TORONTO – Consumers do not see downloading movies as a serious offense and are bypassing the existing theatre-DVD-TV video system in ever-increasing numbers, says a new independent study.
As the movie industry is trying to find the right business model for Internet distribution for its first-run and catalogue content, new research from Solutions Research Group says American and Canadian consumers are increasingly viewing the movies they download or rip from DVDs on their PCs.
* 32 million Americans aged 12+ (18% of the US online population) have downloaded a full-length movie at some point in the past – 20…
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OTTAWA – In a letter to the editor of the Ottawa Citizen newspaper, Telus vice-president, wireless, broadband and content policy, Michael Hennessy, called out Quebecor for what he sees as a double standard.
As a member of the Canadian wireless industry, past president of the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association and an ex-director of the Canadian Television Fund, Hennessy said he was "both shocked and troubled," about decisions made by Shaw and Videotron to withhold their CRTC-mandated contributions to the Canadian Television Fund.
"While it is disturbing that such unilateral action could jeopardize thousands of jobs and scores of projects…
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TORONTO – Telus has signed a five-year, multi-million dollar contract with Best Buy Canada Ltd., one of the country’s fastest growing entertainment and technology retailers, to connect all of its stores across Canada with a private IP network, winning the business away from incumbent Allstream.
Specific financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Our guiding principle is to develop and provide the best shopping experience,” said Brian Martin, CTO for Best Buy Canada (the company also owns Future Shop). “To maximize the opportunities the digital age affords us, we need a foundation that supports our guiding principle and…
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OTTAWA – It’s no increase (as producers, actors and broadcasters were hoping for) but the $200 million committed to the Canadian Television Fund by the federal government over two years is far more than two of CTF’s primary industry contributors are currently paying.
That is to say, zero.
Hot on the heels of Shaw Communications and Quebecor Media’s decisions to suspend monthly payments to the CTF, Heritage Minister Bev Oda said Friday the federal government is renewing its $100 million a year contribution to the fund through 2008-09.
"This announcement signifies this Government’s commitment to producing quality Canadian programming…
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OTTAWA – This evening Konrad von Finckenstein was officially announced as the new chairman of the CRTC.
Bev Oda, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women, made the announcement with an early-evening release on the Heritage Ministry’s web site. "Mr. von Finckenstein’s credentials will bring strong leadership to the CRTC," said Minister Oda. "I am confident that his experience will greatly benefit the Commission."
A long-time public employee who held very senior positions in the Brian Mulroney Conservative government and helped write the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, von Finckenstein was also Commissioner of Competition at the Competition Bureau…
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OTTAWA – A new poll completed just this week by Ipsos Reid on behalf of Bell Canada says the vast majority of Canadians agree with recent moves by the federal government towards deregulating the telecommunications market in Canada.
The polling data, released first to Cartt.ca, comes just days before a Monday meeting of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology where telecom deregulation is again on the agenda.
In the poll of 1,000 Canadians done between January 12th and 22nd, when asked about the recent policy measures taken by Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, 68% said they found the…
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OTTAWA – Bev Oda told the principal private funders of the Canadian Television Fund that she wants to meet with them next week.
"I have received letters from Shaw Communications and Videotron announcing that they will withhold their contributions to the Canadian Television Fund (CTF)," said Oda in a release.
As reported by Cartt.ca this week, both BDUs have decided to pull their funding of the production fund with complaints of accountability to the fact they believe money goes to the CBC. In response, the CTF has retained legal counsel and wants to force the two…
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TORONTO – The labour situation between Canada’s actors and producers hasn’t changed so today ACTRA, the actors’ union, issued the following open letter to the Canadian Film and Television Production Association
Today, the CFTPA and ACTRA should be sitting down together and working out a joint strategy on the following:
* The current state of the CBC, an issue we should be collectively engaged in; * The purchase of Alliance Atlantis funded by an American company, a development with ramifications that we should at least discuss; * Shaw Communications has unilaterally pulled out of the Canadian Television Fund, followed…
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TORONTO – Now celebrating its sixth year, the Canadian Telecom Summit is Canada’s leading industry event, and will take place June 11-13 at the Toronto Congress Centre.
It attracts more than 500 people from the telecommunications and information technology sectors in Canada. For three days, the CTS delivers presentations, speeches and panel sessions from the prime movers of the industry.
The Canadian Telecom Summit features keynote addresses by leading Canadian and international wireline and wireless service providers, information technology companies, global equipment suppliers, and government policy and regulatory decision makers.
A listing of the speakers and an agenda can…
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TORONTO – Leslie E. Shaw, the older brother of Shaw Communications chairman JR Shaw, died last Wednesday in his sleep at his Barbados home. He was 79.
While JR built a formidable Canadian communications firm (in which Les owned a minority interest and sat on its board for years) the elder Shaw brother built a global energy services company, ShawCor, from a general construction company in southwestern Ontario founded by their father, Francis in the 1930s.
(JR worked for the original family business, too, setting up its first western base in Edmonton in the early 1960s and soon launched…
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