WHILE CANADA’S CREATIVE COMMUNITY was quick to applaud Monday’s decision referring back the CRTC’s group licence renewal (GLR) decisions for Canada’s large private television broadcasters, some members are hoping that the review will encompass more than Programs of National Interest (PNI).
In a joint press release, the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) and the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) noted that other challenges to the GLR decisions that formed the basis of their joint petition were not addressed in Monday’s announcement. These include the removal of independent production obligations on…
Continue Reading
Feds underscore support for CanCon ahead of fall’s ‘Canadian Content in a Digital World’ announcement
GATINEAU – Heeding the outcry from Canada’s creative community, the Governor in Council has ordered the CRTC to reconsider its group licence renewal decisions for large television broadcasters that, among other changes, lowered the amount that major broadcasters must spend on Programs of National Interest (PNI).
The rare move came late Monday, followed by a statement by Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly who said that the federal government wants the Commission to review its May decisions to renew the licenses for the television services of…
Continue Reading
APRES SES ETUDES UNIVERSITAIRES à Sherbrooke, Nathalie Gagnon pensait brièvement poursuivre sa carrière ailleurs. Cependant, elle avait toujours une petite pensée pour son chez-elle, à La Baie, au Saguenay. Et c’est là qu’elle est retournée, depuis maintenant plus d’un décennie.
Elle est directrice de marketing et communication chez DéryTelecom, un câblodistributeur spécialisé en services aux milieux ruraux. Depuis 2016, elle fait également partie du quatuor des copropriétaires. Dans une région qui a historiquement été défini par ses villes industrielles, DéryTélécom fait un impact remarquable. “L’idée de contribuer à maintenir la vitalité économique en région, à maintenir des services et à…
Continue Reading
AFTER ATTENDING UNIVERSITY in Sherbrooke, Nathalie Gagnon briefly thought of making a career elsewhere. But the Saguenay native never forgot her roots, was drawn back to her hometown of La Baie, where she’s remained for the past decade.
Gagnon is now director of marketing and communication at DéryTelecom, a telecommunications company specialized in rural services. Since 2016, she has been part of the quartet of co-owners, along with longtime Déry employees Éric Banville, Cédric Tardif and Bryan Godbout. In a region that has long been defined by its company towns and large industrial conglomerates that have built and supported cities,…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — Having been given CRTC approval in May to operate its national, multicultural OMNI Regional service as a must-carry, basic-service specialty channel, Rogers Media is building up the channel’s multilingual news content, with daily news in Mandarin and Cantonese scheduled to begin September 1.
A Rogers Media spokesperson has told Cartt.ca that the company has reached a service agreement with Fairchild Television to provide studio and production support for 30-minute daily national news broadcasts in Mandarin and Cantonese. Under the editorial direction of Rogers Media, these half-hour news broadcasts will be produced by Fairchild TV and televised exclusively on…
Continue Reading
DARTMOUTH, NS — Newfoundland Capital Corporation Limited, owner and operator of Newcap Radio, reported decreases in its quarterly and year-to-date revenues, primarily due to revenue declines in the company’s Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador operations.
Newcap’s revenue for the second quarter of 2017 was $43.6 million, which is $0.6 million or 1% lower than its revenue in the same quarter last year. The company’s year-to-date revenue at the end of the second quarter was $79.3 million, a decrease of $1.8 million or 2% when compared to the first half of 2016.
These revenue decreases were largely as a result of the…
Continue Reading
MONDAY, IT WAS ANNOUNCED CBS All Access, the over-the-top VOD service from the American television network, would launch in Canada next year. Leslie Moonves, chairman and CEO, CBS Corporation, was quoted as saying, “By going direct-to-consumer around the world, we will facilitate new connections between the global audience and our industry-leading premium content.”
So where does this leave Canada’s private broadcasters?
Canadian private, English-language broadcasters have had a long and profitable run being middlemen for American content producers. For decades, their core business strategy was to purchase popular foreign programming, primarily from U.S. networks, and resell it into the Canadian marketplace,…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — Bell Media announced Wednesday it plans to acquire four FM radio stations in Ontario from Larche Communications Inc., bringing the total number of stations in Bell’s iHeartRadio network to 109.
Larche’s The Dock- and KICX Country-branded stations in Ontario operate in Sudbury, Midland, Orillia and Owen Sound. Subject to CRTC approval, Bell Media will acquire the following four stations from Larche:
104.1 The Dock (CICZ-FM) — Classic hits format in Midland
92.3 The Dock (CJOS-FM) — Classic hits format in Owen Sound
KICX Country 91.7 (CICS-FM) — Country format in Sudbury
KICX Country 106 (CICX-FM) — Country format in Orillia
“We look forward to welcoming these award-winning…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA — After repeated requests for information have been ignored for two years by an air duct cleaning company alleged to have violated the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules, the CRTC announced Wednesday it has initiated a show cause proceeding against Topline Air Duct Cleaning Inc.
According to the CRTC’s Compliance and Enforcement Notice of Consultation CRTC 2017-281, Topline Air Duct Cleaning and its owner and president, Naveed Raza, failed to respond to a request for information (RFI) letter sent by the Commission on July 31, 2015. The RFI letter requested confirmation from Topline that it was registered with the National…
Continue Reading
Hearing panel make-up “procedurally unfair”, VMS argues
CALGARY, EDMONTON and OTTAWA — VMS Media Group Ltd., whose applications to operate urban Indigenous radio stations in Edmonton and Calgary were previously denied by the CRTC in June, is petitioning the Governor-in-Council to set aside the decision or refer it back to the Commission for reconsideration.
In its Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2017-198, the CRTC approved the licence applications of three broadcasters to operate Type B Native FM radio stations serving urban Indigenous communities in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa and Toronto. In the same decision, the CRTC denied VMS Media Group’s applications…
Continue Reading
