OTTAWA – The CRTC has revised its determination relating to the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) allocation formula.
In paragraph 22 of broadcasting regulatory policy 2009-406, the Commission erroneously indicated that the funding for a minority-language station from one language category would come from the funding made available to a non-metropolitan market of another language category.
The Commission said Thursday that it has corrected the first bullet of paragraph 22 as follows (changes in bold):
LPIF funding will be made available to television stations operating in non-metropolitan markets. However, a French-language station operating in a metropolitan English-language market (i.e.,…
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OTTAWA – Rogers has received CRTC approval for a new mainstream sports channel.
Programming will include NHL hockey games involving Canadian teams, Major League Baseball games, Union of European Football Associations soccer and other mainstream sports.
In its application submitted last September, Rogers said that the new network will air “programming dedicated to all aspects of sports with an emphasis on mainstream Canadian professional sports”.
The service has proposed to offer over 50% of its programming in high definition format with a view of moving towards 90% by the end of its licence term in August, 2016.
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SINCE TENS OF MILLIONS of us tuned in to watch our Canadian skiers, skaters and sliders perform at their best on their biggest stage, the Olympics, wouldn’t we also want to watch our own actors, writers and directors doing the very same thing on their biggest stage, prime time?
The answer is “yes, of course,” if given the chance.
The Olympic broadcast consortium spent multiple millions acquiring the rights to the 2010 Games and then multiple millions more preparing, building the facilities and staffing the place with the best Canada has to offer in terms of broadcasters and broadcasting. The 1,400…
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OTTAWA – Corus is looking to increase its presence in local news.
Through its subsidiary Corus Audio and Advertising Services, the company has applied to the CRTC for a broadcasting licence to operate a regional, English-language category 2 specialty television network in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
The service, to be known as LOCAL1, will offer a local news, weather and community information service using video, text, graphics and audio content “tailored to respond to the need and interests of each individual community that it serves, large or small, urban or rural”, the application reads.
The Commission is scheduled to consider the…
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MONTREAL – With Parliament set to resume next week, the Liberal Party is calling on Prime Minister Harper to preserve the foreign ownership rules for Canadian broadcasting companies.
In an open letter that specifically references Industry Canada’s decision to overturn the CRTC’s ownership decision on Globalive, the Liberals said that any revisions to the Telecommunications Act must be debated in the House of Commons, and not “on the sly”.
“Any consideration of the Telecommunications Act must be done in the open, transparently and in consultation with Canadians,” said Liberal Critic for Industry, Science and Technology, Marc Garneau, in a statement. “We must…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has tightened up the rules around telecommunication ownership and control reviews.
After establishing a new framework last July, the Commission announced Thursday that it will be modifying the data collection forms used to gather information about the ownership and control of Canadian carriers.
It also announced that it will be adding a new list of eligible telecommunications common carriers (the eligible TCC list) to its website, and detailed the procedures for carriers that do not respect their annual filing obligations.
Click here to view the full bulletin.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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TORONTO – While an Ontario Superior Court judge on Friday gave Shaw Communications the green light to move ahead with its plan for CanWest Global, other companies have come forward to say, “hey, we would have liked to get in on the bidding, too.”
However, companies which wanted to take a close look at the troubled broadcaster and newspaper publisher had to first sign a non-disclosure agreement which prevented them from even talking to Goldman Sachs, which is the key creditor as the 65% equity holder of CW Media Holdings, the division which owns and operates CanWest’s specialty channels.
Canwest…
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CALGARY – The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has approved Shaw’s takeover bid of Canwest, despite a last minute rival bid lead by investment fund Catalyst Capital, the Asper family and two former Rogers execs.
The Calgary-based cable company has entered into agreements with Canwest and certain 8% senior subordinated noteholders for a minimum commitment to buy $95 million worth of Class A voting shares in a restructured Canwest, which represents 20% equity and an 80% voting interest.
Shaw’s initial equity interest will exceed 20% depending on the number of Canwest creditors that elect cash rather than shares in restructured…
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OTTAWA – CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein said Friday the regulator had “made a mistake” in eliminating Canadian content spending requirements for over-the-air broadcasters back in 1999.
Speaking in conversation with broadcast veteran Trina McQueen during the CFTPA Prime Time in Ottawa conference, von Finckenstein added, “It doesn’t make sense.”
However, the chair noted that the system “can’t turn back.” While failing to confirm expenditures would be revived in upcoming regulation, it looks like the CRTC is heading that way.
McQueen noted that the CRTC should not want “to make the same mistake over again” (by not changing the rules).
Can’t the amount…
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OTTAWA – Comments filed on the CRTC’s reconsideration of speed matching strike a familiar refrain: Would-be competitors say Canadians will suffer if the CRTC doesn’t mandate speed matching and access to higher-speed local access facilities for them, while incumbent telcos tell the Commission that doing so will threaten future network investments.
Telcos were already required under CRTC regulations to provide speed matching (also referred to as service parity) to competitors over both legacy copper facilities as well as their faster fibre, or next-generation networks (NGNs). But the implementation of the rule was put on hold following appeals to the…
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