MONTREAL – More than 270 members of Canada’s film and television industry are demanding that U.S. web-based media giants like Google, Facebook, Netflix and Amazon play by the same rules as Canadian media.
In an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Heritage Minister Melanie Joly and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland dated September 26, the groups ask that the multinational media companies be regulated and taxed like their Canadian competitors.
“Unlike regulated Canadian companies, these foreign companies do not provide any information on their activities in Canada as required by CRTC regulations. They do not pay taxes. They do not pay…
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TORONTO and MONTREAL – The Bell Fund is marking its 20th anniversary with the launch of the first of four pilot programs that will provide grants to Canadian media content makers.
The Bell Fund receives annual contributions of approximately $17 million from Bell TV as part of its broadcast distribution undertaking (BDU) contributions to the industry. Since 1997, the Fund has invested over $200 million in 2,000 Canadian digital media projects and television programs, plus offered training, research, professional development and promotion for the Canadian media production industry.
Created in response to the CRTC's update of the Policy Framework for Certified…
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OTTAWA – Canadians may soon have more teleshopping options after the CRTC was urged to reconsider its earlier decision denying U.S.-based television shopping service QVC a place on Canadian TV screens.
The Federal Court of Appeal ruled earlier this month to allow an appeal of the Commission’s April 2016 decision that rejected an application by VMedia Inc. to add QVC to the list of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution in Canada.
In that decision, the Commission concluded that if authorized, QVC would be carrying on a broadcasting undertaking in whole or in part in Canada, a move that…
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BURLINGTON, ON – The Reverend David Mainse, founder of Crossroads Christian Communications and the first host of religious talk show 100 Huntley Street, passed away Monday after a five-year battle with leukemia. He was 81.
Under Rev. Mainse's leadership and direction, what began in 1962 as a weekly 15-minute broadcast that aired after the nightly news on a small Pembroke, ON television station grew to become an expansive family of not-for-profit ministries that included international multimedia programming, an international relief and development organization, a broadcast school, and a national prayer centre with more than 100 volunteers who field 30,000 calls…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC told the CBC on Wednesday that it could not rent a multiplex of its Toronto radio signal to launch a Tamil-language radio station in that city.
In regulatory-speak, the CBC asked for “authority to use the subsidiary communications multiplex operations channel of CBL-FM Toronto” to launch the station, which would have been owned by TIME FM based out of Scarborough, whose plan was to leased the frequency (this is an update of an earlier version of this story which did not include the TIME FM plan). However, such a station would certainly have an impact on small, independent local…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has shot down a request by Canal Évasion to cut its Canadian programming expenditure (CPE) requirement from 46% to 32% of its previous year’s gross revenues.
Évasion is a Frech-language category A service dedicated to travel and adventure that is owned by Quebec TV and video production company Groupe Serdy and Quebecor’s Groupe TVA.
In its application to the Commission, Évasion argued that it would not benefit from the group-based approach in the same way as the large French-language ownership groups, or have advantages such as a greater flexibility in the allocation of resources.
It also requested that it…
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Release date likely September 28th
I FEEL FOR HERITAGE MINISTER Mélanie Joly. Seventeen months ago when she kicked off her wide-ranging review into Canadian Content in a Digital World, she bravely put “everything” on the table. She said that a LOT and you know what, if you want to take a holistic look at Canadian content in the midst of a swirling media world that seems to evolve daily into something new, it’s a good idea.
However, it’s gone a bit off the rails.
The problem with everything on the table – is that it’s a damn crowded table, complete with stakeholders…
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TORONTO and VANCOUVER – Wow Unlimited Media and Bell Media announced Wednesday they have completed their previously announced tie-up where WOW will buy one of Bell’s specialty channels and in return Bell will take a minority position in Wow.
The deal will see Wow buy a still-unnamed Category B service and Bell will receive 12% of Wow shares, valued at $6.87 million. (At this time the only two English language Category B channels Bell 100% owns are Comedy Gold and Investigation Discovery. Its other cat Bs are ESPN Classic, Animal Planet, Discovery Science, Discovery Velocity,…
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TORONTO – Canadian screenwriters and producers have agreed to extend the current independent production agreement (IPA) governing English-language screenwriting in Canada.
The Writers Guild of Canada (WGC), the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), and the Association Québécoise de la Production Médiatique (AQPM) said Monday that all parties have ratified an eighteen-month extension to the IPA, which will come into effect January 1, 2018. This agreement maintains the current terms of engagement, with an increase of minimum script fees, and now expires on June 30, 2019.
According to the joint news release, all parties agreed that screenwriters and producers are best positioned…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Newly minted CRTC chairperson and CEO Ian Scott offered a glimpse into some of his first orders of business after less than two months on the job.
In a brief statement Friday, Scott (pictured) outlined what the Commission sees as priorities for Canadians, including fast, affordable and reliable Internet access; high-quality and diverse content; the option to use applications and services on the devices of their choice; protection from spam and unwanted calls; and affordable prices and greater choice.
He also alluded to the tightrope that the CRTC must walk as it seeks to balance the priorities of consumers with…
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