By Ahmad Hathout
Corus executives said Friday that they hope the federal government will direct to news a portion of its new $600-million pledge to Canadian content.
The new money, announced by Culture Minister Marc Miller earlier this month, is part of a rebuke of a CRTC decision last month to up, by 10 per cent, the amount foreign streamers must pay into the broadcasting system. The minister has already told the CRTC to revisit the decision and will hand down a new policy direction that will require the regulator to contemplate affordability of services…
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The CRTC on Thursday approved for distribution two non-Canadian channels.
Public broadcasting service WPBS-TV, serving northern New York and eastern Ontario, and family entertainment service Dog and Cat TV were approved after the regulator found no evidence that they would be competitive with any domestic discretionary television services.
WPBS-TV provides drama, documentary, news, lifestyle, children’s animated and live-action, music and theatrical performances, and current affairs/interview programs.
Dog and Cat TV provides original programming dedicated to the domesticated animals, including 134 hours of lifestyle, human interest, recreation, leisure and reality content, plus 34 hours of long-form documentary programming.
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A week after questioning Rogers about its new device setup fee and other charges to customers, the CRTC has sent the wireless giant a new letter asking about its intention to add a $5 monthly charge to its customers’ bills starting next month.
“I have been informed today that Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Rogers) informed its mobile wireless customers through a note on their billing statement that it intends to add a $5 monthly charge to their mobile wireless customers’ bills as of 15 July 2026, calling it…
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By Connie Thiessen
A group of minority shareholders has formally filed its opposition to Corus Entertainment’s proposed $500-million debt-for-equity recapitalization plan, urging the CRTC to demand full transparency or reject the takeover entirely.
As part of the recapitalization plan, Corus is seeking to move its CRTC licences to a new company. The majority shareholders of that newco will be lenders who will forgive approximately $500 million worth of debt hanging over the media company. The transfer would end control by the Shaw Family Living Trust and position investment firm Canso Investment Counsel Ltd. as the largest…
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The federal government on Monday announced more than $96.8 million in funding from the Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) for a project by Valley Fiber Ltd. to bring high-speed internet access to up to 7,875 homes in more than 50 rural and remote communities across Manitoba.
“Reliable high-speed Internet is no longer optional infrastructure — it is the foundation for education, health care and economic opportunity. This investment allows Valley Fiber to reach communities in rural and remote Manitoba that have been overlooked for too long. We have the network, the team and the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
A paper published in the Canadian Bar Review last spring that called federal jurisdiction over online streamers “suspect” was studied by Canadian Heritage, according to heavily redacted briefing material obtained by Cartt, and the author believes the Online Streaming Act is “inevitably going to be challenged” on that basis.
Michael Ryan, a lawyer specializing in Canadian telecommunications and broadcasting law and regulation, told Cartt in an interview that he was “expecting, frankly, somebody to come forward and challenge this law before now they inevitably will.
“It’ll be an American streaming company or somebody else who feels that they’d…
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The CRTC on Thursday approved Stingray’s acquisition of Calgary’s CHUP-FM (C97.7) from Rawlco Radio.
The $6.1-million acquisition, announced in November, will see Stingray operate three FM stations (including CKMP-FM and CFXL-FM) in the competitive market served by 10 distinct radio ownership groups; allow Rawlco to focus operations on the Saskatchewan market; and generate $366,240 in tangible benefits to Canadian content funds.
Stingray proposed that it would operate CHUP-FM under the same conditions as those in effect under the current licence, which includes at least 40 per cent of its musical selections from popular music and special interest music combined to Canadian…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Cabinet, on the advice of Innovation Science and Economic Development (ISED), will not order the CRTC to revisit a decision denying a complaint alleging Bell and its subsidiary Northwestel violated aspects of a wholesale call traffic agreement.
Iristel leveraged the opinions of two CRTC commissioners to bolster its case charging that the CRTC did not ask past and present Bell employees about the telco’s alleged refusal to set up an agreed-upon interconnection point at Kuujjuaq in northern Quebec and Whitehorse to carry its call traffic. Instead, it said it had to accept an interconnection point that didn’t allow…
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It was probably only a matter of time, but the CRTC has now turned its attention to new device setup charges and SIM fees that Rogers is charging customers, following the telecom regulator’s ban on activation fees that took effect June 12.
The CRTC has already taken Rogers competitors Bell and Telus to task over new fees those two telcos recently introduced that the commission has said do not appear to fall under the exemption for optional services and products in its new policy prohibiting fees for activating, modifying and cancelling mobile and internet plans.
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CBC/Radio-Canada has an opportunity to better serve small communities lacking media coverage and should have “the reflection of local communities and audiences” explicitly stated in its mandate, according to a report by the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications released Wednesday.
Having the national public broadcaster’s mandate officially amended in the Broadcasting Act was one of seven recommendations made by the senate committee in its report, which is the culmination of a study undertaken by the committee in 2024 and 2025 to examine the local services provided by CBC/Radio-Canada. More than 60 witnesses appeared at the committee’s public…
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