QUEBECOR’S LUC LAVOIE SUGGESTS that CBC/Radio-Canada unfairly benefits from the Canadian Television Fund. But it is disingenuous to insist that private cable companies, such as Quebecor’s Videotron, foot the bill for the public broadcaster’s benefit.
In fact, the federal government supplies a full 40% of the CTF, or $100 million per year. And that’s approximately the share that funds productions that air on CBC and Radio-Canada. Let’s not forget that the CTF emerged on the heels of massive cuts to the public broadcaster’s government allocation during the 1990s. So the CTF was effectively funded with money taken away…
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MONTREAL – Former Liberal Heritage Minister Liza Frulla has confirmed her great escape from the turbulent world of partisan politics, moving into the more soothing waters of travel television.
Frulla, who lost her seat in the federal election one year ago, has been named president of Canal Évasion, the independently-owned travel and leisure channel in Quebec.
She takes over from Serge Arsenault, the channel’s principal owner through Groupe Serdy. Arsenault will now focus on long-term development, possible acquisitions, and the company’s production wing, Serdy Vidéo.
Frulla expressed delight at the opportunity to get back into a field that she…
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MEDIA VIOLENCE IS AGAIN in the news. A week ago, Professor Peter Jaffe and his coalition gave a press conference on the subject of media violence. It seemed to be for the benefit of the uninitiated.
Did the group of teachers and parents even realize that much of what they sought was, in the case of television, already in place? Or did they have an ulterior objective in ignoring the huge efforts already made by Canada’s private broadcasters?
And last week, M. Bernard Bigras’ Private Member’s Bill C-327 (An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act [reduction of violence in…
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TORONTO – Standard Radio officially took over 101.5 Silk FM in Kelowna, B.C. today.
The $9.2 million acquisition was first reported by Cartt.ca last year and officially approved by the CRTC just before Christmas.
”As our 52nd radio station, CILK FM will join 99.9 Sun FM and Oldies 1150 in Kelowna. This is a terrific opportunity that will allow us to combine our resources to provide better services on and off the air and more programming diversity to our audiences," said Standard CEO Gary Slaight.
Standard is the largest privately owned media company in Canada, with 52 radio stations located…
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OTTAWA – It’s no increase (as producers, actors and broadcasters were hoping for) but the $200 million committed to the Canadian Television Fund by the federal government over two years is far more than two of CTF’s primary industry contributors are currently paying.
That is to say, zero.
Hot on the heels of Shaw Communications and Quebecor Media’s decisions to suspend monthly payments to the CTF, Heritage Minister Bev Oda said Friday the federal government is renewing its $100 million a year contribution to the fund through 2008-09.
"This announcement signifies this Government’s commitment to producing quality Canadian programming…
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OTTAWA – This evening Konrad von Finckenstein was officially announced as the new chairman of the CRTC.
Bev Oda, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women, made the announcement with an early-evening release on the Heritage Ministry’s web site. "Mr. von Finckenstein’s credentials will bring strong leadership to the CRTC," said Minister Oda. "I am confident that his experience will greatly benefit the Commission."
A long-time public employee who held very senior positions in the Brian Mulroney Conservative government and helped write the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, von Finckenstein was also Commissioner of Competition at the Competition Bureau…
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MONTREAL – With Shaw and now Videotron having stopped payment on their monthly cheques to the Canadian Television Fund, the CTF board of directors said late Wednesday it has retained legal counsel and warned the TV production community of a problematic year.
As the largest TV distributor, Shaw (which also owns Star Choice) is the largest private contributor to the CTF while Videotron would be the fourth-largest. Together, their contributions make up almost half of the $150 million contributed by the industry each year to the $250 million fund. The rest comes from the federal government.
Numbers two and…
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OTTAWA – A new poll completed just this week by Ipsos Reid on behalf of Bell Canada says the vast majority of Canadians agree with recent moves by the federal government towards deregulating the telecommunications market in Canada.
The polling data, released first to Cartt.ca, comes just days before a Monday meeting of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology where telecom deregulation is again on the agenda.
In the poll of 1,000 Canadians done between January 12th and 22nd, when asked about the recent policy measures taken by Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, 68% said they found the…
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OTTAWA – Bev Oda told the principal private funders of the Canadian Television Fund that she wants to meet with them next week.
"I have received letters from Shaw Communications and Videotron announcing that they will withhold their contributions to the Canadian Television Fund (CTF)," said Oda in a release.
As reported by Cartt.ca this week, both BDUs have decided to pull their funding of the production fund with complaints of accountability to the fact they believe money goes to the CBC. In response, the CTF has retained legal counsel and wants to force the two…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC has approved Persona Communications’ acquisition of Delta Cable and Coast Cable from John Thomas and his family.
Persona is financing the deal with a $90 million term loan from J.P. Morgan Securities.
Since J.P. Morgan is non-Canadian, the Commission asked about the American company’s potential influence over Persona.
"Persona explained that while the credit agreement would contain covenants that are customary for debt financings allowing the lenders to monitor the performance and operation of the business, J.P. Morgan would not have any direct say on financial decisions or other business-related decisions. Persona further explained that…
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