TORONTO – Content owner and distributor Entertainment One said today the company will acquire three leading television content suppliers: Blueprint, Barna-Alper and Oasis International.
Concurrently, an agreement has been reached to acquire Maximum Films’ Canadian and International Distribution operations and combine it with E1’s Seville Pictures. “These agreements mark a major milestone in the company’s aggressive strategy to become a leading global distributor of entertainment content,” says the press release.
"Combining these three television companies creates an unrivalled cross-border force in television in North America supplying programs to most major broadcasters on both sides of the border," said Darren…
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TORONTO – Accounting firm Ernst & Young will present its Ontario lifetime achievement award to Rogers Communications founder Ted Rogers this October.
"Ted Rogers drives those around him to succeed. He is passionate about business and his energy drives and inspires those around him to overcome challenges and push for progress," said Dan Cornacchia, national and Ontario director of the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards program, in a press release. "With inspiring forethought and vision, Rogers represents the true essence of entrepreneurism. He recognizes opportunities others miss and uses them to build ideas into realities."
With the purchase of…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Association of Broadcasters on Friday filed an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada its payment of Part II licence fees.
The CAB disputes the Federal Court of Appeal decision that overturned a Federal Court Trial Division ruling on the fees.
In December 2006, the Federal Court Trial Division ruled that the CRTC Part II fees collected by the federal government from broadcasters and broadcast distributors were an illegal tax. The government appealed that decision to the Federal Court of Appeal, which found the fees to be a valid regulatory charge and…
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OTTAWA – Suzanne Lamarre, Steve Simpson and Louise Poirier have been appointed to five-year terms as new full-time CRTC commissioners.
Lamarre will represent the Quebec region, Simpson will represent the British Columbia and Yukon region, and Poirier is the new National Capital Region Commissioner.
Poirier begins her five-year term on August 11, while Lamarre starts at the CRTC on June 30.
Since 2006, Lamarre has been senior advisor to CBC/Radio-Canada in Montreal in the sector of national and international strategy, planning, and regulation. She has represented the CBC in front of national and international regulatory bodies.
Previously, she was…
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OTTAWA – Globalive Communications Corp., the Yak-led consortium, which had boasted of becoming Canada’s fourth national carrier, appears to have a gaping hole in the province of Quebec as bidding activity peters out in Canada’s auction for advanced wireless services in the 2 GHz range.
“Globalive has as close to a national license as anyone, but Quebec is a hole for them,’’ says Evan Kelly, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s national communications industry leader. “They’ve backed off. Quebec is one of the regions where there are no multiple parties going after licences anymore, so it seems to have settled.’’
With 135 rounds…
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OTTAWA – Investment restrictions in Canada’s telecommunications and broadcasting sectors should be liberalized as part of a wider plan to ensure Canada becomes more competitive to spur productivity enhancements that’ll lead to a higher quality of life, according to a report by the Competition Policy Review Panel that was released Thursday.
The report, Compete to Win, calls for investment rules for the telecommunications, broadcasting and other sectors to be reviewed every five years.
It recommends a two-phase approach to foreign participation in the telecommunications and broadcasting industry. In the first five years, foreign telecommunications companies could establish a new Canadian…
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PHILADELPHIA – The talking about reclaiming analog and shifting channels to digital is about to end – and the heavy-lifting is about to begin.
Comcast COO Steve Burke says cable desperately needs more room for digital channels like more high definition and additional ethnic channels, as well as DOCSIS 3.0. In the States DirecTV claims over 100 HD channels and is the clear leader here. “(Second), is not a place we want to stay forever,” said Burke during the opening general session.
“You can’t stop consumer trends,” added Charter CEO Neil Smit, about the growing numbers of high definition…
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CAMBRIDGE, ON – CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein has taken a shot at Canadian broadcasters’ slow progress in converting to digital, urging them to invest in digital infrastructure, including for over-the-air transmission, high-definition Canadian programming and public awareness campaigns.
“I am raising this issue with you today because I do not want to get any nasty surprises in 2011. With the few possible exceptions I mentioned , nobody will be getting a licence to broadcast in analog after the cut-off date,” he said during a speech at the 2008 Broadcasting Invitational Summit on June 19. “My great concern is…
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WINNIPEG – The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) will provide $750,000 over three years and Telefilm Canada will put $1.2 million toward the implementation of a professional Aboriginal mentorship program.
The program, which will be administered by Telefilm Canada, is aimed at assisting Aboriginal filmmakers in the creation of feature films.
A framework for the program will be developed with the objectives of providing support to mid-career level Aboriginal audiovisual professionals and companies in their professional and industrial development; creating opportunities for the development of long-lasting relationships between industry decision makers and Aboriginal creators; and in the long term,…
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VANCOUVER – Some 45% of Canadians support amendments to the Copyright Act, while 45% oppose them and 10% are undecided, according to a recent Angus Reid Strategies poll.
Earlier in June, the federal government proposed several amendments to the existing Copyright Act, which would fine people $500 for downloading copyrighted material from the Internet and up to $20,000 for hacking digital locks or uploading copyrighted material to file-sharing websites.
Not surprising given the rate at which young people download material free from the Internet, young adults aged 18 to 34 (23%) are least in favour of the changes, while…
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