WHILE WE WAIT for the CRTC to decide whether or not Al Jazeera English can be distributed in Canada by cable, satellite and telco TV companies, I already have it in my office.
Actually, I have both the English and Arabic versions, right now, on my television. (No Canadian BDU offers the Arabic version because even though it’s on the eligible satellite list, the regs around it say that BDUs must employ Arabic language censors to monitor it 24/7, if they want to launch.)
And yet, here they both are, in standard definition, full-screen quality, on my 30-inch LCD television thanks…
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OTTAWA – Canada’s Telecommunications Hall of Fame will award its 2009 career service awards to the late Jim McDaniel of CNCP Telecommunications and Unitel Communications (now MTS Allstream), and to the brother team of John Downs and Paul Downs from the Nexicom group of companies.
The 2009 Telecom Laureate Awards Gala Dinner and Induction Ceremony will be held on November 4, 2009 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau.
“Jim McDaniel was a giant in the telecommunications field who devoted his entire career to promoting Canadian telecommunications”, said Hall founder and director Lorne Abugov, in the announcement. “He made telecommunications…
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DAVE LEWIS HAS BEEN at this satellite thing for a long time. Thirty-one years, to be exact.
He’s worked for Telesat, Alphastar, Cancom/Star Choice, Lincsat and Ciel – just about every satellite company in the country. And he says there’s no way existing Canadian BDUs can offer up all channels in high definition without multi-billion-dollar upgrades which would include a massive consumer set top box swap-out program.
He believes the best way to deliver local-into-local TV signals – and his new company would deliver every OTA broadcaster in Canada – in high definition (including 1080p), is to start over with a…
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MISSISSAUGA, ON – Higher sales volumes in Phonetime Inc.’s wholesale division helped push consolidated revenue for the long distance telecom provider up 5% year-over-year.
For the second quarter ended June 30, 2009, consolidated revenue was $41.3 million, compared to $39.3 million for the same quarter in 2008. For the six month period of 2009, revenue was up 11% to $83.9 million from $75.8 million for the same period of 2008.
"We are very pleased with our Q2 results given recent economic conditions," said president and CEO Wayne Silver, in the press release. "In a challenging period for our industry, we continue to attract new…
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CABLE AND SATELLITE COMPANIES say Ottawa has forced them to stick customers with a fee increase – a “tax”, as they like to call it – to help subsidize local programming. Their spokespeople say viewers should be “vigilant about how much governments are imposing on you.”
Canadians have good reason to be skeptical.
Canada’s cable and satellite industry is in robust good health. Its profits exceeded $2 billion last year (on revenues of more than $10 billion). Not coincidentally, the average customer’s monthly bill has gone up more than 20% since 2002.
It’s hardly onerous to propose that the cable and satellite…
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IN THEIR FIGHT against fee-for-carriage (or in CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein’s now-preferred vernacular, "value-for-signal"), Canada’s broadcast distribution undertakings plan to fire every bullet in their chambers and lob every grenade they can lay their hands on to put a stop to it.
It will happen and is happening behind the scenes, on the airwaves, on Parliament Hill, at the Regulator and in the courts. Lobbyists are in full lobby. Researchers are in full search. Government mandarins are mandarining and being mandarined. TV and radio appearances for the executives of the big BDUs are being planned. Expect a full blitz…
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TORONTO – Astral Television has named Michael Goldsmith to the position of director of original programming for Family Channel and Playhouse Disney Canada.
Effective August 24, Goldsmith will manage Family Channel and Playhouse Disney Canada’s original programming slate from project selection, development and production to delivery and launch, the announcement detailed.
Goldsmith has more than 10 years of experience in the television production industry, most recently as director of original programming for Teletoon. Prior to that, he held the position of director of broadcast sales and promotion for Corus Entertainment.
www.astralmedia.com
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OTTAWA – In less than 24 months, the CRTC has gone from telling the industry there isn’t enough evidence to allow local broadcasters to charge BDUs for their signals, to indicating it wants to use next month’s hearing into the TV biz to decide how – and how much – can be charged.
This ride towards fee for carriage (or “value for signal” as some are now terming it) has been a long and bumpy one, culminating in last month’s Commission release which said the Regulator now favours it and that the industry now needs to negotiate its way to…
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GATINEAU – One option for getting over-the-air television to every Canadian when the transition to digital happens come August 31, 2011, appears now to be off the table.
Both Shaw Direct (formerly Star Choice) and Bell TV (formerly ExpressVu) have told the CRTC that since the Regulator insists on pushing ahead with distant OTA signal charges and increasing the Local Programming Improvement Fund, they no longer have any interest in offering up their satellite platforms to help small market local broadcasters serve everyone in their contours once the transition to digital happens in 2011.
Since Bell has twice presented this “Freesat”…
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OTTAWA – Claude Majeau has been named as vice-chairman of the board of directors and CEO of the Copyright Board Canada, Industry Minister Tony Clement announced today.
“His experience and knowledge in the area of communications will remain a great asset to the board as it continues to oversee the administration of royalties and licences relating to copyrighted material,” said Minister Clement in the press release.
Majeau has been secretary general of the organization since 1993 and before that, worked for the Department of Communications of Canada from 1987 to 1993 as director (communications and culture) for the Quebec Region. From…
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