THERE CAN BE LITTLE DOUBT that local TV is in a difficult spot. Declining ad revenue, audience fragmentation and erosion, the challenges of digital platforms, a lack of a dual revenue stream and the list goes on. But what to do about it? Some argue for a complete revamp of the local TV funding approach, while others are saying the CRTC only need to give local broadcasters more flexibility to work within existing rules.
The state of local TV is black and white, at least when looking at the revenue picture. As Bell Canada notes in its intervention into the…
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TORONTO – After restructuring and thinning out the executive ranks through the summer and fall, as we’ve reported on extensively, Bell Media is about to eliminate about 380 more employees at the manager level and below.
As is required by the Canada Labour Code, companies which intend to cut 50 or more positions over a four-week period must inform the Minister of Labour, as well as post notices of the impending terminations inside company locations. Last week, Bell Media did just that, informing the new Minister, MaryAnn Mihychuk, on November 5th of the coming cuts. This…
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TORONTO – Despite flat revenues and stagnant listening hours, now is not the time for the radio industry to sound the alarm bells, CRTC Ontario Commissioner Raj Shoan told attendees during the closed portion of the Ontario Association of Broadcasters’ Connection 2015 conference on Tuesday.
Rather, he continued, the industry must do a better job promoting itself while at the same time securing a place on the devices that Canadian audiences are currently using to receive audio content – their smartphones and cars.
The activation of the FM chip in smartphones is “an attractive option” for radio operators, he said, one that…
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GATINEAU – The nearly four days of testimony in the mandate review of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services’ (CCTS), could mostly be described as civil, maybe even sedate, but on Friday, CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais sparred with Bell Canada over aspects of the company’s employee compensation formula as it relates to customer service and complaints to the CCTS.
Robert Malcolmson, Bell’s senior VP of regulatory affairs, explained that meeting objectives from six strategic imperatives helps determine executive and employee compensation and that customer satisfaction is one of them. Blais wondered to what degree that element plays in employee…
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MONTREAL – The CRTC has announced more details around its second pre-event leading up to its Discoverability Summit.
In collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), the Commission will host ‘En route to the Discoverability Summit: Content in the Age of Abundance’ in Montreal on December 3 at the Phi Centre from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM.
Focusing on French-language markets, the event will be moderated by Matthieu Dugal, host and columnist on Ici Radio-Canada Première and TV5 Monde, and feature Pascal Lechevallier, CEO of What’s Hot, a new media consulting firm. It will be live streamed on the…
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GATINEAU – The third day of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunication Services (CCTS) mandate review saw telecom providers in the West and East agree on a few changes to the complaints body. Quebecor Media and Shaw Communications noted in their respective testimony to the CRTC on Thursday they believe it’s natural for the CCTS to conduct some code interpretation.
They also believe that participation in the complaints body should be mandatory.
Peggy Tabet, senior director of regulatory affairs for telecommunications at Quebecor, noted under questioning that it’s about treating all players equally. In a world where the company is subjected…
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GATINEAU – Rogers Communications told the CRTC on Wednesday that the Commissions for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) should become “a destination of last resort” for consumer complaints.
The country’s largest wireless provider argued during day 2 on the hearing into the CCTS (click here for day one's coverage) the industry should take a page out of the banking sector’s playbook and adopt a model similar to that of the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI). Kim Walker, Rogers’ Ombudsperson, said during her opening remarks that the OBSI is the final recourse for customers after…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC will not issue a call for radio applications for the areas of Bracebridge and Gravenhurst in Ontario, after no company other than Bayshore Broadcasting Corporation expressed interest in serving that market.
On Wednesday, the Commission said that the area can sustain an additional station, noting that it is currently served only by CFBG-FM Bracebridge, an English-language commercial radio station operated by Vista Radio Ltd. It added that it would publish Bayshore’s application for consideration as part of the non-appearing phase of the next feasible public hearing.
As Cartt.ca reported, the CRTC received an application from Owen Sound-based Continue Reading
MONTREAL – People who say TV and radio are dead because new digital media have taken their place are lying to you.
That was the rather blunt message delivered at the CBC Media Forum, a gathering of advertising and marketing professionals that took place Wednesday in Montreal and repeats Thursday in Toronto.
Invited speakers used statistics and plenty of swear words to make the point that despite all the buzzwords and hype surrounding digital media and online advertising, traditional mass marketing is still the most effective way of reaching an audience.
“We marketers are taught not to think simply… thinking…
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GATINEAU – The mandate review for the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunication Services (CCTS) kicked off on Tuesday with the body arguing that voluntary participation would make it much more difficult to resolve complaints – and that some consumers could find themselves on the short end of the complaints process.
In addition, the trigger-based system of participation is unruly and hasn’t proven effective in forcing telecom service providers (TSPs) to join the CCTS.
Josée Thibault, assistant CCTS commissioner, noted “there is a real risk that many providers would withdraw from CCTS, creating a situation in which some customers are entitled to…
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