TORONTO — The Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review (BTLR) Panel report released today contains a number of recommendations which Canadian content producers will consider good news — namely that all media content undertakings, including international digital giants not currently covered by legislation, should have obligations to support Canadian content.
As part of its review, the BTLR panel looked at the possibility of creating new financing models and other initiatives to support the creation, production and discoverability of Canadian content. Among its recommendations related to Canadian content are that the functions of the Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada be…
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Renamed Commission would oversee all media in Canada
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – Eighteen months, thousands of pages from more than 2000 written submissions, dozens of staff and six panel members have produced a shockingly thorough 235-page report which proposes 97 recommendations to change the Broadcasting Act, Telecommunications Act and Radiocommunications Act.
The CRTC will be dead, long live the CCC
One of the many recommendations from the Broadcasting & Telecommunications Legislative Review (BTLR) panel in its report called “Canada’s Communications Future: Time to Act” is a renamed CRTC where the new moniker would reflect the sweeping new regulatory powers found in many…
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Bell vs. Quebecor battles continue
MONTREAL – In an unusual twist in a legal saga between two rivals, Bell Canada said Quebecor’s Groupe TVA should not be forced to provide its specialty services for distribution if it doesn’t want to, because that would violate the Copyright Act.
Bell, which submitted a new legal filing in Federal Court, also said the CRTC has no jurisdiction to force a program provider to “participate in a commercial relationship with a BDU without the consent.” The Regulator only has the ability to resolve disputes between those program providers and distributors about carriage, Bell said…
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GATINEAU — Canadians will have an additional week to submit their opinions on CBC/Radio-Canada’s programming as the CRTC announced Tuesday it is extending the consultation period that is part of the public broadcaster’s licence renewal process.
The Commission says it wants to hear from Canadians across the country to ensure the content produced and distributed by the public broadcaster reflects the diversity of Canada’s population, while meeting its needs in both official languages.
The deadline extension comes after the Commission posted online Tuesday a recently completed study by Cullen International which examined public broadcasters in other jurisdictions around the world….
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OTTAWA — The CRTC announced Tuesday the start of its proceeding to review the commercial radio policy framework, previously announced as part of its 2019-2020 Departmental Plan.
In its Broadcasting Notice of Proceeding CRTC 2020-25, the Commission says the intention of the review is to modernize the regulatory framework for radio in order to position the radio market to best contribute to Canada’s broadcasting policy objectives.
The proceeding will consist of three phases:
Phase 1 — conversation with Canadians through public opinion research;
Phase 2 — a notice of consultation covering several steps; and
Phase 3 — appearing public…
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By Lenore Gibson
ON WEDNESDAY, THE BROADCASTING and Telecom Legislative Review panel will deliver its long-awaited final report. Canada’s private broadcasters await that report with interest. The panel’s recommendations will set the stage for new legislation, which the government has promised to introduce by the end of 2020.
As many private broadcasters expressed to the panel, the stakes of this process are monumental. Change is needed more than ever with the arrival of new foreign streaming services in Canada. Canadian broadcasting policy was developed for a closed system. It never contemplated that massive foreign platforms would enter the market “over the…
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By Irene Berkowitz
THE LONG-AWAITED announcement from the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review (BTLR) review panel is upon us.
Charles Falzon, among his many firsts, is founding chair of the CMPA. He also served on the Expert Advisory Group for our last federal media inquiry, the 2016-2017 Department of Canadian Heritage Canadian Content in a Digital World/Creative Canada Policy Framework. Falzon is Dean of Ryerson University Faculty of Communication and Design (FCAD) and former Chair of RTA School of Media. He’s produced more than 2000 hours of TV with Gemini awards and Emmy nominations to his credit.
As…
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OTTAWA – The federal government’s expert panel which has spent 18 months building recommendations on how the various Acts which govern television, radio, broadband and telecom in Canada should, or should not, change, will make its report public early Wednesday afternoon.
Legislation coming from those recommendations will drive the various policies created over the years for the connectivity and cultural sectors and could alter the way Canadians receive electronic media, how Canadian content is made and funded, deliver increased broadband accessibility, change wireless policy, rework the way the federal government treats wireless spectrum and so forth.
Cartt.ca has confirmed with the…
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CNOC wants Commission’s help with Eastlink decision
By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – Recently, Technicolor, a modem manufacturer, discovered some of its equipment was faulty and thus informed it customers.
It told carriers that some modems were defective. “The TC Bulletin explains that a very small quantity of TC Modems built during a two-week manufacturing window between weeks 35 and 37 of 2018 were exhibiting an issue,” reads a Canadian Network Operators’ Consortium application to the CRTC.
Yet, according to CNOC, Eastlink decided to order its wholesale third party internet access customers to remove all Technicolor modems from that batch. CNOC also states that…
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VANCOUVER – Novus Entertainment today announced Chris Marett will become the company’s new co-president and chief financial officer in March as Doug Holman will be retiring then from that role after 20 years with the company. Holman will act as a special advisor, subsequent to his retirement, to ensure a smooth transition for his successor, says the company’s press release.
Marett is currently CEO of CityWest in Prince Rupert and he had been CFO prior to that. He recently announced he was leaving the company.
“We would like to thank Doug for his contribution to the expansion and strategic transformation…
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