TORONTO – It appears Corus Entertainment and a number of other Canadian broadcasters have made their Canadian specialty channels free to the customers of broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) in Canada until April 30th.
The companies have not put out a press release or made an announcement saying so, but carriers such as Rogers Communications, Cogeco, Eastlink, SaskTel, Access Communications, Westman Communications and Quadro Communications have announced every one of Corus’ 28-plus channels (from Adult Swim to Food Network to History to YTV) are now free to all customers to watch while they hunker…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Internet service provider TekSavvy said in court documents filed on Friday that the big broadcasters which were successful in bringing about the first court-ordered site-blocking decision did not put the effort in to use other methods to squash those it accused of peddling unlicensed content on the internet – making it harder to justify the use of site-blocking for that purpose.
In July, Bell, Rogers and Quebecor’s Groupe TVA Inc. brought a motion to ban alleged pirate IPTV provider GoldTV from operating until the outcome of a trial, which was granted by the court in August….
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – On February 20th, the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology “adopted a motion to study the influx of fraud calls in Canada, including robocalls, ghost calls, and spam calls. The Committee will also examine the successes and failures of the National Do-Not-Call List, and the STIR/SHAKEN measures that will be implemented in September 2020.”
The first meeting, held on Tuesday, March 10th, when Parliament was still running and COVID-19 wasn’t all the news, saw committee members hear two panels discuss the issue.
The first had representatives of the CRTC and the RCMP.
In their opening remarks, both…
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By Steve Faguy
MONTREAL – With the COVID-19 outbreak forcing the suspension or cancellation of most live sporting events for the foreseeable future, Canada’s all-sports networks are struggling to fill their suddenly wiped schedules with alternative content, and that means a lot of panel talk shows, documentaries, movies and trips down memory lane.
We noted CBC aired Red Bull’s Ice Cross, which is basically downhill skating in hockey gear, from Japan (taped in February) this past Saturday night instead of the usual NHL games.
“We’re looking at what we can do for programming for the next week,” said Patrick Tremblay of Bell…
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WHILE THERE WILL surely be more announcements in the coming days, the broadband, telecom and TV industry is responding to the COVID-19 virus in a number of ways.
All have noted in emails their networks are up to the challenge of handling whatever increased traffic that might come from thousands of people working from home rather than the office. During a conference call with financial analysts Thursday discussing its 2019 fiscal fourth quarter, Vidéotron president Jean-Francois Pruneau said, when asked he is “not worried at all about the virus impact on consumption and network capacity.”
Then, on Friday, Vidéotron said it…
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OTTAWA — The Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) and the co-op work term and professional development services of the Université de Sherbrooke are joining forces to support the development of new talent for the digital economy.
To achieve this, the two partners announced Tuesday they have agreed to increase the number of internship placements in digital fields and will work together to establish fruitful ties with the companies involved.
Eligible employers who employ Université de Sherbrooke interns may receive a subsidy to cover part of the salaries offered. The employer could receive up to 50% of the salary paid…
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MISSISSAUGA — Contractor The Wesbell Group of Companies announced Tuesday it has completed its acquisition of Edmonton-based Vista Telecom Networks.
Wesbell provides services to the telecommunications industry through its wholly owned subsidiary, Wesbell Technologies Inc. The acquisition allows Wesbell Technologies to immediately operate in Alberta while at the same time accelerating its growth into British Columbia, says the news release.
“Wesbell and Vista have worked together on many projects over the past 10 years. The familiarity with the Vista team makes this acquisition such a natural fit,” said Nick Mazze, president and CEO of Wesbell, in the news release. “This…
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OTTAWA — The national capital will play host to delegates from around the world attending next fall’s Communications Policy and Regulation Week, organized by the International Institute of Communications (IIC).
The week’s events from October 5 to 8 will consist of the IIC’s flagship annual conference and its International Regulators’ Forum, to be hosted in Ottawa by the CRTC along with ISED’s Spectrum and Telecommunications Sector.
This international gathering brings together senior decision-makers from the telecommunications, media and technology sectors, allowing for collegial discussions on today’s most pressing communications issues, says the news release. The week’s events attract senior policy-makers,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Rogers Media and Corus Entertainment have renewed their lobby registrations with a topic once thought passed its best-before date: junk food advertising restrictions.
In 2016, Senate Bill S-228 was introduced as an amendment to the Food and Drugs Act with the goal of severely restricting the ability of advertisers to market unhealthy food and drinks to children in an effort to fight obesity. Rogers, Bell and Corus began lobbying on the issue, with the latter warning that severely limiting TV advertising of these types of products from between 6 and 9 a.m. and 3 and 9…
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OTTAWA – The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology has adopted a motion to launch a new study on the accessibility and affordability of telecommunications services in Canada.
The committee will examine several aspects of telecommunications, including 5G expansion, the spectrum allocation process, rural Internet access, competition, and data privacy, which sounds an awful lot like the topics just covered in the yet-to-be-completed CRTC wireless policy review proceeding.
The committee is asking Canadians to submit briefs which must not exceed 1,000 words and must be sent not later than April 9th, 2020 INDU@parl.gc.ca
The committee also adopted a motion to…
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