OTTAWA – With a tariff decision it finds “egregious and flawed” facing Canadian radio broadcasters, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters filed a motion with the Federal Court of Canada on Tuesday asking for a judicial review of the Copyright Board’s October 14 decision.
In its decision on the tariffs radio stations pay to the Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) and the Neighbouring Rights Collective of Canada (NRCC) for the rights to play music, the Copyright Board of Canada raised the rates on these tariffs, which will result in an overall increase in fees paid…
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OTTAWA – On Monday, the first day of the newest session of Parliament, Minister of Industry David Emerson introduced legislation which will, if passed, grant the CRTC direct fining authority when it comes to Telecommunications Act violations.
Direct fining authority would be granted through the implementation of an administrative monetary penalty (AMP) scheme. Under the scheme, the CRTC would have the ability to impose AMPs in the following ranges: for companies, maximums of $10 million for a first offence and $15 million for a subsequent offence; for individuals, maximums of $25 000 for a first offence and $50 000…
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TORONTO – After years of financial pressures, Score Media, which owns and operates analog sports channel The Score, seems to have turned things around as revenue, earnings and income have all increased.
Revenue for the year ended August 31st, increased to $25.1 million, up 25.6% compared to the end of 2004. EBITDA increased to $4.8 million, up by $4.4 million over ’04. Net income increased $3.2 million – a profit of $2.8 million compared to a loss of $427,000 in the prior year. The company also refinanced its short-term bank loans with a $15 million credit facility comprised of a…
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IMAGINE OWNING A BUSINESS and being able to access a product that was essential to your success, that makes up the bulk of the service you provide, and that you use more of in more effective ways over a period of 25 years with no annual percentage increase on the rate you pay for that product.
In a recent decision by the Copyright Board of Canada, which increased SOCAN licence fees for the use of music 2003-2007 for commercial radio stations, the board acknowledged that the current rate had not been changed for over 25 years; furthermore, they stated…
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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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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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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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