OTTAWA – Major broadcasters are opposing the budget increases being sought by the CRTC to deal with new regulatory challenges, according to the CRTC Budgetary Requirements and Fees Outcomes Report released Wednesday. More support came from the telecommunications community, although some telcos had concerns about the amount and duration of the proposed fee hikes.
This fall, the CRTC will ask the Treasury Board of Canada to up its operating budget by $8.3 million in 2007-08, $9.94 million in 2008-09 and $9.07 on an ongoing basis thereafter.
The CRTC contends its budget has been stable for over four years (with…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Time to revive all the old jokes that CRTC stands for “Can’t Release ‘Til Christmas”.
The Commission today confirmed that the complex issues facing a decision on what to do about the Canadian television fund were too much to consider prior to the previously-set September deadline.
A December decision means it will have been about a year since Shaw Communications tried to blow up the fund by withholding payments and saying it would rather give money claimed from cable and satellite bills for the CTF, back to its customers. Quebecor Media’s Videotron soon followed suit.
This is…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – An independent Canadian broadcaster trying to make a go of it with an all-high definition channel lineup says Wednesday’s report to the CRTC on broadcasting policies and regulations are “a breath of fresh air.”
High Fidelity HDTV, which owns and operates Rush HD, Equator HD, Treasure HD, and Oasis HD has bumped up against the various rules and regulations in place which have made it tough to gain carriage across Canada.
“The Canadian Association of Broadcasters issued a press release yesterday stating that it has significant concerns with the Dunbar/Leblanc Report. This broadcaster does not share…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – ACTRA says yesterday’s Dunbar-LeBlanc report validates what the actors’ union has been saying all along, that the drama incentives for Canadian broadcasters instituted by the CRTC don’t work.
The report, released yesterday by the CRTC was commissioned by the regulatory body to look into Canada’s broadcasting policy and suggest changes.
Scary for the broadcasters but potentially good for the actors, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin lawyers Laurence Dunbar and Christian Leblanc said the Commission should to re-evaluate its simultaneous substitution policy because it encourages over-the-air Canadian broadcasters to schedule American TV shows in peak viewing times to the detriment…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – After just over four months of study, A two-person Broadcast Policy Review Panel filed its report with the CRTC last week and the Commission will release it today, Cartt.ca has learned.
Similar to the 2005 Telecom Policy Review Panel which caused a sea-change in telecom, this new broadcasting report has the potential to do the very same for broadcast.
Commissioning a report like this and simply assigning two lawyers (albeit two good ones in Fasken Martineau DuMoulin lawyers Laurence Dunbar of Toronto and Christian Leblanc of Montreal) is a bit of an unusual move for the CRTC….
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – With many of its major markets now deregulated, Bell Canada today announced today announced Home Phone has been added to its bundle of offerings in Quebec.
With the inclusion of Home Phone packages in the Bell Bundle, new and existing customers can save up to $25 every month on their communications services.
Until deregulation, Bell had limitations on how it could make such an offer and Videotron, with a very low priced local phone offer, has been able to take over half a million phone customers. The release did not say when the offer might come to…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Industry protests over recommendations in the just-released Dunbar-Leblanc report are bound to follow fast and furious in the next few days.
After all, the report recommends the CRTC re-examine simultaneous substitution, possibly reduce the amount of independently produced programming required, and be more pro-active in adjudicating competitive disputes, including distributor undue preference with regard to affiliated TV channels.
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) on the eve the 315-page report, entitled “Review of the Regulatory Framework for Broadcasting Services in Canada,” was released was already voicing its opposition.
Stating it had “significant concerns” with the report prepared by…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Established to support Alberta’s independent production community, the CanWest Alberta Fund (CAF) will offer $10.5 million over the next seven years to finance the production of drama, documentaries, reality and lifestyle programming by Alberta producers.
CAF will provide equity investments of up to $300,000 per project for productions that are licensed by any Canadian broadcaster, says the press release, a significant new source of financing for the Alberta production community.
"This important benefits package comes as a result of the recent CRTC decision supporting the extension of CanWest’s Red Deer station signal throughout Alberta, opening new doors…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR Dr. Michael Geist is Canada’s leading proponent of network neutrality, which, as you’ll read, has many definitions.
Despite the differences in definitions, it’s primarily about treating most bits of data equally so that the free flow of information prospers and opportunities can be available equally to all.
In newspaper columns and on television and in his blog, Geist revisits this issue frequently and believes it’s only a matter of time before it is front and centre in Canadian politics.
The Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law, University of Ottawa recently sat down with…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC today granted a Telus request to deregulate local phone service in several Quebec regions.
Adding to the larger centres across Canada which have already been deregulated, as we’ve reported, Baie-Comeau (Marquette sector), Baie-Comeau (Hauterive sector), Matane, Mont-Joli, Montmagny, Port Cartier, Sept-Îles, Saint-Georges-de-Beauce, and Saint-Lambert are now deregulated exchanges.
It was a quick turnaround as well, as Telus only filed its request in July, said the Commission.
Continue Reading
