OTTAWA – The ‘Say No To Bell’ coalition is taking issue with Bell’s interpretation of its Canadian TV viewing share should its acquisition of Astral Media be allowed to proceed.
The group, spearheaded by Cogeco, Eastlink, and Quebcor, issued a statement challenging Bell’s calculation that the combined English-language market share of Bell Canada and Astral Media is 33.5%.
“The correct number for the Canada-wide English-language viewing share of the combined companies is in fact 41.4%”, reads the statement. “This goes to the heart of the problems inherent in the proposed transaction: a degree of single company market dominance greatly exceeding that…
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WHILE LISTENING, PERPLEXED, to Tuesday’s “Say No To Bell” press conference led by Quebecor Inc. Cogeco Inc. and Bragg Communications, I tweeted “Horse is out of the barn, is lost in the woods and the barn is on fire.”
Many of us are fond of using the “horse is out of the barn” cliché when it comes to big media mergers, noting it’s far too late now to close the door on any of it. That is undeniable, and the proposed Bell Media purchase of Astral Media is just about the last of them. The Canadian barn…
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OTTAWA – Three of the country’s largest media companies – Cogeco, Quebecor, and Eastlink – are banding together in their opposition of Bell Canada’s proposed acquisition of Astral Media.
The trio staged a press conference Tuesday morning in Ottawa calling the $3.38 billion deal an “unprecedented concentration of media ownership” and unveiled a website called SayNotoBell.ca that it says lays out “the risks” and “potential harm” to consumers and the Canadian TV industry should the transaction be approved. It also encourages Canadians to voice their concerns by submitting a letter through the website to Canada's Ministers of Heritage and Industry,…
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WIND MOBILE PARENT COMPANY Globalive has said again the CRTC must hold a public hearing to find out for sure if the ownership of Telus is Canadian enough.
Back in June, Globalive sent a petition to the CRTC which said Telus’s recent aborted attempt to convert to a single share structure showed the Vancouver-based telco may not be complying with Canada’s telecom ownership rules and therefore it may well be in breach of the Telecom Act. So, a full public hearing must be held to determine whether or not Telus is Canadian enough.
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC has green-lit BCE’s proposal to establish a Broadcasting Accessibility Fund to support initiatives that improve access to the Canadian broadcasting system by persons with disabilities.
The $5.7 million fund was proposed by BCE last year as part of its purchase of CTVglobemedia. After soliciting public opinion, the Commission said Tuesday that the fund will support accessibility projects that are supplementary to the CRTC’s existing regulatory obligations for the broadcasting industry, and could include accessibility initiatives for online and mobile programming services. In addition, the fund must provide services and publish documents (such as application forms, policies, and annual reports)…
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MONTREAL – Bell Canada was quick to respond to what it described as a “public misinformation campaign” launched by Cogeco, Eastlink, Quebecor earlier in the day around its acquisition of Astral Media.
The communications giant issued a statement acknowledging that the proposed transaction will change the competitive landscape, and said that “new reality has competitors worried”.
"With Astral, we're actually leveling the playing field with the long-dominant media/cable company in Québec, Québecor, and bringing new investment and increased competition to the media marketplace," said Martine Turcotte, Bell's vice chair for Quebec, in the statement. "Coupled with the fast growth of…
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WHITEHORSE – Northwestel competitors Ice Wireless and Iristel have upped the ante in their opposition to the incumbent’s proposal to tie its infrastructure upgrade to benefits stemming from Bell’s pending acquisition of Astral Media.
Earlier this week, the wireless upstarts denounced Northwestel's attempt to direct $40 million from its parent company Bell Canada to build infrastructure, and encouraged the CRTC to reject the proposal. But on Thursday, Ice and Iristel said that if that proposal is approved, the funds should be made available to all telcos building infrastructure and innovation in Canada’s North.
"If this $40 million public benefits is allowed,…
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TORONTO – It’s not just about choice, it’s about how that choice is defined.
According to the Canadian Independent Distributors Group (CIDG), which lost its final offer arbitration dispute against Bell Media just over a week ago, the CRTC appeared to agree with the communication giant’s definition of choice which, simply put, is the more television channels that Canadian viewers can buy, the better.
But is choice about volume, or is it the ability to pick only the channels that viewers actually want to watch?
According to the CIDG, made up of Cogeco, MTS and the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA), their consumers…
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OTTAWA – The number of complaints filed against telemarketers fell in June as Canadians continue to add their numbers to the country’s national do not call list (DNCL).
According to the CRTC’s latest status report, the DNCL contained 10,885,340 telephone and fax numbers as of June 30, with just over 40,000 numbers added during that month alone.
The Commission fielded approximately 11,700 complaints about telemarketing communications in June, down from over 13,000 in May of this year. Since the DNCL was launched in 2008, 568,041 complaints have been logged.
Six new investigations were opened in June, bringing the number of active investigations…
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LONDON – CBC/Radio-Canada has been awarded the Canadian broadcast rights for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games and the Rio 2016 Olympic Summer Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Wednesday.
While financial terms of the bid were not officially disclosed, a source with direct knowledge of the talks who asked to remain anonymous told Cartt.ca late Wednesday that the amount CBC committed to for the rights to both future Games is “less than half” of the $153 million which then-CTVglobemedia paid in 2005 for the Vancouver Winter Olympics and the London Summer Olympics. (Ed note: CTVglobemedia later brought in…
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