LET US BEGIN BY making our position utterly clear. We do not believe that Bill C-327 is either necessary or even moderately useful in dealing with the issue of violence on television.
We have filed a written presentation with the Committee Clerk that will hopefully provide a useful tour d’horizon of the issue. I will try to limit this oral presentation to the clarification of matters raised by witnesses and Hon. Members of this Committee.
First, the nature and extent of the problem, namely, the exposure of our children to violence in the media. Is problematic violent content increasing…
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DARTMOUTH, NS – Newfoundland Capital Corporation Ltd. reported fourth-quarter net income of $5.77 million, up from the $3.29 profit recorded in the same quarter a year earlier, according to financial results released Monday. The increase was attributed to a future tax recovery related to corporate income tax rate reduction.
Revenues for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 were $27.74 million, down 1% from $28.06 million the prior year, due to a slight decrease in broadcasting revenue in the fourth quarter.
Operating expenses were $22.7 million in the fourth quarter, down $1.5 million from 2006. The decrease was due to…
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MONTREAL – Quebec film and television production company Remstar Corporation has won the bidding war for the financially troubled TQS television network.
TQS’s Board of Directors and the networks’ shareholders announced Monday their approval of Remstar’s offer, shortly after it was accepted by Quebec Superior Court Judge Pierre Journet.
The terms and the amount of the offer were not revealed, but Remstar’s co-president and CEO Maxime Rémillard said in a statement that “our business plan will take TQS beyond traditional television broadcasting. That’s how we believe we can best respond to the challenges facing the Quebec television industry.”
“We’re…
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MONTREAL – The Quebec Superior Court has approved BCE’s planned sale to a consortium led by the Teacher’s Private Capital, it was announced Friday. Some shareholders were fighting the deal, but the court “dismissed all claims asserted by or on behalf of certain holders of Bell Canada debentures.”
“We are very pleased with the Superior Court’s decisions. On every point of contention, the court ruled in favour of BCE,” said BCE and Bell Canada chief legal officer Martine Turcotte. “The court’s decisions affirm our long-standing position that the claims of these debenture holders are without merit and that BCE…
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TORONTO – Corus Entertainment Inc. announced Friday that the Company has reached an agreement to purchase the analog specialty television service CLT (Canadian Learning Television) from CTVglobemedia for about $73 million. The transaction is subject to approval by the CRTC.
“The acquisition of CLT represents another great growth opportunity for Corus Entertainment,” said Corus Entertainment President and CEO John Cassaday in a statement. “We are convinced that with the access to over 5 million households that CLT currently enjoys, we have the know-how and experience to build on the success the network has achieved thus far.”
Among its other…
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WE’VE SHIED AWAY FROM covering the minor fracas over Bill C-10, a bit of federal legislation that would see tax credits revoked from movies and TV shows that cross the line from edgy to criminal.
Film producers, writers and actors have been screaming about censorship all this week, fearing that Canadian movies will lose tax credits just because some politicians might not like their content. Honestly, I don’t see the reason for all the fuss and they are pouring their energies into opposing the wrong bill.
While in a free society we’ve all got to stand guard against censorship,…
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ST CATHARINES – Robert C. (Bob) Short, the founding president of the Canadian Cable Television Association, died last weekend. He was 82.
After years in the electrical equipment supply industry, rising to president of Edwards Company, Short was hired as the first full-time president of the CCTA in 1970. Later, he also served as vice-president of Canada Wire and Cable, the first president of Cancom and deputy chairman of CUC Broadcasting (which many will recall as Trillium Cable).
Short fought some of cable’s first battles during his five-year stint heading the association, such as helping win the rights to…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – While the CRTC said Monday it established “a new framework for wholesale services that will promote competition in wholesale and retail telecommunications markets based on sound economic principles,” market players say what, in fact, happened, was a confirmation of the status quo for the most part.
"Further to the government’s direction that the Commission rely on market forces to the greatest extent possible, we conducted a comprehensive review of our approach to the wholesale services provided by traditional companies," said Konrad von Finckenstein, chairman of the CRTC, in a statement. "We have now set out…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – Canada’s private conventional broadcasters recorded their highest ever revenue total in the 2007 broadcast year (ended August 31st) at $2.17 billion, says the CRTC.
That number was up slightly from 2006 while expenses were held in check, too, which meant that profits before interest and taxes rose to $113 million, up 24% over the 2006 total. As well, the PBIT margin rose from 4.24% to 5.2% during the same period. However, these totals are pretty skinny and remained below those reported between 2003 and 2005 when it was closer to 15%.
Overall, revenues from the…
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VANCOUVER – Earlier this month, media activist group Adbusters lost the court battle it launched against CBC and Canwest Global when the two broadcasters refused to sell the group airtime for its commercials.
Adbusters claimed the CBC and Canwest Global had violated its right to free speech under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by refusing to sell air time, “but the court decided that the Charter does not apply to private corporations,” says an Adbusters release.
(Ed note: Actually, the ruling says no such thing. It was more along the lines of saying broadcasters, like retailers, can…
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