MONTREAL – Bell has confirmed it will ask the federal Cabinet to intervene regarding the CRTC's “shocking decision to completely ignore its own rules and policies in rejecting in its entirety Bell's acquisition of Astral Media.”
The telecom will file a request that Cabinet issue a policy direction to the CRTC under Section 7 of the Broadcasting Act, requiring the Commission to “follow its already in-place policies when reviewing change of control transactions in broadcasting.”
"The Broadcasting Act explicitly empowers the Cabinet to issue directions to the CRTC on broad policy matters," said Mirko…
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GATINEAU – Saying it is “shocked” and “appalled” at the CRTC’s decision to deny its $3.4 billion purchase of Astral Media, Bell Canada says it isn’t through with this fight yet.
"This is a decision that should not stand. Canadian consumers were told today by the CRTC that they don't deserve more – more choice, more competition, more Canadian content funding – all of which Bell and Astral committed to with this transaction," said George Cope, president and CEO of Bell Canada and BCE Inc. in a sharply worded statement released hours after the Commission decision was made public at…
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IN ITS FULL DECISION to deny Bell Canada’s request to purchase Astral Media, the CRTC addressed a number of the issues which arose over the months-long process and public hearing held in Montreal during the week of September 10th.
The rest of the industry would probably do well to heed the advice doled out in this decision.
THE CRTC WON’T COUNT THE YANKS: “For clarity, the Commission considers that ‘total television share’ is based on viewing to Canadian commercial television services, consistent with the Commission’s Communications Monitoring Report (CMR) and past practice. While the Commission recognizes that…
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THE ASTONISHED FEEDBACK came fast and furious late Thursday as people tried to give voice to their feelings on the Commission decision to deny Bell Canada’s $3.4 billon purchase of Astral Media.
******************** “Like most observers, we had expected conditional approval,” said analyst Dvai Ghose of Canaccord Genuity in a note to clients. “This could also have implications for other potential media transactions such as Shaw-Corus, although in that case both entities are already controlled by the Shaw family. We also believe that the speculation of a Corus bid for Astral could rise and could be more palatable for regulators.
“While…
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TORONTO – Edison Research's Sean Ross will address delegates at Connection 2012 says The Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB). As Vice President of Music and Programming for Edison Research, Ross will present findings of recent research, entitled Radio’s Progress in the Digital Ad Space. He will share the study conducted with principals, account managers, planners and buyers at digital and general agencies, which analyzed perceptions and attitudes about radio. The study reveals participants’ feelings about, and interactions with, the digital offerings of AM/FM Radio companies as well as those with pure-play Internet radio companies.
Ross a 30-year…
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TORONTO – In a battle of research consulting firms, Nordicity has fired back at Canadian Media Research Inc.'s Barry Kiefl for his recent blog that was critical of its ad research for CBC. The blog was written last month by Kiefl who was formerly research director at CBC for nearly 20 years until he left in 2001.
In November of 2011, international consulting firm Nordicity released an assessment on the impact of removing advertising from CBC/Radio-Canada. The report, entitled Why Advertising on CBC/Radio-Canada is Good Public Policy and commissioned by the CBC, concluded that “Removing ads from CBC/Radio-Canada’s services would…
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TORONTO – Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner says she, too, would like to see the Canadian wireless industry do far more for their customers on the security front.
Dr. Ann Cavoukian told Cartt.ca in a recent interview that she supports the CRTC’s renewed insistence on holding our wireless carriers’ collective feet to the fire when it comes to helping their customers protect the data on their mobile phones when they are lost or stolen. “Absolutely, they should be doing more,” said Dr. Cavoukian of the country’s wireless service providers.
“I mean, it's no longer just you lose your cell phone,” she…
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TORONTO – Score Media Inc. has announced that its shareholders have unanimously voted to approve Rogers Media’s $167 million takeover bid.
“We are delighted our shareholders share the view of the executive team and the board of directors that this agreement with Rogers Media is in the best interests of all parties. We now look forward to securing final approval from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and completing the Arrangement,” said John Levy, CEO of Score Media in a statement.
Under the deal, shareholders of Score Media will receive, for each share…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC said Thursday that Corus Entertainment's OWN and G4techTV (co-owned by Rogers Communications with minority owner Comcast Corporation) specialty channels are not complying with their licenses and must tell the CRTC why those licenses shouldn't be revoked or suspended. The hearing is set for December 11 in Gatineau, Quebec.
As analyzed by Cartt.ca in August, Corus had filed an application to change OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network which began life in 1999 as Canadian Learning Television) from a Category A service to a Category B service and to drop its educational…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has reversed its earlier requirement that all incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) that have transferred responsibility of their inside wire to their single-line residential and business customers ensure that a jack-ended demarcation device is installed free of charge.
This past February the CRTC announced its intent to require phone companies to install a “jack-ended demarcation device” on the first diagnostic service call to a home that was not so equipped. The Commission believed that following this process “would result in a consistent practice among ILECs and more equitable treatment of customers who…
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