TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) on Tuesday announced a new MADE | NOUS initiative that calls on established Canadian digital content creators to join its ongoing campaign to celebrate and promote the creative work of Canadians in the film, television, video game and digital entertainment industries.
“This initiative is about uniting ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ creators, so to speak,” Mathieu Chantelois, executive vice-president of marketing and public affairs at the CMF, said in a press release. “We want to bridge the gap between TV and film viewers and fans of online content. We want people who are…
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By Connie Thiessen
Blue Ant Media and marblemedia have announced the merger of their respective production and distribution operations into one unified studio and rights business.
The deal sees Blue Ant acquire marblemedia and its international sales operation Distribution360. Former marblemedia co-CEOs Mark Bishop and Matthew Hornburg will helm the combined business, based in Toronto, serving as co-Presidents and reporting to Michael MacMillan, CEO and co-founder, Blue Ant Media.
The combined business, which encompasses the marblemedia, Blue Ant Studios, Saloon Media and Look Mom! Productions prodcos, in addition to distributors Distribution360 and Blue Ant International, will form what’s being billed as a…
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GATINEAU, OTTAWA and TORONTO – The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), public broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada and print and digital news association News Media Canada (NMC) have jointly applied to the Competition Bureau to investigate Meta’s alleged abuse of its dominant market position, after the social media giant last week began officially blocking news content in Canada on Facebook and Instagram.
Meta had threatened back in June to end news availability on its platforms in Canada in response to the passing of the Online News Act, and on Aug. 1 it began the process to do that, saying the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell CEO Mirko Bibic said Thursday that the telecom has a tiny amount of lead cables left in its network as it moves toward replacing the legacy cables with fibre, following a report from the Wall Street Journal last month that alleged the toxic substance was lingering in America’s telecommunications cables.
The Journal report alleges when the cables still in service degrade, the lead spreads to the surrounding environment, allegedly posing a health hazard. AT&T, working with regulators, has since denied the health hazard claims related to its own cables and has suspended the removal of them from…
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TORONTO – Organizers of the Wi-Fi World Congress and Expo Event North America (WWC) announced Wednesday the first-ever Canadian version of the conference will take place in Toronto from Sept. 18-20.
The WWC is hosted by the industry association Wi-Fi NOW and its community of more than 20,000 Wi-Fi professionals from every industry segment, a press release explains.
“More than 500 world and Canadian Wi-Fi leaders including North America’s top service providers, vendors and industry organizations will be part of the WWC,” Claus Hetting, CEO and chairman of Wi-Fi NOW, said in the release. “Education, industry…
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CBC calls it “irresponsible” and “abuse of power”; CAB says it shows “tangible disregard for democracy”
Starting Tuesday, Meta has begun blocking Canadian news content on Facebook and Instagram for their users in Canada.
In an update Tuesday to its June announcement of its intention to end news availability on its platforms in Canada, in response to the passing of the Online News Act, Meta says these changes “will be implemented for all people accessing Facebook and Instagram in Canada over the course of the next few weeks.”
The changes mean news links…
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By Connie Thiessen
The deadline for interventions in Bell Media’s request for regulatory programming relief passed late last week with 19 submissions received by the CRTC, the majority making the case against the broadcaster’s proposal.
Bell is specifically seeking a reduction in Canadian programming expenditures (CPE) from 30 to 20 per cent; a reduction in minimum PNI (Programs of National Interest) expenditures from 7.5 to 5 per cent; and an expansion of the current PNI categories to include analysis and interpretation, music and dance, variety, game shows, general entertainment, human interest, and reality television. In return, it’s proposing to increase its independent production…
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By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – Quebecor said Thursday it is “upgrading the telecom industry” by providing enhancements and a new plan on its newly-acquired Freedom Mobile brand intended to undercut the incumbents ahead of the promotional back-to-school and holiday seasons.
Freedom announced the launch of a new 5G uncapped data plan of 50 GB covering Canada, the United States and Mexico for $65. (Speeds are throttled after a user exceeds their monthly data allotment.)
The company also has a $45-offer for 30 GB of data with unlimited talk and text across the country and 20 GB and 3 GB 4G/LTE options starting…
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By Connie Thiessen
OTTAWA — Pascale St-Onge has been appointed the new Minister of Canadian Heritage as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced an anticipated cabinet shuffle Wednesday morning.
The Member of Parliament for Brome-Missisquoi, St-Onge previously served as Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec.
Her background includes serving as Secretary General and later President of the Fédération nationale des communications et de la culture, where she worked to develop public policy to address the challenges facing media, newspapers, and the cultural sector and programs to help adapt to shifts brought…
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Regulator argued Rogers’s investment capacity won’t be harmed
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC has selected Quebecor’s price to access Rogers’s wireless network for the purposes of building out its mobile virtual network operator business, the regulator announced Monday afternoon.
The two parties were granted a final offer arbitration hearing in May after they couldn’t hammer out a deal on their own. The process involves the two sides presenting their own price offer for access and the regulator choosing one.
The CRTC ruled that despite its finding that both offers would have satisfied the policy objectives, it was Quebecor’s offer that…
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