OTTAWA – Minister of Industry Jim Prentice has been “about to” introduce new copyright legislation for about three months now at least, according to Ottawa sources.
Perhaps March will be the month it happens…
In the meantime, the Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright has submitted a position paper to the minister “urging the government to strike a balance in copyright reform that reflects the needs of users and creators,” says its letter.
Besides the members in the headline, the BCBC also includes smaller stakeholders like EastLink, Cogeco Cable, SaskTel, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association and the Retail Council of…
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TORONTO – The Directors Guild of Canada filed comments yesterday with the CRTC in support of public disclosure of aggregate financial data for over-the-air television and radio broadcasters.
DGC requested that revenue and expenditure information for media giants such as CTVgm, CanWest and Rogers be made public “in order to evaluate the manner in which CRTC policies are being applied, and the extent to which broadcasters are contributing to the system,” says the Guild’s release.
"This information is critical for analytical purposes. Without this data, industry stakeholders cannot properly participate in the public process," said Brian Anthony, DGC national…
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MONTREAL – The CBC this week announced the appointment of Suzanne Laverdière as director, cross-cultural fund.
She will report to Yvan Asselin, general manager of integration. Suzanne will also have a dotted line to the executive director, English television network programming, as well as to the executive director and general manager of CBC Radio and Radio de Radio-Canada, respectively, said the Corp’s internal memo.
“These inter-network responsibilities highlight the Corporations strategy of emphasizing cooperation among all of its components,” says the memo.
With a budget of $10 million, Laverdière will be responsible for collaborative, cross-cultural productions, building on the successes…
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GATINEAU – “The CTF is gratified that the great majority of interveners strongly support the Canadian Television Fund and emphasize that one of the Fund’s greatest strengths is its adaptability to new challenges faced by the industry,” said Douglas Barrett, chairman of the board of the Canadian Television Fund, in closing the week-long hearing on the future of the fund today.
“When considering changes to the industry’s funding system, the most critical objective is ensuring that, given that the competing demands of stakeholders in the production, broadcast, and distribution system, the interests of the Canadian public, including both taxpayers…
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TORONTO – CBC’s day-long celebration of our national game this Saturday will be a bit more inclusive this year as select games will be made available online in Mandarin, Hindi and Cantonese at cbcsports.ca.
CBC’s eighth annual Hockey Day In Canada gets underway on Saturday, Feb. 9, at 12 noon ET / 11 a.m. CT, as Ron MacLean goes rinkside, live from the Winkler Recreation Complex in Winkler, Man. Also in Winkler: Don Cherry, Cassie Campbell, Scott Morrison and Dick Irvin, while CBC personalities report from satellite locations across the country, including Duncan, B.C.; Black Diamond, Alta.; Cochrane, Ont.;…
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REGULATION IS GOOD. Necessary even. And regulation is already all around us and has been forever, not just enabling, but driving commerce and business success, says Bill Roberts, president and CEO of S-Vox, the company which owns and runs VisionTV, One: The Body, Mind & Spirit Channel and The Christian Channel.
Such statements are an outright abomination to the deregulation set in the electronic media industry in Canada (I’m looking at you, cable operators and other BDUs…), but Roberts makes a case that not only does the broadcast and cable industry still require regulation, but that the companies already…
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GATINEAU – The Canadian Television Fund should be split in two: one with public money to meet government policy objectives, and the other with private money to support hit shows, Rogers Communications told the CRTC on Tuesday morning.
During day two of the week-long hearing into the CTF’s revenue and governance models, executives told commissioners that increasingly the CTF—originally the Cable Production Fund supported entirely by the cable industry—“is viewed as a public policy instrument for the Canadian government” instead of a way to encourage broadcasters to air popular shows, said Rogers’ Vice Chairman Phil Lind.
To qualify for…
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TORONTO – Bell Canada today announced a new agreement with CBC/Radio-Canada to deliver the broadcaster’s coverage of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Summer Games to Bell mobile phone, digital satellite television and high-speed Internet customers across Canada.
Bell and CBC had a similar deal during the Torino Olympics of 2006.
As the official Canadian broadcaster of the Beijing Games, CBC/Radio-Canada will offer extensive and in-depth Olympic coverage, which will be made available to Bell customers across Canada in forms ranging from video streaming on mobile phones to full high definition television feeds of specific sports during the Games.
"This agreement…
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TORONTO – Barbara Williams, Canwest Broadcasting’s executive vice-president, content, made official her new direct reports last week, pulling together the assets of both Global Television and the newly acquired Alliance Atlantis assets.
“What results from the combination of these two teams is that Canwest Broadcasting now has the top talent in every genre and on every platform – lifestyle, comedy, hard news, drama, documentary, magazine, and all the hybrids in between,” said Williams, in a release today. “I am so impressed with the expertise and the experience of each and every person, and am truly excited about the potential…
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HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of new dollars could pour into the Canadian television system under a new fee-for-carriage plan proposed by Canada’s two main private broadcast networks.
Rivals CTVglobemedia and Canwest made a little history Friday by filing a joint submission to the CRTC’s review of its policies governing broadcast distribution undertakings (cable and satellite companies) and specialty services. Those hearings are set to begin April 7th.
Saying conventional television – thanks to the ever-increasing rate of audience fragmentation driven by specialty services and new media outlets – is in “crisis”, the broadcasters want the Commission to add a subscriber…
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