OTTAWA – The Canadian Broadcasting Corp./Radio-Canada asked the CRTC this week to order satellite TV distributor Star Choice to immediately include RDI in its digital basic to subscribers in Anglophone markets.
It is the second complaint filed this week to the CRTC by the public broadcaster.
“Despite repeated efforts on the part of the CBC/Radio-Canada, the corporation has been unable to secure carriage of RDI on Star Choie’s basic service in Anglophone markets. RDI is not available on the ‘English Essentials package,’” CBC Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs Bev Kirshenblatt writes in a May 14 letter to the CRTC….
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC is going to re-examine its decision not to regulate new media, and on Thursday it asked the public to help it determine what issues it should consider at a public hearing to be held in early 2009.
The Commission indicates in a public notice that it wants to narrow the range of issues it will consider at the hearing on broadcasting in the new media environment. The regulator proposes looking at what exactly is broadcasting in new media, the creation and promotion of Canadian broadcasting content for the new media environment, and any barriers to…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC on Wednesday denied a request by the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) to stop Bell from “throttling” Internet traffic of competitor ISPs on an interim basis until it makes a final ruling on the matter.
In its decision, the CRTC denied CAIP’s request for interim relief because the regulator found CAIP did not present sufficient evidence of irreparable harm to its members as a result of Bells “traffic throttling” activities.
This is an unfortunate decision, said CAIP Chair Tom Copeland. “We feel the Commission has misapplied the test for interim relief by deeming the…
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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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OTTAWA – The CRTC will launch a public consultation on new media on Thursday – the same day on which it will release a document entitled Perspectives on Canadian Broadcasting in New Media.
CRTC Chair Konrad von Finckenstein told the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on May 13 that the Commission is looking to the public to confirm the CRTC has correctly identified the issues (in the document) and to help it structure a framework for a public hearing to be held in early 2009.
“I would like to be clear on one point. Our interest primarily lies in…
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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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REGINA – The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is asking the CRTC to force direct-to-home satellite TV distributor Star Choice to pick up the public broadcaster’s over-the-air TV signal that it dropped last week. “CBC/Radio-Canada files this complaint against Star Choice on the basis that Star Choice appears to be in breach of its condition of licence which specifies that the number of CBC English-language owned and operated television stations distributed by the licensee never falls below the number of English-language conventional stations distributed from any other individual broadcast group,” Bev Kirshenblatt, CBC senior director of regulatory affairs, writes in a…
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MONTREAL – BCE announced Monday it has filed with the CRTC all required materials related to its 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 Equity.
Under the $51.7 billion agreement, Teachers would own 51.6% of the equity share of BCE. But the CRTC imposed several conditions, including that Canadian investors must at all times nominate six directors on the board, to address its concerns relating to corporate governance and to ensure…
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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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