BANFF – The Canadian Television Fund, saying it was responding to “a concern” but declining to name whose concern, said it would put off any changes to its bylaws until the CRTC is finished its review of the fund.
Two weeks ago, Shaw Communications CEO Jim Shaw sent a blistering letter to the CTF saying the fact the organization was planning to alter its bylaws at the same time the CRTC is examining the fund and its operations “flies in the face of common sense.”
Today, buried in a press release of the CTF’s report to stakeholders, the…
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TORONTO – Recognizing that there was probably no way out of last week’s CRTC decision that disallowed the purchase of the Citytv franchise by CTV (a story first broken by Cartt.ca), CTVglobemedia agreed today to sell the five stations to Rogers Media for $375 million.
Today’s deal scraps an earlier agreement that had Rogers acquiring the secondary market A Channels (Barrie, London, Wingham, Windsor and Ottawa Ont., as well as Victoria B.C.), which CTV will now hang onto. Rogers new stations will be Citytv Toronto (CITY-TV), Citytv Winnipeg (CHMI-TV), Citytv Edmonton (CKEM-TV), Citytv Calgary (CKAL-TV) and Citytv…
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BANFF – Heritage Minister Bev Oda told delegates Sunday afternoon that the government is renewing its contribution to the New Media Fund, earmarking $29 million over two years.
While the $500,000 a year increase over the previous level of funding was less than some were hoping for, Oda’s commitment was well-received.
She noted that last fall’s report from the CRTC on broadcast technology and new media said Canada was beginning to lag behind other countries when it came to new applications and platform development and one of her ministry’s main goals for the media industry is to ensure there…
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TORONTO – The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) has announced a new, three-year, $600,000 sponsorship initiative with CBC Television to help foster emerging Canadian television talent.
The advanced training program, to be known as the CBC Prime Time Television Program, is considered to be an essential source of trained writers and newly developed projects for the TV marketplace.
“The CBC is recognized as the major leader in producing and broadcasting Canadian episodic drama, while the CFC has a proven track record of developing successful television writers/creators,” said Slawko Klymkiw, CFC executive director and former CBC Television programming chief, in a…
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BANFF – “This year, more than any other, has been the year of the digital media executive,” said the organizers of nextMEDIA – The Future of Digital Content, at the end of their show.
Held June 8-10, in Banff and covered by Cartt.ca, it scored record delegate attendance from leading digital media executives from around the world. The sold-out, three-day event, which wrapped on Sunday with a question and answer session with BBC director general Mark Thompson, attracted close to 350 attendees
NextMedia included a tightly-run, comprehensive program of keynotes, panel discussions and briefing sessions. The event hosted back…
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OTTAWA – While the Canadian telecom world meets this week at the Canadian Telecom Summit in Toronto, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association today echoed many of its members in calling on the Canadian government to ensure the 2008 Advanced Wireless Services spectrum auction is “open and free of artificial measures.“
Ottawa has announced it will auction off AWS spectrum in 2008, and the CWTA is worried about how it will be done, as has been chronicled by Cartt.ca.
“To continue stimulating innovation and investment, the federal government must create a level playing field for all…
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OTTAWA – CTVglobemedia may have declined all comment today on the CRTC’s decision to approve its takeover of Chum Limited – without CHUM’s key TV assets, the Citytv stations in Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver – but some observers and commissioners have said much of what CTV CEO Ivan Fecan and colleagues must be thinking.
As first reported on cartt.ca yesterday, the regulator approved the transfer of effective control of CHUM Ltd. to CTVglobemedia Inc., but the collection of new assets CTV would obtain is significantly different than what it proposed in its application. (With the public hearings…
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – CTAM Canada chapter president Domenic Vivolo will receive a prestigious TAMI Award at the CTAM Summit next month in Washington.
The Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) announced the recipients of the 2007 Rainmaker and TAMI Awards for extraordinary service to the organization on Wednesday.
The TAMI Award recognizes exceptional volunteer service and leadership. This award is given annually to outstanding member volunteers who have contributed significantly to the overall success and growth of the organization, says the press release. The TAMI Award recognizes recipients’ creativity and effort in the development of various events and…
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TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENTS ARE enabling new competitive options for cable companies to consider – however, these same technologies can be used by competitors to win customers away from cable.
Last year the CommTech Trade Show in Kelowna had the first major introduction of Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) technology to Canadian audiences. I remember 10 years ago looking at the costs of delivering fibre services that far and figuring that there wasn’t enough money in the world to afford it. Now we find that a critical mass of technology in the FTTH space has been reached. Numerous vendors have working systems and standards…
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BANFF and TORONTO – While Canada’s telecommunications leaders debate the future of telecom in Toronto at the Canadian Telecom Summit next week, the world’s leaders in digital media and television will be making headlines at NextMedia and the Banff World Television Festival.
Cartt.ca will be on the ground at all three, of course, providing regular reports.
First out of the gate is NextMedia, beginning tomorrow in Banff. Organized by Achilles Media, the same company that puts on the BWTF (not to mention NATPE Mobile++ and the World Congress of History Producers), NextMedia features cutting-edge speakers and session topics.
For example,…
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