OTTAWA – The CRTC is calling for comments on amendments to exemption orders for various types of radio programming undertakings.
The Commission said Wednesday that the proposed amendments relate to registering certain such undertakings with the CRTC prior to their launch, and to the eligibility to operate under certain exemption orders for persons found to have been carrying on a broadcasting undertaking in whole or in part in Canada without a licence or without authorization pursuant to an exemption.
Citing last week’s crack down on three Vancouver-area radio broadcasters, the Commission said that it is concerned that some broadcasters may seek to…
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GATINEAU – Day two of the CRTC’s 2016 Communications Monitoring Report release shows that in 2015, Canadians data usage on various devices skyrocketed – and that those under the age of 30 are dramatically outspending their older counterparts on mobile.
(As shown by yesterday’s report, the older folks are still spending on regular TV.)
Canadians’ appetite for mobile applications, multimedia services, social networks, and other data-intensive activities like music, video and TV streaming to personal electronic devices increased rapidly in 2015, according to the report.
Last year, more than two-thirds of all wireless subscribers had…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The first part of the CRTC’s 2016 Communications Monitoring Report, released this morning, says Canadians are consuming more audio and video content on digital media and over devices connected to the Internet. Twenty percent of Canadians report listening to online music streaming services, and 57% of Anglophones and 49% of Francophones report watching online TV, it says.
In general, Canadians are still listening to traditional radio, however, a closer look at the data shows a troubling trend that younger Canadians have far different listening habits than other age groups. In fact, those between 12 and 24 years…
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GATINEAU – The annual and much-anticipated CRTC Communications Monitoring Report (CMR) will be released this week, according to the Commission.
The report, which will be released over at least two days, provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the communications markets in Canada in 2015.
It provides the industry, stakeholders and the Canadian public with a meaningful tool to help them better understand the communications industry and participate in the CRTC’s proceedings, says the Regulator.
Watch Cartt.ca for news from this year’s report. Link here, here and here…
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GATINEAU – Steven Harroun has been promoted to chief compliance and enforcement officer, the CRTC announced today. He joined the CRTC in 2002 and has held various positions in the former economic analysis and research group and later in the former policy development and research sector.
Since 2012, as director general, strategic policy within CASP, “he has lead the development and implementation of key Commission policy decisions including: the Wireless Code, Video Relay Service, Broadcast Emergency Alerting, and Broadband Performance Measurement,” said CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais in a memo to staff Monday.
He replaces Manon Bombardier, who has held the position…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Eight CRTC employees were honoured at a ceremony Thursday in Ottawa for the Commission’s Let’s Talk TV initiative.
The Commission staffers received an award in the category of Excellence in Policy for their leadership and dedication in engaging and consulting more than 13,000 citizens and stakeholders in a number of innovative ways, including flash conferences, social media, an interactive Choicebook questionnaire and online discussion forums.
Launched in October 2013, the CRTC said that Let’s Talk TV: A Conversation with Canadians was one of its most comprehensive and complex public consultations and broadcasting policy reviews to date. The decisions flowing…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC cracked down on three Vancouver-area radio broadcasters Thursday after determining that they operated radio stations without a broadcast licence and contrary to an exemption.
Surrey Myfm Inc. and 89.3 Surrey City FM Ltd. operate low-power tourist information stations in the Surrey market, while Sur Sagar Radio Inc. operates a low-power house of worship station. All three were called to the Commission’s Vancouver radio hearing in May to defend their current operations and to prove that they were still eligible for exemptions.
The CRTC issued four mandatory orders to Surrey Myfm (Myfm) and Ravinder Singh Pannu,…
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CHATHAM, ON – Canadian consumers understand and support the CRTC’s recent decision to cut wholesale Internet prices in Canada, says a new survey commissioned by independent telecom provider TekSavvy Solutions.
TekSavvy, who along with other independent broadband operators have long said the wholesale rates set by incumbent telco and cablecos are too high, said that it undertook the survey to get a better sense of whether consumers understood that the Commission’s changes to wholesale high-speed access rates would benefit them, too.
The company tapped Twentify Inc. to collect 420 responses in Ontario and Quebec, between October 10 – 12, 2016,…
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OTTAWA – Sudbury, ON won’t have a new radio station anytime soon after the CRTC determined that the market cannot sustain any additional new commercial radio stations at this time.
The Commission said Friday that it will therefore return the application from Larche Communications for a new English-language commercial radio station to serve that market, and will not issue a call for new applications.
Located 65 kilometres north of Lake Huron and 115 kilometres west of North Bay, the city of Sudbury is currently served by six commercial radio stations.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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OTTAWA – In seeming response to backlash over its revised policy framework for Certified Independent Production Funds (CIPFs), the CRTC is offering a detailed explanation on how TV programs and films are recognized as “Canadian”.
In a notice updated Thursday, the Commission elaborated on the points system, whereby points are awarded for productions based on the key creative functions being performed by Canadians.
“After a further extensive consultation, Canadian Certified Independent Funds can now have the flexibility to support all productions that earn the Canadian standard 6/10 points (instead of the previous 8/10)”, the CRTC detailed. “This standardization will enable…
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