The News Forum and Rogers have reached a new agreement on the latter’s distribution of the former’s national news service, according to a letter filed jointly with the CRTC in late September.
With the new agreement in place, The News Forum is withdrawing its Part 1 application submitted to the commission in March, in which it alleged Rogers was unduly disadvantaging the discretionary network by excluding it from the cable giant’s legacy or grandfathered cable packages. In its April reply to The News Forum’s complaint, Rogers had called for the application…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Federal Court of Appeal will hear arguments made by Cogeco and Eastlink that allege the CRTC made several errors when it rejected their request to relook at its decision to allow the three largest telecoms wholesale access to their cable networks.
The July leave application, granted last month, charges that the regulator made three errors of law when it refused to review and vary the August 2024 policy that they say will cripple their businesses.
The applicants argue in a notice of appeal filing, dated September 29, that the CRTC misinterpreted section 2(e) of the…
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The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) announced Wednesday its board of directors for the 2025-2027 term, and confirmed the appointments of Kyle Irving as CMPA board chair, Michelle Wong as treasurer and Lauren Corber as secretary.
“In this pivotal moment for Canada’s nearly $12 billion media production industry, it’s more critical than ever that we pull together for Canadian content and stories,” Irving said in a CMPA press release Wednesday. “The deep expertise of our diverse Board of Directors will ensure our members are well represented to continue telling Canadian stories on our own…
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By Ahmad Hathout
A non-profit tribal council is asking the CRTC to extend the proposed far north retail internet subsidy to remote indigenous communities.
The regulator ruled earlier this year that it will implement a monthly internet subsidy for residents of Canada’s far north, which has some of the most expensive high-speed internet services.
But Matawa First Nations Management (MFNM), which is comprised of nine remote First Nations in northern Ontario with a combined population of over 10,000, says in a Part 1 made public Tuesday that this subsidy should not be exclusive to far north…
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IIC Canada’s 2025 program is now online https://www.iic-canada.ca/en/annual-conference/2025-conference-program/.
Hear keynotes from:
CRTC Chairperson and CEO Vicky Eatrides
Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez
Telesat President and CEO Dan Goldberg (in conversation with Sylvie Courtemanche)
CBC/Radio-Canada President and CEO Marie-Philippe Bouchard (in conversation with Catherine Clark)
And our first AI keynote speaker, Clara (in conversation with Don Lenihan).
From digital sovereignty to trade and tariffs, from competition to…
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Spoken word on FM, removal of tangible benefits among other recommendations
By Ahmad Hathout
Canadian content quotas on radio have contributed to a competitive imbalance in the market and reducing them will help traditional broadcasters be more adaptable to listener habits, the CRTC heard this week.
Rogers pitched Friday a reduction in the Canadian content quota on English-language radio – from 35 per cent to 25 per cent – that the broadcasting giant said will not only allow it to better manage its operations but also increase the consumption of its products. The company’s director of programming said there’s data to back…
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By Connie Thiessen
Canadian radio cannot continue to be used as a tool to prop up the music industry, Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) President Kevin Desjardins told the CRTC’s hearing on Canadian content on audio services Thursday.
“There has never been a more urgent moment than now for the commission to revise and adjust the regulatory regime for commercial radio in Canada. Simply put, the status quo will not do,” Desjardins asserted.
The CAB, presenting its case on behalf of its 26 members representing over 550 commercial radio stations, argued that the current regulatory burden, particularly “artificially high exhibition requirements” for…
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Sale of infrastructure also not out of the cards
By Ahmad Hathout
Bell’s chief financial officer said Thursday that leasing internet from Telus in western Canada is not out of the cards, but that owning the infrastructure is preferred for cash flow.
“It’s an opportunity for sure,” Curtis Millen said during a conference hosted by CIBC when asked about using Telus’s network in areas Bell doesn’t operate in. “We’ve had plenty of time to think about this.”
Bell, unlike Telus, is opposed to the CRTC policy of allowing the three largest telecoms to use the wholesale internet regime because the…
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Cogeco urges easing of quotas
By Ahmad Hathout
The head of Stingray Radio said Thursday that overexposing Canadians to domestic music on radio is pushing them toward streaming services.
“Whether it’s a Canadian song they don’t like or an international song they don’t like, we risk driving them to international, foreign-owned, unregulated streamers,” Steve Jones told the commission studying the definition of Canadian content on audio services.
Jones noted that, through the company’s research and through the years, Canadian music has only captured roughly 10 per cent of consumption in Canada.
“So there is historical data that suggests that listeners have a certain threshold…
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Cogeco Communications announced Tuesday it will launch internet services on Oct. 6 in Québec City, Châteauguay, Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Saint-Louis-de-France and Sainte-Marthe-du-Cap using the wholesale internet framework.
“Our expansion into these 5 new markets in Quebec is made possible by using the wholesale access framework as a tool,” a Cogeco spokesperson confirmed to Cartt in an email late Tuesday. “A tool that under the purview of the CRTC is currently being misused by established dominant players. This tool was designed to allow smaller, new competitors like us to enter markets dominated by large national players….
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