TORONTO – The Television Bureau of Canada has announced its 2010 board of directors.
Along with TVB president Theresa Treutler, the board’s executive committee is:
– Rita Fabian, Chair, EVP of sales and marketing, CTVglobemedia;– Errol Da-Ré, Vice Chair, EVP sales, Canwest;– Chris McGinley, Treasurer, SVP operations, Canwest;– Mitch Dent, Secretary, EVP Rogers Media Television Sales.
Completing the Board of Directors are:
– Sally Basmajian, CTVglobemedia, Discovery Networks;– Bill Hanson, CTVglobemedia;– Richard Hiron, Rogers Television;– Lori Legault, Canwest;– Cal Millar, Channel Zero;– Scott Moore, CBC Television;– Jim Nelles, Sun TV;– Don Shafer, Astral…
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GATINEAU – The Shaw Communications legal team and the Commission share a difference of opinion.
Qu’elle surprise, you’re thinking.
However, the one that arose Wednesday as Shaw faced the Commission during 2009-614 (the hearing forced by an Order-In-Council that will inform a report to the Heritage Ministry on establishing a value for signal regime for local broadcasters) was a different conflict than some of the others we’ve followed between Shaw and the Regulator.
In its opener on Wednesday afternoon, Shaw’s SVP regulatory, Jean Brazeau, insisted that the CRTC can not issue a policy ruling on the hearing held last month on setting…
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GATINEAU – One of the things we’re learning at this hearing (if we didn’t know it already) is that consumers have sharp memories for when they felt wronged.
For example, second-year poli-sci student Kari Vierimaa (born and raised in Timmins and Sudbury) who called himself “a future broadcast journalist” lamented the losses of local news nearly a decade ago in Northern Ontario during his presentation Wednesday morning in front of the Commission as it looks into compensation for conventional broadcasters in 2009-614.
“In 2000, Robert Rabinovitch, the then newly-minted president of CBC/Radio Canada slashed and essentially destroyed quality local coverage in…
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QUIETLY POSTED TUESDAY on the CRTC’s web site were the 2009 aggregate financial data of the large Canadian broadcasters and BDUs. And, as we all knew, the BDUs are doing pretty well. The broadcasters, not so much.
CTV EVP Paul Sparkes tried to quickly introduce some of the data during its Q&A session Tuesday during the ongoing hearing into a broadcaster compensation regime because of the dramatically different bottom line numbers for his company compared to the big carriers. However, he was interrupted by Commission chair Konrad von Finckenstein before he could spit out the admittedly huge profit before…
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GATINEAU – For those of us who have been to a few of these CRTC get-togethers, Marjorie Lemieux will likely stick in our minds for a while.
Dressed in a bright purple sweatshirt, the Rogers Cable customer was on the first consumer panel of the day (a group pulled together from submissions via the “Stop the TV Tax” campaign) for hearing 2009-614, the one called by the CRTC in response to cabinet’s call for a report on the implications of paying a fee for conventional TV.
“My name is Marjorie and I want to stop the TV tax,” she began, adding…
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GATINEAU – With a light dusting of snow outside and a grey beginning to yet another week of talking about paying for conventional television signals, you’ll hopefully forgive us for feeling just a little like this.
This is the fourth hearing inside of two years (and the second one in the past month!) whose focus is on compensating local TV broadcasters for their signals). This one, as CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein pointed out right at the start, will not set policy, but instead will inform a report to be filed in the new year with Canadian Heritage Minister…
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OTTAWA – The CEOs from three of Canada’s biggest broadcasters have thrown their support behind the skinny basic concept, calling it a “consumer-first solution”.
In a press release issued after their appearance at the CRTC hearing Tuesday, CBC, CTV and Global said that a pared down basic television programming package will provide “affordable, accessible, and sustainable TV services for all Canadians.”
"Canadian consumers and TV viewers deserve a choice, and a new affordable bundle of basic TV channels is a start," said CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix, in the release. "With a regulated capped rate, Canadians will be protected from fee hikes with…
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By Christopher Maule, Professor Emeritus, Carleton University
THE BATTLE BETWEEN CANADIAN BROADCASTERS and cable companies taking place before the CRTC is about the past and the disappearing present and not about the future of traditional television and other forms of video.
If the protagonists and the Commission are to consider the public interest as reflected by how consumers spend their money and time, they need to look for ways to profit from what consumers want instead of struggling over what consumers have been forced to take.
Today, consumers use their Kindle and computers to read books and view pictures, use their iPhones…
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GATINEAU – Canadian cable, satellite and telco TV carriers can now add Al-Jazeera English to their channel lineups.
This morning the CRTC added the international news channel to the lists of eligible satellite services for distribution on a digital basis. Canadian sponsor Ethnic Channels Group filed the application in February for the Doha, Qatar-based service.
The decision is bound to arouse some scrutiny today since Al-Jazeera’s Arabic language channel has in the past aired a number of people who espoused virulent anti-Semitic views on air. Some Canadian Jewish groups have expressed reservations about having the English channel available here.
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GATINEAU – This particular decision has been rumoured to be near for months, but it appears the CRTC will officially say whether or not international news channel Al-Jazeera English can be added to list of eligible satellite services for distribution by Canadian cable, satellite and telco TV carriers.
It’s expected the Commission will approve the addition of the channel, which is owned by the Emir of Qatar and is available around the world, when it makes its announcement sometime this week.
Because Al-Jazeera’s Arabic language channel has in the past aired a number of people who espoused virulent anti-Semitic views…
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