OTTAWA – The CRTC has taken the unusual step of offering to step in to help resolve a carriage dispute between Rogers Sportsnet and the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA).
The CCSA asked for the Commission’s assistance on February 26, 2009 to help resolve the year-old commercial dispute through either final offer arbitration or an expedited hearing.
At issue is the distribution of Rogers Sportsnet (RSI), the national, English-language specialty channel focused on regional sports programming, by the CCSA’s 98 small- and medium-sized independent cable companies. The network is packaged and distributed across Canada on four distinct regional feeds, as well as…
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TORONTO – Rogers, Bell, Telus, Cogeco, Eastlink and the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) have banded together to file a complaint with the CRTC alleging that CTV has violated the Broadcasting Act by airing a “one-sided and unbalanced coverage” of its own advocacy campaign.
As reported by Cartt.ca, CTV has been promoting its ‘Save Local TV’ campaign across its television properties in an apparent attempt to pressure the government and the CRTC for fee-for-carriage. But incorporating the campaign into their local newscasts violates the Broadcasting Act and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters own Code of Ethics, say the group of BDUs.
"While we…
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TORONTO – CTV has, predictably, refuted the allegations made by Rogers and other BDUs regarding its ‘Save Local TV’ public advocacy campaign.
In a statement sent late on Friday afternoon, the network said it has remained in “full compliance” with both the Broadcasting Act and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Code of Ethics, and called the complaint by the BDUs an “underhanded move by cable and satellite companies” and “an abuse of process designed to suppress freedom of speech and mislead the public”.
"The fact that the first we’re hearing about this is through a Rogers’ press release and still…
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KELOWNA – “We broke all our records,” says Canadian CommTech Show and Seminars organizer Jan Lee in describing the number of attendees at this year’s gathering.
She told Cartt.ca, which is also the event’s media sponsor, that the annual event drew delegates – not including exhibitors – from 68 separate companies (up from 52 last year). The delegates were treated to a dozen seminars Wednesday and can take advantage of eight more Thursday.
On the trade show floor there are approximately 90 exhibits and while the final count isn’t in yet, the total number of industry folks here are…
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The CCSA has announced its dates and location for its annual general meeting which this year will be called ‘Connect’ Conference and ‘Click’ Trade Show 2009.
Mark your calendars for September 20 – 22 when Canada’s independent cable companies will descend upon the White Oaks Conference Resort and Spa, located in picturesque Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.
Conference registration and show details will be released in the coming weeks.
www.ccsa.cable.ca
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QUISPAMSIS, NB – The CCSA has completed a bulk purchase master agreement with Capella Telecommunications for Motorola set-top boxes and headend equipment.
“On behalf of our membership, CCSA is pleased to announce this agreement with Capella Telecommunications for the supply of Motorola set-top boxes and headend equipment,” said president and CEO Alyson Townsend, in a statement. “Capella continues to provide value to our members with competitively priced products and excellent support.”
The Peterborough, ON-based Capella Telecommunications distributes a full line of equipment for fully integrated video, voice and data solutions.
“As competition in the video service industry continues to…
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MORE AND MORE, we’re beginning to realize that to provide the quickest, most robust broadband experience, fibre optics must penetrate far more deeply than most CFOs and others in charge of capex at telecom and cable companies are hoping.
Fibre to the neighbourhood, or to the node? That works great now and will continue to be satisfactory for the near and mid-term future. But not so long from now, consumers will be demanding more – far more – especially when they begin to access ever more bandwidth-hungry services like high definition TV over the web.
North American cable and…
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Why not print and save the convenient list of 2009 annual conferences, conventions and trade shows. (Click on the printer friendly button first!)
JANUARY Consumer Electronics Show January 8-11 – Las Vegas www.cesweb.org
Pacific Northwest Wireless Summit January 18-19 – Vancouver www.pnwsummit.com
Canadian Broadcast Distribution Association annual conference January 19-20 – Toronto www.cbda.ca
NATPE 2009 Market & Conference January 26-29 – Las Vegas NV www.natpe.org
FEBRUARY
Staying Tuned (BBM) February 3 – Toronto www.bbm.ca/stayingtuned
SCTE Canadian Summit February 3-4 – Toronto www.scte.org
Mobile World Conference February 16-19 – Barcelona www.mobileworldcongess.com
Prime Time in Ottawa -…
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QUISPAMSIS, N.B. – The CCSA has signed a master affiliation agreement with classic movie channel AMC.
“We are delighted with our newly signed agreement for AMC,” said Alyson Townsend, CCSA president and CEO, in the press release,. “AMC’s unique combination of classic movies and original series provides our members with a solid packaging advantage in today’s competitive market.”
www.ccsa.cable.ca www.amctv.com
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QUISPAMSIS, N.B. – The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance gave its thumbs up to the CRTC’s new policy framework released yesterday, particularly – and predictably – the initiatives designed to assist smaller cable companies in launching new digital and high definition television services.
“We had feared that this proceeding had been overtaken by conventional television’s renewed demands for new carriage fees,” said Chris Edwards, the CCSA’s regulatory vice-president in a press release today.
“It is clear to us that, throughout this massive public proceeding, the CRTC paid very close attention to our submissions on behalf of small distributors and their…
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