OTTAWA – The CRTC said SiriusXM cannot defer its obligations to funds supporting Canadian content from the 2021-2022 year because it hasn’t shown a financial need to do so.
The satellite and online radio service requested a deferral due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It proposed paying its shortfalls incrementally, with 50 per cent paid by August 2024 and other 50 per cent by August 2025.
But the CRTC said revenues have largely rebounded since the start of the pandemic. It also said SiriusXM, which is predominantly subscription-based, “enjoyed more stability in revenue” compared to the rest of the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Quebecor announced Tuesday it will abandon its plan to cancel two weekend newscasts but will “carry out further staff reductions” in the alternative to weather deteriorating financial conditions to produce local news.
“We acknowledge the Commission’s request and suspend our decision to withdraw the weekend newscasts from TVA Quebec,” Quebecor said in a French-language letter addressed to the CRTC. “Thus, we will put in place the necessary efforts to continue to meet these requirements” until the CRTC rules on its Part 1 filed June 1.
The letter came in response to a CRTC letter last week expressing…
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TVA union asking CRTC to stop Quebecor from closing newscasts
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Bell said if Quebecor follows through on an announcement to end two newscasts without commission approval, the CRTC has no choice but to fine the company due to repeated violations of its conditions of licence, according to an intervention in the case.
On June 2, Quebecor’s TVA made the decision to this week end the two CFCM-DT weekend newscasts in Quebec, one day after it filed a Part 1 application asking the CRTC to remove that obligation due to financial constraints. The CRTC followed up with a…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Quebecor’s TVA told Cartt that it wishes to work in collaboration with the CRTC to find a way to sustain its local programming, after the commission expressed concern that the Montreal-based company is planning to scale back two of its news programs on weekends in Quebec.
The CRTC set a deadline of July 4 for comments on Quebecor’s Part 1 application requesting the commission remove a requirement that it run two newscast on weekends in Quebec. But a day after filing its application, Quebecor announced it intended to eliminate the programs this week…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC is being asked to raise the financial threshold for registering online services with the commission and ensure transactional video services are made to contribute to the system when it implements the new Online Streaming Act.
The commission asked the public to submit comments by last week into two out of three consultations it is holding about the implementation of the new Broadcasting Act framework, including who should register with the CRTC for the purposes of collecting data and possibility requiring to contribute to the Canadian content system.
But some of the major broadcasting players are…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC on Thursday rejected an application by TerreStar to reduce its regulatory fee obligations by deducting its spectrum leasing revenues.
The Montreal-based mobile satellite and cell services provider filed an application in November asking the CRTC to make a determination that the sale or leasing of spectrum did not qualify as a telecommunications-related expense, which would have reduced its obligation to the National Contribution Fund. The NCF goes to fund broadband infrastructure in the country.
In March 2022, TerreStar filed its annual revenue report and deducted its spectrum leasing revenues. The CRTC said it couldn’t do that. So,…
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By Jonathan Daniels, pictured above, vice president of regulatory law at Bell
The CRTC recently announced the first round of consultations on the implementation of the recently adopted Online Streaming Act. Of the three sectors affected by this legislation – foreign streamers, Canadian producers and Canadian broadcasters – it is clear that broadcasters are the group in crisis mode.
It goes without saying that foreign streamers like Netflix are flourishing in Canada. Their success has benefited Canadian producers. The Canadian Media Producers Association recently noted that “in almost every way, was a record year.” Meanwhile, broadcasters are struggling.
The challenge…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Telus is appealing to the Supreme Court of Canada a decision by a lower court that denied its application asking it to find the CRTC has jurisdiction over wireless access to municipal infrastructure.
In arguments filed to the high court Monday, Telus said the Federal Court of Appeal’s fixation with the dictionary definition of “transmission line” under section 43 of the Telecommunications Act to include only hard wires made it unappreciative of the fact that those wireless signals have to route back to hard lines that go back to the provider’s network.
“By focusing on the point…
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Six AM radio stations getting axed, three being sold
By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – Bell CEO Mirko Bibic announced in an open letter Wednesday that the company is embarking on “organizational changes” that will impact 1,300 positions, the result of consistent revenue losses in several sectors.
The cuts are “largely” in management, which will see a reduction of six per cent and executive roles reduced by 20 per cent compared to 2020, Bibic said in the letter.
“The job reductions are consistent with but smaller than similar reductions announced by other leading technology and media companies across North America in recent months,” Bibic…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Unions representing workers in media production and screenwriting are asking the CRTC to reject an application by Corus to reduce its Canadian content obligations.
The media company filed a Part 1 application in November asking the CRTC to reduce its Canadian programming expenditure (CPE) amount from 30 per cent to 25 per cent of previous year’s revenues and to reduce from 8.5 to 5 per cent its obligation to programs of national interest (PNI) in large part because it has had to compete against unregulated online streamers. In July 2022, the regulator renewed Corus’s licence for…
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