage of the transaction (10% in the case of television companies) must be set aside for public benefits, which are mostly for the production of Canadian content.
However, a number of recent transactions (such as Goldman Sachs’…
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OTTAWA – With the very future of the Canadian Television Fund in question, the CBC along with the independent production community are urging the CRTC to postpone its plans to review funding for new media in September. The CRTC has put out a call for comments (Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2008-62) regarding its proposed changes to its public benefits policy that would create new funding streams for new media within the CTF.
In just the last few weeks, the Harper government has cut tens of millions in funding to arts program and has so far given no indication if…
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TORONTO – ACTRA and the Directors Guild have both added their voices to the chorus condemning the federal government’s cuts to arts funding programs.
“These cuts are shocking and short-sighted, and they certainly aren’t business friendly,” said Stephen Waddell, ACTRA’s national executive director. “Support for arts and culture are among the most efficient investments a government can make. Government funding leverages other investments, markets Canada to the world and enriches our society here at home.”
Federal government cuts to cultural programs were announced on Friday, August 8. More cuts were discovered this week. Programs affected in the film and television industries…
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OTTAWA – Canada’s public broadcaster is calling the government’s decision late Thursday to not endorse the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage’s report on CBC/Radio-Canada a “missed opportunity.”
The move would have enabled the government to enhance the accountability and transparency of Canada’s national public broadcaster, said the CBC in a statement released Friday.
A seven-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that links the public broadcaster’s objectives with its services and funding should be signed between the CBC and government, recommends the report, CBC/Radio-Canada: Defining Distinctiveness in the Changing Media Landscape.
“We are disappointed that the government has not endorsed the…
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OTTAWA – The federal government asked the CRTC on Friday to report on the accessibility and quality of broadcasting services offered to minority French- and English-language communities.
The request is part of a government-wide initiative, called the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality 2008-2013, that is aimed at strengthening the vitality of minority official language communities.
The government said in a statement that it was time to re-look at the issue given the proliferation of new technologies that has transformed the broadcast industry in recent years.
“As the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality attests, our government takes very seriously the…
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OTTAWA – Canada’s film and television producers say proposed Senate amendments to Bill C-10 reflect their concerns, and if passed, can help return stability to the industry.
“Canada’s independent film and television producers feel that they have been listened to and understood. The proposed amendments to Bill C-10 are fully consistent with Criminal Code compliance recommendations made by the Canadian Film and Television Production Association to the Senate committee,” said CFTPA President and CEO Guy Mayson.
The proposed amendments were released Wednesday by Senators Francis Fox and Wilfred Moore, and will be introduced when the Senate banking committee proceeds…
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WINNIPEG – Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) CEO Jean LaRose praises the CRTC for seeking to “strike a fair middle ground” in its recommendations on how to fix the Canadian Television Fund (CTF).
He added that he’s pleased that the regulator recognized the “special place” that APTN has in meeting the goal of the Broadcasting Act of reflecting the country’s Aboriginal people.
The CRTC recommended that APTN be permitted to tap into both the public sector and private sector streams it is suggesting be created. The CRTC’s suggests APTN get one-third of its funding from the public sector side…
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OTTAWA – Just prior to Parliament’s summer break, the federal government tabled new amendments to the Copyright Act “that will bring it in line with advances in technology and current international standards,” it says.
The bill (C-61) is “a win-win approach because we’re ensuring that Canadians can use digital technologies at home with their families, at work, or for educational and research purposes. We are also providing new rights and protections for Canadians who create the content and who want to better secure their work online,” said Industry Minister Jim Prentice, in a press release.
"These proposed amendments represent…
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