GATINEAU – The next hearing into whether or not we’re going to adopt a new revenue model for conventional television broadcasters begins Monday and judging from the very few of the nearly 200,000 submissions we’ve read, Canadians are, well, ticked off.
Some are mad at their TV broadcasters, some at their cable or satellite companies. Some are mad at the Commission. Many are mad at any combination of them. Not many of them want to pay more for TV.
So at BNC 2009-614, the hearing into value for signal (yes, we hear you folks sticking to the “fee-for-carriage” terminology getting…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has caught and fined another telemarketer accused of violating the national do not call list (DNCL).
Infax – services d’informations sur demande par fax inc. has been fined $9,000 by the Commission for initiating three telemarketing telecommunications on its own behalf to telecommunications numbers registered on the national DNCL, when it was not registered with the national DNCL operator, and without having subscribed to the national DNCL.
The CRTC issued a notice of violation to Infax on September 22, 2009, which the company disputed in October. The Commission reviewed and dismissed Infax’s complaints on Thursday.
Infax has…
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I LOVE GOING TO confabs like NextMedia. As Telus’ SVP Michael Hennessy tweeted earlier this week: “Finished 2 days at #nextMEDIA looking to future of digital media. No discussion of #FFC, #CRTC. Met real digital entrepreneurs. Awesome.”
Hennessy told me Monday at that conference that when it comes to the debate over value for signal for over the air broadcasters, he’s done. Telus won’t be appearing at next week’s hearing into the issue, the one ordered by the feds.
Indeed, two days at NextMedia (built off a backdrop of my four days in Denver at Cable Connection Week in October,…
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OTTAWA – Parliament must assume leadership of the issue of net neutrality in order to safeguard consumers’ rights, says a new report from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC).
In the report “Staying Neutral: Canadian Consumers and the Fight for Net Neutrality” released on Tuesday, PIAC calls on federal legislators and policymakers to protect consumers’ rights to “use their Internet connection to access the lawful content, applications or services of their choice without discrimination, modification, interruption, or delay of their internet transmissions by any party, subject to law”.
It also recommends that the federal government set minimum speed standards for…
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DARTMOUTH – Newcap has received CRTC approval to sell its two FM stations in Thunder Bay, ON, to Acadia Broadcasting.
This transaction, which was announced in July, is expected to close within the next 30 days.
Newcap president and CEO Rob Steele said previously that there was limited opportunity for the company to expand its presence in the Thunder Bay area. It currently holds 79 radio broadcasting licences across Canada.
www.ncc.ca
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By Christopher Maule, Professor Emeritus, Carleton University
THE BATTLE BETWEEN CANADIAN BROADCASTERS and cable companies taking place before the CRTC is about the past and the disappearing present and not about the future of traditional television and other forms of video.
If the protagonists and the Commission are to consider the public interest as reflected by how consumers spend their money and time, they need to look for ways to profit from what consumers want instead of struggling over what consumers have been forced to take.
Today, consumers use their Kindle and computers to read books and view pictures, use their iPhones…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – A new on-line consultation process will allow consumers a different way to express their opinions on the future of television to the CRTC.
The consultation tool, which launched Monday and will conclude on December 21 at midnight EST, is part of the Commission’s public hearing in to the matter that is scheduled to begin on December 7, 2009 in Gatineau. As previously reported by Cartt.ca, Heritage Minister James Moore issued an Order-in-Council in September requesting the Commission look into fee-for-carriage from the consumer’s point of view.
The CRTC is asking consumers and the industry to weigh in on the impact that…
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GATINEAU – Group licensing has the potential to throw the Canadian broadcasting system on end, while benefiting consolidated broadcasters and hurting small independents, according to Score Media CEO John Levy.
The company, which operates the sports specialty service The Score, contends group licensing is “not in the best interests of the Canadian broadcasting system.”
“This is not coming from my love of existing rules (which include genre exclusivity, and specific expenditure requirements for each specialty channel),” he said during questioning. Group licensing with group-wide Canadian content expenditures would allow large broadcasters with many channels to engage in “genre arbitrage,” said Levy.
He…
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TORONTO – In a move that seems designed to rally the public to their cause, Globalive’s Wind Mobile is kicking off a national ad campaign to hammer home the need for more competition in Canada’s wireless market.
In a press release Friday, Wind said that the goal of the campaign is to raise awareness about “the current state of Canada’s wireless industry compared to the rest of the world”, and to highlight “why more choice is essential”.
“The heart of the issue is that Canadians pay some of the highest rates for some of the most complained-about wireless service in the…
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GATINEAU – Protect Canadian feature films and drama, expand the reach of the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF), and create a credit system for Canadian content were a few of the things advocated Friday during the CRTC hearings, which wrapped early.
The Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters (CAFDE) urged the CRTC to ensure that more, not less, Canadian drama is commissioned under the new broadcast framework. Canada’s film industry is also in peril because not many homegrown movies are getting shown on the small screen, according to CAFDE president Ted East.
“Of all the sub-genres of drama, we believe…
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