OTTAWA – Telus’ Michael Hennessy says that it all comes down to priorities.
In advance of his company’s presentation in front of the CRTC on Tuesday, the SVP of regulatory and government affairs said that the current fee-for-carriage discussions are “doing everything backwards” because they failed to set priorities, and to recognize consumer sovereignty in today’s digital world.
“Our fundamental position is that what we’re talking about now is a tremendous waste of our time and resources because we’re not giving consumers enough credit, and listening to how they want to define the television world, or the entertainment and informational world…
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TORONTO and CALGARY – With Industry Canada’s review of the CRTC decision on Globalive still on-going, it’s hurry up and wait for the potential new wireless entrant.
With nothing but time on its hands, the company has sent 400 of their newly trained employees out in Calgary and the Greater Toronto Area to commit ‘random acts of kindness’ such as distributing hand sanitizer and pumping gas, or helping with charities such as the Salvation Army and local food banks.
In the meantime, incumbent telcos and even Globalive itself have been busy compiling their submissions for Industry Minister Tony Clement to aid in the review process. All…
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TORONTO – The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) has thrown its support behind the broadcasters’ demands for fee-for-carriage, but only if they promise to put that money back into Canadian programming.
The group said that with “record high profits, cable companies can and should contribute more to Canadian broadcasting”, but should not be allowed to “pass the buck” to consumers.
“Private broadcasters and cable companies have been getting a free ride for too long, and consumers and audiences already aren’t getting what they’ve been paying for through their cable fees and taxes”, said national president Ferne Downey, in a…
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GATINEAU – We could have a story here about the CBC’s plea for a skinny basic.
We could have re-analyzed its re-demands for new revenue in the form of a wholesale fee and how forcefully its executives argued it needs one, despite how detractors point out it already gets a billion dollars from taxpayers and as a public broadcaster an increase from that stream seems more appropriate.
We could have expended more words on Bell’s SD Freesat proposal and how the company re-iterated it will resist new fees to local broadcasters no matter what right to negotiate might be enshrined in…
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TORONTO – Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium Monday announced it will deliver the Games in a record 22 languages.
Consortium broadcast partners Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), Asian Television Network (ATN) and OMNI Television will air a combined total of 421 hours of multilingual coverage throughout the 17 days of the Games.
"In the truest spirit of the Olympic Games, the Consortium has made a significant commitment to delivering inclusive coverage of Vancouver 2010 that embraces the multicultural heritage of this country," said Keith Pelley, president of the consortium, in the press release. "Canadians of various cultures and backgrounds will have…
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HALIFAX – Canada’s communications regulatory regime is in desperate need of repair, says a report by The Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS).
In the recently released ‘In The End of that ’70’s Show: Rethinking Canada’s Communications Regulatory Institutions for the 21st Century’, report author and former AIMS research director Ian Munro says technological advances have made the existing regime obsolete.
"Long gone are the days when the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors were distinct entities," Munro said in a statement. "Yet the regulatory regime still treats them as such, which creates inefficient duplication and complete disconnects across government agencies and departments with…
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By Michael Janigan, PIAC
THE CURRENT SPECTACLE of Canada’s television networks engaged in a pie-throwing contest with the cable and satellite industry seems as confusing to the viewer as an episode of “Lost”.
For one thing, the mantle of “consumer champion” sits uneasily on the shoulders of the distributors – the cable and satellite companies, whose own offerings are crammed with services owned by them that hoover up ever-increasing subscriber fees. In turn, some Canadians are startled to learn that there still is significant local broadcasting, after over two decades of damaging cuts to such programming.
The facts are that the…
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TORONTO – The Canadian Media Guild and Openmedia.ca have launched a campaign to save free local TV signals for Canadians living in small towns after the industry’s transition to digital.
The transition could impact 11 million Canadians living in smaller cities and rural areas, the group said in a statement on Tuesday. CRTC rules say OTA only has to stay on in communities larger than 300,000, plus provincial and territorial capitals.
“The Guild has presented research to the CRTC and to broadcasters on how they could use the new digital technology to improve TV service in smaller communities by sharing transmitters”, the…
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OTTAWA – Consumer coalition TV Alliance is calling on Heritage Minister James Moore to ensure that consumers can participate in the upcoming public hearing on billing practices for TV services in Canada.
“The Heritage Minister directed that special hearings take place for consumers on the TV debate, but consumers are being denied fair treatment in the process," said Alliance advisor Michael Janigan, in a statement. "The Minister should not support a two-tier consultation process, with privileged industry riding in first class while consumer groups ride in coach if at all."
The call comes in response to last month’s Order in Council…
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TORONTO – The new board of the new Canadian Media Fund launching in April is new and much smaller – with a much more prominent voice from the companies which must funnel a piece of their revenue into it – but how, exactly, will the administration of this $300 million money pot change as compared to the old CTF?
The BDUs (Rogers, Shaw, Bell, et al), which have to contribute 5% of their revenues to this fund to create Canadian content challenged the way it was run almost three years ago and said they should have more…
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