OTTAWA – Quebec cable company Videotron is claiming Star Choice is selling some systems on a two-for-one basis and that such practices run contra to the Broadcast Distribution Regulations.
In a complaint to the CRTC filed December 2nd, Videotron asked the CRTC to step in and put a stop to the practice, saying the Shaw Communications-owned DTH satellite company was giving itself an undue preference by allowing people to pay one subscription fee on more than one system, which contravenes section 9 of the regs.
Star Choice and Bell ExpressVu have allowed customers to purchase more than one system,…
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AS EXPECTED, FORMER BROADCASTER (TVO and CTV) and CRTC Commissioner, Durham (Ont.) MP Bev Oda, was made Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women this morning when new Prime Minister Stephen Harper was sworn in and announced his new cabinet.
What wasn’t expected was former Liberal Industry Minister David Emerson crossing the floor to become a Conservative and remain in cabinet and in power as Minister for International Trade.
Beauce (Que.) MP Maxime Bernier, a former Standard Life vice-president, has been named Industry Minister.
Industry and Heritage both oversee the CRTC, the regulatory arbiter of the Canadian cable,…
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OTTAWA – The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union, which represents many workers at Bell Canada, said Wednesday it will oppose plans by the company to create an income trust which would provide telephone service in rural Ontario and Quebec.
A CEP press release said it is concerned that the move will jeopardize universal, affordable phone service in a huge segment of the country, although it did not way why it had arrived at this position or how.
BCE CEO Michael Sabia, however, reiterated many times during the company’s Business Review Conference on Wednesday that the company plans to retain…
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PHILADELPHIA – There’s gotta be a way to do this in Canada somehow.
Every year at about this time, Canadian fans of the paid advertisements between plays during the Super Bowl howl long and hard about how those of us living north of the border usually miss all of the nifty new U.S. commercials airing during the big game.
Our simultaneous substitution rules means we see Canadian commercials sold by Canadian rights holder Global Television instead and very few of the expensive (30-second ad spot: US$2.5 million, to say nothing of production costs), buzzworthy, usually entertaining, new ads which debut…
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OTTAWA – It wasn’t unexpected, but the CRTC’s decision last Friday will see Canadian private broadcasters ramp up their spending by about 80% over five years.
Click here for the Public Notice and watch cartt.ca for analysis on this decision next week.
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It has now been a year since Videotron launched its cable telephone service, offering consumers an affordable alternative to the residential phone service provided by the major telephone companies such as Bell and Telus. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has allowed competition in local telephone markets since 1997 but this is the first real breach in the big phone companies’ age-old monopoly.
Jumping into a market in which giants such as AT&T and Sprint have foundered meant a massive investment in infrastructure and technology for Videotron, and of course a big risk.
The response from the marketplace…
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OTTAWA – American radio host Don Imus earned a rebuke from the CRTC on Friday thanks to comments made during his show on MSNBC Canada in the fall of 2004.
MSNBC Canada no longer exists, however MSNBC is on the eligible satellite list and Imus in the Morning is MSNBC’s 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. morning program.
The CRTC says it received over 100 complaints about comments made on the November 12 and November 19, 2004 programs. Shaw, Rogers and MSNBC, which owned Canadian version of the channel, shut it down later that month for economic reasons.
Imus and his co-hosts…
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TORONTO – While it’s not yet reflected in any policy announcement, Canadian broadcasters know there’s no way all of their broadcast transmitters can be upgraded to digital and the CRTC must now be feeling pressure to respond.
Fred Mattocks, the CBC’s executive director, English television production and resources, added his voice to CanWest Global CEO Leonard Asper’s, warning that it will just cost too much to convert all 600 CBC transmitters to digital. He was speaking on a panel at today’s CSUA Digital Broadcasting Summit in Toronto.
CBC transmits 18 unique SD streams daily and three unique HD streams (Montreal,…
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OTTAWA – Shaw Cable is selling commercial advertising on its community channels during Western Hockey League games, says the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, which contravenes CRTC regulations.
While Canadian cable companies are allowed to offer sponsorships to local companies for some of its programming, like Joe’s Garage sponsoring a car repair program, for example, they are prohibited by regulation from selling commercial advertisements promoting products on their community channels.
During a WHL game last May, says the CAB’s complaint, Shaw aired 14 commercial messages, at least 11 of which contravened the regs by actively promoting certain products….
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AFTER A DOZEN OR SO years of lobbying the Liberal Party power establishment, the Canadian cable, radio, television and telecom industries will have to start over beginning today.
No matter how long this new Conservative minority government lasts (we sorely hope it’s longer than Joe Clark’s eight months in 1979), those at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association, as well as Canada’s large telcos, have brand new friends to make – and influence.
Issues like foreign ownership of telecom and cable companies, or even broadcasters, might get a more friendly hearing under the Conservatives…
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