Patience is appreciated on CRTC proceedings related to barriers to broadband deployment
By Amanda Oye
MONT-TREMBLANT – As the Canadian communications industry faces (yet another) period of immense change, CRTC interim vice-chair of broadcasting and commissioner for Quebec, Alicia Barin (above), applauded the resiliency of the members of the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance and assured them they are being heard on important CRTC files.
Speaking today at CCSA’s 2022 Connect conference, Barin pointed out CCSA members are no strangers to challenges or change. She spoke of their resiliency, recalling “the “death stars” of the early 1990s… the term applied to…
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Predicts C-11 will pass through Senate largely unchanged
By Amanda Oye
MONT-TREMBLANT – Affordability is a big issue on the minds of members of parliament, Huw Williams (above, left), president of Impact Public Affairs told the audience of the 2022 Canadian Communication Systems Alliance Connect conference today.
Speaking in conversation with CCSA CEO Jay Thomson (right), Williams explained MPs are getting a lot of calls and emails from constituents who are concerned about affordability – including the affordability of their communications services.
“I think they care,” he said. “Where they get bogged down is how do they actually make something happen?”
Williams pointed…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – With the Online Steaming Act presently being studied, both on the floor of the Senate and by the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications, some may be wondering what the next steps for the legislation are and when it will come into force.
Earlier this month, the Hill Times indicated “Senate leaders have already struck a deal that will have them hold a final vote on three government bills by Nov. 18 (including) the online streaming bill, C-11 (…).”
Even still, it could be a while before the act comes into force.
After delays by…
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By Konrad von Finckenstein
THERE IS LITTLE DOUBT that Bill C-11 will be enacted by the government in substantially the same form in which it was passed by the House of Commons.
Once it is enacted it will be up to the CRTC to implement it. The purpose is clear; integrate streamers such as Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video, into the Canadian broadcasting system and have them contribute their appropriate share to the production and promotion of Canadian programs. The CRTC is given new, wide discretionary powers to do so.
Scoping Hearing
The act will apply to online broadcasting undertakings that transmit programs. Given…
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Disappointment expressed by multiple groups that the order does not mention Tandem
OTTAWA – Cabinet has referred the CBC’s licence renewal decision back to the CRTC.
The CRTC issued the decision renewing the licences for the Corporation’s English- and French-language audiovisual and audio services this past June. Following this, the Governor in Council received 16 petitions asking for the decision to be set aside or referred back to the Commission.
The petitioners raised concerns about the CRTC giving the CBC flexibility to transfer its programming requirements to online platforms, about the CBC’s commercial activities including Tandem, its branded content initiative,…
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OTTAWA – Today and yesterday witnesses stressed the importance of getting Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, right to members of the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications – right for both broadcasters navigating a changing media landscape and for content creators who have built careers around the way things work online now.
Brad Danks, CEO of OUTtv spoke about the difficulties they have faced negotiating carriage on some online platforms and specified what he believes is needed is for the CRTC to be a backstop in the online environment as it currently is for Canada’s traditional broadcasting system.
“We…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC today released a notice of consultation for requests made last year by Nunavut Independent Television Network (NITV) and Natyf Inc. for mandatory distribution of their discretionary services, Uvagut TV and Natyf TV respectively, as part of the digital basic service.
The consultation will be held on Jan. 10, 2023, at 11 a.m.
NITV, which proposed a monthly persubscriber wholesale rate of $0.09 for five years, is applying for mandatory distribution across Canada while Natyf, which proposed a rate of $0.12 for five years, is asking for mandatory distribution in Quebec only.
Uvagut TV is an Indigenous-language discretionary service…
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Canadians don’t want government interference in our online experience. Simple surgery on Bill C-11 would help our creative economy keep flourishing.
By Irene Berkowitz
PUBLIC DEBATE ON Bill C-11, The Online Streaming Act, is nearing completion. In June, the bill passed the House of Commons. It’s being studied by the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications; testimony concludes on Wednesday.
This bill impacts all Canadian content creators, both new and legacy media; the stakes are high to get this right. Some simple surgery on C-11 would go far toward allowing our burgeoning creative economy to continue flourishing.
At a C-11 conference last…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC today announced it will hold a hearing Nov. 18, 2022, at 11 a.m. to consider applications from Stingray Group Inc. and Douglas Martin (on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated).
The Stingray application is for a broadcasting licence to operate Stingray HITS, its national English-language discretionary service devoted to music television programming with a focus on popular music videos from the past 20 years.
The CRTC’s notice of public hearing explains the service, which has been operating since July 2021, has had more than 210,000 subscribers for over three consecutive months, which makes it ineligible to…
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OTTAWA – In a response last week to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage’s May 2022 report on the impact of the proposed merger of Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications on local news, heritage minister Pablo Rodriguez suggested there is enough being done already to mitigate the potential negative impacts highlighted in the report.
The minister acknowledged the Canadian broadcasting system is facing a time of “significant transformation”.
“Canadians’ viewing habits are shifting online, and service providers are adapting to compete within Canada and with service providers from around the world,” his response reads. “The proposed transaction is taking place against…
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