Rogers claims the telco failed to comply with its ad rules
By Ahmad Hathout
Telus is alleging Rogers is refusing to allow the telco to advertise on the cable company’s valuable media properties in a move it says is harming its ability to compete.
The Part 1 application – dated June 9 but only made public on the CRTC website Tuesday – claims the issues started with Rogers refusing “on extremely short notice” to run two Telus ad campaigns on Rogers’s radio stations in November 2024, despite over 30 years of ad inventory purchases. Those cancellations have allegedly “grown into a blanket…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Sports streamer DAZN is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to clarify that its December stay of a decision by the CRTC to impose a five-per-cent base contribution on online streamers applies to it.
While the United Kingdom-based platform declined to answer a Cartt question about why it waited so long for clarity because it cannot comment on ongoing legal matters, its September 2 filing comes two days after the end of the first broadcast year in which the policy had taken effect.
The CRTC ordered in June 2024 – and finalized in…
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Related consultations launched
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC is requiring all telecommunications service providers report to certain official bodies major outages that are now defined as those that last at least 30 minutes and affect a certain number of user minutes – with a few exceptions.
The final mandate, ordered Thursday, is incumbent on all providers with their own network equipment, support systems or that use third parties. The order simplifies the categories of services affected by outages: primary services, which are individuals and business users of all telecom services; emergency services; and specialized services, which include 988 mental health and services…
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The CRTC will hold a virtual hearing on Oct. 30 as it considers separate broadcasting applications from CBC, Quebecor Media and Résonance Média.
CBC is asking for a broadcasting licence to operate an English-language commercial FM radio station to replace its English-language AM station CBY Corner Brook and to transfer its transmitters CBDT-FM Deer Lake, CBNA-FM St. Anthony, CBNC-FM Stephenville, CBNE-FM Port-aux-Basques, CBNF-FM Boone Bay, CBNH-FM St. Andrew’s, CBNJ-FM Port Saunders, CBYM-FM Mount St. Margaret, and CBYP-FM Portland Creek, in Newfoundland and Labrador, to the proposed new FM station. CBC is also asking for the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Cogeco and Eastlink are challenging cabinet’s decision not to intervene in the CRTC’s refusal to exclude the three largest telecommunications companies from accessing the internet networks of their competitors.
The basis of the judicial review request is simple: that cabinet, through the recommendation of Industry Minister Melanie Joly, allegedly did not provide the legally required justification for declining their petition to reverse a policy that they say creates an “existential” threat to their businesses.
“Instead of explaining and justifying its decision to sit on the sidelines, the had a Minister send out…
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By Connie Thiessen
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) has opened applications for the Commercial Radio News Fund.
The new initiative, which was granted conditional approval by the CRTC earlier this month, will operate similar to the Independent Local News Fund (ILNF) for independent television stations, requiring certain online audio undertakings to contribute 1.5 per cent of their annual revenues.
The fund aims to prop up commercial radio news production outside the country’s biggest markets — Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa-Gatineau.
The CAB has now opened applications for the distribution of contributions received for the broadcast year 2024/25. Dependant on the outcome…
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Rogers says CRTC does not need to “expand” inquiry
By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers has told the CRTC that a lightning strike could have been the reason why some calls in Niagara region were being misrouted to dead air or allowing customers to hear the conversations of others.
Rogers said the event on July 25, which triggered a CRTC inquiry after media reports, affected a “single voice path” on its traffic and trunk facilities and impacted the inbound and outbound calls between Rogers and Bell customers. The cableco said it is unable to identify the number of affected voice customers…
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On the same day TVA Group’s 2025-26 programming lineup was revealed, its acting president and CEO, Pierre Karl Peladeau, issued an appeal for action to government authorities and the CRTC, asking them to address the “serious competitive imbalances” that he says are destabilizing Canada’s private television broadcasting ecosystem.
Echoing many of the points he has made previously regarding what he calls a “crisis” in private broadcasting — including in May when layoffs at TVA Group were announced — Peladeau said in a statement Tuesday that, despite its…
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Freedom Mobile announced Tuesday the expansion of its wireless subscription area in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, which it said is made possible by partner agreements enabled by the CRTC’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) framework.
Additions to Freedom’s serviceable area include Chatham, Ridgetown, Wallaceburg, Blenheim, Dresden, Thamesville and Bothwell, among others, Freedom said in a press release.
“We are delighted to bring Freedom’s worry-free wireless solutions to Chatham-Kent residents. They can now enjoy our competitive plans, including our innovative Roam Beyond offering, while accessing Freedom’s fast and reliable wireless network,” Pierre Karl Péladeau, president and CEO of…
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The CRTC in a decision last week rejected an application by Truth Broadcasting Network to take ownership and effective control of CJJC-FM (The Rock 98.5), a Christian music radio station in Yorkton, Saskatchewan.
In doing so, the commission also denied Truth’s request for a new broadcasting licence to continue the operation of the station, which is currently operated by 101056012 Saskatchewan Ltd., owned by station manager Dennis Dyck along with Scott Fitzsimmons, Dave Giesbrecht and Dwayne Kruger.
In its decision, the CRTC said Truth had communicated to the commission on several occasions that…
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