NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE – Absorption and agility are two qualities imbued in most Canadian Cable Systems Alliance members.
In order to compete with the ISP and video distribution behemoths, independent cable and telecom companies have to be able to respond quickly to the needs of their communities – and take a few punches from those behemoths (and even sometimes, the Regulator).
Agility plus absorption was the theme of the Monday afternoon presentation to CCSA Connect delegates from Dr. Donald Sull, professor and author of “The Upside of Turbulence”.
Dr. Sull showed attendees at the CCSA’s annual conference and trade show how our economic times…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC made public today 10 new specialty service applications made by Rogers Communications.
The company has asked for cat 2 licenses for:
Ampersand, “devoted to romance, love and relationships and would include series based on relationships, feature films, mini-series, made-for-television movies and occasional magazine-style shows focusing on this genre and its stars," reads the application.
Contessa, “devoted to programming related to relationships, lifestyle, beauty, trends and style, and would focus on the interests and needs of working women aged between 25 and 54 years.”
GGBG, “would feature entertainment programming about police, law, the courts, emergency and medical response teams,…
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REGINA and GATINEAU – Some details of Bluepoint Investments purchase of the Saskatchewan Communications Network emerged Monday when its application to take ownership was made public by the CRTC.
Bluepoint, which made a few waves last year by agreeing to, and then pulling out of, a $1 deal to purchase the now-defunct CKX-TV station in Brandon, Man., made a last minute deal to buy SCN just days before the Saskatchewan government was to pull the plug on the provincial pubcaster.
According to its application, Bluepoint plans to imitate the privatization of Alberta’s Access and has committed to spend $12.25…
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MARKHAM, ON – TVC Canada has become the exclusive provider of Trilithic’s CAP-CP based Emergency Alert Systems (EAS) suite of products for the Canadian broadband market.
The products enable service providers to improve efficiency and gain greater control over emergency alert system messaging with seamless, IP-based EAS solutions, the company said Monday.
"The desire of the CRTC to have emergency alerts distributed, combined with Trilithic’s best-in-class EAS products, provides us with both an excellent and timely solution to our customer’s EAS distribution requirements", said Luc Morissette, VP of sales and business development, in a statement. "With consulting, application and technical support,…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC will review Cogeco’s proposal to acquire nearly all of Corus Entertainment’s Quebec radio stations at a hearing starting Tuesday in Montreal.
The $80 million deal, announced in April, includes 11 radio stations in markets ranging from Montreal to Quebec City to Trois-Rivieres. Click here for more on Cogeco’s proposed plans, which also includes a request for an exception to the common ownership policy in the Montreal French-language radio market.
Cartt.ca will have full coverage of the proceeding.
www.cogeco.cawww.corusent.com
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CALGARY – While it’s still falls below the norm, Shaw Communications today dramatically increased the amount of money it plans to spend on tangible benefits once its acquisition of Canwest Global is approved.
Company executives appeared before the CRTC Thursday morning in Calgary in their final oral reply to the week’s interveners and announced $72 million had been added to the company’s original package of benefits proposed coming into the hearing.
When broadcasting companies change hands, the Commission normally requires that 10% of the purchase value (in this case $2.047 billion) be set aside to spend on projects that are deemed…
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CALGARY – When Shaw Communications completes the purchase of Canwest Global, the vertically integrated entity will be so large and influential that some safeguards have to be attached as new conditions of license, a number of interveners told the CRTC Wednesday during its hearing into the deal.
Two of them, Telus and Pelmorex (owner of The Weather Network and Météomédia) brought lists of what those safeguards should be. Another, the Canadian Media Production Association, asked the Regulator to ensure the new company (controlled by the Shaw family) negotiates Terms of Trade in good faith – and doesn’t get cozy with…
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Perry Hoffman
GATINEAU – Canadian cable operators do not believe that a local-into-local signal carriage regime imposed on DTH companies would be disastrous for the operations of Bell TV and Shaw Direct.
Bell TV and Shaw Direct say in their submissions on 2010-488, the review of the direct-to-home satellite distribution policy they don’t have the capacity to carry all local over-the-air (OTA) signals, and despite technological improvements in compression coming online in the future complying with a local-into-local regime will be problematic.
Both say that if forced to carry all over-the-air (OTA) stations, they will have no choice but to remove specialty…
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TORONTO – Glenn O’Farrell is the new president and CEO of the Office of French-language Educational Communications Ontario (OTÉLFO), the organization announced Thursday.
O’Farrell’s was previously head of Media de Novo, which in August was denied CRTC approval to sell third party ad avails in Canada. He is also a former president of the now defunct Canadian Association of Broadcasters.
In his new role, O’Farrell will oversee TFO, a commercial-free French television station in Ontario. TFO is also an educational and interactive service that offers a range of educational resources for educators, parents, and students.
“I am motivated by the importance that has…
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TORONTO and OTTAWA – The CRTC should rethink its decision to delay considering applications for mandatory basic digital distribution.
That message seems to be picking up steam, and not just with the independent broadcasters who currently have 9(1)(h) applications before the Commission. The Canadian Conference for the Arts (CCA) waded into the issue this week, calling on the Regulator to rescind BRP 2010-629.
“Our request is based on the fact that in our opinion, due process and transparency were gravely missing in the Commission’s decision to impose a moratorium”, the CCA wrote in a letter to CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein this week….
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