GATINEAU – The CRTC has told Shaw Communications it may require the communications giant to file monthly reports on how its community channels are not violating the regs.
Twice in the past two years, Shaw Cablesystems community channels have been rebuked by the Commission for showing advertisements on its cable community channels.
In the Broadcast Distribution Regulations , cable companies are not allowed to air traditional ad spots and there are limitations on the types of sponsorship messages, or advertising, community channels can air. The regs also say sponsorship messages can contain only 15 seconds of…
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OTTAWA – A Federal Court of appeal decision last week that overturned an earlier Federal Court Trial Division ruling regarding broadcast licence fees will be appealed by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, the organization announced Monday afternoon.
In December of 2006, the Federal Court Trial Division ruled the CRTC Part II Licence Fees collected by the federal government from broadcasters and broadcast distributors were an illegal tax. The Crown appealed that decision to the Federal Court of Appeal, which ruled on April 28th that the fees are valid regulatory charges. The CAB launched this challenge in 2003…
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TORONTO – Limited in our questions as we were (no talking about iPhone, no talking about the advanced wireless spectrum auction), here’s a pretty good taste of what we media types who cover Rogers Communications asked about during Tuesday’s press conference just prior to the RCI AGM (we omitted the questions about the Blue Jays and their dismal start to the season, however). ************* About the AWS auction, and the fact they wouldn’t talk about it, said CEO Ted Rogers: “If you’re going to bid on a Rembrandt, you don’t want to talk about it ahead of time.” *************…
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TORONTO – CTVglobemedia today announced a $400,000 grant to the Canadian Broadcast Museum Foundation/Fondation du musée canadien de la radiodiffusion (CBMF/FMCR).
This grant is part of the public benefits package that was approved by the CRTC following CTVgm’s acquisition of the CHUM properties.
"We are pleased to continue our support of the CBMF and salute their mission to ensure our nation’s broadcasting history is preserved as an important component of Canada’s cultural heritage," said Paul Sparkes, executive vice-president corporate affairs, CTVgm, in a press release.
"This sustaining commitment by CTVgm has really set the bar for Canada’s broadcasters. In…
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CALGARY – The feud between one of Canada’s largest cable companies and one of its smallest took another turn Monday when Shaw Communications announced the CRTC had issued an administrative decision allowing the company to extend the authorized service area of its Courtenay B.C. cable system to include the community of Campbell River.
Campbell River is currently served by Campbell River Television, a community-owned cable co-operative with about 13,000 customers.
As Cartt.ca reported, Shaw made an offer to buy the company last fall, but the membership turned it down, so it looks like Shaw is ready to overbuild…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications first quarter results met analyst expecations, showing good growth in all units.
RCI’s consolidated revenue climbed 14% to $2.6 billion in the first quarter, ended March 31st while adjusted operating profit rose 21% to $984 million, and net income 102% to $344 million.
Cable subscribers continued to grow, thanks to home phone additions and Rogers Wireless postpaid net subscriber additions were 97,000 in the quarter, with ARPU up 7% and churn down to 1.1%;
"This was a robust start to 2008 both operationally and financially for which I’m thankful to our loyal customers and our thousands…
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OTTAWA – Bell Canada won’t be making public data to support its claim that over-the-air fee-for-carriage rate hikes will prompt subscribers to drop its ExpressVu service.
In a letter, dated April 25, to the CRTC, Bell’s regulatory affairs chief Mirko Bibic said it won’t file the data because of its “great commercial sensitivity’’ and “the Commission’s disinclination to accept it on a confidential basis,’’ even though the CRTC Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said Bell could file the data in confidence.
Bell noted that the “disaggregated monthly data’’ “could be of assistance’’ to the Commission, but refused to have information…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) says Bell Canada’s response to the CRTC over the organization’s complaints of traffic shaping, or throttling, “confirms that the association’s arguments of wrong-doing by the country’s largest phone company… were well-founded,” reads a press release.
CAIP’s original Part VII Application was filed earlier this month in response to certain traffic shaping measures that Bell Canada is applying to local access and transport services it supplies to competitors on a regulated basis. “Independent competitors interconnect with Bell in order to gain access to their end-user through the ‘final mile’ of access…
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MONTREAL and GATINEAU – BCE Inc. and the investor group led by Teachers’ Private Capital, the private investment arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Providence Equity Partners Inc., Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity, today announced that the CRTC has agreed to extend the deadline for the filing of documents relating to the proposed acquisition of BCE to May 12, 2008.
"We continue to work with BCE to meet all the requirements for closing by the end of the second quarter," said Jim Leech, President and CEO of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
The…
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GATINEAU – Of all the submissions we’ve heard over the past three weeks, Channel Zero’s boiled the issues down very well, kicking of its oral remarks on Wednesday.
Cal Millar, vice-president and general manager of the company which owns Silver Screen Classics and Movieola said he believes the hearing is about Canadian programming and the fact that the consumer doesn’t really care about all the machinations going on within the CRTC or any of the broadcast and distribution companies.
“Canadians don’t say to themselves: ‘I want to spend money on cable or satellite’,” explained Millar. “They say ‘I want…
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