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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The large telecommunications companies are telling the CRTC that it’s a bad idea to temporarily mandate access to last mile fibre under the current regime because there isn’t evidence of a need for it, it doesn’t take into consideration areas that still don’t have completed fibre infrastructure, and the process will preempt the review of the wholesale internet framework.
The CRTC said in March it is of the preliminary view that fibre-to-the-premises access under the aggregated regime should be mandated, and launched an expedited proceeding for interim access until it completes its review of the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled the CRTC had no jurisdiction to force CBC/Radio-Canada to apologize for using the “N-word” and make internal changes as a result, sending the decision back to the regulator for review.
On appeal by the public broadcaster on freedom of expression grounds, the court said in a Thursday decision the CRTC essentially conflated its ability to make broadcasting policy with an ability to impose a rule of conduct, which “goes against the role that Parliament attributed to this policy.” It also said the CRTC’s majority decision did not address the broadcaster’s right…
Continue Reading
Editor’s note: This post has been updated to specify which consultation received a comment deadline extension.
OTTAWA – The CRTC announced Friday it is granting, in part, a request by a group of 12 organizations to extend the deadline to submit comments to one of three consultations on the implementation of the Online Streaming Act.
The commission pushed back the deadline to comment on its consultation for a flexible approach to Canadian contributions from online programmers from June 27 to July 11, while replies have been adjusted from July 12 to July 26. The dozen groups, which includes…
Continue Reading
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – As bill C-18 enters its final stretch in the Senate, two former senior officials with the CRTC have proposed alternative ways to support Canada’s struggling news industry beyond the Online News Act, whose aim to redistribute advertising income from such digital platforms as Meta’s Facebook and Alphabet’s Google to new organizations is untenable in their view.
“The industry and public policy-makers need to accept that during a period of disruption such as the one currently underway, there will be companies incapable of surviving,” write former CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein and past CRTC…
Continue Reading
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – In proposed policy directions released Thursday to the CRTC on implementing bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, the federal government reaffirmed that there would be no regulation of social media content or its users.
The CRTC will be directed to exclude from regulation social media creators, including podcasters, as well the video games media form. Broadcasters that post on social media as well as other platforms, like TV and radio, however will not necessarily be exempt.
To promote a wide range of Canadian programming, the CRTC will also be directed to consider various means…
Continue Reading
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that the move by Google and Meta to trial blocking news on their platforms in response the Online News Act is “not going to work.”
In a response to a question about Meta’s move last week to test block news on its Facebook and Instagram products, Trudeau said “these internet giants would rather cut-off Canadians’ access to local news than pay their fair share.” The Online News Act, Bill C-18, would require large technology platforms to compensate news publishers for linking to their work.
They are “resorting…
Continue Reading
