OTTAWA – The CRTC has pushed back the deadline for comments on amendments to certain rules pertaining to the implementation of the national emergency alerting system.
After calling for feedback last month due March 31, the Commission said Tuesday that the deadline for receipt of comments has been extended to April 17, 2014.
The move comes at the behest of BCE, Cogeco Cable, Corus Entertainment, Newcap, Quebecor Media, Rogers Media, Shaw Communications, and Vista Radio which sent a joint letter to the Commission requesting the extension to provide comments in the proceeding.
The CRTC reiterated that the amended deadline does not…
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DALLAS, TX – Approximately one-fifth or 20% of Canadian television service subscribers downgraded their service over the last 12 months, with many opting for an Internet video option instead, according to a new research report from Parks Associates.
The report, Video in Canadian Households, analysed the market for subscription home video services via an online survey of 1,500 Canadian broadband households in the last quarter of 2013.
Among Canada’s nine largest TV service providers, nearly one-third (29%) of Telus Optik TV subscribers said that they had downgraded to a less expensive TV package with fewer channels or features in the last year. …
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TORONTO – Shaw Media launched the new History Go app Thursday, just in time for season two of the hit series Vikings which airs Thursdays at 10:00 PM ET/PT, beginning February 27.
Available on iOS, Android, and history.ca, History Go offers History subscribers almost 300 hours of programming, including season one of Vikings, and popular series Yukon Gold, Ice Pilots NWT and Pawn Stars. The app is available now with Shaw, Shaw Direct, Rogers and several CCSA distributors, and will be available to Telus Optik TV and Cogeco Cable Canada subscribers next month.
“History Go is a strong addition to Shaw’s…
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OTTAWA – Integrating digital and traditional television platforms, leveraging international financing, and giving consumers choice in their TV services. These were some of the major themes explored during the first panel session at the Canadian Media Production Association’s annual Prime Time event in Ottawa which featured executives from the production, distribution, and programming sectors, all of whom have their own, often differing, views on what needs to be done to the system.
It was agreed, though, that the broadcasting sector must take a longer term view and decide where it wants to be in three to five years, rather than…
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OTTAWA – Quebecor doesn't mince words in its complaint against the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund: "The decisions made by the board of directors of the Bell Fund in regard to three projects submitted in 2013 and set to be broadcast on TVA channels were not made in an objective manner and were discriminatory against TVA."
In a letter to the CRTC dated February 5 and made public on Monday, Quebecor's regulatory affairs director Peggy Tabet argues that the fund's decisions to refuse the three projects were made for "non-justified reasons" and concludes that they were made in a…
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GATINEAU – We're about a month away from all Canadian television distributors being required to make all Canadian national news channels available to all of their subscribers, but one seemingly basic question remains unanswered: Will Sun News Network be made available on analog cable?
Two months after the CRTC issued an order requiring that Sun News and the four other Category C national news channels be made available to subscribers of "all licensed distribution undertakings", there doesn't seem to be a consensus on this question.
The order and accompanying decision don't include the word "analog" at…
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OTTAWA – Canadian Women in Communications (CWC) announced a new name and logo change on Wednesday. It will now be known as Canadian Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) to better reflect its enlarged mandate to help bridge gaps for women to be more successful participants and leaders in Canada’s burgeoning digital economy.
“We’re delighted by the new opportunities for growth and development this presents for everyone involved with Canadian Women in Communications and Technology,” said Joanne Stanley, executive director, in a release. “Adding technology brings interdependence and convergence between two sectors: content and creativity; and information and communications technology…
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TORONTO – Corus Entertainment announced Friday it is offering a free preview during of its Cartoon Network to subscribers of Bell, TELUS, Cogeco, MTS, Sasktel and other satellite and cable providers until March 3, 2014.
The company’s Teletoon network will also feature a special block of Cartoon Network of live-action and animated programing every Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET/PT that includes Adventure Time, Regular Show, Uncle Grandpa, Steven Universe, Incredible Crew, and MAD: The Animated Series.
The Cartoon Network’s Annual Hall of Game Awards will be simulcast on Teletoon and the Cartoon Network on February 25 at…
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GATINEAU – A complaint before the CRTC accuses a big Canadian TV broadcaster of behaving poorly by giving itself an undue preference by outright refusing to air advertising from a radio competitor.
The culprit? The CBC.
Leclerc Communication, which bought Quebec City radio stations CJEC-FM (WKND 91.9) and CFEL-FM (CKOI 102.1) from Cogeco when the latter acquired Corus Quebec stations in 2011, says that it has tried and failed to buy local advertising on Radio-Canada's Quebec City television station because of a policy the public broadcaster has to refuse advertising to competitors.
"We believe that it's imperative to promote WKND 91.9 on…
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TORONTO – Attention budding fashionistas: GameTV is bringing fashion-forward reality competition The Fashion Fund to Canada next week, complete with celebrity judges Anna Wintour and Diane Von Furstenberg.
Starting February 13 at 8:00 PM ET/PT, The Fashion Fund follows ten aspiring fashion designers vying for the chance to be named the 2013 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winner. The series takes audiences behind the catwalk and showroom floor, sits in on studio visits and a Vogue fashion photo shoot, and culminates with a presentation at NYC Fashion Week and the announcement of the winner.
The designers are judged and given feedback by the…
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