GATINEAU – The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) and Rogers Communications have told the CRTC that they are prepared to accept an extension of the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) as long as the program is only available to independent broadcasters.
In addition to excluding the vertically integrated companies and CBC/Radio-Canada, (which has campaigned hard to keep it) the CCSA said that LPIF monies should only be made available for new, incremental local programming. Despite this slight change of heart, the small BDUs would prefer a complete and immediate elimination of the fund.
According to Access Communications,…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – CBC Television said Thursday that it is bringing back 14 shows to its primetime schedule next season, including popular series Arctic Air, Republic of Doyle and Mr. D.
But as the national broadcaster grapples with a 10% cut in government funding, it has dropped Michael Tuesdays and Thursdays, Insecurity, and The Debaters from its lineup (Connect With Mark Kelley was axed a few weeks ago). The fate of Battle of the Blades and Cover Me Canada is unknown at this time.
New programming joining the schedule includes Murdoch Mysteries; crime drama Cracked; historical drama Titanic: Blood And Steel; and Over…
Continue Reading
LAS VEGAS – You couldn’t swing a set of dead analog rabbit ears at the Las Vegas Convention Centre this week without hitting a broadcaster or broadcast supplier building a business case –or in many cases, even deploying – mobile broadcast TV.
We’re not talking about TV delivered by mobile phone companies to phones and tablets (for a subscription fee and data charges), but free, off-air digital TV to the phones and tablets of Americans.
Right now, a few companies like Belkin and Siano have manufactured some hardware plugins which are essentially little one-to-two-inch USB devices with a short antenna (pictured…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – There is no shortage of people who believe, thanks to our exploding new media world, that: “Television is dead”, or some variation of that theme.
At the TV Bureau of Canada’s TV Day, held Thursday at the Carlu in Toronto, broadcasters, agencies and media buyers were given ample reasons to believe that not only is TV not dead, it has never been stronger. Of course, one would expect the TV Bureau and all the broadcasters to scream that from the rooftops because that’s their business, however, the numbers and the work being done, seem to back the notion…
Continue Reading
Perry Hoffman
GATINEAU – Telcos Telus and MTS Allstream are urging the CRTC to remove vertically integrated broadcasters/distributors from eligibility under the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF).
While Rogers, Shaw and Quebecor all want the LPIF program eliminated, Bell Media Inc. is neither for or against continuing the program. However, each have local stations who are collectively getting millions from the LPIF fund.
Ann Mainville-Neeson, director of broadcast regulation at Telus, noted during her opening remarks, that of the large vertically integrated providers, only Bell is clinging to LPIF despite the fact that it could save more than $1 million if the…
Continue Reading
LAS VEGAS – CBC and Communications Research Centre Canada (CRC) are among the 13 international television broadcast organizations that signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday forming the Future of Broadcast Television (FOBTV) initiative.
Announced during the NAB convention, the agreement builds on the Future of Broadcast TV Summit held last November in Shanghai, China, where broadcasting leaders established a framework for cooperation to chart the future course of terrestrial television broadcasting.
The FOBTV signatories support terrestrial broadcasting which they say is uniquely important because it is wireless (supports receivers that can move), infinitely scalable (point-to-multipoint and one-to-many architecture), local (capable of delivering geographically…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) must not only be preserved, it must be strengthened, according to CBC/Radio-Canada.
Appearing Tuesday at the hearing into the future of the fund, the national broadcaster called the LPIF a “tremendous success” that has helped to stabilize local television stations as well as boost local programming in the country’s smaller markets.
"We've increased the local news in our LPIF-eligible markets by almost 30 percent”, said Kirstine Stewart, VP of English Services. “Our supper hour news shows have been bumped up from one to one and a half hours in seven of eight eligible…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – Bell Canada is now prepared to allow the Canadian Broadcast Corp. to receive money from the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) as long as the pubcaster is the sole provider of local TV services in a particular small market.
The media and communications giant had argued in comments that since the CBC receives approximately $1 billion from the federal government it shouldn’t qualify for funds from LPIF. But during opening remarks, Mirko Bibic, executive VP and chief legal and regulatory officer at BCE, said private local TV remains in a difficult financial situation and could see station closures,…
Continue Reading
LAS VEGAS – Through Dejero’s portable LIVE+ solutions broadcasters can now instantly transmit broadcast-quality live video through cellular networks without the cost or complexity of satellite/microwave trucks or the effort of implementing dedicated towers.
With this software developed by the Waterloo-based company (its CTO Bogdan Frusina was one of the first 100 original RIM employees), the company is gaining notoriety among most broadcasters on the NAB show floor, with its products featured at the Panasonic and Harris booths, thanks to partnerships with both.
Three of Canada’s large broadcasters, Bell Media, CBC and Rogers, have all deployed Dejero, which gives its newsgathering…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – An informal group of radio broadcasters are banding together in the hopes of pulling the plug on CBC’s nascent digital music service CBC Music.
The coalition, which includes Quebecor Media, Cogeco Inc., Newcap Radio, Golden West Radio, RNC Media and Stingray Digital, objects to the ad-supported service which it says contributes to the inaccurate perception that music is free, plus competes with their own radio stations and subscription-based websites, counter to the CBC’s mandate.
In a letter to Heritage Minister James Moore on Friday, the broadcasters questioned whether the CBC is using “the preferential royalty rates it receives from the…
Continue Reading
