QUISPAMSIS – CCSA members may now offer BabyTV after the completion of a master affiliation agreement with Fox International Channels.
Founded in 2003, BabyTV offers commercial-free content created by educational experts for babies and toddlers. It was designed to support parents by providing shows that explore early learning themes through fun, with an emphasis on parent-child interaction.
“We are delighted to have partnered with Fox to conclude an agreement for this innovative service,” said CCSA president and CEO, Alyson Townsend, in Wednesday’s announcement. “With their strong commitment to the development and well-being of growing infants and toddlers, BabyTV will continue to…
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A MONTH FROM TODAY, Canadian Cable Systems Alliance members, their supporters and suppliers will gather at the Fairmont Tremblant in Mont Tremblant Quebec for Connect 2011, its yearly conference and annual general meeting.
The gathering will begin Sunday with a board meeting and CCSA members-only sessions, followed by an evening President’s Reception for all attendees.
After breakfast on Monday, September 19, Rob McCann of Clearcable Networks will host a technical session “to talk about recent development relevant to independent operators,” said CCSA president and CEO Alyson Townsend.
After that will be the popular trade show (last year’s, held in Niagara-on-the-Lake, is pictured below)…
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OTTAWA – Canada’s satellite relay distribution undertakings (SRDUs) should be exempt from licensing requirements, say Canada’s only two SRDU operators – Shaw and Bell – in their submissions to the CRTC’s consultation on that market.
SRDUs transport broadcasting signals to broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) that do not have access to fibre interconnections to receive their television signals, and, are often located in rural and remote parts of the country.
Both Shaw and Bell stress in their submissions dated July 11th that other technologies create enough competition in the signal transportation field to negate the need for licensing requirements….
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OKAY, WE’LL ADMIT IT. Sometimes it does get a little difficult in maintaining one’s attention on the fifth day into a CRTC hearing.
The questions, and quite often the answers, grow more similar as minutes turn into hours, turn into days. Those repeated questions and answers, though, do tend to allow followers of the hearing to divine just what the commissioners and the industry are aiming for. If you read between enough lines, maybe you can even predict, a little, what’s coming.
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WE’VE ALREADY EXPLAINED what the primary topics are during our extensive coverage of the CRTC’s…
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GATINEAU – A code of conduct for vertically integrated broadcast and distribution groups, content exclusivity on mobile and the need for a skinny basic package were the primary discussion points discussion during the fourth day of the CRTC’s examination of vertical integration.
EastLink noted during its opening remarks that access to content is a “critical driver” of not only its cable distribution service, but for all of its services, and therefore rules need to be established to ensure equitable access to content.
“Programming services dictate contract terms requiring distribution in high penetration packages, packaging requirements and, in some cases, with the…
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GATINEAU – Do consumers really want the ability to pick the Jenny Craig of TV packages, a.k.a. the oft-debated, ultra-lean, skinny basic package?
It has been one of the primary questions coming from CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein and his colleagues over the first three days of the Commission’s hearing into vertical integration.
The idea has been bounced around for a couple of years (especially during the fee-for-carriage battles), however it has really taken hold of the imagination of the panel of commissioners this week.
In a nutshell, a mandated skinny basic package would force cable, satellite and telco TV distributors…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is asking for comments on a proposed code of best practices for access programming on cable community channels.
The code, available here, was submitted by the Cable Industry Working Group which was assembled last August and includes representative from Rogers, Shaw, Cogeco, EastLink, Quebecor and the CCSA.
The deadline for submitting comments is September 6, and replies are due by September 16, 2011.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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QUISPAMSIS, NB – The Canadian Cable System Alliance has completed a bulk purchase master agreement with Trispec Communications for the supply of Motorola set- top boxes, modems and headend equipment, the companies said Friday.
“Trispec has a history of being a valuable supplier to CCSA members and as a result of this agreement, we are confident their value will continue to grow”, said CCSA president and CEO Alyson Townsend, in the announcement.
Quebec-based Trispec has provided ISPs, WISPs, contractors, and major telecommunications and cable operators with industry-recognized products and services for over 25 years.
“Trispec Communications Inc. is proud to enable its…
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THE INCENTIVES FOR THE great, big vertically integrated Canadian cabletelbroadcellcasters to act unfairly towards everybody else has become too great to ignore and new protections against potential perils are needed, say many companies in their submissions to the CRTC ahead of June’s hearing into vertical integration.
(Editor’s note: This preview originally ran on April 29th. We’re re-running it here as a preview of the hearing, which gets under way Monday in Ottawa with Rogers first up. As usual, Cartt.ca will be there. But if you can’t be there, it will be streamed live on cpac.ca – and available for…
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TORONTO – CTAM Canada members won’t want to miss the opportunity to hear from Sam Schwartz, president and a founding managing partner of Comcast Interactive Capital, a $350 million venture capital fund affiliated with Comcast Corporation.
Schwartz, who is also EVP of strategy and development at Comcast Interactive Media, will share his experiences and insights regarding Comcast’s evolution in IP video at a members-only event on May 4 at the Velma Rogers Theatre at Rogers Communications, located at 333 Bloor Street East in Toronto.
Registration begins at 3:30 pm, the presentation will run from 4 – 5:30, and be followed by…
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