By Ahmad Hathout
The public broadcaster and a trade group representing independent producers are floating the use of platform home pages as a possible way to amplify the discoverability of Canadian content.
Representatives from CBC/Radio-Canada said Wednesday that the CRTC should ensure that discoverability and marketing of such content are not counted toward distributors’ contribution requirements, including both the base financial component and traditional Canadian programming expenditures (CPE). The reason, according to CBC execs, is that vertically integrated broadcasting giants already support discoverability and promotion of CanCon “as a regular course of their business.”
Indeed, VIs including Bell and Rogers have said…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers says it is being hamstrung by having to set aside money for the $750-million Broadband Fund that it says is not efficiently distributing money to projects.
The cable giant said in a Part 1 application made public Monday that it has to tie-up millions of dollars in “uncalled” contributions – amounts that the telecom must be ready deliver to the National Contribution Fund (NCF) when requested – which is creating large liabilities on its balance sheet.
It is asking the CRTC to change the NCF’s collection practices to prioritize the amounts that are waiting to be collected over…
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In a number of decisions published Monday on its website, the CRTC has approved the sale of several radio stations located in Ontario.
My Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) has received CRTC approval for its purchase of three stations from Rogers Media, including Easy 101.3 (CKOT-FM) and its sister station Country 107.3 (CJDL-FM) in Tillsonburg, and Jack 92.3 (CJET-FM) in Smith Falls. Based on a transaction value of $1,095,000 (as revised by the CRTC) for the purchase of the three stations, MBC is required to pay a total of $65,700 in tangible benefits in equal instalments over seven…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Telus is asking the CRTC to ensure that all Canadian distributors get a fair shot at negotiating carriage of content held by Rogers and Bell.
“It ensures that Canadians nationwide will have competitively priced access to readily discoverable Canadian content that should be accessible to Canadians across the country at fair prices because it precludes vertically integrated companies like Rogers and Bell from keeping important content to themselves,” Daniel Stern, Telus’s associate general counsel, said Thursday.
The overarching Telus position is that service providers must be able to bundle television and internet to compete against these VIs. The…
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By Ahmad Hathout
In an extraordinary legal filing, Bell is accusing Telus of training and using door-to-door salespeople to pitch an unlicensed IPTV application to get customers to switch to Telus internet services.
The activity is allegedly taking place in areas where Telus wholesales internet service from Bell, according to a statement of claim in Ontario Superior Court, filed Thursday.
The representatives “promote, facilitate, authorize, and assist in the installation of an illegal, unlicensed IPTV application … that reproduces and retransmits Canadian and international programming, including works and signals in which Bell and its affiliated programmers hold copyright,” the statement alleges.
The representatives…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The head of Corus said Thursday that the CRTC’s recent decision to make the company’s 15 Global stations eligible for funding from the Independent Local News Fund (ILNF) will make a significant impact on its financials, as it deals with advertising uncertainty heading into the fourth quarter.
It’s too soon to tell whether the roughly three-week-old decision will come in time to assist the media company going into the traditionally softer fourth quarter. But if it does, it would come at an important time for the company, as it battles a difficult advertising and high-content-cost…
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By Ahmad Hathout
An Eastlink executive said Wednesday that the company has experienced challenges getting large streaming platforms to do deals with a smaller distributor like itself, as more Canadians seek bundles with both linear and online options.
“It is extremely key,” Andy Garrett, vice president of product management, said about being able to do package deals with big streamers like Netflix and Apple TV. “I know a lot of the larger streamers are looking for or wanting to do business with a large provider. So they would typically say that we’re too small and we’re not worth their time.
“Not being…
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Northwestel announced Wednesday that Atlin, B.C. — a community previously unconnected to terrestrial internet — is the first community in northern Canada to receive 1 Gbps internet speeds powered by fibre-to-the-home technology.
Northwestel said it completed its fibre transport network to Atlin in December 2024, which enabled Bell Mobility cellular service in the community. “Now that the in-community fibre infrastructure is in place, Northwestel has begun offering fibre internet, TV, and fibre phone services to Atlin,” a Northwestel press release said.
To celebrate the launch in Atlin, Northwestel is offering discounts for a limited time…
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By Ahmad Hathout
As Corus and Rogers battle in court over carriage of programs, both urged the CRTC Friday to take a closer look at how the regulator reviews the issues that give rise to such disputes.
The CRTC is currently reviewing the dynamics between the distributor and the programmer as the regulator moves to incorporate online streamers into the regulatory fold.
One issue the commission is examining – and one that has embroiled Rogers and Corus for nearly two years – is the use of the standstill rule, which stipulates that disputing parties must maintain carriage of programs on the same…
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The CRTC has denied a July 2024 application by far north provider Iristel to review and vary the commission’s June 2024 decision that found Iristel had failed to provide sufficient evidence to show it was wronged in an interconnection dispute with Bell and its subsidiary Northwestel.
In a majority decision posted Monday on the CRTC’s website, the commission stated the record does not establish substantial doubt as to the correctness of the CRTC’s Telecom Decision 2024-141, and therefore the commission denies Iristel’s review-and-vary…
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