NEW YORK – The American banks that have committed themselves to backing the $52 billion leveraged buyout of Bell Canada are seeking to renegotiate the deal, says a Monday story in the New York Times.
According to the story, the banks want new terms, including higher interest rates and stronger protections for the banks, as well as a lower purchase price, which is currently set at Cdn$42.75 per share. Shares closed at $38.80 on Friday and the Toronto Stock Exchange is closed today for the Victoria Day long weekend but BCE shares trading in New York were down over $2,…
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OTTAWA – The House of Commons decided last week that Bill C-327 should not proceed further. On May 13, it adopted the April 9, 2008 Report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, which made such a recommendation.
As a result, the legislative process on Bill C-327 will go no further in this session of Parliament. The bill proposed to alter the Broadcasting Act so that the CRTC would have to come up with new rules to curb violence on television. The Commission would also be required to police TV programming for any content that crossed those standards on…
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MONTREAL – BCE announced Monday it has written confirmation from the CRTC that it had met the regulator’s conditions of sale with “two minor exceptions,” just as media reports surfaced that the banks providing the financing want to renegotiate terms of the deal.
The CRTC states in the letter that its conditions set forth in its March 27 decision to approve the acquisition of BCE by an 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…
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CALGARY – Star Choice lashed out at the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. on Friday, accusing it of misleading the public over carriage issues around the CBC Saskatchewan TV channel and RDI.
“The CBC’s suggestion that we are breaching regulatory rules is also wrong. Star Choice carries 79 local and regional television stations, including 16 CBC network stations and local affiliates. By comparison, Star Choice carries a total of 13 CTV network stations and local affiliates,” said Peter Bissonnette, president of Star Choice-owner Shaw Communications Inc.
In a complaint to the CRTC, the CBC accused Star Choice of being in breach…
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OTTAWA – A fund aimed at supporting not-for-profit, local radio that launched Thursday will dole out $1.4 million over seven years. Seed money for the fund, called the Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC), is coming from Astral Media Inc.
“Canadians may have more media choices than ever, but there has been a clear decline in the amount of programming that reflects local communities and their concerns, from both commercial and public media,” said Charles-Eugene Cyr, president of Alliance des radios communautaires (ARC) du Canada. “The Community Radio Fund will help community broadcasting reach its full potential as an…
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TORONTO – The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) blasts Canadian broadcasters in a media release Wednesday as they gear up to spend millions on U.S. film and television shows down south at the LA Screenings.
“Once again, Canada’s private broadcasters are in L.A. spending millions of Canadian dollars on Hollywood productions, ignoring their obligations to Canada’s culture and taxpayers. They make millions off Canada’s public airwaves thanks to the CRTC, by showing U.S. programming, while letting Canada’s film and television industry wither,” said ACTRA National Executive Director Stephen Waddell.
ACTRA notes that Canada’s over-the-air private…
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“IN A DIGITAL CONTENT world, all stakeholders must accept greater risk,” is a single line from the final reply to the CRTC by Telus to the Commission’s policy review of broadcast distribution undertakings and specialty services.
Final replies from stakeholders were due into the Commission last Thursday.
It’s a key line, because it lies at the heart of what’s at stake for every media company in Canada – heck, in the western world, really, and certainly for Canadian specialty channels, OTA broadcasters and BDUs. With the digital media world comes new opportunities, but also more risk than the tried…
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GATINEAU – When rookie CRTC commissioner Michel Morin first unveiled his possible points plan for specialty channels during last month’s BDU and specialty policy hearing, many were left scratching their heads.
But, as he put more meat on the bones of his idea, as it were, as the hearing progressed, stakeholders began to mull it over and some were taking it pretty seriously. In fact, the Commission asked for comments from stakeholders to address it specifically.
However, upon further review, most have lauded Morin’s intentions – more Canadian content to more Canadians – but dismissed his idea.
Morin proposed…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC will hold a public hearing on several radio stations proposed for the Ottawa-Gatineau region along with several TV applications on Tuesday.
Among the applicants seeking a radio licence are Corus Radio Company for an English-language news talk station on frequency 101.9 MHz and Astral Media for an English-language soft adult music format on 99.7 MHz.
Other proposed formats are tourist radio, religious radio, adult album alternative, blues music and pop alternative.
The CRTC said it would consider the radio licence proposals, for either the 99.7 MHz, 101.9 MHz or 101.7 MHz frequencies, as competitive radio…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) is charging that Bell Canada has contravened the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) by using deep-packet inspection technology (DPI) to control traffic over its Internet lines.
DPI reveals what subscribers are using their connections for, to find and limit peer-to-peer applications such as BitTorrent. Bell has said it needs to ensure traffic over its infrastructure doesn’t slow down, and DPI is aimed at optimizing its network.
CIPPIC, a University of Ottawa-based legal clinic specializing in Internet law, though noted in a May 9 letter to the Privacy…
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