OTTAWA – The CRTC has sided with Videotron in a complaint made by Bell TV regarding advertising opportunities.
Bell TV alleged in a complaint dated April 9, 2009, that “certain practices” between TVA Group and Videotron, both owned by Quebecor, conferred an undue preference on Videotron and subjected Bell TV to an undue disadvantage.
In particular, Bell TV argued that TVA’s refusal to allow it to buy ads on certain of its highest rated programs, and Videotron’s refusal to provide any of its allocated advertising spots on these programs, was contrary to the Canadian broadcasting policy objectives set out in section…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC was quick to reply to the government’s request to hold consumer hearings into the fee-for-carriage debate.
It will begin public hearings this December, the Commission said in a statement, with a report to the government to follow.
In addition to soliciting feedback on the implications of fee-for-carriage (or a compensation regime for the value of local television signals, as the Commission calls it), Canadians will also be able to respond to the proceedings at the November broadcaster hearings.
Click here to the read the Commission’s formal reply to Heritage Canada.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Despite the fact the CRTC is set to take a new look at fee-for-carriage for local broadcasters in a hearing this November, Minister of Heritage James Moore today announced that the Government of Canada issued an Order-in-Council requesting the Commission “hold hearings and provide the government with a report on the implications of implementing a compensation regime for the value of local television signals, more commonly known as fee-for-carriage.”
The CRTC, says the government’s release “is to consider the views of the general public regarding the impact of such a measure. By making this request of the CRTC,…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is calling for comments on a proposed change to the distribution of small market independent TV stations by Canada’s direct-to-home (DTH) providers.
The Commission announced last year that DTH licensees will be required to distribute at least one independently-owned local television station from each province where such stations have been licensed.
Once finalized, this requirement will be set out in the new broadcasting distribution regulations which come into force on August 31, 2011, replacing the current obligation to distribute 13 small-market independently-owned stations.
The CRTC had originally planned to address this issue…
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OTTAWA – Shaw Direct must either reinstate CBC Regina to its channel lineup, or drop a CTV station in order to comply with its conditions of licence, the CRTC ruled Friday.
The Commission denied a request by Star Choice Television Network Inc., made on behalf its DTH service now called Shaw Direct, to amend its licence relating to the distribution of CBC English-language conventional TV stations.
Its application followed a complaint from the CBC where it accused Shaw Direct (then Star Choice) of breaching its condition of licence number six after its removal of five conventional television stations, including CBC Regina.
In…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has denied a request by Rogers Broadcasting to amend the broadcasting licence for the Outdoor Life Network (OLN).
Rogers had proposed to add categories to the list of program categories that may be broadcast by the service. Specifically, it asked to increase the percentage of programming that may be broadcast from category 7 drama and comedy from 5% to 25%, to remove requirements that programming drawn from that category be Canadian, and that programming drawn from category 6(a) professional sports not include stick and/or ball sports.
In its decision, the Commission expressed concern that the proposed amendments…
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OTTAWA – Men TV has received CRTC approval to amend its broadcasting licence so as to draw programming from the categories of sports and music videos.
The Cat 1 specialty service, a joint-venture between Quebecor’s TVA Group and Canwest Media, had also asked to expand its options in the drama and comedy category, but that request was denied by the Commission.
Click here to read the full decision.
www.crtc.gc.cawww.mentv.ca
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OTTAWA – An Internet based initiative launched today called ‘Campaign for Competitive Broadband’ is hoping to overturn a CRTC decision that campaign organizers say will stifle competition in broadband Internet, Ethernet and other next generation communications services in Canada.
Spearheaded by MTS Allstream, the campaign’s goal is “to ensure that network facilities built with the benefit of a historic monopoly and guaranteed rate of return, are accessible to a wide range of competitors who want to offer choice in services to businesses and consumers,” the press release reads.
Bell and Telus, which control these networks in most parts of the…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has denied a request by Canwest-owned Slice network to amend its conditions of licence relating to levels of Canadian content and Canadian programming expenditures.
The female targeted station, formerly known as The Life Network, asked the Commission to drop its Canadian content from 82.5% of its broadcast year and evening broadcast period to 60%. It also asked to cut its Canadian programming expenditures from 71% of its previous broadcast year’s gross revenues to 45%.
The network said that its Canadian programming expenditures and Canadian content requirements are higher than other specialty services and that there is a…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has released the standard conditions of licence for competitive Canadian mainstream sports and national news specialty services.
Included are its determinations on the matters of exhibition of and expenditures on Canadian programming, the nature of service and broadcast day definitions, regional programming and minority language communities, and genre protection, among other issues.
In addition, the Commission said that it would consider applications for broadcasting licences or licence amendments to operate specialty services in these genres, subject to the standard conditions of licence.
New entrants are advised to file their applications as Category 2 services and expect that the…
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