OTTAWA–GATINEAU – In an effort to further “empower” Canadian TV viewers, the CRTC unveiled a new draft code to help viewers resolve disputes with their television service providers, and directed broadcasters to ensure that Canadians with disabilities have greater access to content adapted to their needs.
Thursday’s announcements are the fifth and final decision stemming from the Commission’s TV Policy Review, known as Let's Talk TV.
Under the proposed code of conduct, TV service providers would be required to provide easy-to-understand agreements to their customers, notify them of changes to their services, and clarify the terms surrounding issues such as the addition…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – CRTC chairman and CEO Jean-Pierre Blais said that he finds it “disturbing” that allegations are swirling that Bell Media and CTV may be “manipulating news coverage”.
In a statement Wednesday preaching “journalistic independence”, Blais essentially responded to a Globe and Mail report claiming that Bell Media president Kevin Crull was so “furious” over last Thursday’s CRTC decision to unbundle TV programming packages, that he ordered CTV News president Wendy Freeman to ensure that Blais did not appear on air that day.
Quoting unnamed sources, the report says that Freeman contacted CTV staff to tell them of the directive…
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OTTAWA–GATINEAU – Online dating service Plentyoffish Media has paid $48,000 as part of a settlement over violations to Canada's anti-spam legislation, plus promised to develop a new spam compliance program, the CRTC said Wednesday.
Acting on complaints, the Commission investigated Plentyoffish Media Inc. for allegedly sending commercial emails to registered users of the Plenty of Fish online dating service with an unsubscribe mechanism that was not clearly and prominently set out, and which could not be readily performed, as required by the legislation. Those emails, sent between July 1 and October 8, 2014, notified users of services available through their…
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OTTAWA–GATINEAU – Four air duct cleaning companies have paid $55,000 as part of a settlement over violations to Canada's telemarketing rules, and the CRTC has fined five others a total of $94,000, the Commission said Tuesday.
Acting on complaints, the CRTC launched several investigations and determined that nine companies, all based in the Greater Toronto Area, had made unsolicited telemarketing calls without being registered with the national do not call list (DNCL) operator and without having purchased a subscription to the DNCL.
Four of the nine companies, Bridge Home Services Inc., Cambridge Heating Services, HR Home Services, and Top Line Air Duct…
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OTTAWA – Canada should establish a universal service obligation to ensure that communication services like telephone, broadband Internet and broadcasting are affordable for all Canadians, says a new report from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC).
No Consumer Left Behind: A Canadian Affordability Framework for Communications Services in a Digital Age surveyed existing legal and policy explorations of how much Canadians can afford to pay for their communications services, plus conducted focus groups and interviews with organizations that work with low and moderate income families to develop a framework for defining “affordability” of communications services. The report concluded that that…
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GATINEAU – There are always some interesting figures which emerge with the publishing of the annual aggregate returns of the large carriers and broadcasters by the CRTC.
Below are a few highlights from the data filed by Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV companies (we’ll look at the conventional TV, pay and specialty and radio numbers later) for the broadcast year ended August 31, 2014.
Of the subscriber losses suffered by the large, established TV carriers (cable and satellite brands Rogers Cable, Shaw Cable, Shaw Direct, Videotron, Bell Satellite TV, Cogeco Cable and Eastlink) almost all went to…
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OTTAWA – Saying he can’t see how Bell Mobility will suffer irreparable harm due to CRTC Broadcasting and Telecom Decision 2015-26 (which ordered Bell and Quebecor’s Vidéotron to cease providing mobile video applications that are exempt from counting toward the cap on their wireless data plans) Federal Court of Appeal judge Denis Pelletier dismissed Bell’s request for an immediate stay of the Commission decision.
(This decision to dismiss the stay request does not, however, affect Bell’s overall appeal of the CRTC decision, and a decision on whether to hear it is…
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OTTAWA – As last week’s game-changing TV carriage rulings continue to sink in, two more TV service providers have publicly voiced their support for the CRTC’s most recent Let’s Talk TV decisions.
Videotron, which has allowed customers to build their own programming packages for more than 10 years, said that it welcomes the Commission's decision to offer consumers even more flexibility in their TV viewing options.
"We share the CRTC's desire to give consumers still greater flexibility and more freedom of choice," said president and CEO Manon Brouillette, in a statement. "Videotron is in a better position in this regard…
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OTTAWA – While some have yet to react and others have decried the CRTC’s decisions today on the carriage portion of the Commission’s TV Policy Review, the overall reaction has ranged from generally positive to indifferent. Bell Canada and Quebecor Media have chosen not to respond as yet.
Shaw Communications president and CEO Brad Shaw:
“We support the Government’s direction and the Commission’s commitment to maximize choice for Canadians – as citizens, producers, and consumers. We are pleased that the Commission has built on the foundation of previous Talk TV decisions to support a bold yet balanced and orderly policy framework…
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OTTAWA–GATINEAU – Let the unbundling begin. The CRTC said Thursday that Canadians TV viewers will be able to subscribe to a skinny basic programming package for $25 starting next March, and by December, will be able to choose TV channels on a pick-and-pay basis as well as in small packages.
In the fourth in a series of decisions stemming from its TV Policy Review, known as Let's Talk TV, the Commission said that a skinny basic service “will prioritize local and regional news and information programs" plus include public interest channels such as the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) and…
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