TORONTO – CTV and its ‘A’ stations thanked viewers who they say helped to make its ‘save local television’ campaign a “tremendous success”.
The initiative, which CTV describes as “designed to inform viewers of the critical issues facing their local television stations”, hosted over 30,000 Canadians at its 16 open houses held across the country on May 23. The network said that it also received over 50,000 on-line petition signatures, and that more than 25,000 letters were sent to James Moore, the Minister of Heritage, expressing support for fee for carriage.
But with all of the promotional weight that the network threw behind its…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – The CRTC has pledged to resolve the telephone number shortage affecting the regions served by area codes 204, 819 and 905.
According to the Canadian Numbering Administrator, these area codes are expected to run out of telephone numbers by January 2011, February 2015 and February 2014, respectively.
Area code 289 will also be affected, as the CRTC added it in 2001 as a relief measure when area code 905 was running out of telephone numbers.
The Commission is establishing a Relief Planning Committee to “evaluate various relief options” and make recommendations. Potential relief measures could…
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TORONTO – ACTRA expressed its disappointment with Canada’s major private TV broadcasters, saying they chose to “fill their Fall 2009 schedules with U.S. product rather than make a commitment to Canadian drama”.
A review of the Fall 2009 schedules released this week by the TV networks show “weak” commitments to new Canadian drama, from a low of one hour per week on ‘A’ Channel, to a high of two hours each on CTV and Global, ACTRA noted. Out of a possible 112 prime time hours in a week, CTV, Global, CityTV and ‘A’ Channel have scheduled just 6 ½…
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HALIFAX – He’s not exactly going out on a limb by saying it, but CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein told a group of teachers on Friday that the two dated Acts that govern the CRTC desperately need updating.
In a speech to the Conference of the Broadcast Educators Association of Canada, von Finckenstein noted it’s closing in on 20 years since the last time the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act – documents that “ are very much products of their times” – have been updated, he said.
“They were conceived for an environment where bandwidth and spectrum were…
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ORILLIA, ON – The radio dial in Ontraio’s cottage country is about to get a little more crowded.
The CRTC has granted broadcasting licences to Bayshore Broadcasting Corporation for a new FM station in Orillia, and Instant Information Services to operate a new low-power, tourist information FM radio station in the area.
The Commission considered eight applications for new radio programming in Orillia at a public hearing that began on January 26, 2009 in the community, located approximately 120 kilometres north of Toronto. Orillia is currently served by one local commercial station, (CICX-FM), owned by Larche Communications Inc.
The Commission…
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OTTAWA – The controversial issue of ‘net neutrality’ has made it on to the political agenda, after NDP digital affairs critic Charlie Angus tabled Bill C-398 on Friday.
Designed to prevent telecom service providers from engaging “in network management practices that favour, degrade or prioritize any content, application or service transmitted over a broadband network based on its source, ownership, destination or type”, Angus said that the bill will ensure that the future development of the Internet “is not impeded by unfair throttling or interference by telecom giants”.
“The telecom giants didn’t invent the internet,” Angus said in a statement….
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is asking for input on whether it may conduct Canadian ownership and control reviews on a public basis, as opposed to a confidential basis, in certain instances.
Telus sent a letter to the Commission on April 20, 2009 asking it to conduct “an open and transparent process” to review whether wireless newcomer Globalive Wireless Management is under Canadian ownership and control, as required by section 16 of the Telecommunications Act. Shaw sent a letter two days later in support of Telus’ request.
But Globealive opposed the move, saying the Commission has a “longstanding practice” of conducting…
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TORONTO – The past chairman of the CRTC, Charles Dalfen, died suddenly on Tuesday. He was 66.
Canadian Press reported today that he had a heart attack.
Dalfen was chair of the Commission from 2002 to 2006, and was a well respected broadcast and telecommunications lawyer before and since. We interviewed him on a number of occasions, including early in his final year as chairman. Click here for that interview and read about how little has changed from a regulator’s point of view during the past three years.
Dalfen was comfortable in the chairman’s office but was ambitious from the get-go,…
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ABOUT YOUR EDITORS’ NOTE on negotiating a fee rather than imposing a tax (in the story "Heritage Committee: Von Finckenstein wants to let broadcasters and distributors negotiate a fee"). It’s the same thing.
First, there is no retransmission right in the signal itself under copyright law, so there is no right to negotiate unless the CRTC forces the negotiation.
Second, there is no right to not to carry under the BDU regulations because (conventional stations) are mandatory services, so you can not decide to drop bad services as part of the negotiations.
Third, if you cannot agree the…
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SO I SET MY PVR to record about two and a half Saturday afternoon hours of CTV Newsnet (CTV News Channel, as of this morning) this past weekend in order to watch the charade I expected to see.
Heading into the weekend, viewers of CTVglobemedia properties were fed a steady dose of some very one-sided ads promoting the company’s cross-country open houses meant to help “save local TV”, along with a web site of which the best one can say tells a very incomplete story.
While it wasn’t the travesty I had assumed was coming (far from it, actually),…
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