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CRTC applauds ruling denying CHOI’s radio licence
CRTC proposes amendments to distribution regs for BDUs
CHOI will fight court decision rescinding licence
By Glenn Wanamaker
QUEBEC CITY – The owners of controversial Quebec City radio station CHOI-FM, rebuffed by the Federal Court of Appeal in their effort to overturn a CRTC decision to withdraw their licence, say they will try to take the case to the Supreme Court of Canada.
"We will fight this to the end," Patrice Demers, President of GENEX Communications, the station’s owner, told a press conference late Thursday.
The station, rated number one in the market last spring, is allowed to stay on the air for at least 20 days, or until a decision is made on allowing a…
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MONTREAL – Canadian Satellite Radio and Sirius Canada have announced they will each carry an equal number of English and French stations when they launch.
As part of their conditions of licence, each satellite radio service is required to launch with at least eight Canadian channels, one-quarter of them in French. Both services said today they will voluntarily increase that to half.
Also, if they add any new Canadian services in the first 24 months of operation, they pledge to add an equal number of English and French.
“It has always been our intent to ensure satellite radio further strengthens Canadian…
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TORONTO – The satellite radio debate rages on, with the music industry today urging the federal government to force the CRTC to reconsider the licences it recently awarded to Sirius Canada and Canadian Satellite Radio, as it is rumoured will happen.
Groups representing the major and independent Canadian recording labels say the Canadian content requirements in the licences are too lax, and they released results of a poll they commissioned showing that three-quarters of Canadians think Cancon “is a good idea,” one-third think the quotas should be higher, and nearly 80% think that Cancon has helped Canadian artists become…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC has turned down a request from a non-profit group in British Columbia to get relief from TELUS Communications Inc. with its phone rates.
The Royal Canadian Air Cadets 828 Hurricane Squadron wanted the telco to allow qualifying non-profit organizations to have two individual phone lines at residential rates instead of business rates. TELUS does so in Alberta, but its General Tariff for B.C. does not.
The cadets wanted TELUS to define customers given rate relief to include churches, youth groups, veterans’ associations, associations for the elderly or infirm, and community centres. It argued that residential…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC has renewed the licences for several specialty networks for seven years, including APTN (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network), which was granted an increase in the subscriber fee to $0.25 a month, up from $0.15.
The extra revenue will help APTN acquire more Aboriginal programs in underrepresented categories such as dramas, live musical concerts, and children’s programs and will allow the network to make the move to high definition television during the licence term.
“This decision makes it possible for the network to continue to grow and expand our programming in ways we couldn’t in the past,”…
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TORONTO – Supporters of satellite radio in Canada held a large news conference in Toronto today to repeat their mantra that the services licensed by the CRTC will benefit established and emerging Canadian artists, rural Canadian listeners, and francophone culture outside of Quebec.
Launching the approved Canadian services — SIRIUS Canada and Canadian Satellite Radio (CSR) — will also stem the tide of Canadians who subscribe to illegal U.S. services, the pair argued.
“Canada needs a legitimate antidote to the quickly growing grey market,” said Kevin Shea, SIRIUS Canada president and CEO, citing an estimate that 100,000 Canadians have…
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TORONTO – Talk radio powerhouses CFRB in Toronto and CJAD in Montreal will simulcast a discussion on the future of satellite radio in Canada on Thursday (Sept. 1) from 10-11 a.m. EST.
Both stations are owned by Standard Broadcasting, a major player in the SIRIUS Canada satellite radio service recently licensed by the CRTC. Standard President and CEO Gary Slaight will be a guest on the show, along with John Bitove, chairman and CEO of Canadian Satellite Radio, the competitor also licensed by the commission.
The rivals are joining forces to promote satellite radio in the face of uncertainty…
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