OTTAWA – The CRTC has approved a new English and Aboriginal-language Native Type B FM station and a new English-language commercial FM station to serve the Winnipeg area.
Evanov Communications will air an adult contemporary (35%) and new easy listening (65%) music format targeted to those aged 45 years and over. The frequency of the new FM station is still to be determined. The music offering will focus on soft melodic selections with less instrumental, a minimum of blues and no jazz selections.
“The proposed format will add to the programming diversity in the Winnipeg radio market by complementing the musical offering currently provided…
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OTTAWA – With the very future of the Canadian Television Fund in question, the CBC along with the independent production community are urging the CRTC to postpone its plans to review funding for new media in September. The CRTC has put out a call for comments (Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2008-62) regarding its proposed changes to its public benefits policy that would create new funding streams for new media within the CTF.
In just the last few weeks, the Harper government has cut tens of millions in funding to arts program and has so far given no indication if…
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OTTAWA – Telcos will soon be allowed to change their phone rates without the need for prior CRTC approval. The commission announced that effective October 6, 2008, it will be moving to a more efficient and less burdensome procedure for retail tariffs. Once implemented, the traditional telephone companies will be able to change most of their telecommunications rates without the CRTC’s approval. For regulatory purposes, most of these changes will now take effect on the day they are filed.
"While the new procedure eases the regulatory burden for traditional telephone companies, it does not permit them to exceed the pricing…
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TORONTO – The CBC has received the go ahead to launch an all-sports television channel despite a concerted effort from rival broadcasters to block the application. But it’s not a complete victory for the CBC as the CRTC responded to concerns by further restricting the amount of professional sports the channel can air.
SportsPlus, a national, English-language, Category 2 specialty service plans to offer programming dedicated primarily to the coverage and “celebration of Canadian athletes with a particular emphasis on amateur athletes,” says the CBC. "We feel this is great news for both CBC and the Canadian sports system,"…
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BRANDON – Canada’s largest Internet Protocol television (IPTV) service provider, MTS Allstream, says it will be taking its next generation digital television services to Portage la Prairie. It received CRTC approval to amend its existing BDU licence and can now offer MTS TV service to the area.
MTS Allstream also confirmed its intention to apply shortly to the CRTC to obtain a BDU license for the community of Brandon, Manitoba.
"We are very pleased with the CRTC’s decision, and we look forward to offering new services to the residents of Portage la Prairie," says Kelvin Shepherd, president consumer markets,…
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OTTAWA – French language viewers will soon be able to combine the thrills of wakeboarding with learning how to make the perfect omelette. The CRTC today approved two national Category 2 specialty services, Radical Télé, a channel dedicated to extreme sports and Cuisine, a food and nutrition channel.
RDL Média inc. says Radical Télé will be devoted to extreme sports such as snowboarding, surfing, skateboarding, wakeboarding and FMX (freestyle motocross) and to the lifestyle associated with these extreme sports (fashion, social events and places where these sports are practised).
“The purpose of the service would be to allow Canadians to experience…
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TORONTO – Can there be a thing as too many major league sports? Well, definitely if you can’t broadcast them all. TSN had that problem. The solution, launch a new channel. Its new 24-hour sports digital network, TSN2, hits Canadian TV airwaves on Friday, Aug. 29 at 7 p.m. ET. The channel will feature over 800+ hours of live and exclusive major league sports action.
TSN says it received overwhelming positive response from viewers about the TSN alternate feed, which was used on a temporary basis over the past two years to provide simultaneous live coverage of sports events. After…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC today approved four new national, English-language Category 2 specialty television channels. The new channels include Baseball TV from Rogers (sports), Northern Peaks (adult), eScapes (nature) and The Rural Channel with a focus on agricultural programming. All four channels are required to begin airing within the next three years.
Baseball’s been very good to Rogers
The CRTC has approved an application from Rogers for a national, English-language Category 2 specialty station devoted to the coverage of baseball called Baseball TV.
Rogers is proposing to broadcast live Major League Baseball (MLB) games comprising a maximum of 10% of its…
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IF THERE’S ONE THING distributors don’t like, it’s being told what to do by the CRTC.
As we saw during the April hearings into broadcast distribution undertaking and specialty service policy, cable companies don’t like linkage rules or must-carries or carriage restrictions or much of anything else they “have” to do.
Cable altogether opposed the licensing of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network as a must-carry, 91(h) channel in 1999, but the Commission still licensed it as a channel which all distributors must carry as a basic service. APTN is one of those channels that furthers the goals of the…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has denied a request from Bell and Telus to replace the basic international telecommunications services (BITS) licensing regime with a registration system. Instead, the commission has decided to leave the current licensing regime as is, ruling it allows for more effective enforcement than a registration system.
In its year-long review of the BITS licensing regime the commission received submissions from Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Bell Canada, Saskatchewan Telecommunications, Télébec, MTS Allstream Inc., Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Communications.
The BITS licensing regime for telecommunications services providers (TSPs) was put in place a…
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