By Connie Thiessen
OTTAWA – Media Technology Monitor (MTM) has released a new report that indicates one in five English-speaking Canadians and one in six Francophones have “cut the cord” and canceled their paid TV service.
MTM says while the majority of Canadians (69% of Anglophones and 74% of Francophones) continue to subscribe to services like cable, fiber optic or satellite TV, many are choosing to forgo paid TV and opting out.
“Cord Cutters” tend to be younger, well-educated and often have children under age 12 in the home, according to the report, which also found that streaming Subscription Video on Demand…
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IN JUNE, THE CRTC renewed CBC/Radio-Canada’s broadcasting licences on terms that caused widespread indignation. Dozens of organizations protested that the new conditions of licence constitute a major departure from the mission of a public broadcaster. Last Thursday, the Governor General in Council ordered the CRTC to reconsider its decision, bearing in mind that the national public broadcaster must continue to make “a significant contribution to the creation, presentation and dissemination of local news, children’s programming, original French-language programming and programming produced by independent producers.”
That order is good news for Canada’s production industry and we welcome it. However, there’s nothing…
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Bell, Cogeco, Eastlink, SaskTel asking for $3/month increase to skinny basic packages
OTTAWA and GATINEAU — Six years after skinny basic TV packages were first introduced in Canada, with a CRTC-mandated price cap of $25 per month, a group of TV service providers has asked the Commission to increase that cap to $28 per month.
Bell, Cogeco Communications, Eastlink and SaskTel filed a joint application in January 2022 making the request, which also asked for subsequent yearly adjustments based on inflation, according to a CRTC press release today.
“They indicate that the proposed annual increase to the price of the…
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MONT-TREMBLANT – Yesterday the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance wrapped up the main portion of its sold-out Connect 2022 conference, which had been going on for the past two days in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec.
Over a dozen new members joined CCSA, Jay Thomson (above), CCSA’s CEO announced at a lunch on the first day of the event.
At a dinner last night, Thomson announced the next CCSA Connect conference will be held in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador from Sept. 11-13, 2023.
The following photos were taken over the course of Connect 2022, which featured speakers, a showcase and time to meet people and…
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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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