OTTAWA and TORONTO – Another complaint from an unhappy Rogers Internet customer prompted the CRTC to question the company’s Internet traffic management practices (ITMPs), the third time in as many months.
In a letter dated February 23rd, the Commission asked Rogers to respond to a customer’s allegation that its “ITMP incorrectly identifies time sensitive traffic generated by inter-active games as P2P traffic, subjecting such traffic to the ITMP and rendering the games unusable”. Section 2009-657 of the Telecommunication Act dictates that ITMPs that result in a noticeable degradation of time sensitive audio or video traffic require prior Commission approval.
When contacted by…
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OTTAWA – If you ask Netflix, the CRTC’s planned review into wholesale broadband usage based billing, as it stands, is “unduly narrow” and “disconnected from the broader regulatory framework and priorities for high-speed access services.”
The web-based video streaming provider offered those comments and more this week in response to the Commission’s call for comments on modifying the scope and terms of its review into usage based billing (UBB).
Netflix also backed recommendations made by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC), which include an examination of whether UBB is, in fact, the…
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OTTAWA – With nothing happening in the marketplace to inform Canadians that they will no longer be able to get an off-air TV signal without some new digital gear come August 31, 2011, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has called CRTC officials to appear before it on Monday.
Executive director of broadcasting, Scott Hutton, ED policy development and research Namir Anani and senior general counsel John Keogh are scheduled to appear.
Canadian broadcasters have been told by the CRTC to get cracking on letting Canadians know that for most of them, their analog TVs with rabbit ears will receive nothing…
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MONTREAL – The Federal Court of Appeal has refused to hear an appeal by Astral Media to halt the now completed sale of 11 Quebec radio stations to competitor Cogeco.
According to a Canadian Press report, Astral spokesperson Hugues Mousseau expressed disappointment with the move, and accused the CRTC of “flouting its own policies and rules of procedure”.
Astral filed a motion with the Federal Court of Appeal last month seeking to overturn the CRTC’s decision to allow Cogeco to maintain a third radio station in the Montreal market. The move relaxes the Commission’s common ownership policy limiting…
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OTTAWA – Look for a number of new TV stations from the likes of Rogers and the CBC to hit the Canadian airwaves.
The CRTC approved five applications from Rogers this week for national, English-language Category 2 channels. Specifically:
– The Competition Channel, which will air reality-based programming, including competition-based reality and do-it-yourself makeover programs;
– Contessa, which will feature programming on relationships, lifestyle, beauty, trends and style, and focus on the interests and needs of working women aged between 25 and 54 years;
– Epic TV which plans to show classic television programming;
– Luxury Living featuring all things that can bring a…
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OTTAWA – Haliburton Broadcasting Group has received CRTC approval to buy three radio stations in Ontario.
The company said last September that it planned to acquire Stratford combo 1240 CJCS-AM and 1077 MIX-FM (CHGK-FM) from Raedio Inc. and CFSF-FM Sturgeon Falls from JOCO Communications. The Commission valued the transactions at $3.8 million and $500,000, respectively.
Haliburton Broadcasting Group owns and operates 17 radio stations throughout Ontario in rural markets that include Haliburton, Huntsville and North Bay.
www.hbgradio.com
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OTTAWA – Community-based campus radio station CKLN has received a temporary reprieve after appealing a CRTC decision revoking its broadcast license.
After filing a motion with the Federal Court of Appeal just days before it was scheduled to go off the air, Federal Judge Carolyn Layden-Stevenson granted the station a stay on the CRTC’s decision to shut it down. This allows it to remain on-air pending determination of CKLN’s application for leave to appeal.
Located on the Ryerson University campus in Toronto, the radio station had its licence pulled by the CRTC last month after determining that the broadcaster breached numerous regulations…
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OTTAWA – CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein used an interview-style keynote as a soap box of sorts to press broadcasters and producers on a number of issues. In responding to questions from retired broadcast executive Trina McQueen, he urged to broadcasters and producers to come to an agreement on terms of trade prior to the group-based licensing hearing in April.
Otherwise, he said, he’s prepared to impose one.
“If you don’t get it done at the hearing, I want to see your latest best offer and we will impose something on that basis. It’s all in an attempt to get…
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OTTAWA – Three major actors in the Canadian broadcasting sector say they are bullish on the future of the system in the face of new technologies and changing consumer TV viewing behaviour.
CBC/Radio-Canada, Astral Television Networks and Shaw Media said they have taken steps to ready themselves for new consumer content consumption behaviour resulting from new mobile technologies and other emerging platforms. They noted they did this even in the face of a significant advertising downturn resulting from the global financial recession.
During a panel moderated by former Global TV News anchor Kevin Newman, representatives from the three companies…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC says it has gotten the message loud and clear from Canadians regarding TV commercials that need to lower the volume.
It’s launching a public consultation, after receiving hundreds of complaints, that will seek possible technical and regulatory measures to ensure commercials are not perceived to be louder than the programs they accompany.
"Loud ads on television can disrupt an otherwise enjoyable program and are a source of significant annoyance for Canadians," said Konrad von Finckenstein, Q.C., Chairman of the CRTC. "Viewers should not have to adjust the volume at every commercial break, and we will work with…
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