TORONTO – Rogers-owned easy-listening pop music station CHFI-FM held on to top spot in the Toronto radio market with a 13.1% share, down slightly from the winter period’s first place 15.8% share, according to the Spring 2012 portable people meter (PPM) report released by BBM Canada.
For the 13 week period from February 27 through May 27, 2012, Toronto’s second spot went to CBC Radio One (CBLA-FM) with a 10.1% share, while Bell Media’s CHUM-FM rounded out the market’s top three stations with a 9.7% share.
CBC Radio One (CBU) moved into first place in Vancouver with a 10.9% share, followed…
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OTTAWA – The dispute between Bell Media and a group of independent distributors known as the Canadian Independent Distributors Group (CIDG) will go to final arbitration on June 29, the CRTC said Thursday.
As Cartt.ca has reported, Cogeco Cable, Telus, EastLink, MTS and the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance have balked at the terms of carriage offered to them by Bell Media for its 30-some specialty channels. Alleging undue preference against Bell, the CIDG object to packaging, penetration, and other terms offered to them by Bell Media. Bell says that its wholesale costing model, a penetration based rate card that it says…
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TORONTO – Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) has kicked off a new television campaign to help promote its descriptive audio service AMI-audio.
AMI-audio is the world's largest broadcast reading service whereby volunteers read and record current articles from newspapers and magazines, which are then broadcast on TV and online.
The campaign's 30 second TV spot features a blind man walking into a variety store. He sets up the story of an attempted robbery and then clicks on a television set to reveal the AMI audio channel where the announcer completes the news story. It is airing nationally in English Canada on a…
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I DARE ANYONE TO disagree with this statement: “A child without access to the Internet will find life increasingly difficult in the information age.”
National Cable and Telecommunications Association president and CEO Michael Powell said it Monday morning during his keynote speech to delegates in the standing-room-only opening general session at the 2012 Cable Show here in Boston. He was singing the praises of the U.S. industry’s Connect to Compete initiative where all of the major American cable companies have teamed up with the Federal Communications Commission and a large number of other corporations to push…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC renewed a number of national and regional video-on-demand licences Thursday.
Bell ExpressVu, Cogeco Cable, Rogers Communications, Telus Communications, and Videon Cablesystems had their licences extended through August 31, 2016, while MTS and SaskTel had theirs renewed through August 31, 2015.
Videotron received a short term renewal to August 31, 2014. In addition, it must provide the Commission with proof that it is in compliance with its requirements relating to its English-language feature film inventory by July 16, 2012, and file quarterly compliance reports going forward.
SaskTel and MTS were directed to inform the Commission that they are…
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MONTREAL – Natural resource channel IDNR-TV has signed its first major affiliation deal with Cogeco Cable in Quebec.
IDNR-TV is devoted to the coverage of natural resources including industry related and social issues programming. As Cartt.ca has reported, the eight-year old independent channel was banking on a recent groundswell of community support to help it nail a major carriage deal. Cogeco will include IDNR-TV in its basic cable package starting this Fall.
"Cogeco Cable's affiliate relations managers were very responsive and professional and a pleasure to deal with”, said IDNR-TV CEO Ivor Barr. “They are clearly committed to serving their customers…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco has added Wild TV to the majority of its markets in Quebec.
Wild TV offers programming devoted to hunting, fishing and the environment. It is available now on channel 153, and on demand on channel 600, on a three month free preview.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) and the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund are partnering on a new mentorship program designed to offer hands-on training opportunities to digital media producers.
Working with an independent production company, participants of this new initiative will develop their technical, business and creative acumen in the digital content production sector. The program emphasizes one-on-one mentoring provided by seasoned producers, and creating enhanced professional development opportunities in a digital media environment.
The deadline for applications is July 3, 2012. Click here for more information on the program, application forms and eligibility criteria.
“In today’s ‘digital…
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by Steve Faguy
GATINEAU – It's the most important decision about private French-language television in Canada in years, but the CRTC's renewal of licenses for major broadcasters contained few surprises.
On Thursday, the CRTC renewed broadcasting licenses for Quebecor's Groupe TVA, Astral Media and the independent specialty channel Canal Évasion. The Commission also reviewed the licenses of the V network (formerly TQS), which was given exceptional relief from its regulatory obligations in 2008 when purchased by its current ownership while in bankruptcy. For the most part, the decisions were based on proposals made during discussions at the hearings in Montreal in…
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OTTAWA – Small local telephone companies operating in rural regions of Ontario and Quebec have enjoyed special protection from competition for long enough and now is the time to open up their markets to cable competitors, its competitors and potential competitors have told the Governor-in-Council.
The Ontario Telecommunications Association (OTA) and the Association des Compagnies de Téléphone du Québec Inc. (ACTQ) fear that if their markets are fully opened to competition, they will suffer severe financial impacts that could put them out of business (as they have noted on Cartt.ca). They are urging the Governor-in-Council to…
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