BANFF – Three days of great weather, stunning scenery, clean mountain air and a ton of networking and learning made for another super CCSA CONNECT conference, where much of the talk surrounded the lengthy and somewhat contentious TV Policy Review hearing.
After CRTC vice-chairman broadcasting Tom Pentefountas opened the conference Monday morning with his speech (one which pretty much stayed away from the hearing), one of the conference’s sponsors AMC’s Lesley Fields, showed she’d been listening to the Commission’s Let’s Talk TV hearing when she noted she felt nervous following Pentefountas saying: “I feel the need…
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BANFF – It’s not easy being a small fish in an ocean filled with predators new and old – and with unpredictable tides – but the strong, well-organized school of independent CCSA members consistently show they have advantages which can allow them to survive and thrive.
That’s the message CRTC vice-chair broadcasting Tom Pentefountas carried with him this morning to open the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance annual Connect conference at the Banff Springs Hotel.
He recognized that the transitions being made by the large companies in the media, cable and telecom spaces are exceedingly difficult and have certainly not been easy…
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BANFF – I *heart* local cable will be a focal point for the 2014 Canadian Cable Systems Alliance annual conference to be held this year at the Banff Fairmont Springs starting Sunday.
The successful cable community channel awards, now in their second year, will honour not just excellent community channel programming, but excellent television that can stand up to any other professional productions (we’ve seen them).
After 350,000 votes cast from coast to coast for member company programming by viewers, the CCSA announced the award winners in July and they will be lauded by their peers Monday…
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GATINEAU – The non-vertically integrated cablecos, Cogeco and members of the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) entered the Let’s Talk TV policy hearing discussion fray on Thursday with both arguing the Commission must ensure they can acquire programming rights at reasonable costs without onerous terms.
Keith Stevens, chair of the board at CCSA member Execulink Telecom, noted during the CCSA’s opening remarks that the recent affiliation agreement with Bell Media is a prime example of the harm small cable TV providers face when dealing with VI providers. Under this deal, Execulink was required to maintain packaging requirements as they were…
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BANFF, AB – This is the last chance to register for the CCSA’s Connect 2014 conference which this year will take place at the Fairmont Banff Springs Resort in Banff, Alberta from September 21 – 23.
The event will include three days of educational sessions, networking, and social programming with CCSA members, suppliers and industry delegates as well as local wildlife.
Corus Entertainment was named as the new presenting sponsor for Connect 2014.
www.ccsa.cable.ca/AGM
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GATINEAU – The biggest stir on the third day of the CRTC’s Let’s Talk TV policy hearing centered on the possible inclusion of revenue earned from broadcasters’ online activities when calculating Canadian programming expenditures (CPE) Bell Canada arguing that it’s illogical, odd and added insult to injury.
“Working document item 10 concerns us greatly,” said Mirko Bibic, Bell’s executive VP and chief legal and regulatory officer, adding that the proposal on the table “would treat Canadian licensees in that space differently than the Netflixes of the world.”
That bit of the CRTC’s discussion document says: “The definition…
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GATINEAU – It will surprise no one that the cost of sports television are front and centre for so many of the submissions to the CRTC’s TV Policy Review
Telus, for example, called the amount of cash being sent to various leagues and teams for the rights to live games “irrational” and has requested the CRTC address the soaring price of sports services and eliminate penetration-based rate cards in sports packaging.
Lined up on the side of Telus, are Shaw Communications, Cogeco and Canadian Cable Systems Alliance members, distributors who own no sports channels. While vertically integrated companies like Rogers and…
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REGINA – Access Communications has acquired a new mobile production truck that it will allow its community channel Access7 to cover events in full HD.
The 28’ long by 12’ high mobile is on location for its coverage of the North American Indigenous Games through July 27, before moving on to the Queen Ex Parade on July 29, and the Regina Red Sox game on July 30.
More than just a camera bay, the mobile is a complete broadcast station capable of video editing, creating graphics, real-time replay, and audio editing, allowing Access to bring a level of professional content to its…
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REGINA – Access Communications is broadcasting and streaming over 50 hours of this year’s North American Indigenous Games, and is also offering the content free to its fellow Canadian Cable Systems Alliance members.
First staged in 1990, the North American Indigenous Games is a multi-sport event that this year has attracted over 4600 indigenous athletes from across Canada and the U.S. to Regina from July 20 – 27. Coverage on Access' community channel Access7 includes sports, cultural entertainment, live coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies in association with Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, a daily wrap up…
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GATINEAU – The quest of both the CRTC and the federal government to ensure consumers have more choice in their TV packages is running into some difficult headwinds. Vertically integrated broadcast distributors as well as content developers acknowledge that Canadians do say they want more channel flexibility, but they don’t want a so-called “skinny basic” tier of TV channels.
In the official TV Policy Review Notice of Consultation (2014-190), the Commission has proposed a basic cable package that only includes local Canadian TV stations, the 9(1)(h) must-carry channels, provincial educational services if they exist, and in some cases, the community…
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