TORONTO – Independent broadcaster Hollywood Suite announced this week vice-president of programming Ellen Baine (above) will be retiring in March.
“After starting in the TV business in the traffic department of Citytv in the X0’s (I’m not allowed to say exactly when!), Ellen has screened thousands of hours of tv programs and movies, programmed years of and years of content, haggled with hundreds of distributors and producers, verbally jousted with opinionated viewers and sock puppets, represented in front of a few CRTC hearings, sat on a few film festival juries, and led and mentored numerous programming teams,” said Hollywood Suite…
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Others have hope in other proposals
OTTAWA – Independent ISP VMedia and others are expressing concerns about how the language used in a report recommending changes to the country’s communications laws may affect a new government directive that requires the CRTC to view its telecom decisions with a renewed focus on competition and consumer interests.
While big and small telecoms have been trying to complete study of last week’s 235-page report (meaning more than a few have not yet wanted to comment on it and all the big carriers have told us in various ways they’re still digesting it), which includes…
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OTTAWA – Two organizations well-versed in internet issues will argue, if they are granted intervenor status, that an extraordinary Federal Court order forcing internet service providers to block websites hosting allegedly infringing material (stemming from the Gold TV case) is a method that runs afoul of the country’s established copyright laws.
The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) and the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) have filed applications for leave to intervene this week in an appeal brought forth by TekSavvy late last year against a decision by the Federal Court to order ISPs to block…
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Follow-up proceedings coming for small ILECs and Northwestel
OTTAWA — The CRTC issued two decisions Tuesday related to the phasing out of the local telephone service subsidy and the Commission’s associated review of the price cap and local forbearance regimes for Canada’s large incumbent local exchange carriers (Bell, Telus and SaskTel).
In 2018, in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2018-213, the Commission announced it would phase out the local telephone service subsidy over a three-year transition period from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021, through semi-annual reductions. At the same time, the Commission initiated a proceeding to review certain elements…
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OTTAWA — The CRTC provided final relief to Videotron on Wednesday in its dispute with Bell over wholesale roaming. The Commission had provided interim relief in June 2019 while it processed Videotron’s Part 1 application.
In its decision Wednesday, the Commission said it approved Videotron’s application for final relief, but it expected the Quebecor-owned company to submit information showing it had resolved a couple of issues that came to light during the proceeding.
In May 2019, Bell had informed Videotron by letter that a number of its customers were allegedly using Bell Mobility’s wholesale roaming service in a manner…
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MONTREAL — Music service provider and broadcaster Stingray Group announced Wednesday its 2020 third quarter revenues increased 14.9% year over year, primarily driven by last year’s acquisition of Newcap Radio.
“Despite lower radio sales related to challenging market conditions in Western Canada, our radio segment continues to perform well in its other key markets such as Toronto and Ottawa,” said Eric Boyko, president, CEO and co-founder of Stingray, in the company’s news release.
The company’s overall revenues increased to $81.3 million in Q3. Looking at results by country, Stingray’s revenues in Canada increased 23.1% to $57.5 million, and in the…
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OTTAWA — The Broadcasting Accessibility Fund has opened its sixth round of funding with a call for letters of intent from interested individuals or groups wanting to apply for a grant from the Fund.
The Fund was created from CRTC benefits packages with the objective of financially supporting initiatives that advance accessibility to broadcasting content for Canadians with disabilities. The grant committee of the Fund’s board of directors will review all letters of intent and will select applicants who will be invited to submit a full grant application to the Fund.
Details on what to include in a letter of intent,…
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TORONTO — As we head into the CRTC’s wireless policy review hearing beginning February 18, where Canada’s Big Three wireless players will be probed, prodded and panned, Rogers Communications issued a press release today reminding Canadians the company deserves praise, too.
In the Tuesday announcement, the company Ted founded says it contributed $14.1 billion directly to the Canadian economy in 2019 alone through investments in Canadian jobs, content, communities and networks.
“As a proud Canadian company, Rogers has a deep history and legacy of investing in Canada,” said Joe Natale, Rogers president and CEO, in the release. “Over the past…
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Panel report targets foreign players, but Murphy urges caution
TORONTO – Doug Murphy said he appreciates the recommendations of the government-appointed panel tasked with reviewing Canada’s communications laws, but the Corus Entertainment president and CEO urged caution about the regulatory pressure it may add to Canadian broadcasters.
“It looks like this report is calling for even more regulation and more regulatory burden,” Murphy said in a phone interview on Friday. “What we cannot have happen here is more regulatory burden on the incumbent actors – that’s not acceptable.”
Murphy, like others, is still sifting through the 235-page report, released Wednesday, which contains…
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By Konrad von Finckenstein
FOR MANY YEARS, THE both the federal government and the CRTC have viewed facilities-based competition (FBC) as the only true means of ensuring Canadians receive high-quality, affordable, mobile wireless services provided over leading-edge wireless networks.
FBC basically means that only companies with their own wired or wireless transmission facilities should be allowed access to aggregated wholesale high-speed access services of large carriers, but attempts by both the CRTC and ISED to foster competition at either the national or regional level in wireless using preferential access to spectrum and wholesale wireless policies have proven unsuccessful.
The Competition Bureau…
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