TORONTO – Since we live in an age of convergence, where more and more lines are blurring in telecom and media, it doesn’t make much sense to open one sector to foreign investment while keeping that same door closed to the other.
That was part of the message CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein carried to delegates of the Canadian Telecom Summit on Tuesday morning. “I don’t think you can meaningfully separate broadcast and telecom in the age of convergence,” he told conference co-chair Mark Goldberg in the “fireside chat” format.
Foreign investment has been the hot issue at this year’s CTS,…
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OTTAWA – Independent producers receive little or no compensation from Canadian broadcasters for the digital rights to their programming, according to a new study released by the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA).
The study, Towards a Framework for Digital Rights, included a survey of CFTPA members which found that more than half (56%) of respondents indicated that they did not receive any additional compensation for the digital (Internet and mobile) rights to their shows, whether in the form of an incremental licence fee or a revenue share. At the same time, the majority of respondents said that…
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WITH THE GENRE protection afforded existing specialty news channels having been set aside by the CRTC last summer, it was only a matter of time until a company put together a proposal for a new national news service to compete with the likes of CBC Newsworld, CTV News Channel and others.
According to a report in the Globe and Mail and from Canadian Press, Quebecor Media is getting behind the former communications chief for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Kory Teneycke, with an impending application to the CRTC for a license to operate a new, national news channel.
The report said the channel…
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TORONTO– Although Canada ranks highly on most international measures of PC penetration and broadband connectivity, the nation’s lagging investments in information and communications technology (ICT) are dragging down its business productivity, increasingly hurting its global competitiveness and lowering its standard of living.
That consensus emerged from telecom industry execs, academics, government officials, and other speakers during a pair of afternoon panels at the Canadian Telecom Summit on Tuesday afternoon. Despite a wide range of different perspectives and proposed solutions, the panelists generally agreed that Canadian companies must boost their ICT spending substantially to make better use of broadband technology and…
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TORONTO – Non-profit corporation Media Access Canada is hosting a private roundtable of audio-visual associations, guilds and unions at the end of this month in Ottawa, to discuss ways of strengthening Canada’s broadcasting system, it announced Tuesday.
The roundtable will include sessions on the federal government’s just-announced consultation on foreign ownership, its ongoing digital consultation and the CRTC’s 2011 licence renewals of Canada’s major broadcasting ownership groups.
"The announcement earlier this week by Industry Minister Tony Clement of another important consultation that will directly affect Canada’s cultural businesses clearly shows that non-broadcasting stakeholders must identify new ways and means of strengthening the…
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TORONTO – In light of Industry Minister Clement’s comments on foreign investment on Monday, it wasn’t long before the topic du jour came up again at Tuesday’s ‘Regulatory Blockbuster’ panel, an annual highlight of the Canadian Telecom Summit.
And while all six of the panelists supported the idea in theory, sparks flew, albeit in a good natured way (well, most of the time), on how best to loosen Canada’s foreign ownership restrictions.
Mirko Bibic, Bell’s senior vice-president of regulatory and government affairs, said his company favours the approach put forth by CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein to boost foreign ownership…
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TORONTO – Independent broadcaster Glassbox Television announced today it will buy digital specialty channel travel + escape from CTV.
The acquisition of the category one travel and leisure service is subject to CRTC approval, for which an application has already been filed. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.
Glassbox operates cross-platform broadcast and VOD channels Bite TV (a hyper-interactive digital channel) and 24-hour music service Aux.
"This acquisition is a natural next step in our company’s development and a great fit with our growing suite of services,” said Raja Khanna, co-CEO of Glassbox, in a release. The company engaged investment…
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GATINEAU – CRTC commissioners were given a lesson in basic cable architecture on Wednesday as Rogers, Shaw, Cogeco, Videotron and EastLink faced the panel considering CRTC 2009-261, the wholesale high-speed access services proceeding.
The overall message appeared to be a detailed reminder to the Regulator from cable that “we’re different. Cable is a shared network that can’t be unbundled.”
Some have asked, for example, that a single 6 MHz channel (the space in which one analog TV channel is transmitted but which can be crammed full of digital and IP data and is by MSOs) be set aside for wholesale access by…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Revenues at Canada’s AM and FM radio stations dropped 5.2% to $1.5 billion for the broadcast year ending August 31, 2009, a CRTC report said Thursday.
Expenses, however, also fell by approximately 1.7% to $1.2 billion in 2009, due in part to a reduction in the industry’s work force. The commercial radio industry employed 10,191 people and paid $632 million in total salaries for the 2009 fiscal year, compared to 10,347 people and $635.4 million in total salaries for 2008. Total profits before interest and taxes (PBIT) were $272 million for the fiscal year, and the PBIT margin fell to…
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TORONTO – CBC’s digital channel bold will launch in high definition this Friday, just in time for its coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.
All 64 matches from the world’s most-watched sporting event will air in high def on bold HD (as well as on CBC Television, Radio-Canada Télévision, and their respective websites) from June 11 to July 11, including 8 exclusive live games on June 22, 23, 24 and 25. In addition to its World Cup coverage, bold HD will continue to air performing arts, drama and comedy series, some of which will be in…
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