GATINEAU – Canadian content again took centre stage at Wednesday’s CRTC hearing.
Both the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) and ACTRA pinned the blame for our broadcasting system’s issues squarely on the broadcasters for overspending on foreign content.
The CCA, which provides research and analysis on public policies affecting the arts and Canadian cultural institutions and industries, suggested, using words we’ve heard steadily for a week and a half, that the Commission consider re-regulating cable rates in order to “re-balance the system”, and to “bring back regulations so that broadcasters fulfill their Canadian programming obligations.”
“Your responsibilities are specifically to use…
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GATINEAU – Canadian cable, satellite and telco TV carriers can now add Al-Jazeera English to their channel lineups.
This morning the CRTC added the international news channel to the lists of eligible satellite services for distribution on a digital basis. Canadian sponsor Ethnic Channels Group filed the application in February for the Doha, Qatar-based service.
The decision is bound to arouse some scrutiny today since Al-Jazeera’s Arabic language channel has in the past aired a number of people who espoused virulent anti-Semitic views on air. Some Canadian Jewish groups have expressed reservations about having the English channel available here.
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has dismissed a complaint made against Bell TV by Quebecor Media Inc. over the way the DTH provider is combatting signal theft.
In a complaint dated March 23, 2009, Quebecor said that Bell TV had recently introduced a new sales method that would allow someone to equip themselves with one or several Bell TV receivers and to employ various methods of signal theft without Bell TV being able to track them. This practice of retailing ‘grab-and-go’ receivers calls into question the commitments Bell TV made in 2003 when it pledged to implement specific measures to combat signal theft,…
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GATINEAU – The sale of advertising time on American cable channels, by a new third-party company, can help fix what ails the broadcasting system, says former Canadian Association of Broadcasters president and CEO Glenn O’Farrell.
His new company, Mediadenovo (Italian for “media of the new”, we’re told) would be a new programming undertaking that would sell the two minutes per hour of local availability ad time to national advertisers. Mediadenovo submitted its application for a license to the CRTC months ago, said O’Farrell, but it has yet to be made public.
American cable channels like CNN, A&E, Golf Channel and others…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Association of Broadcasters inducted eight people into its Hall of Fame, it was announced today, calling them “a diverse mix of industry experts who have made significant contributions to Canadian broadcasting throughout their careers.”
Without an annual convention (which would normally be taking place right about now, but was cancelled after last year’s event), the CAB will honour the eight at a cocktail party on November 30th in Ottawa.
The 2009 CAB Hall of Fame Inductees are:
– Rob Braide, President, Braide Media (and long-time head of Standard Broadcasting in Quebec)– Michel Chamberland, founding president of…
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I HAVE READ WITH interest the astonishing assertion by Glenn O’Farrell that he should be allowed to poach local avails and direct the money, “wherever it is needed.” (See "Avail sales can help make Cancon", Cartt.ca, November 25, 2009) Two previous ill-conceived plans similar in nature were turned down for a few good reasons.
Perhaps Mr. O’Farrell is unaware that local avails are part of affiliation agreements that are between two parties, not three. When BDUs are licensed and agree to carry services such as CNN, Golf, Speed and A&E, part of those agreements permit the BDU to occupy two…
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GATINEAU – The sale of advertising time on American cable channels, by a new third-party company, is now back on the industry’s agenda.
In its presentation to the CRTC this morning Telus advocated an approach by Mediadenovo which would see the new company (Italian for “media of the new”, we’re told) – which is headed by former Canadian Association of Broadcasters president and CEO Glenn O’Farrell – sell the two minutes per hour of local availability ad time to national advertisers.
American cable channels like CNN, A&E, Golf Channel and others make that time available to distributors to sell into local…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable said that it is broadcasters’ “rampant spending to purchase major US network programming” that is at the real root of what ails the industry, not simply the erosion of market share and advertising revenue.
In a statement released after its appearance at the CRTC hearings Tuesday, the cable co said that granting broadcasters the right to charge compensation for signal “would be irresponsible and inappropriate”.
"Compensation for signal is only a partial and inappropriate solution to a much broader problem," said president and CEO Louis Audet, in a statement. "We are entitled to ask why the broadcasters…
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OTTAWA – Telus’ Michael Hennessy says that it all comes down to priorities.
In advance of his company’s presentation in front of the CRTC on Tuesday, the SVP of regulatory and government affairs said that the current fee-for-carriage discussions are “doing everything backwards” because they failed to set priorities, and to recognize consumer sovereignty in today’s digital world.
“Our fundamental position is that what we’re talking about now is a tremendous waste of our time and resources because we’re not giving consumers enough credit, and listening to how they want to define the television world, or the entertainment and informational world…
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OTTAWA – There could be a new BDU coming to the Greater Toronto Area.
The CRTC has approved an application by MTT Networks for a broadcasting licence to operate a Class 1 terrestrial broadcasting distribution undertaking to serve Toronto and the surrounding areas.
MTT is controlled by its majority shareholder, president and CEO Selvaruban Ruban Selvarajah.
In its application dated March 6, 2009, MTT asked to distribute the Buffalo signals of the four U.S. commercial networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX) and the non-commercial PBS network in its basic service; the Buffalo signal of WNYO-49 (Warner Brothers) on a digital…
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