TORONTO – Friends of Canadian Broadcasting has a message for the Conservative party convention taking place in Winnipeg today: don’t cut funds to the CBC.
The broadcast watchdog group has launched an ad campaign beginning with a published a print ad in today’s Prairie edition of the Globe and Mail. The ad cites a recent Nanos survey that it commissioned which found three-quarters of Canadians would support maintaining or increasing funding to CBC.
"Friends intends to take every opportunity during this Parliament to urge Prime Minister Harper to strengthen Canada’s sovereignty through policies that promote Canadian culture," says spokesperson Ian Morrison….
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TORONTO – After reading the internal memo sent to the employees of Canwest’s broadcasting division on Wednesday – which explained the job cuts – a few times, one thing is certain: The company has only just begun its battle with the CRTC.
The memo – from the desk of imminently departing Canwest Broadcasting president Kathy Dore – adds much more color to the announcement that 210 people will be let go from the division (part of 560 being terminated by the company as a whole). It’s worth noting that this is in addition to 200 who were terminated Continue Reading
TORONTO – The CBC and Al Gore’s Current Media are getting together to launch Current Canada, a new "cross-platform media company" aimed at young adults, the two companies announced today.
Retracing the history a little shows the new channel is a completion of a circle – of sorts anyway – as Current comes home to its ownership roots with this launch.
An American news/information/opinion channel and online presence aimed at young Americans – Current was in its past life Newsworld International – a cable news channel launched by the CBC and Power Corporation in the 1990s in the U.S….
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TORONTO – CBC/Radio-Canada confirmed Saturday that CBC News reporter Mellissa Fung has been freed from captivity after being abducted on October 12 in Kabul.
Fung appears to be “well” and is within the Canadian Embassy in Kabul. The company report said that she will undergo a full medical evaluation before being re-united with her family.
"In the interest of Mellissa’s safety and that of other working journalists in the region, on the advice of security experts, we made the decision to ask media colleagues not to publish news of her abduction," said CBC news publisher John Cruickshank. "All of…
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MONTREAL – CBC/Radio-Canada is planning to “modernize” its downtown Montreal offices and develop on-site real estate, the company announced today.
The project, along René-Lévesque Boulevard at the eastern limit of downtown Montréal where CBC Montreal already sits, will cost $1.6 billion for 2,000 housing units, offices, and commercial and public spaces, according to the press release. Public information sessions will be held later this month in Montreal.
The new buildings, reaching up to 44 metres in height, will be constructed around the existing tower, on the site of large parking lots to be relocated underground. The tower would be re-converted…
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OTTAWA – Perhaps a little lost in the explanation of the CRTC’s policy release on BDUs, specialties and fee-for-carriage was a warning from the chairman that the Commission’s pace may have to slow a little, due to a shortage or resources.
While introducing Konrad von Finckenstein Monday morning, Canwest’s head of regulatory, Charlotte Bell, noted the CRTC was “tackling many issues at a breathtaking pace,” and that he has “called as many hearings as any chair that I can remember.”
However, when he took the stage Monday morning for his highly anticipated explanation of how the Commission came to…
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SAVE FOR THE CONVENTIONAL broadcasters who wanted their new fee, many in the industry are, if not slapping the Commission heartily on the back, recognizing that coming up with new regulatory frameworks for BDUs and discretionary TV channels wasn’t likely an easy task and that the Regulator has done a decent job in addressing the myriad issues.
Click here for our summary of Thursday’s release.
Sure, cable, satellite and telco TV companies don’t want to divert another 1% of revenue to yet another programming fund, the broadcasters’ bet on fee-for-carriage didn’t come through and many wish advertising in…
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OTTAWA – There will be no new fee for the carriage of broadcast signals in Canada. But a new levy is being imposed to help boost local programming.
No fee, but a new fee * One of the first items in the press release announcing the new policies governing broadcast distribution undertakings and specialty services (and the over-the-air fee-for-carriage issue) was the Commission’s desire to boost local programming. “The desire for better local programming in Canada’s smaller markets was clearly made evident during this proceeding,” CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein said in the Commission release today. “We have taken…
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SO WILL WE SEE fee-for-carriage, or not?
A blizzard of issues were discussed, argued and dissected in the over half-a-million words spoken (seriously, we counted…) six months ago in Gatineau during the CRTC’s hearing into the policies governing broadcast distribution undertakings and specialty & pay TV channels.
But the most buzz-worthy question during the 12 hearing days was one that wasn’t fully related to either. It was the question of whether subscription fees will have to be paid to conventional over-the-air broadcasters by those BDUs (cable, satellite and telco TV).
Of course, we’ll have to wait until 4 p.m….
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TORONTO – CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada is providing Punjabi broadcasts for 55 games from its 2008-09 schedule at CBCSports.ca, as announced prior to the start of the NHL regular season.
Rogers and Bell TV have also been providing games to its subscribers, and starting Nov. 1, Shaw Digital Cable will also be making the Punjabi broadcasts available to its customers.
CBC’S Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi broadcast package provides Canadians with two games each Saturday night in Punjabi – including the 57th NHL All-Star Game in Montreal on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009 – for the 2008-09 regular season….
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