CALGARY – A press release issued by Shaw Communications this afternoon that some might term a little imprudent, took some new swings at the CRTC and in the overall direction the Calgary-based company believes this month’s Commission hearing is headed.
The three-week-long hearing has just completed its third day of proceedings (Shaw isn’t scheduled to appear until April 23) into the policies governing broadcast distribution undertakings and specialty services, but the company which owns Star Choice and Shaw Cable clearly doesn’t like the tone of the discussions so far.
"When it was first announced, we were optimistic that this…
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GATINEAU – The messages Rogers Communications executives were trying to get across to CRTC commissioners this morning were obscured a little by an unexpected source: company founder Ted Rogers.
Rogers strayed a little from the themes the others on his panel were trying to get across to Commissioners Michel Morin. Ron Williams, Len Katz, Michel Arpin, Rita Cugini and chairman Konrad von Finckenstein on the opening of day one of the hearings into the policies governing broadcast distribution undertakings and specialty services in Canada.
Rogers executives Ken Engelhart and Phil Lind took the lead, but with Canada’s pre-eminent cable…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Rogers Broadcasting Inc.’s application to acquire CTV’s stake in Outdoor Life Network, and the CBC’s application to purchase CTV’s shares in ARTV inc. were gazetted Tuesday (Broadcasting Public Notice 2008-27).
On behalf of 1163031 Ontario Inc., Rogers Broadcasting is applying to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares currently held by CTV in Outdoor Life for $38.805 million. Rogers is proposing a $3.880 million tangible benefits package in conjunction with the sale.
CBC is paying $1.760 million for CTV’s stake in the French-language arts channel ARTV. The CBC currently holds 45.09% and CTV 15.57% of the channel. If…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is recommending the establishment of a small, low-priced all-Canadian basic service and fee-for-carriage for the over-the-air TV signals of broadcasters.
Speaking on the opening day of a three-week-long CRTC hearing on distribution and pay TV, CBC executives told the commission that a small basic service would give Canadians more choice in selecting the additional Canadian and foreign discretionary services they want.
Fee-for-carriage would provide conventional broadcasters with subscription revenues to allow they to “continue to play their cornerstone role in the system and to maintain or enhance the quantity and quality of their…
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I’VE HEARD NO END of parallels spun in attempts to explain the complex structure we call the Canadian television industry.
From cars and roads and traffic lights to water bottles and Lake Ontario. A house of cards to yarn and a sweater – and even an airplane ride and airline peanuts. Various parts of the industry are the gears in the car, the pre-and post-processed water, the air pressure inside and outside the plane. The yarn-and-sweater analogy is always “if you pull at one thread, the whole things comes apart.” I can’t repeat without a potential libel suit what…
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TORONTO – Canadians don’t trust deregulated cable and satellite TV companies to promote and deliver Canadian content on TV, and see the CRTC and the federal government as guardians of Canadian culture, states a Pollara survey conducted on behalf of some creative guilds and unions.
The survey results were released Monday, the day before the CRTC is set to start three-week-long public hearings into a new framework for broadcast distributors and specialty TV.
“Canadians have a strong sense of national identity; they want their TV programming to reflect and support that identity and values, and they look to Ottawa…
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IT’S FUN TO PROGNOSTICATE. To try and read the tea leaves and make educated (or not) guesses about certain things. Sports (pro and amateur) is utterly built around such predicting, thanks to the billions of dollars bet on the games every year.
Similarly enormous amounts of money and the fate of our industry are collectively at stake beginning this week when the cable, satellite, telco and specialty broadcasting community take their turn in front of a panel of CRTC commissioners who will largely determine how the broadcast distribution undertaking and specialty services industries will be run for perhaps the…
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TORONTO – There is no current economic rationale for broadcasters and cable networks to abandon traditional TV or attempt to accelerate a transition to a total online model, says a new report released this week by Convergence Consulting Group.
To do so would put $66 billion in traditional TV advertising revenue and $30 billion in cable, satellite, telco TV provider programming fees at risk, says The Battle for the North American Couch Potato report released this week.
“Our forecasts demonstrate that through 2011 broadcaster and cable network online advertising revenues will equal half the gains of their traditional TV…
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OTTAWA – Bell Canada is seeking leave to appeal the CRTC’s March 3 wholesale services decision to the Federal Court of Appeal on the grounds that the regulator “erred in law and/or as to its jurisdiction.”
The court has no deadline to respond “yes” or “no” to the request made last week by Bell and fellow appellants Bell Aliant, Saskatchewan Telecommunications and Telebec, Societe en commandite to take Telecom Decision 2008-17 through the judicial system to try to have it overturned.
The CRTC’s decision is “incorrect and unreasonable” and “didn’t meet legal standards,” Mirko Bibic, Chief of Regulatory Affairs at Bell…
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WINNIPEG – Canwest on Friday spelled out how it will spend the $1.5 million it will be giving to the National Screen Institute (NSI) as part of its benefits package associated with its acquisition of Alliance Atlantis Communications.
As part of the deal for CRTC approval of Canwest’s $2.3 billion takeover of Alliance Atlantis, the Winnipeg-based broadcaster is required to provide a $151.25-million benefits package. Of that $151.25 million, Canwest committed $1.5 million over the next seven years to NSI.
The money allocated to NSI will go toward the following initiatives: NSI Global Marketing (provides training and professional development…
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