CABLE OPERATORS STILL (privately, mostly) grouse about the 10-cent fee increase the CRTC granted the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network last summer.
As reported by www.cartt.ca, the Commission granted APTN its license renewal on August 31st, and along with that, boosted the fee pass-through from 15 cents to 25 cents per sub per month. That’s a lot of extra money (over $12 million more).
While the distributors soft-pedaled their opposition somewhat and didn’t raise much of a stink when the decision was made public because it’s a bit of a political hot potato, their message was clear: They didn’t think…
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TORONTO – The Canadian Media Guild said Monday it’s worried that culture, and the CBC specifically, is so low on the priority lists of the federal parties.
Only the Conservative and Green parties mention the CBC in their platforms, despite the fact that the public broadcaster faces a license renewal before the end of 2006.
“But there are more questions about the vague position of the front-running Conservatives than answers,” says the Guild release, ominously.
"I recognize that this election campaign has been fought on a handful of core issues. But it is troubling that the future of Canada’s…
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MONTREAL and THUNDER BAY – Bell Nordiq Group and TBayTel announced late Tuesday they intend to create a northwestern Ontario telecommunications hub.
Further to their discussions, as previously reported by www.cartt.ca, both parties have agreed to not proceed with an equity partnership at this time, but rather will let their relationship evolve starting with “leveraging their collective strengths to expand into new markets and services and enhancing existing telecom offerings,” says the press release.
For example, TBayTel has an application before the CRTC to allow it to launch a terrestrial TV service, but needs help to do it.
"The…
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OTTAWA – Hearings for the CRTC’s long-delayed and anticipated commercial radio policy review have been set for May 15, 2006.
The Commission declined to further put off the hearings, which was requested by Canada’s broadcasters, and today made the hearing date official.
Those wishing to submit written comments must do so by March 15th.
Click here for the full announcement.
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TORONTO – With none of the three major parties articulating much about their plans for the cultural sector (not even the NDP), ACTRA’s performers tried Wednesday to inject themselves into the election news cycle.
Among the members of ACTRA, the Canadian actors union, taking part in a Toronto press conference were Wendy Crewson, Richard Hardacre, Dan Lett, Miriam McDonald, Colin Mochrie, Cara Pifko, Karl Pruner, Fiona Reid, Wayne Robson, Sonja Smits, Julie Stewart, and R.H. Thomson.
As usual, they were raising “the alarm during this election about the threat to Canada’s cultural sovereignty,” says the press release.
"It is…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC Thursday agreed to allow TV Ontario to cut its level of Canadian content by five more percentage points.
In August, the Ontario public broadcaster told the Commission that production funding changes have made it difficult to hit the 65% Cancon level required by its condition of license and asked that it be reduced to 60%.
In 2001, the Commission allowed TVO/TFO to cuts its Cancon level from 70% to 65% but 60% is the level contained in the licenses of fellow provincial educational broadcasters: B.C.’s Knowledge Network, Alberta’s Access Communications the Saskatchewan Communications Network….
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CHUM WILL BE SOLD. Shaw, too. Telus will buy Bell. Foreign ownership rules will be abolished. CRTC regs, too.
Now those are some seriously fearless predictions for the new year. They’re all poppycock, too. Made ’em up (although a couple could happen).
The slowdown time during the 14 days or so around Christmas and New Years (and Hanukkah, too), coupled with the fact that a new year is beginning, spawns all sorts of lists and predictions and reviews in the media. I didn’t want to be left out, but I didn’t want to try to add to the M&A…
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WINNIPEG – Rogers Media Television will launch its recently acquired broadcast license, a faith-based service to be named, of course, OMNI TV Manitoba – on Monday, February 6th.
OMNI TV Manitoba is the newly branded, newly licensed television station resulting from Rogers’ 2005 purchase of NOW TV from the Thiessen family and the subsequent approval by the CRTC (Decision Public Notion 2005-207).
It had been scheduled to launch in November but was put off until the new year.
"This is an exciting time for the Rogers OMNI Television family as well as the Canadian broadcasting industry," said Leslie Sole,…
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QUEBEC CITY – In its last decision before the holidays, the CRTC approved the sale of CKNU-FM Donnacona and CKNU-FM-1 Sainte Croix-de-Lotbinière to Radio Nord Communications on December 23rd.
As first reported by www.cartt.ca in October, Genex Communications, also owners of controversial CHOI-FM in Quebec City, decided to sell the unprofitable CKNU and concentrate on its court appeal to hang on to CHOI’s license, which was revoked by the CRTC.
While Genex had originally applied to alter CKNU’s license so that it can broadcast into the Quebec City market (Donnacona is about 45 kms west of the Quebec…
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MONTREAL – Just before Christmas, the CRTC halved the wholesale tariffs incumbent telephone companies can charge for providing DSL capability to independent ISPs.
The Commission made the cut “after determining that these proposed rates result in Bell Canada’s double recovery of actual costs for the fiber portion of the local loop facilities,” says a press release from the Quebec Coalition of ISPs.
In addition, the CRTC ordered Bell to extend the naked DSL offering to business customers.
Click here for the decision.
"We hoped for much lower rates but now at least we can consider offering the service at…
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