TORONTO – Travel+Escape HD is available in approximately 1.1 million homes across Canada after launching on Rogers, Cogeco, Telus and EastLink on Tuesday.
Owned by GlassBox Television, the travel and adventure themed channel is available on free preview for the next three months. Viewers will be able to watch programs such as Lonely Planet’s Roads Less Travelled as well as Anthony Bourdain’s The Layover, Fishing Adventurer and Cottage Life, in addition to new commissioned series Destination Fear and Scam City.
“Travel+Escape HD fulfills our commitment to giving our viewers the ultimate entertainment experience,” said programming EVP Vanessa Case, in the announcement. “Being able to watch our quality travel and…
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OTTAWA – Lawyers for the broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) told the Supreme Court of Canada on Tuesday that the CRTC’s regulations can’t trump retransmission provisions within the Copyright Act.
Jay Kerr-Wilson, a partner at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP who was representing Rogers Communications, said the CRTC stepped into copyright law when it established its value-for-signal (VFS) regime (also known as fee-for-carriage) and argued that the CRTC doesn’t have the authority to set new copyright, since only Parliament has that right.
“The CRTC cannot have the jurisdiction to do what it proposed since its proposed scheme creates a new copyright in television…
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MONTREAL – An informal group of radio broadcasters are banding together in the hopes of pulling the plug on CBC’s nascent digital music service CBC Music.
The coalition, which includes Quebecor Media, Cogeco Inc., Newcap Radio, Golden West Radio, RNC Media and Stingray Digital, objects to the ad-supported service which it says contributes to the inaccurate perception that music is free, plus competes with their own radio stations and subscription-based websites, counter to the CBC’s mandate.
In a letter to Heritage Minister James Moore on Friday, the broadcasters questioned whether the CBC is using “the preferential royalty rates it receives from the…
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In its comments on the petition filed by the Association des Compagnies Telephone du Quebec and Ontario Telecommunications Association (the petitioners) earlier this month, EastLink stated that the petitioners’ three recommendations to the Governor in Council would harm rural consumers by restricting competition plus establish an unnecessary degree of government intervention in the telecommunications market.
In its filing dated April 5, 2012, EastLink noted that the ACTQ/OTA has proven, by their aggressive competition, expansion of multiple services, fibre to the home builds (for some SILECs), and in some cases, below-market rates, that they do not require the same substantial government…
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ON APRIL 5, 2012 COGECO FILED its comments on the Association des Compagnies de Téléphone du Québec Inc. and the Ontario Telecommunications Association (the ACTQ/OTA) petition addressing the three reliefs requested by the ACTQ/OTA, as well as addressing the propaganda campaign being spearheaded by the ACTQ against Cogeco since January 2012 in Quebec.
Cogeco cannot ignore the misinformation and propaganda campaign directed against it. The David and Goliath scenario advanced by the ACTQ, where Cogeco will come into a small incumbent local exchange carrier (SILEC) territory causing its inevitable bankruptcy, is highly exaggerated and without any…
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OTTAWA – True to its word, the CRTC was quick to release its determinations from last month’s expedited hearing into dispute resolution between the Canadian Independent Distributors Group (CIDG) and Bell Media.
As Cartt.ca has reported, independent distributors Cogeco Cable, Telus, EastLink, MTS and the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance, collectively the CIDG, object to packaging, penetration, and other terms offered to them by Bell Media for its 30-some specialty channels. Bell says that its wholesale costing model, a penetration based rate card that has already been signed by a number of other distributors, rewards stable packaging with stable long-term rates for…
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ON THURSDAY, A PANEL of seven CRTC commissioners and a dozen industry executives took part in a hearing where they all must have asked themselves repeatedly, “Geez, how often have I heard this before?” At least, that’s the question that popped into my head as I listened in.
Bell Media faced off against the Canadian Independent Distributors Group during an expedited hearing concerning the parties’ fight over Bell Media’s 2011 wholesale carriage agreement, as we have already covered extensively. The CIDG (Telus, Cogeco, EastLink, Canadian Cable Systems Alliance and MTS) say the dispute isn’t primarily about…
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GATINEAU – There was little love for the CRTC when, on the day before St. Valentine’s Day, Videotron filed its appeal of the wholesale Internet billing decision (more popularly known as the usage-based-billing issue). However, the Quebec cableco wasn’t the only provider to let its feelings be known regarding the matter, other network owners as well as the independent ISPs have taken the Commission to task over the appropriate rates for wholesale network access and use.
The issue that never seems to go away is not focused on the capacity-based billing framework, which most agree is a good idea, but…
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IN NOVEMBER, THEN-MACLEAN’S magazine national columnist Andrew Coyne added his voice to the cacophony of critics carping about the CBC, saying the TV portion should become a pay channel, a-la HBO.
Oy, where to begin with that one? How about starting with the Broadcasting Act, a law which mandates the CBC’s existence, carriage and programming goals. According to the Part 1 of the Act, section 3(1)(l & m), the overall programming provided by the Corp. should be that which “informs, enlightens and entertains” and should:
(i) be predominantly and distinctively Canadian, (ii) reflect Canada and its regions…
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EXTON, PA – Arris’ Christopher Skarica has been named as the 2012 recipient of the SCTE Canadian Engineering Professional of the Year Award.
The annual award honors an engineering professional who resides in Canada, who is an SCTE member, and who has displayed outstanding technical achievements and contributions to the advancement of the cable telecommunications industry.
Skarica, who is account vice-president, strategic sales, Canada, will be presented with the award at SCTE Canadian Summit 2012 in Toronto during the event’s luncheon on March 27. Cartt.ca is the media partner for the event.
A 23-year industry veteran, Skarica has held various engineering and…
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