VANCOUVER – The CRTC is planning to cover a lot of ground at its Vancouver radio hearing that kicked off Monday at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
In addition to considering applications to operate new ethnic commercial AM and FM radio stations in the Greater Vancouver market, including the City of Surrey, the Commission will address three entities that it says appear to be operating radio stations without a licence or pursuant to an exemption in contravention of the Broadcasting Act.
Surrey Myfm Inc. and 89.3 Surrey City FM Limited operate stations in the Surrey market that claim to be low-power…
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No easy answers
TORONTO – Yes, there were a ton of regulatory lawyers and policy wonks there and probably not as many newfangled content creators and distributors as organizers hoped, but the two-day Discoverability Summit, which wrapped up Wednesday in Toronto, seemed to us a worthwhile exercise even if the problem of discoverability remains unsolved and looks to be a challenge for some time.
The summit will definitely have helped flesh out ideas for the federal government’s just-started review of all things Canadian content.
1. What goes viral? No one really can predict. During the Youth Summit portion held last week in…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Telecommunications service providers cannot charge for a service that is not, and cannot be, provided following a cancellation, the CRTC stressed Thursday.
The Commission made the comments after issuing two decisions relating to its prohibition of 30-day cancellation policies, a move designed to make it easier for consumers to switch service providers. In the first decision, the Commission denied a request by Telus to direct Shaw Communications to cease requiring the payment of liquidated damages when small business customers cancel retail local voice or Internet services before service installation work has begun.
Noting that Telus’ focus on a single service…
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OTTAWA–GATINEAU – Despite a decrease in expenses, Canadian conventional television stations saw profits continue their downward slide in 2015, according to the CRTC’s latest statistical and financial report for this sector released Wednesday.
According to Conventional Television – Statistical and Financial Summaries 2011-2015, profits before interest and taxes (PBIT) for private local TV stations declined from -$138.7 million to -$140.9 million, and the PBIT margin decreased from -7.7% to -8%.
Revenues fell by 2.6% (or $46.6 million) from $1.8 billion in 2014 to $1.76 billion for the broadcast year ended August 31, 2015. While revenues from the sale of local advertising…
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OTTAWA – Sudbury, ON could soon have a new radio station after the CRTC issued a call for comments on market capacity and on the appropriateness of issuing a call for radio applications to serve the area.
The Commission said Friday that it issued the call after receiving an application from Larche Communications Inc. for a new English-language commercial radio station to serve that market. Based in Midland, ON, Larche currently operates four radio stations in Ontario including KICX 91.7 FM in Sudbury.
Interventions are due by June 1 and the deadline to file replies is June 10, 2016. Following receipt of…
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OTTAWA – Quebec City may soon have a new radio station after the CRTC issued a call for comments on market capacity and on the appropriateness of issuing a call for radio applications to serve the area.
The Commission said Thursday that it issued the call after receiving an application from Dufferin Communications Inc. for an English-language commercial radio station, as well as an application from Gilles Lapointe and Nelson Sergerie (OBCI) for a French-language commercial radio station in that market. Both applicants proposed to use 105.7 MHz FM, one of the last known FM frequencies available in the region.
Interventions are due by May 30…
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TORONTO – Just ahead of its Discoverability Summit next month, the CRTC and NFB announced plans to co-host a youth edition on Monday at the CBC Atrium in Toronto.
The event will feature discussions with millennials on how they consume and discover content, and the ideas and strategies generated from the Youth Summit will not only help experts and leaders better understand this generation, but directly be embedded into the program for the Discoverability Summit on May 10 – 11, 2016.
Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly will be a guest of honour at the event,…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Canada’s commercial radio stations held their own in the face of competition from satellite, online and mobile services, with revenues dipping slightly for the 2015 broadcast year, according to the CRTC’s statistical and financial results for this sector released Monday.
Commercial Radio 2011 – 2015 National Statistics, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Markets said that total revenues for the country’s 704 commercial radio stations decreased 0.7% to hold steady at $1.6 billion for the broadcast year ending August 31, 2015. These revenues enable commercial radio stations to offer a variety of programming to Canadians, to support established and emerging…
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MPs wouldn't bite, though
GATINEAU – Rogers Communications told the CRTC Thursday that the National Broadband Task Force and the Information Highway Task Force can serve as models for a new national broadband strategy.
“And, because a strategy needs leadership to get results, we propose a multi-stakeholder advisory council to oversee the strategy’s implementation,” said David Watt, senior vice-president of regulatory at Rogers, on the ninth day of the Commission’s basic service objective hearing.
Under questioning, he added that this advisory council would be jointly led by the CRTC and the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED, formerly Industry Canada)….
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Or should we consider broadband like roads or sewers?
GATINEAU – If the CRTC is going to implement a subsidy to support the rollout of broadband in rural and remote area, it already has an established approach, the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance told the Commission on Wednesday. It’s called the National Contribution Fund for telephony in high cost service areas.
Chris Edwards, vice-president of regulatory affairs at the CCSA (pictured in a CPAC.ca screen cap), noted that this approach would encourage network investment by smaller providers – the companies that serve rural and remote communities. “Such a subsidy model…
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