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.
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VIDEO ON DEMAND, wireless, HDTV, deregulation – Canada’s small cable operators will gather at Mont Tremblant in just over two weeks for Pixel Nation, which is the theme for the 2007 Canadian Cable Systems Alliance’s annual general meeting.
The formal – and informal – parts of the event will be lively, given the upcoming broadcast distribution undertaking policy review coming in January, and all the issues Canada’s independent cable operators face at home and will want to address there.
Panel sessions include a video on demand session and technical session led by CableLabs, along with a members-only meeting with…
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OTTAWA – The 2007 Canadian Association of Broadcasters convention happens right in Ottawa this November and look for the group to focus on the future and how it will affect policy.
Entitled Broadcasting, Redefined, the annual convention will look at, says the CAB web site:
* The impact of new technologies and platforms, including broadband, the Internet, high-definition television, and digital radio
* The new consumer, whose needs and expectations are being constantly redefined by innovative content offerings and delivery systems
* The adoption of new business models and partnerships in an ever-changing marketplace
* The need for a…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Eleven companies, big and small ones, have applied to the CRTC for an FM radio license in Kelowna, B.C.
The growing B.C. community of 125,000 is served by just five private radio stations owned by Standard Broadcasting and Pattison Broadcast.
The applicants, and proposed formats, are:
* Sun Country Cablevision, Classic Rock
* Harvard Broadcasting, adult standard/easy listening
* CHUM Ltd., Alternative Rock/Pop
* Clear Sky Radio, Specialty FM Smooth Jazz
* Touch Canada Broadcasting, contemporary gospel.
* Northern Native Broadcasting, mix of popular music (rock, pop and dance) as well as blues and country. * Radio…
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JAY SWITZER HAS IT bad for the Canadian TV industry.
After less than three months out of work, the former CEO of CHUM Limited dearly misses the people he has worked with for over two decades and the work of providing hours of TV programming to Canadians.
The self-professed "content guy" – who spent some time this summer riding into the sunsets of the U.S. southwest – is not about to ride into the sunset and retire. He’ll be back, but he has months to decide where and when.
Last week, he sat down with Cartt.ca editor and publisher…
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OTTAWA – At the CRTC hearing into Rogers Communications’ purchase of Citytv, actors union ACTRA has asked the CRTC to establish new standards for benefits packages flowing from such acquisitions.
"We need new standards for benefits packages so Canadians can see a real increase in Canadian drama on television. We’re asking the CRTC to calculate benefits based on the full value of the purchase and ensure that two-thirds of benefits are directed to 10-point Canadian drama," said Richard Hardacre, ACTRA national president, in a press release.
ACTRA is opposing Rogers’ application unless it enhances its drama commitment and directs…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – THE CRTC today told CanWest Global CEO Leonard Asper that he only has himself to blame for the delay in hearing his company’s bid to gain control over Alliance Atlantis’ specialty channels.
Yesterday Asper issued a release professing his disappointment the Commission has decided to cancel next Wednesday’s planned hearing into the acquisition of Alliance Atlantis by CanWest Global/Goldman Sachs, moving the hearing to November 19 instead. In the meantime, more public comment on the transaction will be asked.
While Asper may be "disappointed", it was a ream of paper dumped into the CRTC mailbox just last…
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WINNIPEG and OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Thanks to a late closing date on the transaction itself, the CRTC hearing into the CanWest Global/Goldman Sachs purchase of Alliance Atlantis will now happen on November 19th.
It had been scheduled for next Wednesday at the Commission headquarters in Gatineau and it appears the Regulator wanted the change.
The CanWest press release issued late this afternoon said the company has "received notice from the… CRTC that the hearing into its application to transfer Alliance Atlantis’ regulated properties to CanWest will be held on November 19, 2007."
"The delay is a result of the later…
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ANYONE WISHING A BIT of a preview of January’s hearings on broadcast distribution undertaking and specialty services policy changes need only speed through Shaw Communications intervention in the CanWest Global/Goldman Sachs purchase of Alliance Atlantis proceeding.
The three page document outlines in very brief terms what Shaw – and likely other cable companies – will be looking for once that policy review comes around.
Shaw didn’t object at all to the proposed merger but the company rarely misses a chance to state its case on where it believes the regulator should be heading.
"In combination with other recent…
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IF THERE HAS BEEN a Canadian television channel that has struggled more with its programming, carriage, ownership and identity than OUTtv, which began its life in September 2001 as Pridevision, we don’t know of it.
The original category one digital specialty service license went to a surprising place to begin with. The CRTC, preoccupied at the time with trying to uplift smaller broadcasters, gave the must-carry digital license to what then was Headline Media, the owners of what has become The Score, a straight-male all-sports station where no one had experience in the gay community.
Granted, Headline did partner…
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