GATINEAU – The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) and Rogers Communications have told the CRTC that they are prepared to accept an extension of the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) as long as the program is only available to independent broadcasters.
In addition to excluding the vertically integrated companies and CBC/Radio-Canada, (which has campaigned hard to keep it) the CCSA said that LPIF monies should only be made available for new, incremental local programming. Despite this slight change of heart, the small BDUs would prefer a complete and immediate elimination of the fund.
According to Access Communications,…
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Perry Hoffman
GATINEAU – Telcos Telus and MTS Allstream are urging the CRTC to remove vertically integrated broadcasters/distributors from eligibility under the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF).
While Rogers, Shaw and Quebecor all want the LPIF program eliminated, Bell Media Inc. is neither for or against continuing the program. However, each have local stations who are collectively getting millions from the LPIF fund.
Ann Mainville-Neeson, director of broadcast regulation at Telus, noted during her opening remarks, that of the large vertically integrated providers, only Bell is clinging to LPIF despite the fact that it could save more than $1 million if the…
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GATINEAU – Bell Canada is now prepared to allow the Canadian Broadcast Corp. to receive money from the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) as long as the pubcaster is the sole provider of local TV services in a particular small market.
The media and communications giant had argued in comments that since the CBC receives approximately $1 billion from the federal government it shouldn’t qualify for funds from LPIF. But during opening remarks, Mirko Bibic, executive VP and chief legal and regulatory officer at BCE, said private local TV remains in a difficult financial situation and could see station closures,…
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MONTREAL – An informal group of radio broadcasters are banding together in the hopes of pulling the plug on CBC’s nascent digital music service CBC Music.
The coalition, which includes Quebecor Media, Cogeco Inc., Newcap Radio, Golden West Radio, RNC Media and Stingray Digital, objects to the ad-supported service which it says contributes to the inaccurate perception that music is free, plus competes with their own radio stations and subscription-based websites, counter to the CBC’s mandate.
In a letter to Heritage Minister James Moore on Friday, the broadcasters questioned whether the CBC is using “the preferential royalty rates it receives from the…
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In its comments on the petition filed by the Association des Compagnies Telephone du Quebec and Ontario Telecommunications Association (the petitioners) earlier this month, EastLink stated that the petitioners’ three recommendations to the Governor in Council would harm rural consumers by restricting competition plus establish an unnecessary degree of government intervention in the telecommunications market.
In its filing dated April 5, 2012, EastLink noted that the ACTQ/OTA has proven, by their aggressive competition, expansion of multiple services, fibre to the home builds (for some SILECs), and in some cases, below-market rates, that they do not require the same substantial government…
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THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE we at Cartt.ca have written about over the years that has garnered the volume of feedback as our series about the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which we’ve published over the past six weeks through our Cartt.ca INVESTIGATES portal.
Unsurprisingly, most of that feedback has been sent to us tagged “not for publication” or “not for attribution.” However, while we’d like to publish, verbatim, some of the responses we’ve fielded, we don’t mind unpublished chit-chat. It’s informative, helpful and often entertaining. We note at the bottom of many of our stories that if you…
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OTTAWA – Bell ExpressVu and Shaw Satellite Services have both applied to the CRTC to renew their respective satellite relay distribution undertaking (SRDU) licences which expire August 31, 2012.
Bell ExpressVu has proposed an amendment to the wording of a condition of licence authorizing the distribution of U.S. over-the-air television programming undertakings, while Shaw has proposed amendments to its conditions of licence relating to the distribution of Canadian and non-Canadian television and radio services, plus asked to delete conditions relating to the requirement to contribute to Canadian programming and to the filing of reports.
On Wednesday, the CRTC reminded both companies…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC will hear why the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) needs to be kept – and why it should be killed off – when a public hearing over its existence gets under way in Gatineau Monday morning.
The fund was created almost three years ago (in the midst of the financial crisis and just prior to the destructive Stop-The-TV-Tax vs. Local-TV-Matters battle), before Shaw and Bell bought into broadcasting, to support the creation of local television programming, particularly local news, in smaller markets. At that time, it was determined broadcaster spending on local programming had stagnated or…
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ON APRIL 5, 2012 COGECO FILED its comments on the Association des Compagnies de Téléphone du Québec Inc. and the Ontario Telecommunications Association (the ACTQ/OTA) petition addressing the three reliefs requested by the ACTQ/OTA, as well as addressing the propaganda campaign being spearheaded by the ACTQ against Cogeco since January 2012 in Quebec.
Cogeco cannot ignore the misinformation and propaganda campaign directed against it. The David and Goliath scenario advanced by the ACTQ, where Cogeco will come into a small incumbent local exchange carrier (SILEC) territory causing its inevitable bankruptcy, is highly exaggerated and without any…
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OTTAWA – Rogers Broadcasting’s request for a new entertainment channel called The Entertainment Desk is among 12 new broadcasting applications that the CRTC will consider at a hearing set for June 7 in Gatineau.
The Commission made the new applications public on Tuesday. Other applications of interest include one from MOTV Média Inc. for an English-language category B service to be known as PIN – Positive Insight Network, and three from Colba.Net Telecom Inc. for regional broadcasting licences to operate terrestrial BDUs in areas of Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.
The deadline for…
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