ROGERS COMMUNUCATIONS' BLOCKBUSTER NHL deal puts a direct focus on the sheer costs of sports programming for distributors and their customers, the Canadian consumer.
Cartt.ca interviewed several executives across the Canadian television industry (including some distributors who spoke to us on the condition they not be identified) to discuss the impact sports is having on broadcasting in Canada and whether or not the business can survive the spiralling costs of this rich content.
Alyson Townsend, president of the independent cable group Canadian Cable System Alliance, said no one should be surprised by the consistent price increases consumers have paid for cable…
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ONLY A FEW WEEKS after losing its National Hockey League national package to Rogers, Bell Media struck back on Monday by cornering the market on National Football League games.
Bell announced Monday it has secured Canadian broadcast, digital and mobile rights to NFL games in a “multi-year” deal starting next season. Bell would not elaborate on the length of that deal, but if recent contracts are any indication it could be for a much longer a term than the three years the two sides agreed to last time. Financial details were also not released.
“As NFL audiences continue to rise, Bell…
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TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) is staging a discussion Tuesday about the current state of television as part of the CRTC Let’s Talk TV initiative.
Scheduled for December 10 from 3:00 – 4:30 PM ET, the bilingual webcast is intended for producers, broadcasters, and content creators, and will focus around content, technology and viewer experience. It will be hosted by CMF president and CEO Valerie Creighton and Stéphane Cardin, vice president of industry and public affairs.
Click here to register.
www.cmf-fmc.ca
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OTTAWA – Rogers Media must submit licence renewal applications for its OMNI television stations a year early after the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) complained to the CRTC about the cancellation of some of the stations’ programs.
Rogers announced last May that it was making programming cuts to OMNI’s multicultural programming at the stations located in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto. CEP filed its complaint with the CRTC a month later, asking for the programs to be reinstated, and that the Commission hold a hearing to discuss Rogers’ programming decisions.
While dismissing CEP’s complaint, the CRTC Continue Reading
OTTAWA – What will the future of TV bring the industry, consumers and content creators? Join the debate at the Prime Time In Ottawa conference, scheduled for February 19 -21, 2014 at the Westin Ottawa.
This year’s event will feature senior industry executives and stakeholders discussing the CRTC's Let's Talk TV proceeding, how they see the future of television, and what could be at stake.
Early bird registration ends December 13 and all early birds are eligible to win an iPad mini.
www.primetimeinottawa.ca
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I’VE BEEN COVERING this business since 1997 but not until now do I have my first ever actual submission, well co-submission, to the CRTC. It’s not a traditional one but I do hope Cartt.ca readers – and anyone else for that matter – find it interesting.
When we first heard of the Commission’s idea for flash conferences as a way to inform its overhaul of the policies governing television in Canada, I immediately wondered what I could do in Cartt.ca’s hometown of Hamilton, Ont. It’s a neat idea and kudos to whomever came up with it at the Regulator.
Since I’m…
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– OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Green Shield Windows and Doors and Peak Windows and Doors have paid $100,000 in penalties as part of settlements over violations to the country’s telemarketing rules.
The CRTC said Wednesday that its investigations found that both Green Shield and Peak failed to subscribe and pay all applicable fees to the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) operator, resulting in the companies making telemarketing calls to consumers whose numbers were registered on the list. Green Shield paid a penalty of $65,000 and Peak has forked over $35,000.
In addition to paying monetary penalties, both companies have ceased making telemarketing…
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– MONTREAL – V Media Group is buying Frech-language music channels MusiquePlus and MusiMax from Bell Media, the companies announced Tuesday. Financial terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed, and the transaction is subject to approval by the CRTC and the Competition Bureau.
The move comes as part of Bell Media's requirement to divest of certain properties to comply with regulatory conditions attached to its acquisition of Astral Media last July. After selling off Family, Disney XD and Disney Junior last week, Bell Media has now entered into agreements with buyers for all of the properties it was required…
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Will its popularity save the bundle or will its rising costs help kill it? An exclusive Cartt.ca investigation into how the sports fan supports the whole system.
IT’S RATHER UNLIKELY the typical member of Leafs Nation has any idea that his devotion to the blue-and-white leads to the making of the likes of Bomb Girls, Murdoch Mysteries, Orphan Black, Rookie Blue, Destinées, Heartland, Toute la verité and dozens of other Canadian TV series.
However, the money which that fellow and all sports fans (true blue, bandwagoners or casual viewers) pay for the likes of TSN, Sportsnet, their offshoots and other smaller…
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A FEW YEARS AGO, when digital video recorders first appeared on the scene, many predicted big trouble for the TV industry. Broadcasters sued or threatened to.
After all, if people could record their favourite shows and zip through commercials when watching them hours or even days later how long would it take advertisers who want their messages to be seen and acted on rightnow to lose faith in television's all-encompassing power?
But while many feared the power of the DVR (or PVR), those on the sports side almost welcomed it as an affirmation of the drawing power of that content. They…
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