TORONTO – When most people think of JR Shaw, it’s the cable business that first comes to mind since Shaw Cable and its sister satellite company Shaw Direct provide subscription TV service to over three million Canadians. But the executive chair of the company always been a big broadcast backer, too and he will be inducted into the Ontario Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame Thursday in Toronto.
People nowadays forget that when cable first launched in the 1950s and grew through the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, there were precious few channels available to distribute to people, especially in Edmonton,…
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GATINEAU – Corus Entertainment will face the CRTC today in the last stage of its quest to purchase a number of media assets being sold by Bell Media.
In March, Corus agreed to purchase French specialty channels Historia and Series+, three Ottawa radio stations and the half of Teletoon it didn’t own in a $400 million deal which is part of the divestitures required as conditions of the Bell Media purchase of Astral Media. While Corus already held 50% of Teletoon/Télétoon (as well as Teletoon Retro in English and French, and the Cartoon Network)…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has pulled together a special taskforce to investigate issues and concerns around wireless roaming.
In an internal memo to staff on Tuesday, the Commission said that the new Wireless Taskforce comes as a result of consumer concerns expressed over the last year “with respect to the rates, terms, and conditions associated with wireless roaming”.
“In response to these concerns, Commission staff has conducted some wireless roaming research using publicly available information. Recently, we launched a fact finding exercise on wireless roaming to gather confidential information. The data that has been reviewed to date…
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GATINEAU – Corus Entertainment was on the hot seat today, defending its proposed $400 million purchase of specialty services Teletoon, Historia and Series+ in front of the CRTC. The company is buying the assets from Bell Media as part of the latter’s requirement to divest assets resulting from its purchase of Astral.
“We are here today to convince you that we are not only the best possible home for these assets but that our acquisition of these services is in the public interest. Allowing Corus to continue to grow will translate into more spending on Canadian programming and healthy competition…
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OTTAWA – One of the most critical aspects of developing regulation is to actively engage Canadians in their formulation, CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais told the annual workshop of the Community of Federal Regulators in Ottawa on Monday.
The CRTC’s new approach of “reaching out to Canadians as citizens, creators and consumers” has both taught some valuable lessons and helped the Commission to become “a more responsive regulator”, he said.
Sharing the process around the creation of the new wireless code of conduct, Blais said that the Commission used social media to solicit feedback and draw…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has turned down a request from Rogers Communications to shift its licenses for its cable business, on-demand business and Sportsnet service to Mountain Cablevision as part of a corporate reorganization.
Rogers acquired Hamilton Ontario-based Mountain Cablevision from Shaw earlier this year. In an application to the CRTC, Rogers requested the issuance of broadcasting licences to Mountain under the same terms and conditions as those in effect under the current licences and authorization for Rogers Communications Partnership (RCP) to continue operating its broadcasting distribution, video-on-demand, and pay-per-view undertakings. Rogers explained its request was for…
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OTTAWA – Canadians should take full advantage of the opportunity to share their views on Canada’s current and future television systems with the CRTC, says the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC).
That input should include their satisfaction (or not) with their cable, satellite and Internet Protocol television (IPTV) retail packages, the organization said in a statement Thursday.
“This is a key opportunity for consumers to comment on an industry that they care deeply about and pay dearly for but have for too long have had very little voice in shaping,” said John Lawford, executive director and…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has tweaked some of the conditions around audits between broadcasters and broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs).
The Commission said Thursday that the revised audit provisions clarify the manner in which audits are conducted by programming undertakings, thus ensuring a proper verification of the subscriber information held by BDUs.
It also announced plans to issue a notice of consultation setting out proposed amendments to section 15.1 of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations to bring into force the audit provisions set out in the appendix to this regulatory policy.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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OTTAWA – The CRTC cleared up confusion around how the new Wireless Code applies to wireless services with tab billing models (tab contracts) in response to queries from Rogers and Telus.
Under a tab contract, the customer obtains a device at a reduced upfront cost and the amount of the device subsidy goes onto the customer’s “tab.” Thereafter, a percentage of the customer’s monthly bill is used to “pay down” their tab.
In its response, the Commission also provided clarification on how the maximum early cancellation fee may be calculated for tab contracts, and what…
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MARKHAM, ON – Corus Entertainment COO Doug Murphy will join the panel of the executive town hall session next week at the Ontario Association of Broadcasters’ fall conference.
Moderated by radio executive Ross Davies, the session will ask high level industry executives from different areas of the broadcast industry to provide their perspective on the state of radio, television and advertising.
Other confirmed panelists include:
– Caroline Gianias; EVP trade & communications activation, Aegis Media;– Patrick Grierson; president, Canadian Broadcast Sales;– Catherine Kelly; VP electronic operations, BBM Canada;– Geoff Poulton; president, Vista Radio;– Raj Shoan; Ontario Commissioner, CRTC; and Continue Reading
