TORONTO – The Canadian Media Guild (CMG) has asked for clarification on comments made by CBC president Hubert Lacroix during his speech at a business luncheon in Toronto on Thursday.
At that time, Lacroix reportedly said that he was asking the federal government for financial assistance to deal with an expected budget shortfall and to cover downsizing costs in 2009/2010.
He also said that while no decisions would be made for 2009/2010 until the CBC board meets in mid-March, he is seeking a meeting with the Prime Minister before then, and is meeting with Heritage Minister James Moore next week.
But the CMG, who…
Continue Reading
HAMILTON – While the vultures encircle a faltering Canwest Global Communications, most of whom are trying to pry the company’s valuable specialty channels away, the 100 or so people working for the company’s Hamilton TV station are working on their own bid to save their small piece of the lot.
Sources with knowledge of the discussions say that both Corus Entertainment and Astral Media are working their hardest to tempt Goldman Sachs (the U.S. investment bank which owns most of the equity – if not voting control – of the group of specialties which used to be the Alliance…
Continue Reading
A GROWING SENTIMENT AMONG many industry folks is that the carefully (and sometimes not-so-carefully) constructed, heavily regulated, TV system we have built here in Canada can not withstand the global media environment of the 21st century.
So, is it time to completely de-regulate television in Canada? Do we need to re-write the Broadcasting Act and just blow it all up?
Yesterday I talked with two people with long histories in Canadian television with diametrically opposed points of view. I think they’re both right about a number of things and if they are, our regulatory system is in for some…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – There are currently no viable business models for broadcasting in the digital world, both the CBC and Corus Entertainment, two broadcasters who have taken extensive forays into the new media environment, told the CRTC on Thursday.
“We have a long way to go to securing a broadcasting model for new media,” Steve Billinger, executive director of digital programming at the CBC, said during the CRTC’s ongoing new media hearings. “What we’ve lost on the traditional broadcasting side is not being made up on the digital side.”
Steve Guiton, CBC chief regulatory officer, noted that some revenue being…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Tony Burman, managing director of Al-Jazeera’s English language channel – and former head of CBC News – was in Toronto this week to say that Canadians should be allowed to choose whether or not to get his channel in their homes.
Al-Jazeera the news organization has been a hot potato of a media outlet in the past. It’s Arabic language channels have aired some incredibly objectionable content in the past where virulently anti-Semitic viewpoints have made it to broadcast.
Because of that history and the resultant lobbying in Canada earlier this decade, the Arabic channel can’t really…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – CTV said today it won’t seek to renew the licence for the CBC affiliate it acquired when it bought CHUM Ltd., CKX-TV Brandon (and those of its rebroadcasters in Foxwarren, McCreary and Melita), when the licences expire at the end of August 31, 2009.
This is also the date when CKX-TV’s longstanding CBC affiliation expires.
“This agreement, in which CBC purchased airtime to carry its network programs and commercials, helped support the cost of maintaining the transmitters and technical equipment that distributed the CBC Television service free over the air to the citizens of western Manitoba. CBC…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Corus Entertainment is selling its pay audio service Max Trax to Stingray Digital Group Inc. for approximately $16 million dollars.
“To ensure our focus remains on driving our core business, we have made the strategic decision to discontinue the operation of Max Trax,” said Paul Robertson, president of Corus’ television division, in the press release. “Stingray Digital is a pioneer in the digital music service business and we are confident that they have the expertise to enhance the pay audio offering. We have agreed to provide services to Stingray in the short-term to ensure a smooth transition for…
Continue Reading
A YEAR IS A LONG time. Or not – depending on how much you need to get done in 365 days.
As of today, Keith Pelley, the hyper-energetic president of the Canadian broadcast consortium for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, has but one year left to make ready “the biggest media event in Canadian history,” he says. He and his team have a lot to get done and just one little year to do it.
Hundreds of people are involved in broadcasting (including 140 on-air folks) those 16 days in February of 2010 in Vancouver, Whistler and…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Canadians are excited about high definition television and are falling in love with on line TV viewing. However, their yearning for PVR or VOD technology is proving far less intense.
So says the newest edition of Fast Forward, Solutions Research Group’s quarterly, ongoing syndicated research.
As of November 2008, when the company’s survey of 1,000 online Canadians was done, 37% of online households in Canada have been shown to have an HD-capable set, which translates to about 32% of all Canadian households – about four million homes. HD-box adoption has also grown and is now above the…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Canadian Women in Communications (CWC) has selected this year’s award winners in the categories of ‘Woman of the Year’ and ‘Employer of the Year’, plus the inaugural ‘Excellence in Leadership’ award.
Susanne Boyce, president of creative, content and channels for CTV, has been named Woman of the Year. The award recognizes an outstanding woman who has made a significant contribution to any sector of the communications industry throughout her career, and who has contributed materially to the advancement of women within the industry.
Employer of the Year goes to Xerox Canada, as an organization that has an outstanding history, and/or…
Continue Reading
