NEXT WEEK IN OTTAWA, TV broadcasters will tell their regulator, the CRTC, that they want fewer rules and more ways to make money. They will raise the alarm about how difficult it is these days to make money from traditional advertising because of all of the competition for eyeballs coming from new-fangled media, like the Internet, pay TV, and cell phones. They will plead for measures to help them climb back from merely profitable to very profitable.
And they may well get their way. After all, they have powerful friends in Ottawa. In fact, the minister responsible for broadcasting…
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TORONTO – Paul Ski, the head of CHUM Limited’s radio division, has been promoted to president of CHUM Radio.
Ski was formerly executive vice-president radio, responsible for all CHUM Radio properties across Canada. He is also a member of CHUM Limited’s senior management group.
“Paul Ski is an exceptional media executive who has played a significant role in our company’s success," said CHUM CEO Jay Switzer. "This appointment recognizes Paul’s leadership, and the achievements of the CHUM Radio team."
A career broadcaster, Ski has an extensive background in radio, having worked in many areas of management at CHUM over…
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TORONTO – If Rogers and Bell are on the same side of an issue – working together even – you know they see a threat.
Today, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telus, Sask Tel, MTS Allstream, and the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance released a research report saying 81% of Canadians do not want to pay a new fee for conventional broadcast stations.
As has been reported repeatedly by Cartt.ca the concept of fee for carriage has been pushed by Canadian broadcasters and will be front and centre at the upcoming CRTC Television Policy Review beginning Monday, November 27th in Hull….
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – In a decision that will may have more immediate impact on the telecom industry than last week’s voice over IP deregulation announcement by the Minister of Industry, the CRTC today approved local telephone rate ranges for incumbent telcos.
What is means is that ILECs (Bell Canada, Telus, SaskTel, MTS, Bell Aliant and the like) will now be able to submit to the Commission – confidentially – a low and high range of rates for certain services and as long as their pricing stays within that range, will not have to file for tariff approvals prior to altering…
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TORONTO – Sirius Canada said today that after a year in the market, it now has over 200,000 customers.
That’s more than double its rival in the market, XM Canada, whose most recent report said it had 91,200 paying subscribers and 120,000 customers. (The 38,800 difference are those with promotional offers, such as the three to four months of free service when a customer buys an XM-equipped new car.)
Sirius Canada passed 100,000 subscribers May 10, so the one aspect tempering this news is that growth in the second six months has remained stable and not accelerated.
Both…
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TORONTO – David Corey has been hired as program co-ordinator for 104.5 CHUM FM.
He will be responsible for the management of the CHUM FM brand in Toronto, "working to continue CHUM’s leadership in the market through an ever-changing media and consumer landscape," said the press release. Currently, CHUM FM is Canada’s number one FM radio station.
“David brings with him a wealth of radio expertise, great relationships within the music industry and an incredible drive to keep CHUM FM the most listened to radio station in Toronto,” said Rob Farina, vice-president program development. “We conducted a thorough search…
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LEONARD ASPER HAS been front-and-centre on the fight for regulatory change in broadcast television.
Of all the broadcast CEOs in Canada, he has stuck his neck out the farthest in demanding things as fee-for-carriage and increased advertising flexibility. As you’ll read, much is riding on his company’s submission and the eventual new policy emanating from the CRTC decision which will be announced in 2007.
During the hearing days, expect much hay to be made on CanWest’s request for an extra 50-cents per TV subscriber per month for each conventional broadcaster.
At the Canadian Association of Broadcasters annual conference in…
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OTTAWA – Last week, Industry Canada announced that three companies had submitted a total of 29 applications for new satellite orbital positions across several frequencies to serve Canadians.
Telesat and Canadian Satellite Radio (operators of XM Canada) submitted 10 each while Ciel Satellite submitted nine.
The government ministry called for the applications this summer and will announce its decision in the spring of 2007.
Applicants who are awarded licenses will have the opportunity to build and launch satellites to bring new spectrum into use for DTH, high definition and broadband services.
The Government of Canada has been highly supportive…
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VANCOUVER – Rae Hull, regional director of CBC Television for B.C., announced last week she is leaving the Corp.
An industry veteran with 25 years of experience, Hull has held a wide range of production and executive positions – from reporter, anchor, producer, writer and director to increasingly senior roles at CBC Television.
Hull has been in her current position for eight years and in 2000 took on the additional job of senior director, TV network programming – the first senior director for the network to be based outside of Toronto, said a company memo from Fred Mattocks, executive…
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TORONTO – Saying she was "among friends", former CRTC commissioner and Canadian Women in Communications chair (and current Minister of Canadian Heritage) Bev Oda spoke openly Thursday night in Toronto about the current state of the broadcast and telecom market.
The Minister was speaking at CWC Toronto’s fall gathering at the Bravo! Rehearsal Hall.
During her informal presentation, Oda acknowledged that there is much uncertainty, many questions and areas where no one knows how broadcasting and telecommunications is going to evolve over the next few years. Instead of fear and trepidation, the industry stakeholders should look at the wonderful…
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