TORONTO – Future success in the digital media world isn’t about the gadgets – it’s all about the content and user experience. That was the consensus among a group of industry experts who gathered Wednesday afternoon for a panel discussion during the Digital Media Summit, as part of Slacker Canadian Music Week in Toronto.
“There’s nothing clever technologically about the Apple iPhone, fundamentally,” said James Cridland, radio futurologist and managing director for MediaUK, a media industry information web site. “It’s the user experience that makes that product a brilliant product, in comparison to the old clunky things we used to have…
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CONVINCING SENIOR FOLKS in the broadcasting industry to talk – on the record – about the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is no easy task. It’s not that no one has an opinion (quite the opposite, of course), it’s just that few are willing to be quoted.
Heap too much praise on the CBC and you’re some kind of apple-polisher, angling for a job or some other favour. Heaven forbid if you’re a private broadcaster who praises the CBC. That’s just not done. They are the enemy, after all! On the other hand, leveling criticism at the Corp. in a public forum…
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TORONTO – Consumer complaints about advertising reached their highest level in more than a decade in 2011, once again led by TV ads.
Advertising Standards Canada (ASC), the national advertising industry self-regulatory body, said in its annual report that Canadians filed 1,809 consumer complaints last year regarding 1,153 advertisements. Consistent with previous years, advertising on television, with 686 complaints (38%), generated the highest number of complaints, followed by Internet ads with 345 (19%). Ads in out-of-home media, including transit and billboard advertising, ranked in third spot with 11% or 204 complaints, while radio ads generated 85 complaints (5%).
The ASC…
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TORONTO – The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) has named Michael McEwen as its director general effective March 26, 2012.
McEwen’s broadcast experience includes a career with CBC/Radio-Canada both in production and in the executive offices, a long association with NABA as a past director, president and secretary general, and an innovator in implementing new technologies such as the introduction of digital HD television in Canada. Since 2010, he has been the chairman of UK-based consultants Media Asset Capital.
“Michael brings to NABA a depth of broadcast experience and understanding of the industry at a time our members are challenged by change…
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OTTAWA – Registration is now open for this year’s Communications Law and Policy conference scheduled for April 26 – 27 at the Ottawa Convention Centre in Ottawa.
Designed for lawyers, industry executives, and government officials, the event will include sessions such as ‘The Reports of the Death of the CRTC Have Been Greatly Exaggerated’, ‘Effectiveness of the Group-Based Licensing Scheme’, ‘Trends in Telecom Regulation’, and ‘Canada’s Foreign Ownership Restrictions’.
In addition to the conference materials, registrants will receive a copy of the 11th edition of the Canadian Broadcasting Regulatory Handbook, the 6th edition of the Regulatory Guide to Canadian Television, the…
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TORONTO – Canada's Minister of Industry Christian Paradis has confirmed that he will address the 2012 Canadian Telecom Summit (and Cartt.ca will be there), a year after his inaugural debut at the event.
Minister Paradis (pictured) is scheduled to address delegates on Wednesday, June 6. With many important policy developments facing the industry, such as the upcoming spectrum auctions, last week's announced relaxation of foreign ownership restrictions, and Canada's place in an ever-expanding global digital economy, it should be an interesting discussion.
Now in its 11th year,…
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TORONTO – Rogers’ Joel Woods will be off to Harvard in June as this year’s recipient of the CTAM Canada Fellowship Award, also known as CTAM U.
Woods is senior product manager – cable platform within the video product management group at Rogers where he is responsible for overseeing the launch and maintenance of all linear video channels (analog, SD, HD) and all linear channel line-ups; network/spectrum capacity and planning; and network provisioning/integrity. He has also been a member of CTAM Canada for 8 years and has participated in a number of events and committees.
Now in its 15th year, the…
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TORONTO – RTNDA Canada, The Association of Electronic Journalists, has named its Prairie region award winners honouring the best programs, stations and newsgathering organizations in both radio and television.
"These awards are named after some of the pioneers and innovators in our industry, and some of them were the founders of our association fifty years ago," said RTDNA Canada president, Andy LeBlanc, in the announcement. "We're pleased to continue celebrating excellence in electronic journalism. Our founders would be proud of the quality of award winning local news coverage today."
The annual awards will be presented in Winnipeg on April 14, 2012.
The television…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has tweaked its approach regarding contributions by broadcasting distribution undertakings to local expression.
Under the current broadcasting distribution regulations, licensed BDUs must, for each broadcast year, contribute 5% of their gross revenues derived from broadcasting activities in that year to support Canadian programming, and are authorized to allocate up to 2% of those revenues to local expression.
After seeking industry input, the Commission determined that the maximum dollar contribution to local expression by each terrestrial BDU licensee will be based on the amount contributed during the broadcast year ended August 31, 2010 (the 2010 contribution level). This…
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OTTAWA – Reaction was predictably mixed when Industry Canada Minister Christian Paradis released the 700 MHz spectrum auction policy Wednesday, with some saying that it struck the right balance, while others describing the rules as devastating to new entrants.
Mobilicity, which had asked for the entire 700 MHz band to be set aside for new entrants, still saw the decision as a positive step for competition and support for the upstart wireless companies.
“I think Industry Canada had a tough decision to make and it tried to make all sides happy to some extent. So I thought it was a reasonable compromise,…
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