OTTAWA – The CRTC’s decision to deny an appeal from Telus to reconsider two earlier rulings could have an unexpected and wide ranging impact on the Canadian enterprise market, the telco warned.
The Commission said Tuesday that it was turning down Telus’ request to review and vary Telecom Decisions 2009-85 and 2010-11 because “it is incumbent upon a party making a review and vary application to raise all of the grounds in support of their application that are, or should be, apparent to the applicant at the time the application is made.”
The request is part of a…
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OTTAWA – New media broadcasting undertakings affiliated with Canadian broadcasters must begin to report financial information to the CRTC starting next year.
After calling for comments on reporting requirements for new media broadcasting undertakings (NMBUs) back in February, the Commission said Friday that revenues and expenditures from NMBUs that are affiliates of licensed broadcasting undertakings will be sent out in the first quarter of 2011 for the 2009 broadcasting year, and will be required on an annual basis going forward.
An example of an affiliated NMBU would be Rogers On Demand Online, a broadband service in which Rogers Cable…
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OTTAWA – Media de Novo was denied CRTC approval for its plan to sell ad time on U.S. specialty channels’ local avails in Canada.
In its decision on Thursday, the Commission said that Media de Novo failed to demonstrate “that its proposal would provide sufficient benefits to warrant departure from the Commission’s current policy on local availabilities, or that its service should be licensed as a Category A programming service”.
It also expressed concern that Media de Novo’s proposal could result in “an unacceptable negative impact on the advertising revenues of Canadian broadcasters”, particularly “given the severe financial constraints…
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OTTAWA – Breathe E-Z Homes Ltd. has been slapped with a $2,000 fine for violating the country’s national do not call list (DNCL).
The Commission said that it received “numerous complaints” in relation to telemarketing telecommunications made by the company between September 5 and November 11, 2009. After receiving a notice of violation on January 7, 2010, Breathe E-Z argued that it had not committed any of the violations set out in the notice. It claimed that all of the calls it made during the period covered by the notice were to persons with whom Breathe E-Z had an existing…
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CALGARY – The Competition Bureau has cleared Shaw Communication’s $2 billion acquisition of 100% of the over-the-air and specialty television businesses of CanWest Global Communications Corp.
In an announcement on Friday, Shaw said that the Competition Bureau concluded that the transaction “will not likely give rise to a substantial lessening or prevention of competition under the Competition Act” because of a number of factors, including effective remaining competition, the effect of the regulatory environment, the absence of relevant concerns expressed by market participants and numerous alternatives available to advertisers.
"The Bureau has conducted a very thorough review and we appreciate their…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has extended various Canadian broadcasting licenses in order to carry them through next year’s digital transition deadline.
CBC, Canwest, CTV, and Rogers received license extensions for their respective conventional, over-the-air stations from September 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011 so that they may be considered as trial markets for the upcoming transition.
Many category 1 and 2 specialty stations and radio networks were renewed through August 31, 2011, while others – such as The Score, ATN, Teletoon and some pay TV channels – received an extension through August 31, 2012.
“The Commission intends to administratively renew the…
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OTTAWA – Rogers Communications must make its share of payments in to the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF), the CRTC has ruled.
After sending preliminary invoices to Rogers that excluded its regionally licensed systems with fewer than 20,000 subscribers, the LPIF administrator sent a revised invoice to Rogers on April 1, 2010 that included those systems. Rogers refused to pay the contributions for the regionally licensed systems with fewer than 20,000 subscribers, arguing that it met the exception for contributions, and asked for a Commission decision on the issue.
The CRTC determined that payment exceptions provided applied only at the licensee…
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OTTAWA – CBC/Radio-Canada released the details of its plan for the transition to digital over-the-air television today.
The transition to digital television, whose deadline is 390 days away, is an industry wide issue requiring a concerted effort by all players – broadcasters, the CRTC, and government – to ensure that Canadians are properly informed of the changes coming and how to deal with them.
So far, the industry has produced little when it comes to ensuring Canadians are properly informed, so this plan is a welcome, if late and small, beginning.
CBC/Radio-Canada will be installing digital transmitters in all of the markets…
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TORONTO and KINCARDINE – Rogers Communications has purchased Kincardine Cable, Cartt.ca has learned.
The deal closed on July 31st and employees were informed this week, according to a Rogers spokesperson. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Kincardine Cable is based in Kincardine, a town of about 12,000 on the eastern shore of Lake Huron in Ontario, approximately 225 km northwest of Toronto. The company has approximately 6,000 cable customers across 27 systems, ranging in size from 2,800 subscribers in its largest down to seven subscribers, all spread over an area spanning some 1,500 square kilometres.
The company has been an active, progressive independent cable…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco has offered a comprehensive new plan for the radio stations it plans to take over under its $80 million deal to acquire nearly all of Corus Entertainment’s Quebec radio stations.
The CRTC said Tuesday it will hear the application to buy the 11 stations on September 28. The stations involved in the transaction announced in April are: CFQR-FM 92.5, CHMP-FM 98.5, CKOI-FM 96.9 and CKAC-AM 730 in Montréal; CFOM-FM 102.9 and CFEL-FM 102.1 in Québec City; CJRC-FM 104.7 in Gatineau; CHLT-FM 107.7 and CKOY-FM 104.5 in Sherbrooke; CHLN-FM 106.9 in Trois-Rivières; and CIME-FM 103.9 in St-Jérôme.
"Cogeco…
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