OTTAWA – The CRTC has announced plans to resume the hearing that it began in May about the community-based campus radio station CKLN-FM Toronto, plus has added more information to its public file.
The Commission originally adjourned the hearing in Toronto on May 12 due to on-going litigation and judicial mediation before the Ontario Superior Court concerning the governance of CKLN Radio and the legitimacy of the current board of directors. The hearing has been rescheduled for December 8, 2010 at 9 a.m. at the Doubletree by Hilton – Toronto Airport in Toronto.
The deadline for interventions on the additional…
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OTTAWA – TVA received CRTC approval for two new category two specialty television stations on Wednesday.
The first is for TVA Mode, a national, French-language general-interest channel that will offer programming intended for men and women dedicated to fashion, beauty and personal well-being. The application says that programming would include Québécois, Canadian and international fashion shows, various magazines covering the world of fashion and beauty trends in a problem/solution approach, and programs offering vignettes and features dedicated to trends, products and personal well-being. The licence will expire August 31, 2017.
The second is for Star Système, a national, French-language high definition channel…
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TORONTO – The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) says that it lauds the CRTC’s recent decision to reject requests from Rogers and CTVglobemedia to reduce their Canadian content requirements in order to provide increased programming flexibility for their conventional television stations.
In a statement on Tuesday, the organization accused the broadcasters of “making Canadian programming the scapegoat for Canadian broadcasters’ difficulties”.
“The Commission made the right call. The group licensing policy is a single framework for the television sector, and not a collection of individual policies that can be cherry-picked to suit the broadcasters’ purposes or applied inconsistently across competitive…
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TORONTO – Retiring CTV CEO Ivan Fecan worked in TV all of his life. He was a producer, director and executive at a number of levels. As CEO, he knows all there is to know about how TV in Canada works.
The background of the new CTV CEO-to-be is far different.
Kevin Crull, president of residential services at Bell Canada (CTV’s new parent, pending regulatory approvals) was appointed COO today. He takes the job January 1st and will become CEO once Fecan retires when the Bell acquisition is closed sometime in early 2011.
While Crull knows he’s going to have…
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SASKATOON – Golden West Broadcasting says that it has learned its lesson. After being denied an opportunity to launch a FM radio station in Humboldt Sask. in 2008, the company has come back with facts in hand, demonstrating that it should be awarded the licence.
But Golden isn’t the only company vying for a FM radio station licence in the small Prairie market. Fabmar Communications Ltd., the owner of a regional FM station that covers Humboldt, Melfort and other areas, also wants a licence.
The two companies squared off during a CRTC hearing on Wednesday over who’s better positioned…
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OTTAWA and TORONTO – The CRTC has turned down CTV’s request to extend “interim regulatory flexibility” to it’s financially challenged /A stations.
In a decision on Thursday, the Commission told CTV that it could not cherry pick aspects of the group-based approach to the licensing of private television services policy “on a piecemeal basis, for example by approving a reduction in Canadian programming without imposing expenditure requirements”, or similarly, “eliminate requirements for priority programming without imposing requirements for programming of national interest”.
The Commission continued that it would be “unfair” to implement certain aspects for some licensees,…
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OTTAWA – Quebecor Media Inc. surprisingly revealed yesterday that the company was no longer going to seek “must carry” status for its Category 2 English language all news specialty channel Sun TV News.
The revelation marks a stunning reversal from previous statements that the channel required must carry status to be able to compete with the other specialty news stations, CTV Newsnet and CBC Newsworld (the company’s last application to the CRTC said without must-carry, the business case couldn’t work). Now the company says it will work within current CRTC rules, which will require Quebecor to negotiate carriage…
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GATINEAU – Be careful, dig deeper and have a look around at what other information is out there, the final submissions from several interveners tell the CRTC as the Regulator writes its decision allowing Shaw Communications to buy Canwest Global.
No CCAA discount
The Directors Guild of Canada insists in its submission that Shaw should be forced to pay the full 10% tangible benefits package – and for that matter, the company should be paying based on an even higher valuation of Canwest.
While the Commission and Shaw settled on a transaction valuation of $2.047 billion, that’s actually an amazing bargain, writes…
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TORONTO – The CRTC will wade into the choppy waters of a dispute between The Fight Network and its former owners, despite its earlier reluctance to do so.
As Cartt.ca reported in May, the Commission originally decided not to undertake a review of an application made by current owners, Fight Media, to effect a corporate reorganization so that the new company could acquire the category two digital specialty channel The Fight Network from its previous owners, The Fight Network Inc.
At that time, the Commission noted the existence of an ongoing civil proceeding in the Ontario Superior Court and…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC has asked CTV, Corus, Rogers and Canwest to explain how MTV Canada, Viva, G4 and TVTropolis do not violate their nature of service conditions of license.
Letters sent to the broadcasters in July (except in the case of Viva, which has been in a regulatory back-and-forth with the Commission on this issue dating back to its 2008 rebrand from Canadian Learning Television) by the CRTC’s executive director of broadcasting, Scott Hutton, ask each of them basically the same question.
To paraphrase, the CRTC wants to know how – given the programming on the channels and the way…
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