By Ahmad Hathout
Bell Media has filed a complaint to the CRTC alleging Rogers wants to give itself an undue preference by replacing two of its newly rebranded channels with the cable company’s newly acquired programming — Discovery and Investigation Discovery (I.D.).
Bell previously had the rights to the Discovery and the I.D. brands, but lost them to Rogers when rights owner Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) signed a multi-year licensing deal with the cable giant this past summer. To make up for that, Bell announced in October that it acquired the rights to bring USA…
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The CRTC announced in December it has approved Maritime Broadcasting System Limited (MBS)’s application to acquire five English-language commercial radio stations and a transmitter from Bell Media Radio Atlantic Inc. (Bell Atlantic), in a transaction valued at $4.4 million.
The radio stations include CKTO-FM and CKTY-FM in Truro, Nova Scotia, and CKBC-FM Bathurst, CJCJ-FM Woodstock, and CIKX-FM Grand Falls and its transmitter CIKX-FM-1 Plaster Rock in New Brunswick.
MBS operates 24 radio stations across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island; however, it does not currently operate stations in the markets where it is acquiring these…
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Application comes after CRTC also said Rogers can’t change Corus channel numbers
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC ruled in a confidential decision last month that Rogers must continue carrying certain Corus channels and refrain from altering their channel numbers, even after the cable giant obtained an Ontario court opinion allowing it to make unilateral changes under its carriage agreements, according to new documents filed by Rogers at the Federal Court of Appeal Thursday.
The CRTC’s rulings on November 18 and 29 resulted from a confidential application filed by Rogers earlier this year that sought to have the CRTC lift a standstill and…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Federal Court of Appeal ruled Monday that the major foreign streamers may have a legitimate grievance against the imposition by the CRTC of a base financial contribution levied on them to support Canadian content.
The high court granted a hearing to Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and the Canadian affiliate of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) – which represents Netflix, Paramount, Pluto, and Crunchyroll – after the parties filed their own applications against the proposed June decision, which was finalized in August. The court consolidated all the leave applications before making the decision.
In approving the applications,…
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By Connie Thiessen
The CRTC has issued an order prohibiting Gill Broadcasting from illegally operating a South Asian radio station in Winnipeg.
The decision follows numerous complaints from Winnipeg multi-ethnic station CKJS-FM, owned by Evanov Communications, over the past eight years that a tourist information station was carrying on programming without a broadcast licence. Gill Broadcasting, helmed by Gill and Baldev Gill, had been operating CKYG-FM Winnipeg at 90.5 MHz as an exempt low-power tourist information radio station.
Following a hearing last month, the commission has barred the Gills from having any involvement with any broadcast undertaking that isn’t in full compliance…
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By Connie Thiessen
The CRTC has released the mandatory bargaining framework that will apply when major online platforms and eligible Canadian news organizations negotiate agreements under the Online News Act.
The Act sets out a mandatory bargaining process that stipulates that if the two sides cannot come to an agreement during a 90-day bargaining period and 120-day mediation period, a final 45-day arbitration period would follow where a panel of independent arbitrators will select the final offer made by one of the parties. The commission will serve in an oversight role to ensure parties participate in good faith.
To allow…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC said Thursday that it has streamlined the process by which it evaluates Broadband Fund applications to speed up the process and has given indigenous communities more flexibility and control over their subsidized builds.
The regulator said it is implementing a new system that includes triaging applications so that it can focus on approving builds in priority underserved areas first, suspend the evaluation of applications that do not meet key assessment criteria, and defer some information submitted by the applicants so they are not bogged down by data collection upfront, only to repeat that process when more…
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In a decision published on its website Wednesday, the CRTC has approved Access Communications Co-operative’s April application to acquire Regina community radio station 91.3 FM CJTR from non-profit corporation Radius Communications.
The CRTC said the proposed transaction is in the public interest and will ensure the continuation of community-based radio programming for the Regina area.
In its application to the broadcasting regulator, Access indicated it will invest in equipment upgrades, expand volunteer opportunities in the community, and integrate CJTR-FM into its existing community engagement department, which “would help continue CJTR-FM’s unique voice and provide the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC has launched an expected proceeding Wednesday into what kind of information and to what granularity consumers need when purchasing internet plans.
The commission will look at six issues, it said in the consultation document: standardizing information in a broadband consumer label, such as those on foods; providing clear and comparable information on network performance; measuring network performance and quality; providing information with examples and context; strengthening the position of consumers in their relationships with service providers; and implementing consumer protection measures and identifying associated costs.
For labels, the CRTC is soliciting comments on what kinds of information…
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The CRTC on Tuesday denied Accessible Media Inc.’s (AMI) application earlier this year to increase the monthly per-subscriber rates broadcasters are required to pay the not-for-profit media company to carry its English-language AMI-tv and French-language AMI-télé channels.
AMI had been seeking a one-cent and two-cent increase per subscriber per month for AMI-tv and AMI-télé, respectively, on a temporary basis until the next licence renewal period in August 2026.
In its decision Tuesday, the CRTC said AMI had not demonstrated an immediate financial need for the monthly rate increases and it did not propose clear and substantial…
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