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,…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – The Broadcast and Telecom Legislative Review (BTLR) panel report, released last week, has much to say on the creation, production and discoverability of Canadian content amid the realities of an-ever expanding global market where viewers have equally growing choices of accessing content online.
However, the report only referred to “intellectual property” twice in its massive report, and did not address how Canadian creators can better protect that precious commodity while competing internationally. So, it was left to the industry to discuss IP as the “currency of the future” in the final panel on the closing…
Continue Reading
By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – While a determination on an application to amend conditions of licence relating to the set-top box audience measurement system has not yet been announced, Cartt.ca has confirmed Videotron has rejoined the working group trying to turn the viewer data from pay-TV in-home decoders (there aren’t a lot of these things still resting atop TV sets) into ratings currency.
The company rejoined the working group last week without providing an explanation or making comments. When asked, the CRTC referred question to the Working Group itself, led by Shaw, which did not respond to our inquiry.
Videotron Continue Reading
OTTAWA — Responding to a procedural request for information from the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, the CRTC is now asking CBC/Radio-Canada to submit its total aggregate revenues for all of its online services, as part of the proceeding related to the public broadcaster’s licence renewal.
In a letter sent to the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting on January 28, the Commission notes it has sent CBC/Radio-Canada a letter requesting the information about aggregate revenues (subscriber and advertising) asked for by FCB for all CBC/Radio-Canada owned and operated audio and audiovisual online services. CBC/Radio-Canada has until February 4, 2020 to provide…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – On Friday, the CRTC’s Internet Code of conduct officially came into force, which is aimed at giving Canadians additional safeguards when dealing with their internet service providers.
The code sets out that ISPs must provide:
easier-to-understand contracts, documentation and policies surrounding service calls, outages, security deposits and disconnections
clearer information about prices, including for bundles, promotions and time-limited discounts
bill shock protection, through notifications when customers approach and reach their data-usage limits
information on the new rules permitting customers to cancel a contract within 45 days, without paying early cancellation fees, if the contract differs from the…
Continue Reading
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – After barely a day to digest, the Broadcast and Telecom Legislative Review panel report claimed centre stage during day one of the Canadian Media Producers Association’s 25th Prime Time conference in Ottawa on Thursday.
One day after releasing their report – 19 months in the making and which resulted in 97 recommendations – chair Janet Yale and fellow panelist Monique Simard provided some insight during a lunchtime appearance.
“Our job was to deliver recommendations on how to modernize the legislative and regulatory framework governing the communication sector in broadcasting and telecommunications,” said Yale. “We really thought about…
Continue Reading
By Etan Vlessing
OTTAWA – As Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and other U.S. streamers compete in Canada alongside local digital rivals Crave and CBC Gem, Bell Media president Randy Lennox and CBC president and CEO Catherine Tait on Thursday offered competing visions on how best to potentially structure TV deals with American streamers promising bigger budgets and global reach, while still protecting and fully exploiting their Canadian-nurtured IP.
During a Prime Time panel entitled “Canadian Broadcasting Beyond 2020,” Lennox and Tait talked of grappling with production financing tools and strategies dramatically morphing in the streaming era as American digital partners…
Continue Reading
