OTTAWA – Shaw Communications has told the CRTC it will implement high definition simultaneous substitution as the Commission has previously told it to.
A December 7th letter to the Commission says the HD sim-subbing Shaw Cable and Star Choice weren’t doing, will begin being done by December 31st. Two weeks prior to that letter the CRTC set a January 15th, 2008 hearing date for Shaw to appear and explain its non-compliance.
After a complaint filed by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters in June that said neither Shaw Cablesystems nor its sister satellite company Star Choice were performing their…
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OTTAWA – Shaw Communications is again in hot regulatory water over the sponsorship messages that have appeared on its cable community channels out west.
Last week, the CRTC issued a letter decision to the company saying some of the ads appearing on Shaw TV aren’t allowed under the regulations and applied new reporting requirements to the big cableco, since this is the second such violation.
When we reported on this in 2006, we noted that the Broadcast Distribution Regulations , say cable companies are not allowed to air traditional ad spots and there are limitations on the types…
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OTTAWA – About a year after receiving the original application for a new national over-the-air high definition television network, the CRTC called a hearing today, set for February 11, to talk about it, but this isn’t a license many are clamoring for.
The CRTC opened a call for competing applications in June and received none, save for a regional license application from a company calling itself YES TV.
Entrepreneur and XM Canada chairman John Bitove wants his new proposed company, HDTV Networks, to be a free, over-the-air broadcaster with transmitters in each of Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa,…
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WINNIPEG – MTS Allstream says it expects growth across all metrics in 2008, not huge overall growth mind you (1% to 3% on the EBITDA line), but the company projects a solid performance in 2008.
“For the first time since 2004, MTS expects to achieve overall revenue growth for the company and each of our divisions, making 2008 the year we set MTS on a new growth trajectory,” said president and CEO Pierre Blouin.
"Clearly, our strategy is working. In 2007 we have twice increased our earnings per share target, and we are positioned to achieve the upper end…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC on Friday approved two additional category two digital channel licenses to Channel Zero, owners and operators of Movieola and Silver Screen Classics.
The first is Short Form TV, which will offer short form content ranging in length from 30 seconds to 48 minutes. Programming would feature the best of current musical, dramatic, comedic, experimental, animated and user-generated short form content shot on film or video, or created with computer animation.
Plus, the channel will be a showcase for professional, amateur, student and experimental animators, filmmakers and storytellers in Canada.
The second license approved was Movie…
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WINNIPEG – With its new license granted by the CRTC this week, APTN will offer approximately 17 hours per week of distinctive HD programs on a version of APTN’s programming service to be known as APTN HD.
Although there were some initial concerns about this service impacting the overall amount of Aboriginal language programming available, “APTN’s decision to provide HD services not only demonstrates our willingness to adapt to an increasingly digital environment in the Canadian broadcasting industry, but also serves as an impetus for Aboriginal producers to begin creating programming in this new format,” said Jean LaRose, APTN…
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DESPITE THE CLOSING OF Canadian Digital Television (CDTV) at the end of August 2006, both the Canadian television industry and government still saw a need for further collaboration on technical and operational issues surrounding the roll-out of digital television in Canada.
To that end, a new group called the Digital Television Technology Group (DTV-TG) was formed about one year ago.
The Technology Group (whose web site can be found here) carries out collaborative investigative projects and research “to provide decision makers in industry and government with the technical information they need to plan for, and advance, the roll-out…
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TORONTO – 10-10 long distance company Yak Communications said today announced it has filed applications with the CRTC demanding that it force Telus to stop charging a long distance “access fee” of $2.95 a month.
Among the remedies Yak is seeking, reads its press release, Yak has applied for an order that consumers who have already paid this new fee be reimbursed by Telus.
Yak’s applications request that the CRTC return basic toll service to the regulated sphere and declare the new fee illegal, and that Telus reimburse customers that have already paid it, reads the release. In addition,…
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Dear Editor,
Well, I’m gobsmacked!
The Globe and Mail recently (29 November/07) reported that BitTorrent users were facing an engineered traffic jam by intervening ISPs. Geez, I thought that the Internet couldn’t be regulated?
But apparently it can be.
And by ISP technicians "in Canada and the United States (that) restrict the flow of certain traffic on their networks".
Oh, and I guess by rogue regimes, political cabals and thug dictators in Burma, Syria, Pakistan – and yup, China.
Moreover, ask Canadians to keyboard in "google.com" just to see what happens. Looks like somebody there is also "traffic shaping"…
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OTTAWA – Shaw Communications has taken aim again at the Canadian Television Fund. In a full-page advertisement on the back of the sports section of Saturday’s edition of the Ottawa Citizen, Shaw asks: “What do you call a $250 million boondoggle?” The answer, also in all capital letters, reads the ad: “The Canadian Television Fund.”
The advertisement notes the CTF has lost is way, and has “little to show” for the $2.5 billion it has spent on promoting and developing quality TV programming in Canada.
“Who made the decisions to spend billions of your dollars only to achieve so…
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