TORONTO – Looking to ensure certain levels of TV production is maintained across Canada, the Canadian Television Fund today announced the creation of a new production incentive.
The pilot program is designed to encourage production where volumes have declined significantly, said the press release.
The first production areas to benefit from this $5 million incentive include Atlantic Canada and Quebec, where production activity fell below the target level in 2007-2008, reads the statement. As such, two separate CTF allocations of $2.2 million and $2.8 million have been created for productions based in Quebec and Atlantic Canada, respectively, for 2008-2009….
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – New CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix today urged the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage to push the Federal Government to implement the committee’s report CBC/Radio-Canada: Defining Distinctiveness in the Changing Media Landscape.
"The report highlights the importance of public broadcasting in Canada, and the belief, that I strongly share, that CBC/Radio-Canada should continue to play a pivotal role in the social, cultural, and democratic life of this country," Lacroix said in his opening remarks to the Committee Thursday afternoon.
Lacroix, along with Sylvain Lafrance and Richard Stursberg, the executive vice-presidents of French and English Services, respectively,…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Bell Canada won’t be making public data to support its claim that over-the-air fee-for-carriage rate hikes will prompt subscribers to drop its ExpressVu service.
In a letter, dated April 25, to the CRTC, Bell’s regulatory affairs chief Mirko Bibic said it won’t file the data because of its “great commercial sensitivity’’ and “the Commission’s disinclination to accept it on a confidential basis,’’ even though the CRTC Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said Bell could file the data in confidence.
Bell noted that the “disaggregated monthly data’’ “could be of assistance’’ to the Commission, but refused to have information…
Continue Reading
KAMLOOPS – RTNDA Canada, The Association of Electronic Journalists has honoured its best in electronic journalism in the B.C. region in 2007.
RTNDA Canada presented the RTNDA Awards at the B.C. Region Pro Dev Seminar & Awards Banquet this weekend in Kamloops, B.C.
"Congratulations to all the winners" said RTNDA President Bob McLaughlin. "This is an incredible accomplishment and it shows that quality journalism is thriving in Canada." The B.C. Regional winners go on to compete for the RTNDA National Awards to be presented at the RTNDA National Conference in Ottawa on June 21, 2008.
The 2007 TELEVISION winners…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – New Canadians – South Asian and Chinese immigrants in particular – are connected to the Internet in above-average numbers, according to a new study by Toronto-based market research firm Solutions Research Group (SRG).
SRG research reveals 88% of South Asian and Chinese households in Canada have a PC, which is above the Canadian general population average of 83%.
In terms of Internet usage, 89% of Mandarin-speaking recent immigrants from Mainland China reported using the Internet on a weekly basis, with 2.6 hours per day dedicated to online use vs. only 1.6 hours of TV viewing and less…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – They compete aggressively for U.S. programs, audience share, and advertisers, but in an exceptional show of unity, executives from CTVglobemedia Inc and CanWest Global Communications sat shoulder-to-shoulder Thursday to persuade the CRTC to open up new sources of funding.
Together, the two networks argued the economic viability of conventional television is “under threat”, because of lack of fair access and fair compensation. They attacked cable and satellite distributors, saying that if their vision were adopted, they and not consumers would control television programming.
“The outcome of this review will decide who will program the remote controls of…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – BMO Financial Group has acquired the title sponsor rights to all 30 Toronto FC Major League Soccer TV broadcasts during the 2008 season, on CBC, Rogers Sportsnet and The Score.
The one-year agreement marks the first broadcast sponsorship for Toronto FC, and a further extension of BMO’s relationship with Canada’s Major League Soccer team. BMO already holds the naming rights to BMO Field, home of Toronto FC, and is the sponsor of the team’s jerseys.
At the same time, BMO has also extended its agreement to be the official bank of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors,…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation says a news release sent out yesterday by Dittybase Technologies contained misleading information. The CBC has issued a press release to clarify the following:
– CBC/Radio-Canada, through its Merchandising Division, has agreed to a non-exclusive license with Dittybase, effective February 1, 2008, for a term of two years; through this agreement, Dittybase may use its music-sourcing technologies to offer CBC-approved recordings for use in television programs, films, commercials, etc.;
– this is specifically a business to business service and not for retail consumers;
– the agreement does not include the entire CBC music…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Industry Minister Jim Prentice says he can’t place a throttle on the new practices of telecommunications companies that target bandwidth hogs who constantly download movies and share files over the Internet.
This week Rogers informed its Internet customers it will begin billing based on usage instead of connection speed. This follows a similar announcement by Bell where it plans to restrict certain types of online traffic on its own networks and those it provides to third-party ISP wholesalers.
Speaking before the House of Commons, Prentice downplayed the concerns of Charlie Angus, New Democratic Party spokesman for digital issues, who charged…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL- New distribution services are allowing Canadians to watch TV programs when and where they want and unless Canada adjusts to this new reality it will “lock itself out of the global television industry” warns Pierre Karl Peladeau, president and chief executive officer of Quebecor Inc.
He made the comments today, arguing that the approximately 400 rules and regulations governing Canada’s broadcasting industry are stifling Canada’s potential to play a leading role in the industry.
"Within a few years, the Internet may be the main distributor of television programs, piping content over a global network that escapes regulation,” says…
Continue Reading
