Social media driving engagement
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – With Canadian audiences viewing a plethora of content, a major focus for Canadian creators is to get their programming noticed, according to producers on a panel addressing discoverability at the Canadian Media Producers Association’s (CMPA’s) Prime Time annual conference in Ottawa on Jan. 30.
“Discoverability is an ongoing challenge, especially in this industry with so much content out there,” said Mark Montefiore, founder and CEO of New Metric Media. “How do you stand out in this ecosystem?”
His company is a producer of Hate the Player: The Ben Johnson Story, a Canadian comedy television…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – As the CRTC brings foreign streamers under regulation via the Online Streaming Act, Bell’s Heated Rivalry is being viewed as an example of exportable Canadian programming that can thrive with enough investment in the Canadian broadcasting system.
The producers and two cast members of Bell Media’s Crave series along with Mark Carney – a first-ever appearance by a prime minister at a Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) Prime Time event – were the highlight Friday that shone a bright light on the six-episode TV series that has become a red-hot global phenomenon.
After walking a special red…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell is claiming that it has not been able to fully launch fibre internet service in British Columbia and Alberta because Telus has allegedly refused to provide adequate systems for the setup.
Bell CEO Mirko Bibic announced in November that the telco had been running a trial for internet service in Kelowna, British Columbia using Telus’s network, with the expectation that it would fully launch internet services – with plans to bundle content and mobile – this month.
But that has not happened yet, Bell claims, because Telus has failed to provide the requisite systems to…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The attorney general is telling the Federal Court of Appeal that challenges to the CRTC’s rule on requiring disclosure of certain financial information is premature because the order is not final.
“As a general principle, decisions and orders must be final in nature to be considered by courts of law,” AG said in its response submission, dated Monday. “A statement about how an administrative decision-maker intends to act in the future has no legal effect.”
The Canadian affiliate of the Motion Picture Association (MPAC) and its members, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Paramount+, Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
Every-Day Computers Inc. (Ev-Com) is accusing Telus of blocking its ability to launch a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) business.
Ev-Com, a facilities-based carrier operating a fixed-wireless and wholesale internet network in Terrace, British Columbia, says it wants to operate the MVNO with an initial service target being the Highway 16, known as the Highway of Tears. It says it has Tier 4 spectrum licences for the Skeena, Smithers, and Prince George service area and has applied for 3.9 GHz spectrum to “secure a long-term 5G path for this region,” including in rural communities.
Despite being a qualified wireless…
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By Ahmad Hathout
A judge ruled earlier this month that the Federal Court will not hear a complaint filed by Cogeco and Eastlink asking to review whether cabinet erred by denying their request to toss a CRTC decision to allow the three largest telecoms to access the wholesale internet regime.
In short, the court ruled that the regional telecoms have better avenues to challenge the underlying decision, effectively accepting the application of the attorney general to reject the request based on the same reasons.
While the complaint specifically challenged cabinet’s alleged lack of sufficient reasons explaining…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell has “drastically degraded” wholesale last-mile fibre service to Telus in Ontario and Quebec, a move that increased its market power and harmed customers of the third-party service provider, the Vancouver-based telco alleges in a heavily-redacted application to the CRTC dated Tuesday.
Telus claims in the unjust discrimination and undue preference complaint that the issue started on the evening of January 14, 2026. “With only a few hours’ notice, Bell drastically degraded the mandated wholesale FTTP service … that it provides to TELUS,” it said in the complaint, which asks the CRTC to act urgently. The CRTC on…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to review whether the CRTC erred when it approved a request by Timeless Inc. to have staff-assisted mediation instead of accepting its own proposal to privately negotiate terms to carry OneSoccer.
The cable giant said in the judicial review application filed Monday that it proposed to carry the OneSoccer channel on similar terms as the three directly comparable channels on Rogers TV, thus claiming to resolve an undue preference decision made against it in March 2023.
Instead, the application claims, the CRTC approved in a letter last month…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell is asking the CRTC in a review and vary application, made public Friday, to revisit how it came to a significantly lower attach rate for its poles across Ontario and Quebec after it increased the telco’s attach rate that fell well short of what it was asking for.
Historically, the regulator calculated the attach rate by taking the number of billing units, which represented the number of poles, and divided that figure by the average number of third parties per pole. The rate assists the telcos in recouping their costs in managing the poles, and was made…
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Michele Austin has been named president and managing director of the Canadian affiliate of the Motion Picture Association (MPA-C), effective January 19.
Austin will succeed Wendy Noss, who will leave the trade group after leading it for 15 years. She will lead strategic advocacy across the country on all priority issues, including copyright law, production incentives, digital media policy, and content protection, said a Thursday press release announcing her appointment.
“Michele’s deep knowledge of Canada’s policy landscape and political dynamics will make her a powerful voice for our member studios and our creative community,” Charles Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the…
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