Rogers claims the telco failed to comply with its ad rules
By Ahmad Hathout
Telus is alleging Rogers is refusing to allow the telco to advertise on the cable company’s valuable media properties in a move it says is harming its ability to compete.
The Part 1 application – dated June 9 but only made public on the CRTC website Tuesday – claims the issues started with Rogers refusing “on extremely short notice” to run two Telus ad campaigns on Rogers’s radio stations in November 2024, despite over 30 years of ad inventory purchases. Those cancellations have allegedly “grown into a blanket…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Sports streamer DAZN is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to clarify that its December stay of a decision by the CRTC to impose a five-per-cent base contribution on online streamers applies to it.
While the United Kingdom-based platform declined to answer a Cartt question about why it waited so long for clarity because it cannot comment on ongoing legal matters, its September 2 filing comes two days after the end of the first broadcast year in which the policy had taken effect.
The CRTC ordered in June 2024 – and finalized in…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Cogeco and Eastlink are challenging cabinet’s decision not to intervene in the CRTC’s refusal to exclude the three largest telecommunications companies from accessing the internet networks of their competitors.
The basis of the judicial review request is simple: that cabinet, through the recommendation of Industry Minister Melanie Joly, allegedly did not provide the legally required justification for declining their petition to reverse a policy that they say creates an “existential” threat to their businesses.
“Instead of explaining and justifying its decision to sit on the sidelines, the had a Minister send out…
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By Connie Thiessen
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) has opened applications for the Commercial Radio News Fund.
The new initiative, which was granted conditional approval by the CRTC earlier this month, will operate similar to the Independent Local News Fund (ILNF) for independent television stations, requiring certain online audio undertakings to contribute 1.5 per cent of their annual revenues.
The fund aims to prop up commercial radio news production outside the country’s biggest markets — Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa-Gatineau.
The CAB has now opened applications for the distribution of contributions received for the broadcast year 2024/25. Dependant on the outcome…
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Rogers says CRTC does not need to “expand” inquiry
By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers has told the CRTC that a lightning strike could have been the reason why some calls in Niagara region were being misrouted to dead air or allowing customers to hear the conversations of others.
Rogers said the event on July 25, which triggered a CRTC inquiry after media reports, affected a “single voice path” on its traffic and trunk facilities and impacted the inbound and outbound calls between Rogers and Bell customers. The cableco said it is unable to identify the number of affected voice customers…
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Freedom Mobile announced Tuesday the expansion of its wireless subscription area in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, which it said is made possible by partner agreements enabled by the CRTC’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) framework.
Additions to Freedom’s serviceable area include Chatham, Ridgetown, Wallaceburg, Blenheim, Dresden, Thamesville and Bothwell, among others, Freedom said in a press release.
“We are delighted to bring Freedom’s worry-free wireless solutions to Chatham-Kent residents. They can now enjoy our competitive plans, including our innovative Roam Beyond offering, while accessing Freedom’s fast and reliable wireless network,” Pierre Karl Péladeau, president and CEO of…
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By Connie Thiessen
WildBrain has announced it’s ending its broadcast channel business, including Family Channel, Family Jr., WildBrainTV and Télémagino.
The kids’ and family entertainment purveyor said it has been unable to negotiate a new carriage agreement with Rogers to carry the aforementioned channels after the CRTC found the cable giant wasn’t subjecting them to an undue disadvantage. WildBrain says Rogers has subsequently told it that it intends to remove the channels from its distribution service in the coming months. Together with its failure to secure a similar deal with Bell following a similar CRTC decision, WildBrain’s Continue Reading
A consortium of federal creative organizations is partnering to prioritize and harmonize the measurement and collection of audience data to better understand and amplify Canadian stories.
Telefilm, the Canada Media Fund (CMF), the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) said Thursday that the new audience data initiative is a “concerted audience-centred approach” that will “inform more effective strategies for reaching audiences, increasing the impact of the richness and diversity of Canadian and Indigenous stories —whether in feature films, television, documentaries, or animated films— and ensuring its discoverability across digital platforms and cinemas,” a press…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Shaw Rocket Fund is asking the CRTC to rule that Rogers must continue funding the Certified Independent Production Fund (CIPF) through to the next licence renewal period or hold a public consultation on its intention to cut off payments at the end of this month.
The fund, which bankrolls children’s programming, has been receiving $2.2 million in tangible benefits spread over seven years (around $300,000 annually) from the cable giant as a condition of its purchase of Shaw’s broadcasting assets, which was approved by the CRTC in 2022. At issue is the approximately $4.7…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell said Thursday it has agreed to sell its home security and monitored alarm assets, in a transaction that aligns with its efforts to focus on its core businesses.
The transaction to Toronto-based a.p.i Alarm Inc. is part of a strategy of focusing on its telecommunications, enterprise solutions and media businesses, the company said Thursday. Closing is expected in the second half of this year.
The deal, whose top-end value is estimated at $170 million, comes nearly eight years after it purchased Alarm Force for $166 million – a move that it said would boost its…
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