MONTREAL – The SayNoToBell.ca campaigners claim that nearly 50,000 Canadians, both consumers and industry leaders, have signed their petition urging the CRTC and government to deny the Bell/Astral merger. CRTC hearings into the proposed deal are poised to begin next week.
SayNoToBell.ca says 42 of the 60 interveners to be heard have already publicly opposed the deal or questioned the transaction. Notable industry presentations include:
• Québécor – Monday, September 10
• Eastlink – Tuesday, September 11
• Cogeco Cable – Wednesday, September 12
• Rogers Communications – Wednesday, September 12
• Telus – Wednesday, September 12
• Canadian Cable Systems Alliance – Friday, September 14
Notable…
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“OH, PEOPLE CAN COME UP with statistics to prove anything… 14% of people know that.” – Homer J. Simpson
Released this week, the 240-page mound of data known as the CRTC Communications Monitoring Report was reduced to a pair of press releases this week, one which purported that Bell buying Astral was a very bad and scary thing, and the other that Bell buying Astral was a very good and normal thing.
According to the Say No To Bell forces – the public relations effort put together by Quebecor, Cogeco and EastLink and co-ordinated by National Public…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC has re-launched the public process for the renewal of CBC/Radio-Canada’s broadcasting licences, a process that began last summer but was postponed on July 8, 2011.
In the corporation's updated application, the national public broadcaster is urging the CRTC to accept two provisions it says are critical to preserving the key elements of the CBC’s 2015 Strategy:
1. A modern regulatory framework that will enable the public broadcaster to implement its strategy across all platforms and allow it to evolve with its audiences, with technology and with its changing environment;
2. Opportunity to generate new revenue to meet…
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WE DRILL DOWN into the analytics of our content quite a lot at Cartt.ca, studying what resonates with our valued readers and what doesn’t. We learn a lot and try adjust our coverage accordingly. So, to give you a peek at what the folks in the cable, radio, television and telecom business have been paying the most attention to for the past year, we publish the top 25 stories of the past 12 months on the day after Labour Day.
As those in the TV business will tell you, September is really the beginning of the year – and September…
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MONTREAL – TSN Radio in Montreal is moving down the AM dial from 990 to 690 effective September 4.
The new, previously clear frequency will improve the reception of the all-sports station, which airs both local sports and live coverage of all Montreal Canadiens games.
A TSN spokesperson confirmed to Cartt.ca that the move has been in the works since last year, and is independent of TSN parent Bell Media’s recent application to the CRTC asking to convert TSN Radio (now 690) to RDS Radio (now 690).
www.tsn.ca
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – The CRTC has told broadcasters and television service providers how it intends to enforce its new rules controlling the loudness of television commercials which kick in on September 1.
Thursday’s bulletin directed TV broadcasters and BDUs to submit a report before October 15, 2012 to the Commission confirming that all applicable steps have put in place and are being followed in order to comply with the new rules.
Those regulations, announced in May, require Canadian broadcasters to adhere to the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s (ATSC) standard for measuring and controlling television signals to minimize fluctuations in loudness between…
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DESPITE THE OPPOSITION to its planned purchase of Astral Media, Bell Canada remains steadfast that this deal is good for Canada and Quebec – and will foster innovation and competition to the benefit of Canadian media consumers.
In its reply comments submitted to the CRTC last week (the final paper stage before the public hearing in Montreal starting September 10th, Bell takes a hard line especially against those standing utterly opposed to its $3.4 billion purchase of the company which owns such brands as The Movie Network, Super Écran, HBO Canada, Family Channel, Virgin Radio, NRJ Radio, Rouge FM and…
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OTTAWA and VANCOUVER – The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and citizen-engagement group OpenMedia.ca are behind a new coalition known as ‘Stop the Takeover’ formed to fight Bell’s proposed acquisition of Astral Media.
The coalition, which also includes groups Canada Without Poverty, Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, Canadian Media Guild, Consumers' Association of Canada, Council of Canadians, Council of Senior Citizens' Organizations of British Columbia, CWP Advocacy Network, Option Consommateurs, and Union des consommateurs, has kicked off a campaign encouraging Canadians to block the deal by completing a preset form on its website and sending it to…
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TORONTO – Score Media will be a digital/new media company only going forward as the company has decided to sell its television business to Rogers Communications for $167 million. The two companies announced the deal early Saturday morning.
Score Media’s television business is comprised of theScore Television Network, closed captioning service provider Voice2Visual, and theScore Fighting Series (SFS). Score Media’s digital business includes theScore.com and its mobile applications ScoreMobile, ScoreMobileFC and Sportstap. John Levy, founder, chairman and CEO of Score Media will lead the digital media business following the spin-out.
Score Media’s digital properties are well-known and well received by sports…
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OTTAWA – Complaints about telemarketing spiked in July, with the CRTC fielding approximately 17,000 complaints.
According to the Commission’s most recent status report, five new investigations were opened in July, bringing the number of active investigations to 172.
The national do not call list (DNCL) now contains 10,936,524 telephone or fax numbers. Since its launch in 2008, 585,846 complaints have been logged.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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