TORONTO – The union representing Canada’s actors and the Canadian ad industry have tentatively agreed to a one-year extension of the current National Commercial Agreement.
The Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA) and the Institute of Communications and Advertising (ICA) and the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) have agreed to increase performer minimum fees and rates by 3% as well as adding 1% in insurance contributions for performers.
The parties also agreed to hash out over the year issues of importance to both sides.
The terms of settlement have been approved by the ACA and ICA boards, but have…
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PENTICTON – Since Konrad von Finckenstein’s appointment as CRTC chair in January, there has been much to say on the telecom file, but many in broadcasting has wondered where he stood and in what sort of direction the Commission will go on that side of its business..
Wonder no longer.
In a speech to the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters on Thursday, von Finckenstein outlined the Commission`s very ambitious goals, which reflect the “market forces” approach of our federal government.
There were four main points in the B.C. speech, which we all might look back on as the day…
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LONDON – Ed Jarmain, the man widely considered to be the first to bring cable television to Canada died yesterday. He was 99.
Born and raised in London, Ont., Jarmain originally ran his father’s dry cleaning business in the city in the 1930s through the ’60s. In the 1950s, however, as one of the first families in London with a TV set, he suffered through spotty reception from U.S. signals (there were no local broadcasters at the time). As an engineer, he thought there must be a better way to get these signals.
After reading about cable and then…
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IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME coming, but Canada’s etc.tv appears ready for prime time.
The company’s platform lets viewers use their TV remotes to “telescope” into long form advertising content from a standard 30-second ad if they wish – and since its launch on Videotron’s illico digital cable network a year ago, has proven very successful said etc.tv president Mark Sherman.
Sherman, the founder of media services company Media Experts, created etc.tv in 2001 and the concept was further developed and pushed hard by vice-president and general manager Ian Maclean.
The platform is the first-to-market "Telescopic Television Advertising" model…
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WINNIPEG – MTS Allstream has applied to the CRTC for local telephone forbearance in Winnipeg.
MTS Allstream is the latest company to ask for residential phone service deregulation following the April 4 announcement by Canada’s Industry Minister Maxime Bernier that telecommunications companies can apply for a relaxation of regulations in communities where customers can choose between at least three service providers with their own network infrastructure, one of which can be a wireless provider, and where they meet specific Quality of Service (QoS) measures for six months.
Last month, Telus filed for forbearance in Vancouver and Edmonton, and Bell…
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DARTMOUTH, NS – Radio broadcaster Newfoundland Capital Corp. Ltd. recorded a $7.4 million profit in the first quarter ended March 31 mainly due to a $10.5 million gain on the sale of its units of Halterm Income Fund Trust.
Profits for the quarter were $6.2 million more than the same quarter last year, with proceeds from the sale of Halterm Income going to repay long-term debt.
Revenue grew 5% to $19.5 million in the company’s broadcasting operations.
“The 5% total increase in broadcasting revenue is in-line with the radio advertising industry’s average growth rate of 5.1% for the same…
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HALIFAX – If you thought Bragg Communications, parent company of EastLink, was content with being the dominant cable operator in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island – not to mention a painful, persistent competitive thorn in Bell Aliant’s side, you’d be wrong.
On Friday, Bragg more than doubled its size by announcing it has signed a purchase agreement with Persona Communications. The combined company – when you add in its impending purchase of Amtelecom – will have close to half a million basic cable subscribers (260,000 from Persona added to EastLink’s approximate 230,000).
The agreement to purchase the shares…
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MONTREAL – Three men suspected of stealing satellite signals were arrested by the Quebec RCMP yesterday.
The investigation, dubbed operation “Costume”, also resulted in the search of two places of business and three places of residence. The investigators seized a number of items, including a 2006 Nissan 350Z sports car and material that may have been used to steal satellite signals, says the RCMP.
Through operation “Costume”, the investigators intend to demonstrate that the suspects modified and sold decoders for the purpose of illegally accessing television channels. The alleged fraudsters invited potential clients to place orders through a web…
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GATINEAU – Hockey and regulation, two things Canadians are well known for, thoroughly revealed their influence in statistics released today by the CRTC.
The headline, of course, was the massive revenue line. Revenues earned by Canadian specialty services, pay-TV channels and video on demand license holders surpassed $2.5 billion in the 2006 broadcast year, ended August 31, 2006, says the Commission data on the industry released today.
During the last year, this part of the electronic media industry saw the highest growth in its revenues as they rose by 12.4% as compared to 2005.
However, profits before interest and…
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TORONTO – After spending $7 billion over two decades to build what’s become the largest wireless company in Canada, Rogers Communications CEO Ted Rogers said he is more than a little miffed at the lobbying tactics being deployed by one of his business partners.
After noting on a conference call with financial analysts on Tuesday afternoon that Rogers Wireless has had in its 20 years, "losses for 19 and profits for one," the company founder set out in no uncertain terms how he feels about lobbying spearheaded by Videotron to decrease the Quebec media company’s cost of entry to…
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