GATINEAU – Late Wednesday evening, after the TV lights had long been turned off and almost everyone else had gone home, Corus Entertainment stated its belief that despite the myriad changes happening in the global media market, the CRTC shouldn’t really do too much to upset the Canadian apple cart.
However, if the Commission does move on a smaller, mandated basic package, which is one of the many proposals under review, Corus asked that new regs be sure to include kids programming in the lineup. Corus is a big kids content producer, of course, but the company didn’t ask that…
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OTTAWA – V Media Group received CRTC approval Thursday to proceed with its purchase of French-language music channels MusiquePlus and MusiMax from Bell Media.
The Commission said that the transaction, as modified in this decision, is in the public interest and contributes to fulfilling the objectives of the Broadcasting Act as it will foster competition in the French-language market and ensure the continued availability of a major showcase for Canadian musical talent. It revised the value of the deal to $22.87 million.
The decision also approved, subject to certain modifications, an application to amend certain conditions of licence relating to…
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GATINEAU – The biggest stir on the third day of the CRTC’s Let’s Talk TV policy hearing centered on the possible inclusion of revenue earned from broadcasters’ online activities when calculating Canadian programming expenditures (CPE) Bell Canada arguing that it’s illogical, odd and added insult to injury.
“Working document item 10 concerns us greatly,” said Mirko Bibic, Bell’s executive VP and chief legal and regulatory officer, adding that the proposal on the table “would treat Canadian licensees in that space differently than the Netflixes of the world.”
That bit of the CRTC’s discussion document says: “The definition…
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GATINEAU – Calls for relaxed broadcast regulations from Quebecor Media appeared to ring hollow with CRTC commissioners on the second day of the Regulator’s Let‘s Talk TV policy hearing. During its appearance, the dominant Quebec media and cable company argued that unless the Commission takes immediate action, Netflix will become one of the largest distributors and broadcasters in Canada.
“There’s nothing to prevent Netflix from offering television distribution services for a pittance while adapting its business model, moving into more and more linear broadcasting windows in order to squeeze out traditional BDUs, and responding to market demand, all without being…
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OTTAWA – Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, Shelly Glover issued a warning late Monday evening to the CRTC in a statement responding to day one of the Commission's TV Policy Review hearing.
It's an unusual thing for a cabinet minister to publicly interfere with a CRTC hearing but she (well, the Prime Minister's Office really, we're told) made it very clear that the federal government is mostly concerned about pick and pay – and will not stand for TV regulations being applied to new media outlets. The statement (which was e-mailed to some reporters and still can't…
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GATINEAU – The implications of imposing old-style TV regulations on new age digital media providers was front and centre during the first day of the CRTC’s Let’s Talk TV policy hearing today. While Google Canada suggested that other countries could follow Canada’s lead if the commission forced traditional TV regulations on digital providers, the Ontario government argued that greater regulation of online providers is critical to the long-term health of the broadcasting system and the production industry it feeds.
Kevin Finnerty, assistant deputy minister of tourism, culture and sport for the Ontario government, spoke Monday afternoon about the need for…
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OTTAWA – As the CRTC kicked off its Let’s Talk TV hearing Monday morning, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting (FCB) was quick to assert that the proposed changes to the broadcasting regulations would be “bad” for both consumers and broadcasters.
The self-proclaimed independent watchdog of Canadian programming cited the results of a recent Nanos Research survey, that it commissioned along with ACTRA and Unifor, that found that more than half (54%) of the 1,000 respondents think it is unlikely that unbundling TV programming packages in favour of pick and pay will result in lower TV subscription costs. The survey also found…
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OTTAWA – The Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) will webcast live coverage of the CRTC’s Let’s Talk TV: A Conversation with Canadians public hearing over the next two weeks starting Monday.
Canada’s only privately-owned, commercial free, not for profit, bilingual licensed television service will present the consultations online and on the CPAC TV 2 GO app live at 9:00 AM ET/6:00 AM PT daily from September 8 – 19.
CPAC is delivered via cable, satellite and wireless distributors to over 11 million Canadian homes and worldwide via 24/7 live webstreaming at www.cpac.ca Created in 1992 by a consortium of cable…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has moved to simplify its approach to tangible benefits and determining the value of broadcast transactions.
The Commission said Friday that to ensure that future tangible benefits for television transactions are streamlined and directed mainly to the production of Canadian programming, it will generally require that at least 80% of such benefits be allocated to the Canada Media Fund (CMF) or various certified independent production funds, unless a compelling case is made that other measures could better meet the public interest. Of this amount, at least 60% shall be directed to the CMF. It also included…
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TORONTO – When the potential economics of a pick-and-pay TV world is laid out for them, the interest expressed by Canadian consumers to choose TV channels a-la-carte falls off dramatically, according to research released today by CTAM Canada.
A volunteer-based organization, CTAM (Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing) is an industry association that provides information, education and networking opportunities for cable companies, content providers, and others who supply products and services to the cable industry. The organization released the new data as part of its annual research report, just in time for the start of the CRTC’s TV Policy Review…
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