OTTAWA – "It’s a missed opportunity," says Guy Mayson, summing up the Canadian Film and Television Production Association’s overall reaction to the CRTC’s new over-the-air TV policy.
Speaking to Cartt.ca from the streets of Cannes, France, where he’s attending the film festival, the CFTPA president explained that while the policy shows the CRTC has noted producer concerns about the need to increase broadcaster investment in original, Canadian, priority programming, it delayed taking action.
“We’re a little disappointed that the Commission didn’t act” to require conventional TV broadcasters to meet minimum program expenditures and to schedule more of this programming…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – As we told you on Monday, the CRTC will release its new policy on conventional, over-the-air television. In fact, it will be released today.
The primary issue is whether or not Canadians will soon have to pay an additional fee for conventional broadcast signals from CTV, Global and the CBC, as we noted on Monday.
Watch Cartt.ca today and tomorrow for more on this story.
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Saying the need for new subscriber fees wasn’t demonstrated by conventional broadcasters, the CRTC’s new convention television policy does not include a boost in Canadians’ cable or satellite bills.
The new policy will, however, "ensure Canadians have access to digital and high-definition television programming, and that broadcasters continue to contribute to the production, acquisition and broadcast of high-quality Canadian programming.
The Commission has decided to:
* Remove restrictions on advertising time limits after gradually increasing the amount of advertising allowed;
*Establish August 31, 2011, as the date by which television licensees will only broadcast digital signals (about…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The Commission this week okayed the application by Fifth Dimension Properties for a category two digital license which will be branded Penthouse TV.
Fifth Dimension is a company owned and operated by Stuart Duncan, who also runs Ten Broadcasting, the parent company of Hustler TV in Canada.
Should it gain carriage, Penthouse TV will join the likes of Playboy TV, Hustler, AOV and others in the adult category on cable and satellite lineups in Canada.
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OTTAWA – We’ll find out sometime in the next few days whether or not Canadians will be paying more for their television (among many other things). The CRTC’s new policy for conventional television will be released this week, likely tomorrow, said the Commission’s chairman last week.
In a speech to the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters, which Cartt.ca reported on here, chairman Konrad von Finckenstein told delegates: "Around May 15, we will issue our determinations arising out of our review of over-the-air television."
The primary issue is sure to be whether or not Canadians will soon have to pay…
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PENTICTON – Since Konrad von Finckenstein’s appointment as CRTC chair in January, there has been much to say on the telecom file, but many in broadcasting has wondered where he stood and in what sort of direction the Commission will go on that side of its business..
Wonder no longer.
In a speech to the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters on Thursday, von Finckenstein outlined the Commission`s very ambitious goals, which reflect the “market forces” approach of our federal government.
There were four main points in the B.C. speech, which we all might look back on as the day…
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OAKVILLE – Emergency management authorities in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island used The Weather Network’s localization technology this week to issue test emergency warnings to the public.
The messages were seen by cable TV subscribers only in those provinces, although The Weather Network is available across Canada.
“We are very pleased that the Maritime Provinces are showing leadership in the area of public alerting,” said Pierre Morrissette, president and CEO of Pelmorex Media Inc., which owns The Weather Network. “Targeted broadcasts over The Weather Network will mean that viewers elsewhere in Canada will not see warnings…
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TORONTO — Look Communications Inc. and Bell Canada have put their spat on hold, and have agreed to extend the May 10 deadline for Bell to disconnect the services it provides to Look.
The two companies have agreed to the following:
1. Bell will not disconnect services provided to Look pending the decision of the CRTC;
2. Once the decision of the CRTC is issued, Bell will not suspend services to Look for five business days from the date of the CRTC decision;
3. Look will provide Bell with its notice of motion for an injunction and supporting affidavit…
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WINNIPEG – MTS Allstream has applied to the CRTC for local telephone forbearance in Winnipeg.
MTS Allstream is the latest company to ask for residential phone service deregulation following the April 4 announcement by Canada’s Industry Minister Maxime Bernier that telecommunications companies can apply for a relaxation of regulations in communities where customers can choose between at least three service providers with their own network infrastructure, one of which can be a wireless provider, and where they meet specific Quality of Service (QoS) measures for six months.
Last month, Telus filed for forbearance in Vancouver and Edmonton, and Bell…
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VERNON, BC – The Jim Pattison Broadcast Group has agreed to buy the FM radio station CKIZ-FM (KISS-FM) that services this community located north of Kelowna, BC from Rogers Broadcasting. Financial details of the transaction, which is still subject to CRTC approval, were not released.
“We are great believers in the growth of prospects of BC’s interior, especially in the Okanagan Valley,” said Jim Pattison Broadcast Group President Rick Arnish. “We consider this to be an important acquisition – one that expands our presence in the north Okanagan and will complement our two radio stations located in Kelowna and…
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