By Ken Murphy, John Panikkar and David Patterson
HIGH FIDELITY HDTV IS AN independent Canadian broadcaster. In the context of the current broadcast landscape, we carry the descriptor, some might say scarlet letter, “Category 2”.
High Fidelity HDTV has a unique perspective which combines our past experience building some of Canada’s most successful specialty services with our more recent experience as independent Canadian broadcast entrepreneurs and HDTV innovators.
We think the Dunbar Leblanc report is refreshing and brave. We understand why some may find it uncomfortable, but the report surfaces many questions which should be explored honestly and…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Broadcast distributors took a bashing as Canada’s main independent broadcasters complained Tuesday that difficulties gaining access to viewers was hindering the diversity of media voices in the country.
Pelmorex (The Weather Network/Meteomedia), Evanov Communications (five radio stations), Stornoway Communications (three digi-nets), XM Canada owner John Bitove and the Independent Programming Services (made up of Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, Channel Zero, Ethnic Channels Group, Fairchild Television/Talentvision, S-Vox Trust, Stornoway and TV5 Quebec Canada) all said distributor gatekeeping powers could result in a decline in the number of broadcast voices if the CRTC didn’t adopt appropriate safeguards.
Stornoway president…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC Friday granted the request of Quebecor Media’s Sun TV for rebroadcast transmitters in London and Ottawa, Ont.
Right now, Sun TV is available only to viewers in the Toronto-Hamilton corridor and the station suffers from such limited exposure when compared to its competitors, all of whom have stations (or multiple stations) in all of the above mentioned markets.
While there were the usual protestations from cable companies objecting to yet another channel that has to be squeezed into basic cable, jostling customers yet again, and rival broadcasters worried about losing ad dollars, the Commission approved…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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