WINNIPEG – Drew Craig wants back into Canadian media.
The former CEO of Craig Media has applied to the CRTC for a relay distribution undertaking license for his company, Only Imagine.
According to the application, the company would act as a middle man, selling the two minutes per hour of advertising time made available on American cable channels such as CNN and A&E to national advertisers in Canada.
Fifty percent of the revenues from such a venture would go to create a new Canadian programming fund, writes Craig. The application estimates that the company would contribute $170 million to…
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GATINEAU – Despite much experimentation and breathless reportage on the future of electronic media, Canadians still get their entertainment via traditional means, the CRTC said today.
The Commission released a 181-page report today, requested by Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda in June on the future environment facing the Canadian broadcasting system.
The report finds that any negative impact on the broadcasting system from shifting media consumption patterns has been marginal to date, according to the Commission release. This observation is based on the fact that Canadians still consume the vast majority of programming through regulated Canadian broadcasting undertakings.
"However,…
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SOME THOUGHTS ON the TV Policy Review hearings that one day, could grow up to be full-sized columns. ********** ONE OF THE MOST interesting questions at the hearing came late in the day on Monday, December 4th, when Media Awareness Network faced the five-person panel.
MNet, as it calls itself, is a non-profit organization with the laudable goal of boosting media literacy among children. The group promotes media and Internet education through its online programs and resources, working with a number of organizations in Canada and elsewhere. Its sponsors include Bell, Shaw, CTV, CHUM, Rogers, Telus and CanWest Global….
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OTTAWA – It was a quick decision issued by the Federal Court of Canada late today that will save Canadian private broadcasters hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters just a few weeks ago presented its case to the court that the $700 million or so paid over the past decade was an illegal tax. The court agreed.
"This is a monumental victory for Canada’s broadcasters, who have been forced for too long to pay an unfair and unjustified tax,” said Glenn O’Farrell, president and CEO of the CAB. “These fees have drained more than three-quarters…
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CALGARY – Could it be any other way for Shaw?
The company has long been a proponent of deregulation on the broadcast and cable side of its businesses, so it would have been disingenuous for the company to come down on the side of those who want to maintain regulation in Canadian telecom.
On Tuesday, the day after Industry Minister Maxime Bernier’s well-publicized announcement which will see the feds override a CRTC decision and move towards deregulation of the local phone space, the western cableco said it "had reviewed Minister Bernier’s decision to vary the CRTC’s decision on local…
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REGINA – For the first time, a telco TV provider is getting as local as the local cable community channel.
SaskTel Wednesday announced the launch of Max Local On Demand, a unique new service featuring original local community programming, all on demand, something no other Canadian service provider currently offers.
SaskTel, as is its condition of license, has created an Independent Programming Committee (IPC) with representatives from each of the nine districts in which Max serves (Estevan, Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Prince Albert, Regina, Saskatoon, Swift Current, Weyburn and Yorkton) to advise programmers of the new service.
“SaskTel Max…
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TORONTO – Classic movies from Astral Media’s Mpix and Mescape will now be available to distributors through Mpix OnDemand, the company announced today.
Mpix OnDemand will mark the second SVOD service for The Movie Network, which has been offering The Movie Network OnDemand since June 2004.
"The success of The Movie Network OnDemand clearly indicates that we have entered an on-demand world where consumers want and expect choice and convenience when it comes to their television viewing," said Domenic Vivolo, senior vice-president marketing and sales, Astral Television Networks, in a release. "Mpix OnDemand complements our existing SVOD service by…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC’s 2006 Radio Policy is on the schedule for release this week.
That, of course, doesn’t necessarily mean it will happen this week, but radio executives have been promised the decision will be released before Christmas (so many have predictably hauled out that old chestnut which goes: CRTC = Can’t Release ‘Til Christmas…)
In case readers would enjoy a bit of a recap of the issues prior to the release, check out Cartt.ca’s extensive coverage of the May hearings below. All stories were written by Cartt.ca’s radio editor, Laurel Hyatt.——————————————-COMMENTARY: Fifty percent Cancon is radio welfare I LOVE MUSIC. Many…
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GATINEAU – Airing a show called Sex Traffic prior to the watershed hour of 9 p.m. is a no-no, the CRTC told the CBC today.
The Commission actually ruled on two complaints today (the first of which concerned a broadcast from April 2005) and said that "by airing Sex Traffic and Old School at 8:00 p.m., the licensee did not meet the Canadian broadcasting policy objective set out in the Broadcasting Act that programming should be of high standard," reads the decision.
"The Commission further finds that the broadcast of Sex Traffic at 8:00 p.m. was a violation of…
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Dear Editor,
I am writing in response to the story written by Susan Tolusso titled “Cultural groups in stark contrast to broadcast positions”, December 5, 2006.
The Ontario Ministry of Culture appeared before the CRTC’s public hearing on the regulatory framework for over-the-air television on Monday December 4, 2006.
I would like to correct the reference to the ministry’s position on fee for carriage.
The ministry’s comments on fee for carriage are in response to specific questions put forward by the Commission in Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing CRTC 2006-5:
“Should the Commission consider permitting a subscriber fee for…
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