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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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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GATINEAU – It’s shades of 2002 as Rogers Media and MVBC Holdings (owner of Vancouver’s ethnic station channel m) are once again vying for the same thing out west.
Actually, the companies will go toe-to-toe for ethnic stations in two cities, Edmonton and Calgary, this time, as each has applied for ethnic TV broadcast licenses to serve the two cities. The hearing is set for February 12th in Calgary.
In 2002, Rogers wanted to launch OMNI TV in Vancouver, copying the business plan of its ethnic station in Toronto and applied for a license there. However, the Commission, citing…
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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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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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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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OTTAWA – In what can only be viewed as a big win by Canada’s telcos, Industry Minister Maxime Bernier today came very close to deregulating the local telephony market.
The minister is setting aside key portions of the April 2006 CRTC local market forbearance decision and will place cable voice providers and traditional telcos on much closer regulatory footing. The ILECs had appealed the decision to federal cabinet.
The 25% market share loss benchmark has been erased, as have the winback rules which would restrict ILECs from contacting recently lost customers for 90 days after departure,
The new proposed…
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OTTAWA – Under new proposed amendments introduced in the House of Commons today, the Competition Tribunal may order telecommunications service providers to pay an administrative monetary penalty of up to $15 million in cases of abuse of market power.
"Competitive telecommunications markets are vital to a strong economy, especially given the rapid changes in information technologies that are transforming how businesses operate and how individuals communicate and gather information," said Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, who introduced the amendments. "Competition drives firms to become more efficient, invest in new technologies and introduce new products and services that benefit consumers."
"Allowing…
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TORONTO – After saying he believes it’s "good business" to help produce and then show Canadian content, Astral Media CEO Ian Greenberg today sent a message to Gatineau, cautioning the CRTC against letting conventional broadcasters into the wholesale fee game.
"Our pay and specialty television services have invested over $1 billion in the development and purchase of original Canadian-content production, and in support of home-grown talent, since we began in this industry. We believe it is good business to do this," he said in a speech to shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting in Toronto.
"But even more…
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GATINEAU – As the seventh and final day of the 2006 CRTC TV Policy Review hearing wound down yesterday, a frustrated group got very wound up, and a broadcasting legend weighed in.
In a process that has sometimes gone into excruciating detail about how much more we may pay for our TV universe, how we’ll receive programs, how big a role advertising will play and what we’ll see between the ads – a big problem should have been hard to overlook. But on this day, James Roots, executive director of the Canadian Association of the Deaf, made a passionate…
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