Part III in our series on rewriting the Broadcasting and Telecom Acts
THERE IS NO QUESTION the emergence of Netflix as a major competitor for eyeballs in Canada has created significant disruption to the domestic broadcast landscape.
With its more than six million subscribers and first place ranking in prime time viewing among 25-to-54 year olds (more here), it’s hard to argue against including the over-the-top (OTT) broadcaster and distributor under the current broadcast regulations.
That disruption is likely to continue as Amazon Prime bolsters its content offerings, the new CBS All Access service launches in Canada in…
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3e Partie dans notre série sur la révision des Lois sur la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications
NUL DOUTE l’arrivée de Netflix comme principal concurrent dans la course aux téléspectateurs au Canada a créé une perturbation majeure dans le paysage audiovisuel canadien.
Avec plus de 6 millions d’abonnés au Canada et la première place qu’il occupe auprès des 25-34 ans aux heures de grande écoute (voir ICI), il est difficile d’argumenter contre l’inclusion de ces services de programmation et de distribution par contournement sous la réglementation actuelle en radiodiffusion.
Cette perturbation va sans doute s’accentuer alors que Amazon Prime augmente son offre…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has sided with Bell Media in a complaint made over the broadcaster’s alleged refusal to provide its TV services for distribution.
As Cartt.ca previously reported, upstart Internet and phone service provider Ebox complained last September that Bell Media was giving its related BDUs and other BDUs an undue preference by providing services such as TSN and RDS while refusing to provide them to Ebox.
But the Commission dismissed the complaint Monday, saying that the evidence on the public record for this proceeding suggests that Bell Media is willing to offer its programming services to Ebox.
“Notwithstanding certain…
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The big four have not become the content exporters they were supposed to
LAST WEEK, I RESPONDED to a Scotiabank report which said the success of Netflix in gaining subscribers, along with Google and Facebook’s dominance of the Canadian advertising market, meant a merger of Bell and Corus was a logical market response to ensure we remain competitive.
I question the strategy of further vertical integration in light of its obvious failure. My core argument is VI has failed because it did not properly take into account the competitive advantages of the vertically integrated companies. As their…
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OTTAWA – Conversations around 5G in Canada may still be at nascent stages, but network providers and wireless operators told a Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association event in Ottawa on Wednesday that it’s coming faster than you think.
Several speakers throughout the day at the 5G Canada Council show (organized by the CWTA) noted that network rollouts are already happening and that by the first half of 2019 smartphones and tablets will be able to access 5G networks in certain bands.
Jaco du Plooy, chief technology officer at Ericsson Canada, explained that there will be 5G devices operating in a number…
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OTTAWA – Groups representing rural and remote broadband providers lauded the federal government for efforts to improve broadband connectivity in rural Canada in a Parliamentary committee on Tuesday. But they added that the government needs to adopt new rules that are more appropriate for smaller providers.
One of the big issues, particularly related to the Connect to Innovate (CTI) program, is the complex nature of the application and the extensive reporting requirements. Jay Thomson, CEO of the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA), told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology that a simplified application and reporting…
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WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT to begin getting into the weeds of modernizing the Telecommunications Act and Broadcasting Act at some point in 2018 (one hopes), a major consideration will be whether it’s time to do away with two governing pieces of legislation and prune them into a single Communications Act.
Greg Taylor, an assistant professor in the Department of Communications, Media and Film at the University of Calgary, said the government made a mistake back in the 1990s to fold the Department of Communications just as the Internet was coming on the scene.
“I think what we need is one department…
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ALORS QUE LE gouvernement s’apprête à amorcer le processus de modernisation de la Loi sur les télécommunications et de la Loi sur la radiodiffusion, en 2018 (espérons-le), une considération majeure sera de savoir si on doit abandonner les deux Lois pour les fusionner dans une seule.
Greg Taylor, professeur adjoint au département des communications, des médias et du cinéma à l’université de Calgary affirme que le gouvernement a fait une erreur dans les années 1990 en scindant le ministère des Communications alors que l’Internet commençait à émerger.
« Je pense que l’on a besoin d’un ministère supervisant les télécommunications et la radiodiffusion….
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Promises confidentiality
GATINEAU – As part of the report on current Canadian content consumption patterns which the federal government has asked the CRTC to compile, a range of companies have been asked to provide very competitively sensitive information by the Regulator.
The Commission last week sent letters to foreign competitors Netflix, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple and Spotify – as well as Bell, Rogers, Shaw, Corus, Pelmorex, Stingray and others, for certain sets of top line revenue, viewership and subscriber data when it comes to their digital platforms. The CRTC already has the data for the traditional platforms.
Specifically,…
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TORONTO – The Canadian Communications Foundation is seeking new members for its board of directors.
The foundation, which tracks the history of broadcasting in Canada, is seeking a variety of people from the broadcast industry, research, and education to assist the foundation in exploring an extended mission and possible new direction for its work. “To this end, we would welcome applications from individuals who can offer not only the benefit of their experience, but ideas about how best to situate the Foundation’s work in the future,” says its release.
For the past quarter century, the foundation’s website has established and maintained…
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