By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – In the world of broadcast regulation, it’s thought to be good form to requote what the CRTC chair has said in the hope it will earn you a favourable decision. Ian Scott’s quote in our headline seems to be central to the proceeding into the renewal of the CBC’s broadcasting licences, which completed day 11 on Monday.
CBC leadership have repeated our headline (which was uttered on day one), most intervenors have said it, and today it was even re-cast in the following way, when the Directors Guild of Canada president Warren Sonoda said: “What get…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Motion Pictures Association (MPA) Canada sent a letter to the federal and British Columbia governments with a proposal to extend tax incentives to global film players for a three-year period, post-pandemic.
The four-point proposal, obtained by Cartt.ca through a freedom of information request, includes federal incentives for foreign studios to hire Canadian production companies, an adjustment to the 23% withholding tax on non-residents of big-budget live action productions that would release some of that tax to them through a rebate, a tax measure to incentivize purchases of Canadian products and services by global studios, and incentives for…
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By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – Québecor CEO Pierre-Karl Péladeau took centre-stage at the CRTC’s hearing into the broadcasting licence renewals for the CBC and reiterated his company’s complaint (which it is advertising here, and in other places) that the public broadcaster must be made complementary to the private broadcasting system, which means the CRTC must put an end to the CBC’s pursuit of advertising.
This is something the Canadian Association of Broadcasters also asked for on Monday.
Péladeau (screen-capped above from his appearance today) also complained over-the-top service Tou.TV Extra is operating in contravention of the regulatory and legislative framework…
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TORONTO — Distributel Communications today announced it has acquired independent telecom provider Primus Telecommunications, a Canadian subsidiary of Atlanta-based Fusion Connect, for an undisclosed amount.
“Bringing Primus into the Distributel family will mean more options, increased innovation and better value for Canadians and ultimately a better alternative for our country,” says Matt Stein, CEO of Distributel, in the company’s press release announcing the transaction. “We are thrilled to bring Primus under Canadian ownership and accelerate the pace of growth for both companies.”
Distributel says the acquisition allows the company to enhance its product range with Primus’ offerings which include a…
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TORONTO — The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) today announced applications are now being accepted for its new Black Journalism Fellowship program, established in 2020 by the CJF in partnership with CBC/Radio-Canada and CTV News.
The fellowships are designed to help amplify Black voices, improve coverage of Black issues in the news and cultivate future Black media leaders, says the press release announcing applications to the program are now open. The deadline to apply is February 19.
The program includes three fellowships:
CJF-CBC/Radio-Canada Black Journalism Fellowship (sponsored by lululemon);
CJF-CBC/Radio-Canada Black Women’s Journalism Fellowship (sponsored by Aritzia); and
CJF-CTV News Black…
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GATINEAU – Monday morning started with the presentation from a new Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB). When their intervention was filed in February 2020, the CAB was a shadow of itself, with skeleton staff and scope yet a year later the newly appointed president, Kevin Desjardins made his first presentation in front of the CRTC.
It should be noted that the main private broadcasters had intervened but had not indicated that they wanted to appear except for Québecor, which will appear Tuesday.
The presentation gave way to the usual boasting:” According to CRTC Data, while the CBC’s share of “contributions to…
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By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – At 3:44 p.m. on Friday, January 15, the CRTC lawyer joked: “The moment you have long been waiting for,” before going with reading a long list of undertakings, which is of course the information CBC executives had agreed to provide to the Commission, on or before February 3.
It marked the end of a long week where CRTC commissioners and senior staff at the CBC verbally wrestled to provide this process a fulsome record without giving away too much. And now, the leadership of the Corporation, to counter-quote CEO Catherine Tait, can go back to…
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By Denis Carmel
AFTER WRAPPING UP THE portion of the hearing which programming dominated discussion, the CRTC hearing examining the renewal of the CBC/Radio-Canada broadcasting licences saw B.C. and Yukon regional commissioner Claire Anderson take over on Thursday, driving the dialogue down the roads of diversity and relevance, accessibility of programming and ratings classification
Anderson (above) introduced herself as a citizen of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation and she was taking part from Whitehorse, Yukon. “We are here to discuss how the public broadcaster can become even more representative of all Canadians over the next licence term,” she said. She…
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By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – While day one of the hearing into the renewal of the CBC’s broadcasting licences was devoted to the 40,000-foot view with the chairman, days two and three flew a little lower, even skimming the regulatory weeds.
The second day of the hearing – and a little bit on Wednesday morning – were devoted to news at CBC/Radio-Canada.
“When I started at CBC/Radio-Canada, I was reminded that Canadians have two jobs—their own, and running the CBC,” said CBC president and CEO Catherine Tait. That is especially true of news at the corporation, so it was the topic…
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By Steve Faguy
MONTREAL — This week, the CRTC began a two-week hearing into the renewal of CBC/Radio-Canada’s licences, a process which began more than a year ago. There will be days of questioning, dozens of intervenors appearing, and discussions of everything from children’s programming to the fees for CBC News Network to diversity, local news, online distribution and official minority communities.
But one thing that probably won’t be discussed is a service the public broadcaster is specifically required by legislation to provide, relatively few know about, but that the company has seemingly treated like a forgotten stepchild: Radio Canada International.
Last…
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