OTTAWA – Can Canada maintain a rights market of its own for cultural content in the face of rampant and rapid technological change? If so, how? Should we? At what costs? What would any new rules say?
These very difficult, complex questions, along with Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly’s recent announcement that our aged legislation covering Canadian content rules will soon be getting an overhaul, were front and centre during the first morning of the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Biennial conference into new developments in communications law and policy at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa.
For example,…
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TORONTO – The public broadcaster’s ongoing transformation in the way it serves Canadians hasn’t been easy, but “the need for a Canadian public space” is more important than ever, according to CBC/Radio-Canada president and CEO Hubert Lacroix.
In an address to the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto on Thursday, Lacroix talked up the Corp’s recent successes as a result of its strategic plan 2020: A Space For Us All, including the 15 million Canadians that use its digital sites for news and information, a number that has increased by 3 million in the last year, and its new podcast series…
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OTTAWA – The local news business, while still attracting eyeballs, has ceased working from a financial perspective, Bell Canada told a Parliamentary committee on Tuesday. Echoing its appearance in front of the CRTC earlier this year, the company argued in front of MPs that creating a fund dedicated to local news programming would definitely help counteract falling advertising revenue.
Speaking at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Wendy Freeman, president at CTV News, noted that 2011 advertising revenue from private Canadian conventional TV stations has declined by $325 million, $91 million at Bell Media…
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HAMILTON and NEW YORK – Clearcable Networks has added One Caribbean Television (OCTV) to its Content Distribution Network (CDN).
OCTV carries daily news and weather, sports, travel, lifestyle and entertainment programming about the Caribbean and its people. Now in its tenth year, OCTV is currently available on cable systems throughout the Caribbean and in many major U.S. cities.
“Clearcable is pleased to be able to extend more diverse content to more consumers by bringing OCTV to the Canadian market,” said Clearcable president Rob McCann, in Wednesday’s news release. “Adding OCTV extends our commitment to delivering more choice to subscribers in Canada.”
“Our partnership…
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Feds must study past report to lead the future, according to Audet
TORONTO – The Canadian financial markets suffer a bias against risk, which has led to an unfortunate under-investment in innovation, Cogeco Inc. CEO Louis Audet told the Canadian Club today at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto.
In a wide-ranging speech that touched upon a wide number of things, Audet tied them all to the problems he believes are afflicting Canada and its economy. He noted many of the developed economies around the world are now facing stagnant growth rates – but noted that as Canadians, we have the…
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Looks like everything Cancon is on the table
OTTAWA – Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages Mélanie Joly has instigated public consultations into the feds’ support of Canada’s cultural and creative industries that could result in sweeping changes to Canadian content rules and regulations.
The Department of Canadian Heritage said Saturday that it, along with the help of an expert advisory group, will lead public, stakeholder and online consultations beginning this summer to strengthen Canadian content creation, discovery and export in a digital world. The consultations will encompass information and entertainment content as presented in television, radio, film, digital…
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BANFF – Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages Mélanie Joly will deliver a keynote presentation on Sunday June 12, 2016 to open the 37th annual Banff World Media Festival.
"I am pleased to be taking part in my first Banff World Media Festival as Minister of Canadian Heritage," said Minister Joly, in a statement. "I am eager to share my vision for the future of Canadian arts and culture with industry leaders. It will be a time for productive discussions about the new realities of Canada's content industry."
The Banff World Media Festival is recognized globally as a business market for…
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NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ON – The Federal Government has announced plans to extend its rural broadband initiative Connecting Canadians to include an additional 65,000 households.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development minister Navdeep Bains said Friday from Niagara-on-the-Lake that 23 Internet service providers across Canada are receiving approximately $34.5 million to increase broadband Internet access for more than 65,000 households in rural areas across Canada.
"Helping to extend high-speed Internet across the country is one of the most important infrastructure investments the Government of Canada can make to help unlock the tremendous potential of our country's northern and rural regions”, said Minister Bains, in the…
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The viewer rules
By Greg O’Brien
WHILE THE NEW DIGITAL GIZMOS and software used for TV newsgathering, dissemination and consumption has undergone wholesale, massive change, the way TV stations construct their evening news shows still looks very familiar.
Reporters spend the day gathering stories, editing video, voicing and so on and then anchors hit the air at six and 11 introducing those stories and throwing things over to the sports anchor, weather specialists and bantering with each other, live. While the reporters stories run and commercials air, anchors generally still sit and wait for that red light to go back on, the…
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TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has set its 2016-2017 program budget at $371.2 million, down $4 million from last year’s budget, and has also revised its program guidelines.
The CMF program budget is supported by revenue estimates for the coming year based on contributions from the Government of Canada; Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV distributors; and recoupment and repayment revenues from funded productions. The program budget reflects a stable contribution from the Government of Canada and an expected decline in Broadcast Distribution Undertakings’ contributions to the CMF for the year to come.
“The changes to the 2016-2017 guidelines are…
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