OTTAWA – The foreign-owned, Hindi-language movie channel Sony Max is being considered for digital distribution in Canada. In Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2007-58, issued Thursday, the CRTC states it will “rely primarily” on comments filed on the application to determine if the channel is totally or partially competitive with existing Canadian TV channels.
The commission wants parties arguing the service is competitive to name the specific pay or specialty service with which they consider the channel would compete, and to provide details to support their views, such as comparisons of programming schedules.
The CRTC also notes that in assessing…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — Telehop Communications Inc. recorded a net profit of $196,315 on revenues of almost $5 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2007, according to financial results released Wednesday. Profits were down from the net income of $262,903 recorded in the same quarter a year earlier and from $253,762 made in the fourth quarter of 2006.
“Our margins are strong due to effective control of telecom costs and our marketing costs are in line with our plan. We continue to build our subscriber base and look forward to increasing revenues while maintaining profitability,” said Telehop president and…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The CRTC has approved the plan of arrangement between Alliance Atlantis and CanWest Global that will run Alliance Atlantis until the Commission can decide on the purchase and transfer of ownership in a hearing.
The Plan of Arrangement will see AA Acquisition Corp. (formerly 6681859 Canada Inc.) acquire all of the outstanding shares of Alliance Atlantis for $53 cash per share, as was announced in January. AA Acquisition is primarily funded by Goldman Sachs, with CanWest Global to be controlling shareholder of the regulated assets.
AA owns (directly or indirectly) the securities of certain entities which are…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – With Canadian broadcasters in Los Angeles now viewing this fall’s potential U.S. hits (not to mention the great big misses) – and making commitments to buy, too, Canada’s actors union says the process is nothing but a big bet.
"Canadian performers are angered that executives of Canada’s private broadcasters are in L.A. this week gambling hundreds of millions of dollars on new American shows for the fall television season while neglecting our own domestic industry," shouts the press release.
“Canada’s private broadcasters are eager to hand over more than $250 million dollars on new American dramas and reality…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The folks at MaxTrax and Galaxie may be wondering about their futures on Rogers Cable today.
The CRTC granted a pay audio license to Rogers Communications this morning. The company plans to launch a 30-channel service of music and spoken word programming. Currently, CBC-owned Galaxie and Corus Entertainment-owned MaxTrax are both carried by Rogers, which hasn’t said when or how it will launch its own service.
The regs require that any carrier which owns a pay audio license must also carry a non-affiliated service meaning that when Rogers launches, it only has to carry one of Galaxie…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Like every other conventional television broadcaster in English Canada, Quebec’s Télévision Quatre-Saisons (TQS) had argued for the CRTC’s acceptance of carriage fees to help OTAs compete with fee-supported speciality channels.
“We’re very disappointed,” said TQS President & CEO René Guimond, after the CRTC rejected the idea Thursday. “For us, it’s the continuation of the old model, a model in need of adjustments.”
“I thought we had made the clear demonstration that there is inequity between conventional broadcasters and the speciality channels. And the reason number one for the inequity is the issue of fees,” Guimond told…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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.
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Perhaps stung a little by the tough line of questioning the company faced in front of the Commission a few weeks ago, CTVglobemedia sent a letter to the CRTC last week attempting to modify its application to purchase CHUM Ltd.
In it, CTV said it would consider divesting CHUM’s Citytv stations in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary, so long as the Commission was willing to place limits on the further growth of CanWest Global’s CH network. Global, for example, went through a hearing in February where it asked the CRTC for a Calgary and…
Continue Reading
