DARTMOUTH, NS – Newcap Inc. is selling its two FM radio stations in Thunder Bay, ON to Acadia Broadcasting in a deal worth $4.5 million, plus working capital.
Acadia Broadcasting is a community focused radio broadcaster with 10 licences in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and existing radio stations in Fort Frances, Kenora and Dryden, ON.
"While these stations were positive contributors to Newcap, there was little opportunity to expand our presence and build on a cluster of stations in close proximity to Thunder Bay,” said Newcap president and CEO Rob Steele, in the announcement. “As a result we have chosen to divest…
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TORONTO – Corus Entertainment is buying diginets Drive-In Classics and SexTV from CTVglobemedia for a combined acquisition price of $40 million.
“These services are currently available in over two million households and provide a great base to grow their audiences and increase their appeal to our advertising customers,” said Corus president and CEO John Cassaday, in an announcement late on Tuesday.
The transaction is subject to approval by the CRTC.
www.corusent.comwww.ctv.ca
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GATINEAU – According to the Campaign for Democratic Media, the CRTC’s hearing into network traffic management is about nothing less than “who will determine the way we use the Internet,” David Fewer, acting director of CIPPIC told commissioners Thursday morning.
Leaving network management practices up to the discretion of the networks owners can only invite disaster and make Canada “a backwater of online innovation,” he added. “The Canadian Internet is not simply the private property of Canadian ISPs.” (CIPPIC is the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic and a member of the CDM.)
While that may be true…
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GATINEAU – In back-to-back presentations this morning, the CRTC heard from two of Canada’s largest ISPs, Telus and Cogeco Cable, one of which uses no Internet traffic management techniques (yet) and one which uses them all the time.
Each want the same thing, however: to be left alone to manage their networks how they see fit.
Telus, the big western-based telco, uses no traffic management technology right now on either its retail consumers or wholesale business clients, said senior vice-president of regulatory and government affairs Michael Hennessy. But it wants the freedom to be able to deploy them, if needed, in…
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GATINEAU – Altogether now, let’s all agree that the networks upon which our broadband experiences are delivered has to be managed.
We can also all agree that congestion at certain times of the day and during certain events is a problem.
But what there hasn’t been much agreement about yet over the first three days of the CRTC’s network management hearing is just how that congestion can or should be mitigated (Using what tools? Targeting which applications, if any? Under what circumstances? What’s network neutrality mean anyway?)
And as the major ISPs themselves start to face the Commission Friday…
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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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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 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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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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