OTTAWA – The CRTC has rejected a proposed code of conduct and best practices for campus and community radio stations due to what it said was a lack of detail.
The Commission said Thursday that the proposed codes, submitted by the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA), included “insufficient detail to provide appropriate guidance on matters of high standard”.
After noting that the codes, in several cases, require each individual station to create its own programming policy on a given matter, the Commission said in its decision that it would be “unable to ensure that stations adhere to the high…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CBC is moving forward with its plan to shut down 620 over-the-air analog television transmitters, a move announced in April as part of its budget reductions.
The national broadcaster received CRTC approval this week to have its broadcasting licences and transmitters revoked for CBIT Sydney, which operates as a re-transmitter of CBHT Halifax, and CBKST Saskatoon, which operates as a re-transmitter of CBKT Regina.
The Commission also agreed to amend the licences for 23 English- and French-language CBC television stations to delete all references to analog transmitters. These amendments are effective August 1st, and the CBC said…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The controversial Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) will be phased out by August 31, 2014, the CRTC announced Wednesday.
Citing the advertising market’s recovery and the completion of the digital transition, both of which have helped to improve the financial situation of the country’s local television broadcasters, according to the Commission, the Fund’s contribution rate will be reduced from 1.5% to 1% for the 2012-2013 broadcast year, and to 0.5 % for the 2013-2014 broadcast year before being discontinued entirely effective September 1, 2014.
“While the implementation of the LPIF was appropriate to address the issues facing local stations at the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA and TORONTO – Reaction from the broadcasting industry to the CRTC’s plan to depose of the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) was swift and virtually unanimous.
Mirko Bibic, chief legal and regulatory officer and EVP at Bell, told Cartt.ca that while his company is still “analyzing the new model and its financial impact”, the decision could serve to reignite the value-for-signal/fee-for-carriage debate.
“There’s no doubt, however, that local stations in small and medium-sized markets will receive significantly less revenue”, he said. “At a time when conventional television continues to be under tremendous financial pressure, including from a soft advertising…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CRTC has given the go-ahead to Blue Ant Media to proceed with its acquisition of independent broadcaster High Fidelity HDTV.
High Fidelity owns the specialty services radX (formerly Rush HD), HIFI (formerly Treasure HD), Oasis HD, eqhd (formerly Equator HD) and three other Category 2 services not yet in operation, known as The Wedding Channel, WHD and WSD. Through its subsidiary GlassBox Television, Blue Ant already owns Bite Television and Aux TV, five other specialty Category B services, one specialty Category C service not yet in operation, plus Category A service travel + escape.
In its decision, the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – More than 2,000 Canadians have contacted the CRTC to protest the CBC’s plans to shut down 620 analog over-the-air transmitters by the end of this month, according to the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS).
The organization, which has urged communities and CBC viewers to demand that the transmission equipment be made available for local public use, said Friday that over 2000 of the requests specifically requested that CBC consult with the affected communities.
CACTUS has proposed that some of the affected communities could not only use the equipment to maintain free access to CBC TV,…
Continue Reading
THERE HAS NEVER BEEN THIS much money available at one time for the development and production of Canadian television programming.
According to the newly available 2012 report of the Canadian Television Benefits Monitor, Canadian broadcasters must spend more than $450 million on new television programming or programming-related tangible public benefits over the next seven years (by Aug. 31, 2019). When the benefits associated with the BCE-Astral Media transaction currently before the CRTC are factored in, that number will be almost $600 million. This is over and above the hundreds of millions of dollars in baseline expenditures…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CRTC will take a close look at a number of Astral Media-owned radio stations that were found in apparent non-compliance with regulatory requirements during their current licence terms.
The Commission said Tuesday that it has received broadcasting licence renewal applications for 34 stations located in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia for which the licences are due to expire on March 31, 2013.
The deadline for interventions is August 9, 2012.
www.crtc.gc.ca
www.astral.com
Continue Reading
WHITEHORSE – Northwestel is encouraging governments, businesses and residents in Canada’s north to express their support for Bell’s public benefits package associated with its intended takeover of Astral Media.
That benefits package, made public by the CRTC on Tuesday, includes $40 million earmarked for Northwestel’s recently proposed ‘modernization plan’ in which it pledged to invest $273 million over five years to upgrade its 96 communities in northern Canada with high-speed Internet and next-generation wireless.
“We strongly believe northerners want advanced Internet and wireless services, but we need CRTC approval of the Astral component for our Modernization Plan to move forward,”…
Continue Reading
CALGARY – Vista Radio is moving east with a bid to buy Haliburton Broadcasting and its 24-station Ontario radio network, which includes the Northern Ontario Moose FM brand, for $32.34 million.
The deal is pending regulatory approval and is scheduled to be reviewed by the CRTC at its September 10 hearing in Montreal. This marks the first eastern expansion for the private broadcaster which currently holds 38 broadcast licenses serving more than 50 communities across British Columbia, Alberta and the Northwest Territories.
Vista Radio president and CEO Margot Micallef told Cartt.ca on Wednesday that the eight year old company, which she…
Continue Reading
