OTTAWA – The CRTC has granted VidéOptique Inc. a broadcasting licence to operate a regional video-on-demand (VOD) service in parts of Quebec.
But support for the service, at least in its current form, was not unanimous. Commissioner Michel Morin filed a dissenting opinion against the decision and accused the CRTC of “beating around the bush and displaying a flagrant lack of leadership” on the issue of community programming.
In its application, the yet unnamed service said that it would consist primarily of feature films, non-live events, children’s programming, archival television programming and adult programming, predominantly in French.
But the Fédération…
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OTTAWA – The CBC has asked the CRTC to delay proceedings on a proposed regulatory framework for video-on-demand (VOD) undertakings.
The Commission issued a call for comments in October, seeking to clarify the expected role and contributions of VOD services to the Canadian broadcasting system. Comments were to be due by January 29, 2009.
But the CBC has requested delaying this process for at least a year, citing other regulatory proceedings occurring in the same time frame, and noting that this proceeding deals with the issue of advertising at a time when "the advertising market…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) said it "welcomed" the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision on Thursday to hear its appeal regarding the Part II licence fee issue.
As reported by Cartt.ca, the Federal Court Trial Division ruled in December 2006 that the CRTC Part II Licence Fees collected by the federal government from broadcasters and broadcast distributors are an illegal tax. The government appealed that decision to the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA), which ruled that the fees are valid regulatory charges and not a tax. On June 27, 2008, the CAB filed an application…
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WHILE WE WILL STILL be covering the news as it happens at Cartt.ca, our newsletters are taking a little holiday break. Today’s newsletter will be the final regular one until January 6th as those of us at Cartt.ca celebrate Christmas and the New Year.
We will be back strong as usual in January with daily coverage from the very important Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, as well as the digital broadcasting conference put on by the CSUA in Toronto later in the month and then the SCTE Canadian Summit in early February. Then, don’t forget about the CRTC’s new media in broadcasting…
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DARTMOUTH – Radio is not thought of as a sexy media any more. It’s now called "traditional media" or "old media," or worse.
Despite its easy ubiquity, many mouthy know-it-alls have been predicting its dramatic weakening, or even its demise, in the face of new media or satellite radio or some other bugaboo supposedly about to kill it off. It’s not true, though. Radio in Canada has been steadily holding its own in the face of ubiquitous Internet, devices like iPods and new delivery vehicles like satellite radio or broadband.
Small towns have probably never been described as sexy…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has dismissed complaints against TSN2 from rival sports networks, saying the sports channel does have the authority to time-shift the programming it offers on its authorized split-feed service.
As previously reported by Cartt.ca, CBC and Score Media complained to the Commission in September, just after TSN2’s launch, claiming that The Sports Network (TSN) did not have the regulatory authority to launch the new channel in the way it has been pitched and launched. The two broadcasters alleged that TSN had taken multiple CRTC decisions and interpreted them out of context in order to meet…
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OTTAWA – Canadian Association of Broadcasters president and CEO Glenn O’Farrell announced today he will be leaving the association early in 2009.
He has been CEO of the organization since January of 2002, succeeding Michael McCabe.
“It’s never easy to move on from something you passionately believe in, but after seven years and a lot of thought, I have concluded it’s time for me to take on new challenges,” said O’Farrell, in a statement. “I will miss the team of dedicated professionals at the CAB with whom I have worked to strengthen the Canadian broadcasting system in a remarkable…
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OTTAWA – MTS Allstream said the CRTC missed an opportunity to promote competition and choice by refusing their request for “fairly-priced, mandated access to broadband facilities from the former monopoly telephone companies.”
MTS Allstream applied to the CRTC in May to review and vary its determinations made in Telecom Decision 2008-17, regarding the classification of Ethernet access and transport services and related services (Ethernet services), saying the commission made “several errors in its determinations.” The commission denied the request on Thursday, saying that MTS Allstream “failed to demonstrate that there is substantial doubt as to the correctness of the…
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TORONTO – Rogers has received CRTC approval to launch a local, 24-hour news channel in the Greater Toronto Area.
Programming for the new channel will consist of local news, traffic, weather, business, sports and entertainment information “devoted exclusively to residents in the Greater Toronto and commuting areas”, the decision read. The channel will also include news items from other Rogers owned media properties including The Fan 590, 680News, Sportsnet, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the Rogers publishing division (With titles like Maclean’s, Flare, Chatelaine and Canadian Business).
"We are extremely pleased with the CRTC decision today," says Jamie Haggarty, executive vice-president…
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TORONTO – It was an overflow house of hundreds of family, friends, politicians and Canadian business glitterati who gathered in Toronto’s St. James Cathedral on a grey, rainy Tuesday morning to pay their final respects to Ted Rogers, the founder of Rogers Communications and one of the leading lights of Canadian business.
Rogers died December 2nd of heart disease at the age of 75.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, former PM Brian Mulroney, Shaw Communications founder JR Shaw and his son, CEO Jim Shaw, Telus CEO Darren Entwistle, Bell Canada CEO George Cope, Astral chairman Andre…
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