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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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OTTAWA – Members of the Canadian Media Guild (CMG) voted overwhelmingly in favour of a new five-year collective agreement with CBC/Radio-Canada, it was announced today.
Ninety-three percent of members approved the deal reached four months ahead of the expiry of the existing agreement.
"The new agreement is based on the principle that people are the foundation of everything that CBC/Radio-Canada does," said Hubert Lacroix, president and CEO, in a press release. "We’re working together to strengthen our ability to deliver as the national public broadcaster."
The agreement is a huge milestone in a long-standing relationship that hasn’t always been…
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OAKVILLE, Ont. – Among Canadian TV web brands, The Weather Network sets the pace.
The company set a new record for unique viewers in December as 6.86 million Canadians visited the cable channel’s web site, a 48% increase over the previous month. (A lot of December snow in the Greater Toronto Area and difficult storms in Vancouver probably helped too…)
December’s record setting visits represent an increase of 25% over the same month in 2007.
The data, from ComScore Media Metrix’s news and information category, shows that theweathernetwork.com was well in front of second place cbc.ca (4.46 million) and…
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OTTAWA – CBC/Radio-Canada is embarking on a new study it says will “evaluate the breadth and depth of its news content.”
The study, announced yesterday, “will also gauge Canadians’ expectations of the public broadcaster’s news services.” The independent study will be done by a third party and the results will be made public, promised the press release.
"Given the proliferation of news sources, Canadians are more demanding than ever when it comes to trusting what they see, hear and read," said Hubert Lacroix, president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, in a press release. "As a public broadcaster, we are quite…
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