OTTAWA – Parliament should ensure Canada’s broadcasting legislation “keeps step with the times”, including proper accountability and transparency, even if it means restructuring the CRTC, said Canada’s largest media union.
The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP) told the Heritage Committee on Monday that Canada’s big broadcasting corporations were “supposed to strengthen local stations not close them down”, and the CRTC must share the blame for allowing that to happen.
"Parliament needs to reshape the CRTC, review the Broadcasting Act, and consider whether Canada needs converged communications legislation geared to the 21st century to address consolidated media ownership, telecommunications and…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – May 7, 2009 – Is Cancon a cost centre or a break-even proposition for Canada’s over-the-air broadcasters? Among all the issues raised Thursday by independent producers, writers and directors at the CRTC’s licence renewal hearings for conventional ‘casters, this subject accounted for the most words per intervention.
The groups representing much of the Anglophone creative contingent brought forward a study concluding Canadian programming need no longer be seen, automatically, as a loss leader, a necessary evil, a perennial balance sheet pariah. The success of this hypothesis depends in large measure, however, on whether broadcasting ownership groups would…
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GATINEAU – ACTRA underscored its earlier plea that the CRTC “stand firm and resist calls for rolling back Canadian content obligations” during its appearance at the Commission’s hearings on private TV broadcaster licence renewals on Friday.
ACTRA’s national president Richard Hardacre, who was joined by performers Julie Stewart and R.H. Thomson, accused the private broadcasters of “using the economic downturn to hold Canadians hostage” on the issue of fee-for-carriage, and insisted that Canadian programming “should not suffer in the rush to respond to current challenges facing the broadcasting industry”.
“Rather than cave into private broadcasters’ demands for far fewer Canadian content rules,…
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GATINEAU – While CRTC commissioners, Canadian politicians and the usual industry suspects try to figure out how best to alter the regulation of the Canadian TV business, the electronic media world around us continues on its merry path of explosive growth.
Lost a little on this side of the border, amid the swirl of chatter on issues like fee for carriage, the viability of local content, whether or not conventional broadcasters can survive a battered economy, and if television stations can really sell for a buck, was the announcement that Disney is spending US$100 million to take a…
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HE HAS A PAIR OF BlackBerrys on his desk, but his iPhone is what’s tucked in his jacket pocket. It goes with him always and everywhere.
He was first elected as MP in 2000, at the age of 24, in his Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam, B.C. riding, but his official bio lists the former radio and TV reporter/commentator’s occupation as “broadcaster.”
He’s mentioned every now and then as a candidate for much higher office that the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages.
And while his cabinet colleagues struggle with the multi-billion dollar requests from the likes of car companies…
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TORONTO – On Monday afternoon, CTV received a letter from Shaw Communications asking to see the package of due diligence information it has prepared on CHWI-TV Windsor, CKNX-TV Wingham and CKX-TV Brandon.
Readers will recall that last week, in a newspaper ad, Shaw Communications offered to buy the three TV stations (two Ontario A-Channel stations and one CBC affiliate in Brandon) for a dollar each – the sum for which CTV CEO Ivan Fecan previously said he could not find a buyer.
About two hours after hearing of the offer from the Cartt.ca story about the ad last…
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TORONTO – Rogers Broadcasting has received CRTC approval to buy radio stations K-Rock and KIX Country in Kingston, Ontario.
Rogers purchased a minority interest in these stations in 2000, and in December made an offer to purchase the majority interest of independent radio company K-Rock 1057 Inc. who launched K-Rock 105.7 FM (CIKR FM) in 2001 and KIX Country 93.5 FM (CKXC FM) in 2007 in partnership with Rogers.
"With these two radio stations, Rogers will have a strong presence in Kingston", said Paul Ski, CEO of radio for Rogers Media, in the press release. "We look forward to…
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ST CATHARINES, ON – World Impact Ministries (WIM), a Canadian based religious charity known for media and international work, has received the go ahead from the CRTC to buy The Christian Channel from S-VOX.
“We are committed to programming that will entertain, educate and encourage spiritual dialogue and growth," said WIM’s president and founder Peter Youngren, in the press release announcing the sale. “We also want to rekindle some of the initial sense of purpose that permeated Christian TV, to present the Gospel in a way that causes Canadians to re-discover Jesus Christ as meaningful in their lives".
WIM said…
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TORONTO and MONTREAL – Look Communications is selling its spectrum and broadcast license for $80 million in cash to Bell Canada and Rogers Communications, through their joint venture Inukshuk Wireless Partnership.
Under the agreement, Inukshuk will buy Look’s 92 MHz of contiguous licensed spectrum in Ontario and Quebec covering approximately 18 million people and 1.8 billion MHz/Pops, plus its mobile broadcast license which has been renewed by the CRTC through August 2011.
"We have long believed that our assets held value given the promise of mobile broadband. That promise is becoming a reality for Canadian businesses and consumers, both of…
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OTTAWA – MTS Allstream is asking the federal government to reject proposals from Bell Canada and Telus that it says would “stifle broadband internet competition”.
The company issued a statement Monday in response to petitions by Bell Canada and Telus, claiming its telecom brethren are asking “for latitude to raise prices, reduce competition, and control the content that users are able to access”.
“Adopting the ideas tabled by Bell and Telus would entrench them as the gatekeepers for customer choice in telecom services,” said MTS Allstream CCO Chris Peirce, in the statement. “Bringing choice and competition to the market for…
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