OTTAWA – Leveraging online platforms such as YouTube to generate additional revenue is having limited success, according to panelists on a session exploring new business models for film and TV at the Canadian Media Production Association’s annual Prime Time event on Friday.
There is a certain amount of appeal to using YouTube because it has such a vast reach, but there are still some significant challenges to making money from the popular video website. The amount of money to be made from using YouTube is still quite small, said Claude Galipeau, principal at Galipeau Group. It’s difficult, he added, to…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The federal government has fully implemented the Audiovisual Treaty Coproduction treaty, providing a big boost to Canadian television and film co-productions, Paul Calandra, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage announced at the Canadian Media Production Association’s annual Prime Time event on Ottawa on Thursday.
“What this will ultimately mean, simply put, is more film and television productions overall in Canada. We are making Canada a more attractive place to do business,” Calandra said during a luncheon keynote, subbing for Heritage Minister James Moore.
“And how are we doing this? First we made it easier for Canada…
Continue Reading
MEXICO CITY – Canada’s largest telecommunications union has organized a tri-national conference of telecom unions that begins today in Mexico City to work on strategies for reversing what one of its representatives says is “growing job insecurity and poor working conditions faced by telco workers in North America.”
Coles, President of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, is joined by labour leaders from Mexico’s Sindicato telefonistas, and the U.S. Communications Workers of America.
“We are up against unprecedented corporate greed that tramples the rights of workers and we intend to fight back…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Robert Lantos, noted filmmaker and one of the men behind a new Canadian film channel application now before the CRTC, squared off against Pam Dinsmore, vice-president, regulatory at Rogers Communications during a session at Prime Time on the challenges of the Canadian feature film industry.
Their exchange likely provided a good preview of what people can expect when Starlight and Rogers appear before the CRTC for its 9(1)(h) hearing in April. Starlight has asked for carriage on all Canadian BDUs with a must-pay wholesale fee for consumers of $0.45 per month.
Lantos noted that Canada, in his view, is…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The government has finally decided on the date – as well as some of the ground rules – for the upcoming 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction.
Industry Minister Christian Paradis announced this morning that the 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction will take place November 19, which is months later than the government’s initial proposal of the first half of 2013. He also outlined a number of conditions the government is placing on the auction in a move to “ensure that Canadian consumers continue to benefit from more choice in the wireless sector and…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Despite the promise of cheaper and more widespread 4G services, Canadian cellphone customers are unlikely to see any real benefit from the 700 MHz auction to be held later this year says consumer rights group the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC). Industry Minister Christian Paradis officially outlined on Thursday the final regulations for the eagerly awaited spectrum auction.
While Paradis ensured “at least four providers in every region can acquire spectrum in the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction,” PIAC claims there have been no substantive changes to the upcoming auction rules to…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – RTDNA, The Association of Electronic Journalists, announced today it has selected eight recipients for the 2013 RTDNA Lifetime Achievement Awards.
“It is a great pleasure to honour industry leaders who have contributed significantly to our profession of electronic journalism,” said RTDNA Canada President Ian Koenigsfest in a release. “The recipients of this most prestigious award are broadcasters recognized by our colleagues for continued excellence, passion and commitment to our craft. They are all role models to us and will inspire generations of journalists who follow.”
The Lifetime Achievement Award was created in…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – With today’s public release of BCE’s new application to acquire Astral Media, the CRTC has set the new hearing date for May 6.
In its second attempt to win CRTC approval, Bell and Astral Media’s renewed proposal includes a $174.64-million tangible benefits package that includes the development and promotion of new Canadian TV and film content in French and English and over $50 million in radio benefits. “This new application to the CRTC clearly demonstrates the tremendous value the combination of these two all-Canadian media brands will mean for the Canadian public and their broadcasting industry” said Bell…
Continue Reading
MAGOG, QC – Omer Girard, one of the founding fathers of Canadian cable television, died Saturday at his home in Magog, Que.
A remarkable entrepreneur in Canada’s telecommunications industry who made a name for himself in the 1960s and ’70s with his epic battle for open access to telecom infrastructure was 92.
In 1957, Girard founded Transvision Magog, one of the most storied cable companies in Canadian history. Between 1960 and 1967, he launched five other cable businesses and cofounded the Canadian Cable Television Association, of which he became president in 1968. However, Girard stood out as the one who would…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Industry Canada announced Wednesday evening that it will make "an important announcement regarding Canada's wireless telecommunications sector" early Thursday morning.
In a press release sent out at about 6 p.m. the Minister invited reporters to an early morning (7 a.m.) lock-up and media availability session in Ottawa at the Ministry's offices. Industry Minister Christian Paradis will make a short speech beginning at 8:30 a.m. It is widely expected that the announcement will be the final guidelines surrounding the auction of 700 MHz wireless spectrum, including the date when it will get under way.
Minister Paradis…
Continue Reading
