OTTAWA – The CRTC called for a TV policy review because of the dramatically shifting nature of the broadcast and distribution industry. But, says Telus, it is this uncertainty created by the ongoing shifts that means conventional broadcasters’ requests for a wholesale fee for carriage should be carved out of the review for consideration separately.
Canadian broadcasters have long lusted after the type of wholesale subscriber fees that grow the bank accounts of Canadian specialty services. The over-the-air broadcasters been consistently refused since they already make hundreds of millions off of advertising, the conventional channels are must-carries…
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TORONTO – Women in Film and Television – Toronto and CBC Television, have launched the 2006 CBC Canadian Reflections Award and are calling for applications.
The national competitive award will give one emerging Canadian female filmmaker "the opportunity to receive creative support from CBC Television to develop a concept project to showcase the diversity of Canada," says the press release.
The winner will receive $7,500 to go towards production costs of a program of up to 30 minutes in length, as well as consultation with a CBC drama executive. The winner will be announced at the 2006 Crystal Awards Gala…
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TORONTO – Music reality shows are facing off all summer long and two press releases sent Wednesday (received by Cartt.ca within a half hour of each other) each claim its network won Tuesday night.
While two can declare wins, it’s pretty easy to see who lost.
"For the second consecutive week, Canadian Idol remains the Tuesday night champ, pushing aside all the competition and notably, its much-hyped American simulcast competitors Rock Star: Supernova and The One: Making a Music Star," crows the CTV press release.
Then again: "GLOBAL TELEVISION WINS THE NIGHT. ‘Idol’ AND ‘The One’ can’t get no satisfaction…"…
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THE CREATORS OF ICRAVETV.COM (remember that?) predicted, just by launching their web streaming service in 1999, that the momentum pushing TV programming off the tube and onto the net – and beyond – was unstoppable.
Although they hadn’t sorted out licensing and rights issues before making online streaming a tantalizing, if forbidden, fruit, the service was too far ahead of their time.
That time is now.
Content producers of all kinds are on the cusp of a frenzied push to move digital video beyond TV, to make greater use than ever of Internet-based broadband channels, and to go further,…
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FOR SEVERAL YEARS, CANADA’S TV launch season has followed a logical path, with the odd new bit added here or there to spice up the mix. This year, the industry expected broadcasters to introduce new shows, dangle tasty bits of multi-platform potential, parade the talent, wow the buyers and let the 2006 upfront selling frenzy begin.
Observers could then cue the standard questions: will Global build its list of Top-20 gains at CTV’s expense? Will CBC’s new-look programming represent an alternative or even an addition to hockey as a must-buy? Will specialties and digi-channels continue to grow? And will…
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OTTAWA – Given the impending TV Policy Review and broadcast technology report the CRTC must pen for the Heritage Minister, the CRTC made official Monday what it had told the CBC months ago – it would get an administrative license renewal until these things are sorted out.
The CBC’s TV licenses were renewed until August 31, 2008.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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OTTAWA – As everyone knows, teenagers have dramatically reduced their radio listening over the past several years.
However, according to 2005 data released by Statistics Canada today, the drop appears to have flattened.
Among the various groups based on age and sex, teenage males aged 12 to 17 reduced their listening time the most during the past five years. In the fall of 2005, they reported listening for an average of 8.6 hours per week, down from 10.1 hours per week in 2001.
However, their listening time appears to have stabilized in the past three years as that 8.6 figure…
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BOSTON – "Clearly, I was wrong," David Purdy told CTAM Summit delegates today.
The Rogers Cable vice-president and general manager of television was talking about his (formerly) held opinion that making sports available on demand wouldn’t work – that viewers wouldn’t want to see games and events hours or days after they happened.
And then the number of users of the MSO’s Winter Olympics on CBC on demand blew away even the most optimistic usage projections. The Rogers on demand project won first place in the free division in CTAM’s On Demand Case Study competition and Purdy presented the…
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OTTAWA – Bell Globemedia’s $1.7 billion offer to purchase CHUM Ltd. last Wednesday is sounding some alarm bells among producers and journalists, especially given CHUM’s layoff of 281 people also announced the same day.
Groups representing producers and journalists – and even one Toronto city council hopeful who was once a Citytv talking head – have sounded notes of caution but – perhaps encouraging for BGM – they have not come out against the deal.
"This is a major transaction which could signal a major restructuring of the Canadian broadcasting environment," said Guy Mayson, president and CEO,…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC today announced it’s allowing RDI to increase its hourly advertising by up to 50%, amending its licence from a former maximum of eight minutes per hour, to a new maximum of 12 minutes.
The CBC applied for the RDI change, saying it would give the French-language information channel the same maximum as its English-language Newsworld service. The CBC also pointed out that most specialty channels can air up to 12 minutes of ads in each clock hour.
The proposal was opposed by private broadcasters, including TVA, Astral, Cogeco Radio-Télévision, and Corus, who were upset that…
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