BANFF – NextMEDIA, the new media conference organized by Achilles Media that features in-depth case studies, panels and networking opportunities, begins in 10 days in Banff, Alberta.
Telefilm Canada executive director Wayne Clarkson is set to make a special announcement, while Current TV’s Joanna Drake Ear will give a keynote speech on social media and user-generated content.
The conference panels will deal with such issues as the complexity of interactive content production, the evolution of storytelling and social media, connecting to the mass media, the future of digital entertainment and the 411 of mobile content.
It’s still also possible…
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OTTAWA – Quebecor and MTS Allstream are not alone among telecom and cable firms in their desire for a wireless spectrum auction that would shackle the "big three" mobile phone companies in Canada.
Among those aligned with the Quebec and Manitoba companies that have been leading the charge to have spectrum in the auction set aside for new entrants – and who have also proposed other rules like mandated roaming and tower sharing – include: Cogeco Cable, the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance, Shaw Communications, EastLink, the Assembly of First Nations and Toronto Hydro Telecom, among others.
The list…
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TORONTO – The CRTC has approved the plan of arrangement between Alliance Atlantis and CanWest Global that will run Alliance Atlantis until the Commission can decide on the purchase and transfer of ownership in a hearing.
The Plan of Arrangement will see AA Acquisition Corp. (formerly 6681859 Canada Inc.) acquire all of the outstanding shares of Alliance Atlantis for $53 cash per share, as was announced in January. AA Acquisition is primarily funded by Goldman Sachs, with CanWest Global to be controlling shareholder of the regulated assets.
AA owns (directly or indirectly) the securities of certain entities which are…
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OTTAWA – The Minister of Industry will receive a blizzard of paper tomorrow as incumbent wireless operators, and those who would like to be one, submit their opinions on how the next auction of wireless spectrum should be run.
The newcomers, led jointly by Quebecor and MTS Allstream, have not backed off their rhetoric at all. They want into the fast-growing wireless market and they don’t want to pay through the nose for entry with a costly purchase of spectrum at auction.
Keying on a few lines from the 2006 Telecom Policy Review Report (the one which the…
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TORONTO – With Canadian broadcasters in Los Angeles now viewing this fall’s potential U.S. hits (not to mention the great big misses) – and making commitments to buy, too, Canada’s actors union says the process is nothing but a big bet.
"Canadian performers are angered that executives of Canada’s private broadcasters are in L.A. this week gambling hundreds of millions of dollars on new American shows for the fall television season while neglecting our own domestic industry," shouts the press release.
“Canada’s private broadcasters are eager to hand over more than $250 million dollars on new American dramas and reality…
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OTTAWA – "It’s a missed opportunity," says Guy Mayson, summing up the Canadian Film and Television Production Association’s overall reaction to the CRTC’s new over-the-air TV policy.
Speaking to Cartt.ca from the streets of Cannes, France, where he’s attending the film festival, the CFTPA president explained that while the policy shows the CRTC has noted producer concerns about the need to increase broadcaster investment in original, Canadian, priority programming, it delayed taking action.
“We’re a little disappointed that the Commission didn’t act” to require conventional TV broadcasters to meet minimum program expenditures and to schedule more of this programming…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Saying the need for new subscriber fees wasn’t demonstrated by conventional broadcasters, the CRTC’s new convention television policy does not include a boost in Canadians’ cable or satellite bills.
The new policy will, however, "ensure Canadians have access to digital and high-definition television programming, and that broadcasters continue to contribute to the production, acquisition and broadcast of high-quality Canadian programming.
The Commission has decided to:
* Remove restrictions on advertising time limits after gradually increasing the amount of advertising allowed;
*Establish August 31, 2011, as the date by which television licensees will only broadcast digital signals (about…
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TORONTO – Federal Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, who will be received like a conquering hero we bet, will deliver the closing address at the 2007 Canadian Telecom Summit in June in Toronto.
At last year’s event, Bernier outlined his vision for the telecommunications industry and first hit the gas on the dramatically accelerated process towards telecom deregulation he drove throughout the past 10 months (search Cartt.ca for “Bernier” to see the background). This year, he’s expected to lay out his views on how his policy directives have affected the industry and what he believes will be required to move…
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OTTAWA – Thanks to ongoing, dramatic reductions in customers, the traditional wireline telco industry saw fourth quarter 2006 profits drop by 23.7% according to a release today from Statistics Canada.
This was due to the 1.5% reduction in operating revenues which fell to $5.6 billion, while operating expenses grew by 2.6% over the same period. "With wireline operating revenues declining by 2.2% between 2005 and 2006 (preliminary) to $22 billion, and operating expenses increasing by 0.4% over the same period, operating profit declined 14.0% to settle at $3.5 billion in 2006," said the press release from Statscan.
On the…
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OTTAWA – Saying the wireless market is not competitive enough in Canada, Quebecor and MTS Allstream have joined forces to lobby both government and Canadians so that the companies are given a break in 2008’s wireless spectrum auction.
“Canada needs to permit new competitors in the wireless sector to ensure consumers are offered lower prices and advanced services which other countries already enjoy,” says a press release from the Coalition for Wireless Competition issued today.
Citing the oft-referenced but little understood Telecom Policy Review Panel report which “identified the need for a more efficient and vibrant wireless industry…
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