OTTAWA-GATINEAU – While Canadians increasingly opt for platforms and devices connected to the Internet for their video and audio content, traditional television and radio services still play an important role, says the first part of the CRTC’s 2017 Communications Monitoring Report.
Canadians aged 18-34 years old are leading the trend with 23% watching TV exclusively online. Nationally, 13% of Anglophones watch TV exclusively online, more than three times the number of Francophones (4%). Overall, Canadians aged 18 years or older watched 3.1 hours of Internet TV per week in 2016, compared to 2.7 hours in 2015.
Although Canadians are spending…
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Rogers agrees to expand distribution of tiny community station
GATINEAU – CRTC hearings feature a lot of what we call “woulda, shoulda, coulda” talk.
Loads of words about what companies would be doing, if only this or that were changed, what they should (or shouldn’t) be doing under existing rules and what they could be doing, regardless. It isn’t often where these issues are solved without the CRTC forcing the matter.
Well, during October’s phase II BDU license renewal hearing, commissioners heard from one small community TV outfit on what Rogers Cable could and should be doing for them in southern New…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC has pushed back its deadline for comments pertaining to TV channels wishing to renew their places in the basic programming package.
After recently announcing that it would kick off its 9(1)(h) hearing on April 30, the Commission said Wednesday that the deadline to submit interventions, comments and answers is now December 8, 2017, and not November 16 as first announced. The deadline for the applicants to submit their replies is December 18.
The new deadlines comes as a result of a joint procedural request from BCE, the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance, Cogeco, Quebecor, Rogers, Shaw and…
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OTTAWA–GATINEAU – Canadians now have more time to tell the CRTC how they plan to find and consume audio and video content in the coming years and its impact on the Canadian market.
The Commission extended the deadline to file comments from November 25 to December 1, 2017 in response to requests from the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications and the Coalition pour la culture et les médias.
This call for comments, the first phase of the proceeding, comes in response to the Governor-in-Council’s directive for a report by the CRTC on future distribution models for Canadian…
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OTTAWA – New CRTC chair Ian Scott formally returned the welcome that he received last month from the two ministers who oversee the Commission, Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains.
In his own letter on Tuesday, Scott said that he looked forward to “fostering an open and transparent relationship” with the duo, and reiterated the CRTC’s focus on ensuring that Canadians have fast, affordable and reliable Internet access and wireless services; high-quality and diverse content; the option to use applications and services on the networks and devices of their choice; and…
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TRANSPARENCY IS AMONG the most controversial topics in the public policy arena. So it’s surprising that few if any pundits latched onto the significance of a recent tweak by the CRTC regarding how it runs its hearings.
Going forward, tweeted @CRTCeng, the names of Commissioners (the people exercising oversight impacting your cable and internet bills) appointed to public panels will be made public two weeks prior to the commencement of the hearing. Many people may understandably shrug at this, but it is a significant step toward creating a more level and accountable playing field.
Here’s why: Companies…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has dismissed a constitutional challenge against Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) made by the first company it fined under the country’s anti-spam laws.
As Cartt.ca reported in March 2015, the Quebec-based company Compu-Finder was fined $1.1 million for sending commercial electronic messages without the recipient’s consent, as well as emails in which the unsubscribe mechanisms did not function properly. The violations occurred at various times in 2014.
The company made representations to the Commission in May 2015 seeking a review of the notice of violation and raising a constitutional challenge to CASL on various grounds. It also challenged…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC will review applications for channels wishing to renew their places in the basic programming package of the country’s television service providers at a hearing starting April 30.
Currently, programming services that must be carried within the basic package include 9(1)(h) services, all local television stations, provincial educational services, community channels and provincial legislature channels, if available.
The Commission said Tuesday that it will examine applications by Cable Public Affairs Channel Inc. (CPAC), Accessible Media Inc., Pelmorex Weather Networks (Television) Inc., TV5 Quebec Canada, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network Inc., Vues & Voix and The Legislative Assemblies of Nunavut and…
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TORONTO – New CRTC broadcasting vice-chair Caroline Simard (pictured) will make her first public address next month at the Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB) Connection 2017 annual conference and awards gala.
Before joining CRTC, Simard was a legal advisor for the Department of Justice with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's legal services since 2007. She worked in domestic law, notably on the Telecommunications Act, the Radiocommunication Act, Canada's anti-spam law, and on international telecommunications law.
Simard will be the keynote luncheon speaker at Connection '17, which will take place on Thursday, November 9 at the Marriott Toronto Airport Hotel.
www.oab.ca
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OTTAWA–GATINEAU – The CRTC kicked off its part in the Broadcasting and Telecom Acts review Thursday by asking Canadians how they will access audio and video content in the coming years and its impact on the Canadian market.
The call for comments, the first phase of the proceeding, comes on the heels of the Governor-in-Council’s directive for a report due June 1st on future distribution models for Canadian programming, as well as its continued creation, production and distribution.
The Commission added that it intends to publish further documents and details on the second phase, based on the comments received in…
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