TORONTO – After passing the Competition Bureau and CRTC tests, Bell Globemedia announced today that it has completed the closing of its new ownership structure.
The CRTC approved the new ownership structure on July 21st and on August 18th the Competition Bureau rubber-stamped it. The decisions clear the way for BGM to implement the changes to its ownership structure announced on December 2nd of last year, including the investment by each of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) and Torstar Corporation, and the increased investment of Woodbridge Corp.
All three purchased stakes from Bell Canada Enterprises for a total…
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OTTAWA – There’s a regulatory skirmish crawling through the CRTC right now over who gets to program for the diaper and rattle set (think Baby Einstein-type of shows and not as old as Dora the Explorer).
While the potential new viewers spend a lot of time asleep or with their fingers up their noses, pondering the mystery of their blankie, the positions drawn by the parties are as old as Canadian TV regulation. One side (usually a cable company) wants a foreign channel in. The other (usually a programmer) wants it kept out so it can launch its own service in…
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WHO COULD BLAME CANADIAN lawyer Richard Warman for taking a shot with the CRTC last week? What would you do if someone used the web to threaten to kill you, or urge others to do it? Use as many tools as might be at your disposal to protect yourself, I should think.
As you may have read in a number of media reports over the past few days, an Virginia man, Bill White, has called for the Ottawa man’s death (and the death of all Jews, for that matter) and even posted his home address, too, in case someone…
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CALGARY – Saying it’s just being consumer-friendly, Shaw Communications today added Rainbow Media’s American Movie Classics to its analog channel lineup.
Shaw is believed to be the first Canadian carrier to offer the 24-hour classic-movie-based network (which also offers some original content, too), even though the channel has been on the CRTC’s eligible satellite list for years.
What’s always held AMC back were the Canadian copyrights it didn’t have, an issue "that’s been dealt with," Shaw Communications president Peter Bissonnette told Cartt.ca this afternoon.
AMC has the Canadian rights to most of its programming and for the titles that…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC told Canadians the rights when it comes to telephone service today.
The Commission issued a edict telling all incumbent local exchange companies (ILECs: Bell, Telus, SaskTel, etc.) that they must include this statement of consumer rights on their web sites and in their printed directories. New local competitors do not have to print the document but the Commission encouraged them to do so.
The 4,700-word Commission document "restates key consumer rights with respect to local home phone service, in a clear and comprehensible manner," says the CRTC press release.
"The CRTC has, in the past,…
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IN APRIL OF THIS YEAR, A&E Networks was the first of the American cable channels to reveal their "upfront" presentation to throngs of media buyers, advertising executives and other assorted folk.
I wasn’t there, of course, but I’m sure it was a slick presentation with some of the stars of all of its cool new – if a bit jarring – programming. (When you’re used to "Biography" and "Murder She Wrote" reruns, shows like Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels and Criss Angel: Mindfreak seem a little out there for A&E.)
What was notable in the Broadcasting & Cable report…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC called for a TV policy review because of the dramatically shifting nature of the broadcast and distribution industry. But, says Telus, it is this uncertainty created by the ongoing shifts that means conventional broadcasters’ requests for a wholesale fee for carriage should be carved out of the review for consideration separately.
Canadian broadcasters have long lusted after the type of wholesale subscriber fees that grow the bank accounts of Canadian specialty services. The over-the-air broadcasters been consistently refused since they already make hundreds of millions off of advertising, the conventional channels are must-carries…
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WITH THE SALE OF DELTA Cable to Persona Communications, a cable era continues to draw to a close.
The era, of course, is that of the independent, local cable operator. Delta is one of several to be sold (pending CRTC approval) in the past 12 months. Besides Delta, Persona recently purchased Northern Cablevision of Grande Prairie, Alta., and Shaw Cable has been on a bit of a buying spree lately, gobbling up small cablers like Pemberton Cable, Saltspring Cable, Whistler Cable and Norcom Telecommunications.
So, the shock of the Delta announcement (first reported by…
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OTTAWA – Shaw Communications has sold its interests in digital specialty services Biography Channel and G4TechTV to Rogers Communications.
The CRTC approved both transactions on Monday. Rogers Broadcasting is already the operator of both Canadian channels.
Rogers paid Shaw $1 million for its 33.3% stake in G4 and now owns two-thirds of the channel along with Comcast, the parent company of the U.S. channel.
Rogers paid $5 million combined for Shaw’s 40% stake in Biography and A&E Television Networks’ 20% ownership, to take 100% of the service. AETN owns Biography Channel, Stateside.
Rogers has agreed to pay out 10%…
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SIGNIFICANT. MARKET. POWER.
Those three words appear all through the Telecom Policy Review Report, which Cartt.ca has covered at length. According to my search of that document, the three words appear together 62 times, and a further 65 as its SMP acronym.
When reading that huge report, it’s easy to see how SMP was and is a very big deal to its authors. The Telecom Policy Review Panel was very conscious of the concept and how the companies with SMP might still have to be watched. It’s a key concept of the report.
But you wouldn’t know it from…
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