TICK, TICK, TICK. There are 407 days left until the end of analog over-the-air television in the major markets the CRTC has identified as must-switches (just look up and to the right to see our countdown clock).
Last week the CRTC, as we reported here, said 857,000 households in major markets will be left without viable TV signals because they use older analog sets fed by rabbit ears or some other sort of antenna because they continue to receive their television off-air.
It also okayed a "Freesat" type of alternative (free service for a small package “local” stations, after…
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OTTAWA – Don’t expect the government to take the lead or to extend the digital transition deadline beyond August 31, 2011.
That appears to be the message behind a short statement issued by Heritage Minister James Moore on Friday, hours after the CRTC released its guidelines on the process. Referencing his speech at the annual conference of the Canadian Chapter of the International Institute of Communications in December 2008, Moore said that he “expects industry-led solutions that will ensure a smooth transition for consumers”.
"The transition to digital is inevitable”, Moore said in his speech. “The CRTC has set a deadline of August 31,…
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TORONTO and GATINEAU – Rogers Communications wants to know why the CRTC hasn’t included wireless in its look at regulatory symmetry in the telecom world when it comes to the handling of customer cancellations and transfers.
In a letter dated June 30th, the communications giant told the Commission it didn’t make any sense to be looking into so-called regulatory symmetry for broadcasting, telecom and Internet while skipping wireless – and it wants the notice of consultation amended to include the handling of wireless customer transfer requests, too.
Bell Canada made an application to the Commission in May demanding the same…
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MONTREAL – If you give it to them, you must give it to us, too.
That’s the gist of the message that Quebecor Media had for the CRTC on Monday when it called for the Commission to “reject the applications by CTV Limited in order to obtain regulatory relief for the ‘A’ stations and for the CTV Network or apply the requested conditions to all Canadian conventional television stations”.
As reported by Cartt.ca, CTV has asked that the Commission extend “interim regulatory flexibility” to its group of ‘A’ channels across the country which it claims have lost nearly $98 million….
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has released an approximate schedule for its upcoming television license renewals.
First up will be the renewal of Vide-on-Demand undertakings which will be handled via paper processes this Fall. This will be followed by private English-language groups CTV, CanWest, Rogers, Corus, and CJBN-TV Kenora in the Spring of 2011.
Private French-language groups services Quebecor, V interactions, Astral, TV5 Quebec Canada, and Canal Evasion will be considered in early Fall 2011, while all other conventional, specialty, pay, PPV, and community television undertakings whose licences expire in the next two years will be scheduled for Spring 2012.
CBC/Radio…
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OTTAWA – CTV wants to decrease the amount of Canadian programming that it must air in order to allow it more “scheduling flexibility”.
In an application to the CRTC, the network has asked be relieved of the 60% yearly Canadian program requirement set out in section 4(6) of the Television Broadcasting Regulations, instead asking that it be replaced with the following condition of licence:
“As an exception to section 4(6) of the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987, the licensee shall devote not less than 55% of the broadcast year to the broadcasting of Canadian programs.”
CTV’s application said that it would "be unlikely" that this…
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WELL, I GUESS THIS leaves Canada (temporarily?) offside with both Europe and the U.S.A. now.
Pity, only in Canada you say?
By the Federal Court of Appeal’s logic, VOD is not a broadcast undertaking either. And let’s recall that cable operators employ IP protocols to deliver all content – including that “requested” stuff.
Two lessons hopefully learned here: First, the expert CRTC should not delegate tipping point policy decisions to narrow, interpretive and thin-knowledge based courts; and second, the only logical step now is to refine and amend the definition “broadcasting undertakings” in the Broadcasting Act.
And please, no more whining…
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OTTAWA – A small Ontario radio station has asked the CRTC for permission to be sold, but only if it can drop its Christian music for rock.
CFWC FM in Brantford, ON, has asked for a transfer of control to an Ontario numbered company in a sale worth $265,000. After alleging that “the station has been unprofitable for the past several years”, the applicant asked that the Commission revise its condition of license by deleting the condition that it air a minimum of 95% of all musical selections drawn from subcategory 35 (non classic religious).
The licensee said that the…
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MONTREAL – Continued growth in Cogeco’s Canadian division helped to hold third quarter profits steady at the Montreal-based company.
For the quarter ended May 31, 2010, revenue at Cogeco Inc. increased by 4.6% ($14.6 million) year-over-year to reach $330.9 million. Net income of $10.7 million was virtually unchanged compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year, however, net income in the third quarter of 2009 included an unfavourable income tax adjustment of $2 million related to the certain items at the company’s Portuguese subsidiary Cabovisao.
Operating income before amortization grew slightly by $1.3 million, or 1%, to reach $127.9…
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OTTAWA – While ruling that Internet Service Providers are not, in fact, broadcasters and therefore not subject to Canadian content exhibition or contribution requirements, the Federal Court of Appeal today also issued a bit of a caution on the issue of net neutrality.
When the CRTC issued its broadcasting in new media report in June of 2009, it also decided to ask the Federal Court of Appeal to decide whether the act of providing a pipe through which customers can bore into the Internet and draw programming to their various devices makes ISPs broadcasting entities – and therefore subject…
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