OTTAWA – Canadian broadcasters spent a record $177 million on public benefits related to the acquisition of regulated Canadian broadcast television assets in the 2011-2012 broadcast year ended August 31, 2012, according to new research from consulting firm Boon Dog Professional Services.
The level of English-language television benefits spending by various Canadian broadcasters in 2011-2012 more than tripled from the amount ($52 million) spent in the previous year.
That $177 million is roughly the same amount as what was spent on tangible benefits in the previous four years combined – or almost as much as…
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GATINEAU – Shaw Communications was the first broadcast distributor to take the stand before the CRTC?s 9(1)(h) hearing on Monday and it appealed to the Commission to ensure that it maintained high standards when considering additional channels for mandatory carriage.
Jean Brazeau, senior VP of regulatory at Shaw, noted during his opening remarks that exceptional importance should be the minimum threshold that channels need to meet to achieve mandatory carriage status. ?Once satisfied, the applicant still must meet the additional criteria. This includes demonstrating ?extraordinary? need among an intended audience and widespread acceptance by Canadians of an increase in the…
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MONTREAL – Bell learned its lesson after the CRTC refused its request to acquire Astral Media last fall and, among other things, the company won't be making any surprise changes to its proposal when it goes in front of the commission May 6 for its second attempt.
That's what Bell Media president Kevin Crull told reporters Friday after a speech to the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television in Montreal. In that speech, delivered in English in the presence of Astral executives Ian Greenberg and Jacques Parisien, he reassured francophone TV and film producers that the acquisition would result in…
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OTTAWA – More than a year after announcing its launch, the CRTC has activated the Broadcasting Participation Fund.
The Commission made the announcement via Twitter Friday. The independent fund, which originated with $3 million in benefits proposed by BCE when it purchased CTVglobemedia in 2011, is designed to aid public interest groups and consumer groups offset their costs of participating in broadcast hearings before the Commission.
The CRTC approved the proposal to establish the BPF on March 26, 2012. The fund’s new website attributed the year-long delay to the time needed to finalize the fund’s…
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TORONTO – The Ontario government announced today it is proposing legislation that would make cell phone and wireless service contracts easier for consumers to understand.
The proposed legislation, if passed, would require wireless carriers’ contracts to be written in plain language that clearly outlines which services come with the basic fee, and which would result in a higher bill. It would also require providers to get consent from the consumer before amending, renewing or extending a fixed-term contract. In addition, the legislation would enforce a cap on cancellation fees to make it less…
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OTTAWA – Consumer rights group the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) urged the CRTC today to keep basic television service affordable by not asking consumers to pay for “unnecessary” mandatory carriage services.
At a Commission hearing today on applications for mandatory distribution on basic television service, PIAC appeared on behalf of the Consumers’ Association of Canada (CAC), Council of Senior Citizens’ Organizations of British Columbia (COSCO), and National Pensioners and Senior Citizens Federation (NPSCF). PIAC asked the CRTC to grant mandatory distribution only in exceptional cases so that consumers would not be burdened with higher costs…
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OTTAWA and KITCHENER-WATERLOO, ON – CBC Radio’s Waterloo Region morning show will resume its broadcast Friday morning after receiving CRTC approval of its broadcast license Thursday afternoon – which it didn’t have when it first launched the station last month.
CBC Radio called the mistake an “operational error,” and suspended the show late Tuesday following a complaint filed with the CRTC by the Ontario Association of Broadcaster’s government committee that the station had launched without CRTC approval.
The Kitchener-Waterloo Record quoted CBC spokesperson Angus McKinnon, who said, “This was a very regrettable…
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GATINEAU – Canadian feature films, along with some big-name filmmakers, took centre stage at the CRTC’s 9(1)(h) hearing on Thursday when Starlight: The Canadian Movie Channel, armed with a panel of noted Canadian film personalities such as Paul Gross, Denys Arcand, David Cronenberg and others, appeared to defend its application for mandatory carriage on digital basic.
Describing Canadian feature films as the “orphans in our broadcasting system,” well known TV and film producer Robert Lantos argued that the CRTC has to fix this imbalance where Canadians “have been denied affordable access to them” by granting Starlight the requested 9(1)(h) status…
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IT MIGHT SURPRISE SOME to learn that one of the fastest growing Canadian media companies is not some sexy, new media, web based disruptor, but in fact built on the oldest electronic media we have: radio.
In about nine years, Vista Radio has grown from a single station in Duncan, B.C. to a national power with over 60 stations spread from the west coast to Ontario. It really jumped in size in 2012 when it agreed to purchase Haliburton Radio and its 24 Ontario stations for $32 million (backed by Westerkirk Capital, an investment arm of the powerful Thomson Family)….
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OTTAWA – CBC Radio pulled its new Waterloo Region local morning show it launched just over five weeks ago off the air yesterday because the CRTC has not yet approved the service.
The public broadcaster says it anticipates the shutdown of The Morning Edition show will be temporary as it awaits for final approval from the Commission of its broadcast application. Listeners in the Waterloo Region will continue to be able to tune in to the 89.1 FM frequency or online at www.cbc.ca/kitchener-waterloo for their favourite CBC Radio programs.
CBC filed its application for…
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