STRATFORD, Ont. – "We have the opportunity to lead the world in digital media and create a national advantage by investing in innovation and turning that into commercially viable content and technology,” said Tom Jenkins, chairman of the Canadian Digital Media Network’s Advisory Board, and executive chairman and chief strategy officer of Open Text, in closing the Canada 3.0 conference on Tuesday.
To be a leader in digital media all Canadians should be connected to content and able to access that content on an equal level, organizers of the conference agreed. Content needs to be respected and copyright and…
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OTTAWA – CBC/Radio-Canada offered its congratulations to the new appointees to the board of the Canada Media Fund (CMF), and wished them well as they set to tackle the “formidable” challenges ahead.
“The Canadian television industry is at a critical juncture. The model for conventional broadcasting is broken and the future of high-quality Canadian programming is at risk”, read CBC/Radio-Canada’s statement on Wednesday. It went on to express confidence that the CMF “will play a central role in ensuring the continued viability of Canadian programming”.
The statement also stressed the need that the principles laid out earlier this year by the Government…
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BANFF, AB – The Canadian Television Fund (CTF) helped to create 2,210 hours of new Canadian programming last year, through 475 productions and 325 development projects.
The organization released funding highlights from its 2008-2009 fiscal year, which ended on March 31, 2009, from the Banff Television Festival.
Its $2 million digital media pilot program launched to “extraordinary demand”, with all funds allocated within the first six weeks, supporting 20 English and 10 French productions. The $5 million production incentive pilot program, designed to support English production in Quebec and Atlantic Canada where volumes had dropped "significantly", was also entirely allocated, benefiting…
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OTTAWA, MONTREAL and WINNIPEG – The telco industry is continuing in its efforts to make its business ‘greener’.
During last week’s ‘Environment Week’, both Telus and Fido made announcements to highlight their commitment to social responsibility and the environment.
Telus made a donation to Tree Canada, a not-for-profit charitable organization established to encourage Canadians to plant and care for trees in urban and rural environments, on behalf of its customers and employees who opted for electronic billing, or who returned a mobile phone for recycling.
As part of its commitment to corporate social responsibility, Telus said that it offers…
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BANFF, AB – Movie Central and The Movie Network have greenlit seven new Canadian original projects for production, the companies announced Monday from the Banff Television Festival.
Featuring some of Canada’s top creative talent, the projects include the original series Bloodletting, Phantom, The Pillars of the Earth, Living In Your Car, Meet Phil Fitz, Durham County and the made for television movie Fakers.
"Pay TV provides the creative environment that enables us to work with some of the most talented teams in Canada’s production industry," said Erica Benson, VP of programming for Movie Central, in the announcement. "With these…
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STRATFORD, ON – How is making entertainment and content-rich applications accessible on portable devices changing the game for broadcasters and legislators in Canada?
This is just one of the many topics up for debate at Canadian Digital Media Network’s (CDMN) conference held Monday and Tuesday in Stratford, ON. And Cartt.ca will be there.
The event, called ‘Canada 3.0: Defining Canada’s Digital Future’, is led by the University of Waterloo Stratford Institute and partners the Canadian Digital Media Network and Open Text Corporation.
The CDMN also announced the formation of its Advisory Board which will set strategic direction for the…
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BANFF – An optimistic Canadian Heritage minister said he was “not worried” about Canada’s culture, including its film and TV industries.
Opening the Banff World Television Festival Sunday night, James Moore predicted “there will be better days ahead,” although today was also not a bad time for the industry.
“There have never been more choices for consumers. There have never been more opportunities for producers. We’ve never had the vastness of the audiences we have right now,” he stated.
While Canadians are consuming more media than ever, they are doing it in a different manner than the 32-year-old minister…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – Reaction to the CRTC’s broadcasting in new media report has been swift, and predictably, mixed.
The news that the Commission will continue to exempt new media broadcasting services from its regulation got high marks from Internet service providers (ISPs) Telus and Rogers.
“The CRTC is often criticized, but give them in credit in this case,” Rogers’ senior vice president of regulatory, Ken Engelhart, told Cartt.ca on Thursday. “The Internet’s power comes from the consumer, not regulation and not taxes. This decision is very progressive and far reaching and we support it.”
Michael Hennessy, Telus’ senior…
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WE’VE READ ALL SORTS of dissenting opinions on CRTC from individual commissioners who don’t agree with their co-panellists. But a “concurring opinion”? That’s a new one for us.
Yesterday’s release of the Commission’s broadcasting in new media review was not exactly an earth-shattering moment. Response was a tepid “yea” for the most part because faced with the Act that binds its actions as well as what’s going on in reality and using common sense, the Regulator did all it could by saying no to changes in its exemption orders, going to the Federal Court, and calling for a…
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TORONTO – The Advertising Standards Canada (ASC) received 1,119 complaints from consumers in 2008, down 23% from the 1,445 complaints that it received in 2007.
The national advertising industry self-regulatory body administers the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards, the principal instrument of advertising self-regulation in Canada, and accepts complaints from consumers about advertising.
Of the 1,119 complaints received last year, 801 met the criteria for acceptance under the Code, while the remaining 318 could not be pursued because they did not fall within the Code’s criteria.
The retail advertising category garnered the highest number of complaints for the fourth…
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