OTTAWA – Lost a little in the shuffle of the CAB Convention is the fact that the CRTC told Canada’s private broadcasters that it intends to start the radio review process, soon
A letter sent to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters on Friday said that despite the industry’s pleas for delay, as outlined in stories on www.cartt.ca, the Commission is going ahead with the radio review.
“While the Commission feels that you have raised some interesting points, it considers that a review of the Commercial Radio Policy is timely and that any further delay would not be advisable, especially…
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OTTAWA – "The CRTC got it right on VoIP,” Canadian Cable Telecommunications president Michael Hennessy said Monday. “This decision creates a framework for competitors to enter the local telephone market. VoIP and new digital phone services will only be able to offer consumers an alternative to monopoly telephone service, if there are basic safeguards to prevent anti-competitive behaviour.
“There is no need to overturn this decision when consumers are already reaping the benefits of ending a 100 year monopoly in the local telephone market."
The CCTA today replied to “the monopoly phone companies’” request that Federal Cabinet overturn…
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WINNIPEG – The media supply chain is irrevocably more complicated and potentially scary for Canadian broadcasters, according to two sessions on personal media on Monday at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ annual convention.
The morning session was called “Personal Media Models: Who will supply the media-savvy consumer” and the afternoon session was entitled: “New Models, New Rules: Managing the personalized media revolution.”
On demand technology of all sorts, delivered from all platforms, is irrevocably altering the way media companies do business and on demand, specifically wireless on demand, content was front and centre for panelists as they discussed how…
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I THINK WE’VE ALL HIT the point of severe fatigue when it comes to talking about telecom policy.
A number of senior telecom executives rehashed their recent regulatory presentations this week in Toronto during the third annual Canadian Telecommunications Forum, put on by Insight Communications.
The sessions featured all the usual suspects from Telus (EVP Janet Yale), MTS (SVP Chris Peirce), the CCTA (president Michael Hennessy) and others. But in their sessions on Monday, let’s just say the spark was missing that has been there at other times this year.
Bell’s main regulatory honchos, Lawson Hunter and Mirko Bibic actually…
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DARTMOUTH, N.S. – A recently settled lawsuit led to a third quarter loss of $1.2 million at Newfoundland Capital Corporation.
While revenue grew at a good clip, thanks to organic ad sales growth and acquisitions, a lawsuit settled with Halterm Income Fund for $3.5 million led to the quarterly loss. Excluding the impact of the settlement, net income would have been on par with the third quarter of 2004. Year-to-date net income of $3.3 million is lower than the prior year due to the settlement and the gain on disposal of investment in 2004. Excluding these two one-time…
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WINNIPEG – Cable and satellite companies paying fees for the Global TV signal is just one of the major structural changes that must happen if conventional broadcast television is to endure, CanWest Global Communications CEO Leonard Asper said on Wednesday.
While the company’s fourth quarter press release made a vague, innocuous reference to “structural and regulatory” issues that need to be addressed, Asper was much more specific in his comments to financial analysts in a conference call late in the afternoon.
Referring to a “rigorous regulatory plan”, Asper said the company wants: * Cable and satellite companies to pay…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – "The telecommunications landscape has changed considerably since the release of the first report to the Governor in Council in 2001," said Charles Dalfen, chairman of the CRTC in releasing the Commission’s Telecom Monitoring Report to the Governor-in-Council.
(An earlier version of this story contained an mistake, which the Commission corrected today in an additional release. The fixed copy is in boldface below.)
"Our monitoring report indicates that Internet and wireless services continue to be the flagships of growth and innovation for the Canadian telecommunications industry and that technology continues to impact the industry, not only by lowering costs, but…
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GATINEAU and QUEBEC – The CRTC has postponed Nov. 14th public hearings in Quebec City on a bundle of applications for new or modified radio services, all because of a sales agreement two weeks ago involving one of the region’s FM stations.
The decision puts 10 applications on hold, including seven for new FM radio stations and one for a licence renewal for a station in the Gaspé region, about 700 km away.
Three other applications for new services will be heard, but in Gatineau instead of Quebec City. One is for a French-language country music station on the AM…
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OTTAWA – A press release yesterday touting how broadcasters are getting rich and TV producers are not, isn’t supported by the study it cites, says the Canadian Association of Broadcasters.
In releasing its Nordicity Group Ltd.’s Study on Broadcaster Profitability and Programming Expenditures, the Canadian Film and Television Produces Association (CFTPA), as reported by www.cartt.ca, claims that private broadcasters have increased their profitability and reduced their Canadian program expenditures, at the expense of the Canadian program production industry. Data taken from their own study demonstrates that this could not be further from the truth, says the CAB.
“Canada’s private…
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OTTAWA – Research released Monday – a week before the Canadian Association of Broadcasters annual convention – by the Canadian Film and Television Production Association says that changes to the financing policy infrastructure have heavily tipped the scales in favour of Canada’s broadcasters.
"Between 2000 and 2002 Canadian film and television producers earnings before taxes dropped from 6.7% to 1.6%," said Ira Levy, CFTPA chair. "In comparison large broadcasters have maintained a consistent rate of profitability well in excess of overall Canadian industry averages."
The figures are part of an analysis the CFTPA commissioned from the Nordicity Group Ltd….
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