OTTAWA – MTS Allstream is gearing up to provide some direct competition to Westman Communications in Brandon, Manitoba.
The CRTC on Monday approved an application by MTS to extend its licensed area, currently serving Winnipeg and surrounding areas under a Class 1 regional broadcasting licence, to include Brandon.
The Commission also relieved MTS from the requirement of section 17 of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations to distribute CKX (CBC) Brandon, provided that the signal is distributed in Brandon, and allowed it to tweak its community programming requirements for its video-on-demand service.
Westman Communications, who operates a Class 1 cable BDU…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – CBC Television is banking on a new reality series this Fall that will tie in to two of Canada’s traditional pastimes – hockey and figure skating.
Called ‘Battle of the Blades’, the elimination-style show will team up some of Canada’s top figure skaters and hockey stars in a ‘Dancing With the Stars’-type of format. Contestants will then compete against one another each week in a glitzy pairs figure skating performance.
The lineup of skaters and judges has yet to be set, but the show apparently will involve a live studio audience, expert judges and voting from viewers at home.
Continue Reading
THERE IS SO MUCH left to do in order to make the transition to digital television happen in Canada that it’s impossible to see how we’re going to make the deadline despite the fact there’s still 28 months to go before the August 31, 2011 date set by the CRTC.
That thought struck me yet again, but harder, during the DTV transition session the National Association of Broadcasters held for international broadcasters here in Las Vegas. The association helpfully hosted the session, complete with panel representation from the FCC, cable, consumer electronics, the telecom industry and a social group representative….
Continue Reading
WINNIPEG – As part of Wednesday’s Earth Day celebrations, MTS Allstream conducted “an office supply exchange” which saw its employees return nearly-new, unneeded office supplies to the company’s supply rooms, with the surplus donated to local schools.
The company said in a press release that it is also a member of the ‘One Million Acts of Green’ initiative, and estimates that its employees have contributed over 15,000 Acts of Green towards the goal.
An Act of Green can be as simple as turning the lights off when you exit a room, or something more complex such as green home renovations….
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Perhaps in an effort to keep those long NHL playoffs feeling fresh, CBC’S Hockey Night in Canada show has added an interactive component to its broadcasts called ‘Stanley Cup I-Desk’.
CBC hosts Scott Morrison and Jeff Marek will hold live chats with hockey fans during all of the network’s 2009 Stanley Cup Playoff game broadcasts. Fans will also be able to watch live game streams, video-on-demand, read updated stats, scores, highlights, blogs and glean behind-the-scenes insight via updates from its rinkside reporters on the communication network Twitter.
The show has also launched a dedicated group on social…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – CBC News will reorganize its entire newsgathering process, the Corp said today – “with particular attention to strengthening its ability to deliver on a 24-hour, seven day multiplatform news cycle.”
But it will have to do it with 70 fewer people and $7 million fewer dollars.
The reorganization will be designed to strengthen local coverage while maintaining its “commitment to national and international coverage as Canada’s leading news organization,” reads the press release.
"Despite the financial challenges we face as the result of a drastic decline in advertising revenue and the continuing erosion in real dollars of…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The Canadian Media Guild (CMG) has launched an on-line petition appealing to the federal government to “restore” the CBC.
Called ‘CBC: Now More Than Ever’, the campaign urges “concerned people from across Canada” to click on an electronic link to send a letter to the Prime Minister and the leaders of the opposition parties.
The letter asks for increases to the CBC’s annual parliamentary allocation by $7 per Canadian by the end of 2009, to develop a seven year contract with the CBC that “sets expectations” and guarantees funding indexed to inflation, and to provide bridge financing to the…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – ACTRA said that it is “concerned” by media reports that the government may offer financial support to local television programming, but not to the “struggling” CBC.
The Canadian Press and the Globe and Mail have reported that the federal government is considering a $150-million fund to help keep community TV in business, after national networks CTV and Global indicated recently that they were willing to walk away from money-losing TV stations in small markets rather than absorb further losses.
CTV has announced plans to close a station in Brandon and two outlets in Windsor and Wingham, ON, while…
Continue Reading
VANCOUVER – Adbusters Media Foundation, the publisher of Adbusters magazine, has won its appeal in its case against the CBC and the Global Television Network.
Adbusters sued the two media companies after they allegedly refused to sell airtime to Adbusters for its “socially minded public service spots”, with “little to no explanation as to why these citizen-produced messages are being censored”, its press release said.
According to Adbusters, it brought its case against the CBC and Global because it believes “that the Canadian Charter grants every Canadian the right to access the public airwaves; to walk into their local TV…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – BBM has released its top-line radio statistics for January 5 through March 1, 2009, including the first report using data from portable people meters (PPM) from the Montreal market.
Highlights from Montreal, which reviewed data from December 1 through March 1, 2009, showed that Astral Media-owned news talk station CJAD dominated the Anglo market with a 25.6% share. They were followed by CJFM FM (Astral’s Virgin station), Corus’ “lite” rock focused CFQR FM and CBC Radio One (CBME FM) at 16%, 14% and 12.4%, respectively.
The leaders in Montreal’s Franco markets were CFGL FM with a 15.5%…
Continue Reading
