CALGARY – Shaw Communications says the CRTC has “betrayed Canadians’ trust” with Monday’s announcement of two new taxes on TV consumers.
"It is difficult to believe the CRTC is mandating these tax transfers – money from the pockets of ten million Canadians to three Canadian broadcasters", said president Peter Bissonnette in a statement released Wednesday.
Like its cable brethren Rogers, Shaw has vowed to fight the new fees “aggressively”, noting that broadcasters have not commited to spending more on local programming with the additional funds.
"Our customers are already heavily subsidizing the broadcasters with a CRTC ordered tax of…
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GATINEAU, QC – The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) is calling on the CRTC to “enshrine the principle of net neutrality”, saying that the Internet must be kept “free from interference by big service providers” in order for Canadian culture to succed.
“All Internet users must be treated equally, regardless of what content they are sending or receiving or whether their ISP is a big or small player”, said national executive director Stephen Waddell, in a statement. “Equal, unfettered access to the Internet is fundamental to the future of not only our broadcasting and telecom systems,…
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TORONTO – Thanks to the beefed up local programming improvement fund (LPIF), CTV will keep its ‘A’ Channel in Windsor open for at least for another year.
The broadcaster committed to continuing to operate the station through August 31, 2010, the full license renewal term that all of CTV’s conventional stations have received.
"Today’s announcement about saving Windsor’s only local private television station for one year is a direct result of the CRTC’s one year LPIF enhancement," said Paul Sparkes, EVP of corporate affairs for CTVglobemedia, in the announcement.
CTV also said that it will apply to convert CKNX-TV Wingham…
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OTTAWA and TORONTO – Not surprisingly, Monday’s CRTC’s decisions were praised by industry associations like The Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) and the the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC).
Noting that all players in the Canadian broadcasting system, including independent producers, have felt the impact of “these trying economic times”, CFTPA president and CEO Norm Bolen commended the CRTC for upholding broadcaster’s Cancon requirements.
“By maintaining current terms and conditions of licence, the CRTC has recognized the importance of Canadian programming and independent production in the Canadian broadcasting system”, Bolen said in a statement. “Any reduction to…
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BELOW ARE A FEW OF what we think are the main talking points we pulled from yesterday’s CRTC releases on the LPIF, individual broadcasters’ one-year license renewals and the public notice on September’s hearing.
• The Regulator is clearly trying to rebrand the fee-for-carriage debate by banishing such language in favour of “value for signal.” The public notice on the hearing contemplates a negotiated new fee between broadcasters and carriers. This looks like a done deal and now it’s just about price. (Ed note: As for that price, TSN made $117 million from BDU subscriber fees in 2008. More…
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GATINEAU – The most immediate impact of the CRTC’s Monday announcements? It looks like A Channel Windsor will get a reprieve.
The Commission today finalized the new $102-million fund that is meant to tide broadcasters over until it figures out how to completely reset the scales of power of the industry it regulates with yet another hearing on the TV business come September.
"Canadians have made it abundantly clear that they value local programming," said CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein, in the press release. "We have taken steps to ensure that broadcasters, and particularly those in smaller markets, continue…
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WINNIPEG – MTS Allstream called Monday’s CRTC decision “harmful to consumers”, and accused the federal broadcasting regulator of “catering to a specific interest instead of addressing the real issues facing the industry”.
"These decisions represent a serious set back for consumers – reducing the possibility for innovation and increasing costs without providing any real benefits”, said Chief Corporate Officer Chris Peirce, in a statement issued Tuesday.
The company predicted that the new fees could cost their customers at least $50 to $100 per year, as well as reduce investment in infrastructure, hinder innovation and reduce choice.
“Indeed the obligations…
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GATINEAU – The increase wasn’t as big as the broadcasters hoped, but the new Local Programming Improvement Fund will now top $100 million, the CRTC announced today.
The money is still geared towards stations serving markets of less than a million and the Commission has dropped its demand that the content be “incremental” to the year before.
The Regulator also made a few other key announcements today, including that broadcasters in markets of over 300,000 people – and all provincial and territorial capitals – must build digital OTA transmission facilities, meaning small ’burgs like Charlottetown, Yellowknife, Whitehorse and Iqaluit…
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OTTAWA – Word that the CRTC has – for the first time – made local programming a condition of license for most over-the-air television stations is “good news”, says the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP).
However, the media union continued, it would be “very troubling” if the CRTC allowed some stations to broadcast fewer local programming hours than they have to date, even if for only a period of one year, cautioned Peter Murdoch, CEP’s vice president of media.
"We believe that the terms set out by the CRTC should mean that stations currently on the…
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TORONTO, MONTREAL and OTTAWA – Three of Canada’s largest BDUs were quick to express their mutual disappointment with Monday’s CRTC decision, and hinted that it will be the consumer who will be hit the hardest.
Rogers said that the introduction of the “major new consumer TV taxes” should have Canadian consumers “very worried”, and vice-chair Phil Lind predicted that the new fees could cost its customers an additional $50 – $100 per year depending on their cable package.
“Today’s CRTC announcement says that, not withstanding earlier rulings by the CRTC and notwithstanding the lack of support by the Canadian…
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