OTTAWA – Canadian radio stations may once again play the unedited version of the Dire Straits song “Money for Nothing” after the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) relaxed its opposition to the “other f-word” contained in the song.
The song, from the band’s 1985 album Brothers In Arms, includes three instances of the word “faggot”. In January, after a listener complained to the CBSC that the word is discriminatory to gays, the CBSC’s Atlantic Regional Panel determined that the song breached broadcast codes, as did any radio station that played it. The decision generated a wave of public criticism,…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Effective May 2013, 10-digit local dialing will be required for all local calls made in Saskatchewan, except for calls made from Kinoosao or Uranium City, the CRTC said Friday. It also announced that the new area code 639 would join 306 in the province.
The transition to 10-digit dialing will begin on February 25, 2013, and will be gradually introduced over the following weeks before becoming mandatory by May 11, 2013.
At the same time, in order to prevent a shortage of telephone numbers in the province, the CRTC will begin rolling out area code 639 as of May…
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ANTHONY LACAVERA CARRIES two BlackBerrys with him wherever he goes. One is a Wind Mobile handset, of course. The other, Rogers (with the logo scratched off).
The Globalive chairman and Wind Mobile CEO wants to make sure wherever he goes, he can do a real-time comparison of his own of his company’s network performance versus the Canadian mobile market leader, via his own handset. Just last week he was doing that in Kitchener-Waterloo, Wind’s newest market.
In a couple of years, he hopes to be able to do the same thing in many more places using a more robust bit…
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TORONTO and MONTREAL – Rogers Sportsnet is partnering with Quebecor-owned TVA on the new French-language sports channel TVA Sports that will launch nationally on September 12.
The new channel plans to air more than 60 Toronto Blue Jays baseball games and 25 regional Ottawa Senators hockey games (Rogers owns the English-language broadcast rights to these properties, plus the Blue Jays team). TVA Sports has declared itself the official broadcaster of Major League Soccer’s Montreal Impact, plus has signed a multi-year agreement with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for live fights and The Ultimate Fighter series (which also airs on Rogers Sportsnet).
The…
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OTTAWA – The industry will now have a chance to comment on BCE’s proposed Broadcasting Accessibility Fund and Canadian Broadcasting Participation Fund.
When the CRTC approved BCE’s purchase of CTVglobemedia, the conditions of approval included requirements that BCE make specific commitments to benefit the broadcasting system, including the funding of an independent Broadcasting Accessibility Fund to improve the accessibility of the Canadian broadcasting system, and the creation of an independent Canadian Broadcasting Participation Fund to help pay the costs of public interest groups that participate in Commission broadcasting proceedings.
BCE’s proposal addresses, among other things, accountability measures, a funding…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has loosened the restrictions around customer/carrier services groups after receiving industry feedback on their roles and regulations.
A customer/carrier services group (CSG) is a distinct, functionally separate group within a telecommunications or broadcasting company whose role is to liaise and coordinate with competing service providers when conducting a variety of inter-carrier activities, primarily with respect to customer transfers.
Historically, the main purpose of a CSG has been to isolate and safeguard competitively sensitive information pertaining to retail customers and competing companies from other internal groups, such as sales and marketing. The reason for this practice is to…
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A MONTH FROM TODAY, Canadian Cable Systems Alliance members, their supporters and suppliers will gather at the Fairmont Tremblant in Mont Tremblant Quebec for Connect 2011, its yearly conference and annual general meeting.
The gathering will begin Sunday with a board meeting and CCSA members-only sessions, followed by an evening President’s Reception for all attendees.
After breakfast on Monday, September 19, Rob McCann of Clearcable Networks will host a technical session “to talk about recent development relevant to independent operators,” said CCSA president and CEO Alyson Townsend.
After that will be the popular trade show (last year’s, held in Niagara-on-the-Lake, is pictured below)…
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OTTAWA – Campus and community radio stations in Canada must maintain their current levels of Canadian content, the CRTC said Thursday. It also declined to set requirements on volunteer participation.
While the Commission originally released its revised campus and community radio policy in July 2010, it launched three follow-up proceedings calling for comments on amending the radio regulations, Canadian content requirements and volunteer participation, and the structural and operational plan proposed by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.
In Thursday’s follow up proceeding, the CRTC directed campus and community radio stations to maintain their current level of musical…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CBC has received permission from the CRTC to continue broadcasting its analog over-the-air television signals in 22 markets for another full year.
The Commission said Tuesday that the national broadcaster now has until August 31, 2012 to “find solutions” for viewers who may lose access to its over-the-air signals after the transition to digital television.
The CBC operates 25 local stations in mandatory markets whose over-the-air transmitters will be converted to digital in time to meet this year’s August 31st deadline. It also operates 22 analog transmitters that rebroadcast its stations’ signals into other communities that are also considered…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has extended its deadline for comments on draft electronic commerce protection regulations.
The Commission said Monday that comments are now due by September 7th, more than a week later than its initial deadline of August 29.
The move comes in response to a request from the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) made late last month. The CWTA said in a letter to the CRTC that "there would be merit" in extending the deadline to coincide with the end of the comment period applicable to the related draft regulations proposed by Industry Canada.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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