GATINEAU – The CRTC Tuesday said no to adding the U.S. cable channel National Geographic Wild to the eligible satellite list for distribution in Canada.
Shaw Communications had made the application and High Fidelity HDTV, which runs a similar, Canadian service here (Oasis HD) opposed the application, as did CTV.
Fox Cable Networks-owned NatGeo Wild airs wildlife and nature programming, including a variety of documentaries, series, events and specials.
CTV and HiFi said the U.S. channel would be at least partially competitive with their respective Category B specialty services Animal Planet and Oasis HD. “Specifically, CTV and High Fidelity highlighted several documentary…
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TORONTO – With the Commission expected to rule shortly on a proposed $5.7 million accessibility fund (proposed by BCE as a piece of its tangible benefits package in acquiring CTV), Media Access Canada is cautioning the Regulator to choose an administrator of that fund wisely.
CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein suggested the creation of such a fund to Bell executives during the hearing into the acquisition of CTV. He asked if $5.7 million of the benefits package still unspent from the first time BCE bought CTV in 2000 could be used for such a fund. Bell said sure.
The aim…
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OTTAWA – Saying he’s defending consumer choice and competition, Industry Minister Tony Clement announced Tuesday that the Conservative government will appeal a Federal Court of Canada ruling that quashed a cabinet order allowing Egyptian-backed Globalive Wireless (whose retail brand is Wind) to operate in Canada.
The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), ACTRA, and Friends of Canadian Broadcasting were intervenors in the case.
"Overturning the Cabinet decision is a victory for Canadian ownership rules and a victory for Canadian culture," said Stephen Waddell, ACTRA’s national executive director. "Globalive was potentially the beginning of the end of our…
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OTTAWA – National media folks have written this morning that “big telco” rose up to defend itself yesterday in front of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology which met again Thursday to discuss wholesale usage-based billing.
We listened in – and to be honest took few notes. There was nothing said by the likes of MTS Allstream, CAIP, OpenMedia, Bell and Shaw that we have not heard many, many times already – be it over the past number of days, or dating back months to prior CRTC hearings.
(And we still believe UBB has now become a poisonous…
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GATINEAU – Without indemnifying broadcasters and distributors and limiting their legal liability, ongoing development of a national emergency alerting system may be at risk, the CRTC’s hearing on Pelmorex Communications Inc.’s licence renewal heard this week.
But Commission chair Konrad von Finckenstein (a former judge) suggested that the whole liability issue may in fact be a red herring.
David Townsend, a professor in the Faulty of Law at the University of New Brunswick, who was appearing with the Canadian Association for Public Alerting and Notification (CAPAN), agreed.
“It’s overblown, but when parties are refusing to participate and really help the…
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NOT LONG AGO I ASKED A CRTC senior policy advisor I know how work was going. It was one of those just-making-conversation questions we all ask, but I was a little surprised at his response:
“Livin’ the dream,” he excitedly told me. Now, I’m not sure my facial expression betrayed my wonder at that statement and I don’t remember what I said next, but he continued to add that he found it exciting, interesting and fun to debate and then help craft what would become the “law of the land.”
Upon reflection, it shouldn’t have come as such a shock –…
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OTTAWA – Super Écran just may face some competition in the French pay TV genre after all.
The CRTC said Tuesday that it will now consider applications for new French-language general interest pay television services that compete with Super Écran. This is a reversal of its position last November when it said that it would only accept applications for channels that would be complementary to, rather than compete with, the 25-year old incumbent. Astral-owned Super Écran is currently the only general interest pay television service currently offered by all BDUs in the French-language market.
Applications are due…
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TORONTO – With new owner BCE expecting to take ownership of CTV come early March, personnel changes and internal restructuring is continuing.
Staff was informed this morning by new COO Kevin Crull of the departure of a number of long-time CTV staffers and the reorganization of the duties of some others.
The best known executive leaving is perhaps programming chief Susanne Boyce, who has been at CTV since 1995. “She is a champion of Canadian programming, production and talent, believing that our content can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best TV on the continent and around the world,” said Crull’s…
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GATINEAU – The winds of criticism were blowing Pelmorex Communications’ way during the first day of its licence renewal hearing in Gatineau on Tuesday as CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein and Pelmorex senior VP of regulatory and strategic affairs Paul Temple sparred over aspects of the company’s licence renewal application.
In addition to asking for a seven-year licence renewal, Pelmorex is requesting an extension to the 2009 mandatory order on 9(1)(h) that would keep the Weather Network and MétéoMédia on basic carriage until 2018. The company says that it needs the extension to help offset the costs of operating…
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GATINEAU – After a week of vitriol, legitimate consumer anger and utter political silliness, the CRTC today officially opened up a new review into wholesale broadband usage based billing
“The great concern expressed by Canadians over this issue is telling of how much the Internet has become an integral part of their lives,” said Konrad von Finckenstein, chairman of the CRTC, in a press release.
“Our approach is based on two fundamental principles: as a general rule, ordinary consumers served by Small ISPs should not have to fund the bandwidth used by the heaviest residential Internet consumers; and it is in…
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