OTTAWA – When Shaw Communications purchased Canwest Global’s TV assets last year, the Competition Bureau gave the transaction its blessing.
The Bureau’s statement on that deal said: “this transaction would not likely give rise to a substantial lessening or prevention of competition,” and rubber-stamped it.
No such simple approval was forthcoming from the Bureau today when it commented on the acquisition of CTV by BCE. Instead, it seems worried about the extent of vertical integration among big media companies and distributors in Canada. While the statement from Commissioner of Competition Melanie Aitken said “at this time”, the Bureau doesn’t have…
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GATINEAU – Tuesday afternoon, BCE president and CEO George Cope (who looked a little grey as he fought through a bad cold) was unequivocal when it came to MPEG-4 video compression technology: Without benefits money, the company won’t do that upgrade.
Ever.
Bell’s proposed benefits package proposes an MPEG-4 conversion for Bell Satellite TV that would then see it able to carry all local OTA TV stations which are eligible for the local programming improvement fund (LPIF is a fund created by the CRTC in 2009 to assist small local TV broadcasters). Those local ‘casters have long complained that the fact…
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MONTREAL and GATINEAU – On the first day of the CRTC hearing into the proposed marriage between BCE and CTV, the companies upped the tangible benefits package associated with the deal as a condition of approval of the transaction.
The new benefits package includes:
– Support for new Canadian independently produced programs of national interest, such as dramas, documentaries and new media content; – Enhanced local news content and HD news production, especially in the “underserved Western Canada market”, including 100 hours of incremental news programming a week and 80 new jobs in Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver;…
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TORONTO and MONTREAL – The sale of Corus’ Quebec radio stations to Cogeco Inc. was completed on Tuesday as planned, the companies announced.
Cogeco acquired Montreal stations CKAC-AM, CFQR-FM, CHMP-FM, CKOI-FM and regional stations CFEL-FM and CFOM-FM in Quebec City, CHLN-FM in Trois-Rivieres, CHLT-FM and CKOY-FM in Sherbrooke, CIME-FM in St-Jerome and CJRC-FM in Ottawa-Gatineau.
To comply with the CRTC’s decision and the common ownership policy limiting the number of FM radio stations that can be operated by any one owner in a given market, Cogeco confirmed that it will sell the two FM stations in Quebec City, plus 104.5 FM in the Sherbrooke market. The three…
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OTTAWA – Shaw Media wants to take a crack at sports broadcasting, while Astral hopes to add two new French-language services to its roster, according to 19 new broadcasting applications made public by the CRTC on Friday.
Shaw Media Sports will be an English-language category two channel airing competitive mainstream sports specialty programming, reads the application. Astral has asked for a channel called Investigation that will be devoted to exploring justice and forensic science, legal and police investigations, fraud and swindling, espionage, major trials and forensic pathology. It has also filed an application for a channel called Tendances which promises programming on fashion,…
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BURLINGTON, ON – Crossroads Television System (CTS) has dropped religious talk program Word TV from its schedule after claiming that the show breached the network’s code of ethics.
Word TV producer and host, Dr. Charles McVety, said last week that CTS was being pressured to censor Word TV. In a statement on Monday, CTS called those comments “inaccurate and misleading”, and said that not only did Word TV fail to keep its agreement to comply with the CTS code of ethics, it indicated a refusal to comply in the future. The broadcaster also said that “numerous attempts” to work with Dr. McVety were…
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TORONTO – It’s all in the wording, or perhaps the lack of it. According to Globalive, parent company of wireless upstart Wind Mobile, the real problem with Canada’s telecommunications foreign ownership rules is that their lack of clarity leaves them open to interpretation.
“The (Telecommunications) Act, as it is written, is very confusing if you’re not living it and breathing it every day”, said Globalive and Wind chairman Anthony Lacavera, in an interview with Cartt.ca. “The Act is unfortunately worded with a double negative – ‘a company cannot be controlled by non-Canadians’. That needs to be clarified.”
Lacavera was responding to…
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TORONTO – A coalition of some of Canada’s largest accessibility organizations is accusing BCE of ignoring Canadians with disabilities.
Access 2020 says that Bell’s response to interventions filed in regards to its pending purchase of CTV “failed to address the issue of accessibility – or even mention the word”. In fact, the group continued, not only did Bell’s reply not respond directly to the coalition’s suggestions, paragraph 111 of its response says that “all Canadians with access to television can view the programming”.
Not so, said Beverley Milligan, executive director of Media Access Canada, which is heading up the coalition.
“Over 800,000 blind Canadians…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC has revoked the broadcasting licence of CKLN-FM, the community-based campus radio station located at Ryerson University, after finding that it breached numerous regulations and conditions of licence.
“Holding a broadcasting licence is a privilege that comes with responsibilities and regulatory obligations,” said CRTC chair, Konrad von Finckenstein, in a statement. “CKLN Radio was given several warnings and opportunities to come into compliance. Each time, it demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to address our concerns. Taking away its licence is the only appropriate course of action in this case.”
The station has been told to cease broadcasting no…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC reaffirmed its support for the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) on Wednesday after releasing the full details of its review of the telecom consumer agency.
“Following an extensive review, we are satisfied that the CCTS is doing a good job of resolving complaints on behalf of consumers and small businesses,” said Leonard Katz, the CRTC’s vice-chairman of telecommunications, in a statement. “An independent agency like the CCTS is an essential intermediary in a market where competition is growing by the day and the majority of telecommunications services are no longer regulated.”
The Commission approved…
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