ONE THING BECAME CLEAR pretty quick when I sat down to with Phil Lind a not long ago. He wanted to talk about fee-for-carriage.
The vice-chairman and executive vice-president, regulatory, at Rogers Communications gets a little animated and agitated when it comes to fee-for-carriage(or the renamed value-for-signal). Over four years ago, when we said (wrongly at the time) that it seemed inevitable the CRTC would grant OTA broadcasters the right to charge a fee for their signal, he called me up out of the blue to tell me in no uncertain terms how wrong I was.
For that particular proceeding,…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – CBC/Radio-Canada applauds the CRTC’s decision to have satellite television providers carry more local television stations, noting it could be the shot in the arm that some of them need.
Responding to Wednesday’s revised satellite distribution policy, the Corp called the new rules “a critical step” in strengthening local programming in Canada.
“Local stations provide a fundamental public service to their communities”, said Steven Guiton, VP and chief regulatory officer, in a statement. “They help citizens connect with their local government, businesses, schools and community organizations. They help define, build and sustain the local culture and local democracy. Our five-year strategy,…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Bell TV and Shaw Direct must carry more local television stations, the CRTC said Wednesday while announcing its updated its satellite distribution policy.
Beginning September 1st, Canada’s two satellite distributors must offer an affiliate of each national television network; five English- and five French-language CBC stations – or as many CBC stations as are distributed from a private broadcasting group in either official language; one television station per province from each major Canadian broadcasting ownership group; and two stations from each of the other Canadian broadcasting ownership groups.
“Canadians in all markets should have access to their local…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – GlassBox Television has named Jennifer Mason as its marketing and communications director.
Mason (pictured) was most recently senior manager of marketing strategy for Shaw Media’s specialty television division. Prior to that, she held roles with Alliance Atlantis, CFC and at CBC. In her role at GlassBox, Mason’s responsibilities include building awareness for the company’s media brands Bite TV, Aux TV and Travel and Escape Channel.
“Jennifer’s extensive marketing experience and success in building strong awareness of specialty brands, together with a great track record of working…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Veteran radio broadcaster Costas Halavrezos will be honoured with the 2011 RTNDA Lifetime Achievement Award in the Atlantic Region.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was created in 2002 to recognize individuals who have distinguished themselves through outstanding service and continued excellence during the course of their career in broadcast journalism.
Halavrezos, who retired this fall from CBC Radio, was one of the best known broadcasters in the Maritimes. After freelancing for the CBC in the 1970’s, he then took on a full time producer job in his native Saint John. In 1982, he went in front of the microphone, first…
Continue Reading
WASHINGTON – CTV British Columbia, CBNT St. John’s, NL, 680News Toronto and CHYM-FM/CKGL-AM Kitchener, ON all received awards for ‘Overall Excellence’ at the 2011 Edward R. Murrow Awards for excellence in electronic journalism.
This year, Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) judges awarded 600 regional awards in 14 categories, including Overall Excellence, Breaking News, Investigative Reporting, and Website. Awards are broken up by medium (radio, television, on-line) and by market size (small and large.) Regional winners automatically become eligible for the national awards competition, which will be judged in June and presented in October at the RTDNA Awards Dinner in New…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Videotron has named Yann Paquet as vice-president, multiplatform content.
In this role, Paquet will be responsible for positioning Videotron as the “preeminent player in the dissemination of content on multiple screens and media”, reads the company’s press release. He will also be responsible for cable television programming, Indigo’s pay-per-view service, video-on-demand, illico web and all mobile content offerings.
Prior to joining Videotron, Paquet was VP of digital media and strategic partnerships at Reader’s Digest. He has also held various management positions at CBC, including senior manager of new media.
www.videotron.com
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Nearly 7,000 Canadians have told the CRTC that television commercials are too loud, and, that they want the Regulator to do something about it.
The Commission got an earful after asking for comments back in February on measures to control the loudness of commercial messages. It launched the public consultation after receiving hundreds of complaints, and comments were due last week.
“It is highly annoying the number of times we need to adjust the volume from commercials back to programming”, wrote Mark Dostie from Richmond, B.C., in his submission to the CRTC. “In fact we will often ‘pause’…
Continue Reading
THERE’S JUST TWO WEEKS left before Canada 3.0 2011 digital media forum kicks off for a third straight year.
Scheduled for May 2 – 4, 2011 in Stratford, ON, the forum is dedicated to advancing Canada’s digital media industry. Some of this year’s panellists and keynote speakers include:
– Jennifer Stoddart, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner;– Mark Allen, Director of Strategic Analysis for CBC/Radio-Canada;– Juliette Powell and 3rd Wave Gaming: the future of financial transactions; and– Alan Saxe, SVP of Business and Legal Affairs for OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.
And Cartt.ca will be there, too.
Registration includes access to the main plenary sessions, breakout sessions, access…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – RTNDA Canada, The Association of Electronic Journalists, has named its British Columbia region award winners honouring the best programs, stations and newsgathering organizations in both radio and television.
The annual awards will be presented in Vancouver on May 28, 2011.
The Television winners are:
Trina McQueen Award – News Information Program• CTV British Columbia for Black Blood
Charlie Edwards Award – Spot News• /A\ Vancouver Island for Migrant Ship Approaches
Hugh Haugland Award – Creative Use of Video• CTV British Columbia for Irish Pride
Ron Laidlaw Award – Continuing Coverage• Global BC for Surrey Six
Dave…
Continue Reading
