TORONTO – Faced with an onslaught of advertising and other messaging from Canadian cable, satellite and telco TV companies that began in earnest this week, CTV will play host to a press conference this morning to address what the broadcasters say is a whole host of misinformation being put out by the carriers on the fee-for-carriage issue.
“Both camps are out there trying to spread their message but we feel some of the issues being thrown out there by the cable and satellite companies are stretching the truth,” CTV executive vice-president of corporate affairs Paul Sparkes told Cartt.ca late Wednesday.
“They…
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OTTAWA – The government of Canada and Canada’s broadcasters have decided to walk away from their Part II fee legal battle, Heritage Minister James Moore and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters announced today.
"I am pleased to announce that we have been able to reach an agreement regarding Part II Licence Fees received by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC),” the minister said in a statement, which also noted that Canadian broadcasters contribute $20 billion a year to the Canadian economy.
“Under this settlement, our Government is recommending that the CRTC develop a new, forward-looking fee regime that would be…
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OTTAWA – Halifax is getting a new FM station.
The CRTC approved an application for a new English-language commercial FM station run by HFX Broadcasting Inc. after a public hearing which began on May 28, 2009. Applications by Acadia Broadcasting and Frank Torres, on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated, were denied.
HFX has proposed a new adult album alternative station blending classic rock, 70’s pop rock and modern rock targeted to listeners between the ages of 35 and 64, skewed to females aged 35-54. The company currently operates CKHZ-FM Halifax.
The Commission also denied a request by Parrsboro…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Northern Ontario will be getting a new area code and 10-digit local dialing, the CRTC has announced.
New telephone numbers in the 705 area code region may be given area code 249 as of March 19, 2011, as the region exhausts its supply of telephone numbers. The Canadian Numbering Administrator warned the CRTC earlier this year that area code 705 is expected to run out of telephone numbers by October 2012.
The transition to 10-digit dialing will begin on January 15, 2011, and will be gradually introduced over the following weeks before becoming mandatory by March 12, 2011.
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OTTAWA – Astral Broadcasting has received CRTC approval to amend the broadcasting licences for four French-language TV stations.
The category 1 specialty channel Ztélé can now expand the list of categories from which it may draw programming. To ensure that it does not compete with other category A services, the Commission has restricted the channel from drawing more than 10% of its programming from the categories of professional sports, sitcoms, animated programs, comedy, other drama, and music videos over the broadcast month.
VRAK.TV, formerly known as Canal Famille, received approval to add professional and amateur sports programming to its licence, though it…
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TORONTO – Bruce Claassen didn’t want to be the bad guy. He wanted to be the white knight who saved CKX-TV Brandon and used it as a springboard to build another national TV network.
With the market for smaller TV stations set in the $1-range (and with Shaw Communications having backed down from its much-ballyhooed calling-of-CTV’s-“bluff”) Claassen announced in July that his investment vehicle, Bluepoint Investments, would purchase the beleaguered station from owner CTVglobemedia as the start of Bluepoint’s grander plan to become a major media player.
But, after “trying everything to make it work,” Claassen said he made…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has turned down YTV’s request to remove percentages relating to programming for specific age groups, and to lessen the restriction around airing feature films in the evening.
However, the Commission did agree to amend YTV’s condition of licence relating to the broadcast of a certain percentage of programming that must be devoted to programs from non-North American sources.
YTV submitted the requests on September 8, 2008, saying that the licence conditions which were first imposed more than 20 years ago in its original licensing decision are “unduly restrictive and no longer appropriate”.
Owned by Corus Entertainment, YTV is…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is asking for comments on a revision to its licensing framework for over-the-air digital television (DTV) services.
The current policy requires transitional licences for DTV undertakings, consistent with parallel provisions in the Commission’s policy for digital radio. But in preparation for the shut down of over-the-air analog television signals on August 31, 2011, the CRTC is proposing to authorize the simulcast on a broadcaster’s digital transmitter of the programming aired on its analog transmitter by way of an amendment to the analog service’s licence.
Comments are due by November 2, 2009.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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TORONTO – A coalition of some of Canada’s biggest TV service providers have teamed up on a campaign to tell their side of the story on the contentious issue of fee for carriage.
Bell, Bell Aliant, Cogeco, EastLink, Rogers and Telus have joined forces on ‘Stop the TV Tax’ which they say is designed to ensure “that Canadians hear the whole story”.
"Cable and satellite subscribers have united to stop the broadcasters’ costly proposal because it amounts to a tax, pure and simple”, said Rogers vice chair Phil Lind, in a statement. “This tax will hit viewers for stations that have always…
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PETERBOROUGH, ON – The CRTC must protect consumers instead of allowing carriers to inflict fraud-generated fees on victims, says the president of telecom expense management firm Gill Technologies.
According to George Gill, sophisticated attacks on voice mail and other incidents of “telehacking” can leave consumers owing thousands of dollars in charges. He is calling on the Commission to investigate the issue and develop tougher regulations.
“Beyond basic, user-centric precautions such as strong passwords, responsibility for secure telecommunications obviously rests with carriers”, Gill wrote in a letter dated September 21, 2009. “Under the current regime, carriers suffer a conflict of interest where…
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