THE CLOCK CAN’T BE TURNED back on announced acquisitions (CTV/CHUM, CanWest Global-Goldman Sachs/Alliance Atlantis and Astral/Standard) but the CRTC has decided it must look into the overall affect of media consolidation on the tenets of the Broadcasting Act.
As predicted, this turned into a "locking the doors after the horses escaped" analogy in some quarters.
In an interview with Cartt.ca on Wednesday, CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein (who must be a little shell-shocked with all that’s gone on within two months of taking the job) said yes, a thorough review of the diversity of voices in…
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GATINEAU – Under increasing pressure from many groups (including many politicians) the CRTC today announced a new proceeding to review consolidating media ownership in Canada.
That means it won’t look at the issue under the auspices of the proposed CTVglobemedia purchase of CHUM. That hearing goes April 30th.
The scope of this new proceeding will be set out in a notice of public hearing to be issued shortly. A public hearing will follow in the fall of 2007.
"The current wave of consolidation in the Canadian broadcasting industry (CTVgm/CHUM, CanWest Global/Alliance Atlantis and Astral/Standard), and the possibility of more…
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OAKVILLE – Thousands of Canadians want The Weather Network to stay on basic cable, the company announced this afternoon.
As Cartt.ca has been reporting, the CRTC is considering applications for the establishment of a "digital basic" tier, where channels like TWN and others would maintain their places in cable channel lineups when digital migration happens. The intervention submission deadline was yesterday.
(The hearing is March 27th, not 26th, as we had reported as the CRTC altered its schedule due to the Quebec provincial election that Monday.)
The Weather Network says almost 7,000 letters, e-mails, faxes and petitions have…
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OTTAWA – Just as the CEP union did earlier this week, NDP Heritage Critic Charlie Angus Wednesday called for new CRTC hearings into media concentration arising from the CTV/CHUM purchase.
"The Canadian public continues to be shortchanged by the CRTC regarding the serious threats posed by mega-media concentration," says Angus’ release today.
“Who’s kidding who here? Are we expected to think that the CRTC will hold up the single largest corporate merger in Canadian media history simply because they are accepting letters from the public?” asked Angus.
He also mentioned that before the merger goes ahead, the CRTC must…
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TORONTO – "Approving the applications will only further the interests of those who do not want the Canadian broadcasting system to remain fair and competitive and open to new and independent Canadian voices and entrants.
"In addition , it is impossible to marry the applicants request for long term, protected status with the idea that the Commission should be supporting and encouraging investment and innovation in the Canadian broadcasting system," says High Fidelity HDTV in its intervention submitted today on the so-called "digital basic" 9(1)(h) hearing.
In anticipation of the digital migration of analog specialty services, the CRTC asked…
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ENTITLED "BDU CONTENT Strategies: Can Cable and Phone Companies Do Their Own Thing?", the session on what TV distributors think of content and its changing place in their business plans was a popular session at the Canadian Film and TV Producers Association annual Prime Time conference in Ottawa two weeks ago.
The elephant not in the room, however? A cable company. But one former cable guy spoke for the industry anyway. Moderated by Peter Lyman, senior partner, Nordicity Group, the panelists included Chris Frank, vice-president, programming and pay-per-view, Bell ExpressVu, Michael Hennessy, vice-president, broadband and video policy, Telus; Tom…
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GATINEAU – In preparation for the migration to digital of all analog TV, the CRTC told existing analog specialty services in February of 2006 that in order to maintain their legacy positions on the cable lineup it was prepared to entertain applications for "digital basic" status.
So, channels such as YTV, The Weather Network and CBC Newsworld submitted such applications, asking they maintain their spots on the dial and their mandated rate structure even when all channels are someday distributed digitally.
What the Commission maybe didn’t expect is that three new channel applicants also submitted requests to be granted digital…
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OTTAWA – While giving Canadians over a month to get their opinions down in writing about the purchase of CHUM Ltd. by CTV would seem to be plenty of time, Canada’s largest media union says it’s nowhere near enough.
The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union issued a press release today saying: "(G)iving Canadians 35 days to review the largest television deal in Canada’s history is nothing short of a charade at transparency and public accountability."
"The CRTC needs to hold full public hearings on the concentration of media ownership in this country," says Peter Murdoch, vice-president, media for CEP,…
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GATINEAU – After months of waiting (it took CTV until almost Christmas to submit its application to the Commission to purchase CHUM Ltd.) the CRTC will hear the request at a public hearing beginning April 30th.
In July, Bell Globemedia (now CTVglobemedia) announced a $1.4 billion purchase of CHUM Ltd. from the Waters family ($1.7 billion if assumed debt is included). If approved, CTV will take ownership of the Citytv broadcast stations across the country, numerous popular specialty channels like MuchMusic, Space and Star! as well as 33 radio stations.
As for the secondary market A-Channels, CTVgm will sell…
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TORONTO – CTVglobemedia said this afternoon it has been told by the Competition Bureau that the Bureau is fine with the broadcaster’s purchase of CHUM Ltd.
The decision follows a diligent and thorough review of the industry by the Bureau’s Mergers Branch, said the CTV release.
The acquisition of CHUM remains subject to approval by the CRTC. CTVgm’s application for such approval was made public yesterday by the CRTC, which also announced a public hearing to review the application will commence on April 30, 2007, as reported by Cartt.ca.
www.ctvglobemedia.ca
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