Follows Pascale St-Onge pledge
By Ahmad Hathout
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday pledged $150 million to shore up the CBC/Radio-Canada and enshrine funding for the public broadcaster in the law if elected.
“Canada’s institutions and identity are under attack from foreign interference,” Carney said during a campaign stop in Montreal. “If elected, my government will take action to enshrine and protect and strengthen CBC/Radio-Canada for generations to come.
“We will not only increase CBC/Radio-Canada’s funding by $150 million, but we will also make this funding statutory, meaning Parliament as a whole will need to approve any future changes to its funding, not…
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The CRTC announced Friday its hearing on the definition of Canadian content for audio platforms will occur starting September 18.
The regulator originally scheduled the hearing for June 18 but postponed it – as well as two other hearings collectively called “The Path Forward” consultations on the implementation of the new Broadcasting Act – to accommodate the caretaker convention during the federal election period.
The convention limits the regulator’s ability to launch new regulatory initiatives and engage stakeholders.
As such, and after requests from parties, the regulator also extended the intervention deadline from April 7 to May 5 for the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers says it has been forced to plow millions of dollars to carry Corus channels it no longer sees as useful, and asked for assurances that, if it wins its case at the Federal Court of Appeal, it will be made whole.
The cable giant allegedly asked Corus in December whether it will reimburse Rogers if it wins its case challenging how the CRTC is applying the standstill rule to both parties in a commercial dispute wherein Rogers wants to remove at least one Corus service and move two others down the dial on cable.
Corus allegedly didn’t respond…
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Bell Media on Wednesday announced Vista Radio’s 51 radio stations are now available to stream through the iHeartRadio Canada platform.
The new agreement will also see the 21 Bell Media radio stations purchased by Vista in February 2024 continue to be available on iHeartRadio Canada after the transaction is closed, a Bell Media press release said Wednesday. The CRTC approved the sale of those stations earlier this year.
With stations across eight regions in Alberta, the Northwest Territories, British Columbia and Ontario, the Vista stations and brands joining iHeartRadio Canada include The…
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Telco suggests ‘rare’ use of subpoena power if AG doesn’t hand over materials
By Ahmad Hathout
Last month, Canada’s attorney general (AG) filed a motion to strike as moot an application filed by Telus in December that asked the Federal Court to quash a cabinet order that asked the CRTC to reconsider allowing the three largest telecoms to use the fibre facilities of Bell and Telus in Ontario and Quebec.
The AG argues that, because the CRTC declined to change the interim decision after a proceeding on that order, Telus’s application – which alleges that cabinet…
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The CRTC on Monday announced new dates for two of the broadcasting hearings it recently postponed after the federal election was called last week.
The public hearing focused on the definition of Canadian content will now start May 14 in Gatineau, while the hearing concerned with creating a sustainable Canadian broadcasting system is scheduled to begin June 18.
A new date for a third hearing, related to supporting Canadian and indigenous audio content, has not yet been announced. It had previously been scheduled to start June 18, before…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The country’s highest court ruled Thursday that it will not examine questions related to the CRTC’s decision to reverse a 2019 order that proposed lower wholesale internet access rates for competitors.
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) rejected TekSavvy’s October application that requested a review of a lower court’s decision to deny that the CRTC had to follow established costing methodology when, in 2021, it “arbitrarily” decided to maintain higher wholesale rates that competitors pay to access the larger provider’s networks. The regulator said it quashed the 2019 decision due to methodological errors.
TekSavvy wanted the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) said it intends to move forward with a legal challenge it filed last June objecting to a CRTC decision granting regulatory relief to Corus.
The Federal Court of Appeal handed down a notice of status review on Tuesday alerting the CMPA that more than 180 days has elapsed since the organization filed its notice of application, yet it still hasn’t put forward a request for a hearing date or a proof of service showing it filed its supporting affidavits and applicant’s record.
The court is now asking the CMPA to file, within 30…
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By Ahmad Hathout
TekSavvy is warning this month that a telco requirement to buy a minimum percentage of what it says is unnecessary capacity to get access to higher gigabit services on aggregated fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) networks will result in higher costs and lower sales.
The independent telecom is responding to an application by Bell, filed last month, that requests approval of the CRTC to remove the 10 Mbps, 50 Mbps, and 300 Mbps speed tiers for competitors’ residential customers in its Aliant operating territory in Atlantic Canada. Bell explains that it has no customers on the tiers proposed to be removed…
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Corus Entertainment announced last Friday it has completed an agreement to amend and restate its credit agreement dated Oct. 24, 2024, extending the maturity date to March 20, 2027.
The credit facility has been amended to, among other things, increase the maximum amount Corus may request as an advance on a revolving basis to $75 million, remove certain requirements to use excess cash to repay the outstanding amounts on such advances, and fix the interest rate per annum equal to the two-year Canada interest rate determined on March 17, 2025, plus 4.75 per cent, explained a March…
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