By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – Canadian broadcasting legend Patrick Watson (above), who pioneered cutting-edge programming at CBC and who died in the early hours of July 4 at the age of 92, is being remembered as a consequential contributor to the country’s public broadcaster.
“From his start as a teen actor on CBC Radio’s The Kootenay Kid to his storied career with CBC News and his time as chair of the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors, Patrick Watson’s contribution to Canada’s public broadcaster and his service to Canadians across a number of fields was far-reaching, made a difference and will…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC today launched a consultation on whether stock footage costs should continue to be included in the criteria used for Canadian program certification.
Both the Commission and the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) have specific criteria for determining whether a production can be certified as “Canadian”. This includes (for both) a minimum 75% expenditure threshold paid to Canadians or Canadian businesses operating in the country for specific services costs.
Right now, the Commission categorizes stock footage as a “services” cost, which means it counts within the 75% expenditure threshold.
The Commission’s call for comments notes CAVCO announced in…
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OTTAWA – Three organizations representing community television and radio stations have applauded amendments made to clarify the role of “community” in Bill C-11, legislation which would give the CRTC enhanced powers to regulate content on internet platforms in support of Canadian productions.
The Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS), the Fédération des télévisions communautaires autonomes du Québec (the Federation), and the National Campus and Community Radio Association (the NCRA/ANREC) said in a press release today that the contentious legislation, which passed third reading in the House this week and is now before the Senate for pre-study, more…
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BILL C-11, THE Online Streaming Act, rightly raises important questions about transparency and trust — but not necessarily the ones that its critics would have you think.
I believe that C-11 is generally a good law that does what it purports to do: modernize the Broadcasting Act to ensure that online streamers and platforms play by the same rules as Canadian broadcasters do when it comes to investing in and promoting Canadian content….
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By Len St-Aubin
IN HIS RESPONSE to my critique of his article on regulating user-generated content under Bill C-11, Howard Law included a link to an opinion piece I wrote a year ago for Cartt.ca about Bill C-10, the predecessor to C-11.
(Note: You can read Law’s original commentary here, St-Aubin’s response here, and Law’s response to St-Aubin’s response here.)
While I appreciate that Law recommended my article to Cartt.ca readers, I want to correct a statement he made.
My article proposed an alternative approach to promoting CanCon online rather than intrusive, heavy handed and problematic regulation under the Broadcasting Act. Among other…
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TORONTO — Canadian satellite telecommunications company Kepler Communications announced today it has selected Tesat-Spacecom (TESAT), a German satellite payload equipment provider, to supply optical inter-satellite links for its next-generation constellation.
“TESAT’s ConLCT80 (constellation laser communication terminals) will be installed on Kepler’s first tranche of ÆTHER satellites, enabling optical service for The Kepler Network, a real-time, always-on communication network in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) providing the internet in space for space assets,” explains a Kepler press release.
Kepler’s next generation of satellites will provide data on-demand at up to 2.5 Gbps for the end user, according to the press release.
“The first orbital…
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By Howard Law
ON MAY 27 CARTT.CA published my suggested compromise on provisions in Bill C-11 impacting Canadian user-generated programming hosted by Facebook, TikTok and Google’s YouTube.
I argued a ministerial policy directive ought to direct the CRTC to regulate user-generated programming that is analogous to conventional broadcasting but exempt the remaining digital first content from regulation.
Last week Leonard St-Aubin wrote a rebuttal. Here is a summary of my take-aways from his critique:
Financing and creating CanCon should not be seen as a burden to broadcasters, but incumbent Canadian media companies treat it this way by electing to spend…
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By Howard Law
HERITAGE MINISTER PABLO RODRIGUEZ has promised a policy directive to the CRTC with cabinet instructions on implementing Bill C-11.
Point number one in the new directive should be making the certification of Canadian content more relevant to the Canadian experience by including qualitative judgments of national subject matter in the video content. I posted about this recently, as have others. The signal from the minister is that he has an open mind to it.
Point number two is to direct the CRTC to reappraise the existing regulatory supports for the money-losing local news industry.
Point number three is what to do…
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By Bill Roberts
A LOT CAN happen when you go to theatre school.
For example, you can end up with the Order of Canada, an honorary Maverick Award, be designated as one of the 20 Most Powerful Women in Global TV, and cap it off with a “back home” Saskatchewan Order of Merit.
Say hello to Valerie Creighton (above), president and CEO of the Canada Media Fund (CMF), who has achieved all of the above and more.
Creighton, widely recognized as a gifted and fierce champion of Canadian screen content, confirms a passionate yet distinctively shrewd strategic sensibility in this Cartt.ca podcast.
And she…
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TORONTO — FRIENDS (previously known as the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting) today announced the launch of a new campaign to support Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act.
To help mobilize Canadians to support the bill, which aims to make streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon contribute to the creation of Canadian content, Friends’ “No More Free Rides” campaign encourages Canadians to write their Member of Parliament to express their support for C-11.
FRIENDS is also petitioning to appear in front of MPs at the Heritage Committee, a FRIENDS email says.
As Cartt.ca reported last week, the Heritage Committee…
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