TORONTO – Rogers Communications has pulled the plug on three more community cable TV stations in the Greater Toronto Area, and cut resources at many others across Ontario.
Rogers TV in Mississauga and Richmond Hill, along with Toronto and Brampton, have ceased operations effective immediately and the channels will go dark on August 31, 2017. The move eliminated 23 full-time positions, which come in addition to the 10 lost in February when production was shut down in Toronto.
Between now and August, Rogers will offer a single Rogers TV channel across the GTA, featuring a mix of community programming and City…
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OTTAWA – Raj Shoan says he will return to work Monday morning as Ontario commissioner for the CRTC after a Federal Court on Friday granted his request for a judicial review of his dismissal.
Heritage Minister Melanie Joly terminated his appointment on June 24, 2016 for a number of reasons outlined here. The minister also recently called for applications to fill the Ontario commissioner position (along with that of the chair, vice-chair broadcasting and Prairie regional commissioner)
“The Applicant’s relationship with the CRTC was a difficult one, as demonstrated by the record before…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC has come down hard on VOIS Inc., slapping the Calgary-based telecom service provider with a $15,000 penalty after it was expelled from the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunication Services (CCTS).
CCTS ejected VOIS last August after it refused to co-operate during the investigations of six customer complaints, and failed to compensate those customers as CCTS had directed. Following its expulsion from CCTS, VOIS was summoned in front of the CRTC last November.
Participation in the CCTS is mandatory for all telecommunications service providers (TSP). This marks the first time the CRTC has imposed a penalty…
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GATINEAU – Today, the CRTC approved satellite radio company Sirius XM Canada’s ownership change as it goes from a public traded company to one that is privately held.
The CRTC decision will see Sirius XM Canada allocate nearly $29 million over the next seven years to funds that promote Canadian musical talent, such as FACTOR and Musicaction.
The CRTC release says the transaction, valued at $479 million, is in the public interest because it will ensure the sustainability of the satellite radio service, while supporting the Canadian broadcasting system investments through tangible benefits.
Sirius XM Canada is the sole provider of…
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MONTREAL – The Community Media Advocacy Centre (CMAC) is accusing the CRTC of “systemic and overt racism and a colonial mentality” and wants the Governor General, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Canadian Heritage to investigate.
CMAC describes itself as a non-profit organization comprised of academics, legal advisors, policy consultants and community media practitioners working towards equitable representation and access for underrepresented communities within the broadcasting system, including the CRTC.
In a letter dated April 24, CMAC called for action “to ensure the CRTC supports racial equity and the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples”. It referenced its recent…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications announced today that it will close its community cable TV stations in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver and redirect $10 million annually that would normally fund those stations to Corus Entertainment’s Global News.
Beginning September 1, 2017, Global News will use these new resources to sustain and expand its local journalistm.
The CRTC gave vertically integrated companies in large metropolitan centres the option to do this when it re-wrote the rules on funding local programming in 2016. Rogers Communications already has announced it will take advantage of the new regs,…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC has opened up the public proceeding to decide on the setup, governance, operating, and accountability frameworks, as well as eligibility and assessment criteria, for its new $750 million fund to bring broadband at 50 Mbps downstream and 10 Mbps upstream, everywhere.
The Regulator’s new universal service objective was set out in December in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2016-496, which made providing broadband to everyone a necessity for network operators.
The Commission set the following targets for the basic telecommunications services that Canadians need to participate in the digital economy:
speeds of 50 megabits per…
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$20/month Pik TV aimed at cord-nevers
VANCOUVER – Telus has soft-launched a new, live, subscription television service to seven communities in British Columbia and Alberta.
Called Pik TV, it provides live TV and on demand content, as well an interface to popular streaming services like Netflix and YouTube, without a contract, starting at $20/month. The new service offers a slimmed-down feature set from Optik TV, giving customers more choice to design an entertainment experience around how they want to watch. It runs on smartphones, tablets and an Android TV powered box the company is distributing.
The news was…
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Buys CISL 650 from Newcap
VANCOUVER – Rogers announced Tuesday it has purchased CISL 650 from Newfoundland Capital Corporation – and that it will turn the AM station into an all-sports format, under the Sportsnet brand, this fall.
The station currently bills itself as “Vancouver’s Smooth and Easy favourites, along with engaging lifestyle talk radio for baby boomers.” Financial details of the purchase were not released and the purchase is subject to CRTC approval.
“We are excited to build upon our strong radio brands in the Vancouver market. With Vancouver being such a passionate sports town, there is a strong appetite for all-sports radio…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC took a big step towards ensuring that net neutrality reigns in Canada with its decision today to order Vidéotron to no longer zero-rate its Unlimited Music service.
In Telecom Decision 2017-105, the Commission ruled that Videotron violated subsection 27(2) of the Telecommunications Act by providing certain customers with access to Unlimited Music at no charge and not having it count against their data plans. The company has conferred its eligible subscribers and content providers included in the service “an undue and unreasonable preference", says the regulator in its decision.
It went on to say that Vidéotron subjected…
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