GATINEAU – Among the 2,704 official filings to the CRTC for its Let’s Talk TV formal policy review coming in September is an 11-page warning from over-the-top video behemoth Netflix which said, essentially: Don’t slap any new regs on us, thanks.
While the CBC, Canadian Media Producers Association and others want the CRTC to tap Netflix’s Canadian revenue for contributions to Canadian content, the U.S.-based online video provider says the Commission has no right, and besides, it already has a ton of Canadian content, produces some things here and is merely complementary to the regulated system.
The CBC, however, says it’s…
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GATINEAU – The press release headlines sound pretty good, but it’s in the conditions, the details, where all this talk of consumer choice and flexibility gets bogged down.
The three largest Canadian vertically integrated media and carriage companies (Bell, Shaw and Rogers) each issued press releases Friday – the day their submissions to the CRTC on its TV Policy Review were due – saying, and we’re paraphrasing here: “boy oh boy, are we consumer friendly and choice leaders!” The big three each said they support more pick and pay, or a-la-carte channel selection, so that Canadians…
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TORONTO – Canadians appear to have embraced ‘the beautiful game’, with 28.5 million people (or 82% of the population) tuning in to at least some of CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage across all platforms through the Group Stage of 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.
This figure nearly matches the 28.7 million Canadians who tuned in to the entire 2010 tournament, the national broadcaster announced. Live Group Round match broadcasts averaged a 2+ audience of 1.35 million viewers – 44% more viewers compared to 2010 (944,000 viewers). In addition, the average daily reach of the Group Round matches has increased by nearly 2 million viewers compared…
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SO THE QUESTION NOW IS, will Hubert Lacroix, Heather Conway and Louis Lalande be able to move the internal mountains necessary to transform the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from a traditional TV and radio broadcaster to a mobile and digital-first outfit?
Thursday’s announcements surely talked a good game (from an outsider’s point of view anyway. We know those of you inside are looking at 1,500 more lost jobs and are not viewing that as anything approaching “good”), but can the CBC really view everything it does through the viewfinder of a smartphone camera and find, as its…
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TORONTO – CBC/Radio-Canada’s new strategy will result in a leaner, focused, more modern and financially sustainable public broadcaster by 2020, president and CEO Hubert Lacroix promised Thursday in a town hall session with employees.
That plan, dubbed 'A space for us all’, will “transform the Corporation from the traditional to the modern, and aims to better serve Canadians, through three fundamental shifts: the digital, the individual and the sustainable”, reads the press release.
Noting that the Corporation will have 1,000 to 1,500 fewer employees by 2020, in addition to the reductions announced to date, the strategy calls for cuts in fixed…
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TORONTO – More than half of all Canadians are willing to pay more than the $29 they currently contribute through their taxes in support of CBC/Radio-Canada, according to the public broadcaster.
Just hours before CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix reveals his new five-year strategic plan to employees Thursday, the Corp. released the results of its “conversation” with Canadians about the future of Canada’s media landcape and CBC/Radio-Canada’s role in it, launched by Lacroix in May.
CBC said that it received more than 33,000 responses from across the country to its online survey and it released a couple of videos…
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NEW YORK – CBC Radio won Broadcaster of the Year at the New York Festivals on Monday night, plus took home an additional 25 awards during the annual awards gala held in New York City.
The awards recognize the best in international radio, whether local, network, or independent, from more than 30 countries around the world.
"It is such an honour to receive attention from such a prestigious international festival awards,” said Chris Boyce, CBC's executive director of radio, in the announcement. “For our shows to be judged based on production, creativity, writing, performance and presentation, is a true testament to the…
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TORONTO – Rogers unveiled the first 200 games of its 350 NHL game schedule Sunday, slated to air across CBC, City, Sportsnet (East, Ontario, West, and Pacific), Sportsnet One, Sportsnet 360 and FX Canada.
The action kicks off Wednesday, October 8 with an all-Canadian double-header featuring Toronto vs. Montreal and Vancouver vs. Calgary on Sportsnet, and Rogers said that it will announce its remaining national and regional broadcast schedules in the coming weeks.
In addition to regular season games, Rogers has exclusive Canadian broadcast coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Stanley Cup Final, NHL All-Star Game, NHL Draft Lottery, NHL Draft, and the…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC will be awarded Public Service Awards of Excellence at a ceremony this fall in the areas of Official Languages, Employment Equity and Diversity, and Policy.
The Public Service Award of Excellence recognizes employees who have demonstrated excellence in achieving results for Canadians and who reflect the priorities of the public service, while demonstrating key leadership competencies.
The Commission said Thursday that CRTC employees will receive an award in the Official Languages category for the high degree to which the use of English and French was promoted in all aspects of the CBC/Radio-Canada licence renewal proceeding. Throughout…
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OTTAWA – Canadians’ love of their smartphones and tablets continues unabated, with some 67% of Anglophones now reporting that they have smartphones, and 45% have tablets, according to the Media Technology Monitor (MTM).
The Spring 2014 Adoption Report is a summary of penetration trends of audio and video technologies delivered over traditional, Internet and mobile platforms. The technologies are presented in relation to the different stages of technology adoption, starting with the ‘innovation’ stage and ending with the ‘decline’ stage.
Highlights from that report include:
– The mobile audio market is growing, with nearly a quarter of Anglophone Canadians streaming audio from…
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