SWIFT outlines its top five lessons
By Greg O’Brien
OTTAWA – The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, which continues its study on the accessibility and affordability of telecom services, must now be inured to overheated rhetoric, but Quebecor Inc. CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau took it a bit further on Tuesday.
After, rightly, singing his own company’s praises when it comes to connecting Quebecers, spending billions on home internet and delivering serious wireless competition in the province and then taking his usual swings at Bell Canada’s “obstruction”, he took aim at third party internet service providers, saying they deliver “zero” in…
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MONTREAL — The Quebecor Fund’s board of directors announced today it is providing a total of $420,600 in funding to three film productions which were selected in the 21st round of the fund’s film production assistance program, which closed on January 26, 2021.
The three film projects receiving the funding include:
La Légende du papillon — Producer: Les Productions Carpediem Inc.; Distributor: Pink Parrot Media Inc.
Norbourg — Producer: Films du Boulevard Inc.; Distributors: Maison 4:3 Inc. and Entract Films Inc.
Soleils Atikamekw — Producer: Les Productions des Films de l’Autre Inc.; Distributor: Funfilm Distribution Inc.
More information about the three…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – Bill C-10 passed second reading unanimously last Tuesday and was officially referred to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage for study, which of course, has already begun.
The prior two meetings on the bill to amend the Broadcasting Act were, for all intents and purposes, labelled a pre-study of the legislation, in order to get a heard start hearing witnesses before the bill was approved in second reading.
So, officially, the meeting last Friday was the first meeting to officially look at the legislation.
However, the committee chair informed members and witnesses at the start of the meeting…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor’s TVA Group announced this week operating revenues of $147.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, a year-over-year decrease of $16.6 million.
However, thanks to the delay in the start of the NHL season and the broadcasting expenses normally associated with that, consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization came in at $46 million, $12.5 million better than Q4 2019.
The broadcasting segment alone showed $36.7 million in EBITDA in the quarter, a 69% increase, which the company attributed to the specialty services, more specifically, TVA Sports “whose significant cost reductions were a reflection of the postponement…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor Content announced this week it purchased the rights to The Masked Singer, the hit South Korean TV format which has been playing to high ratings on Fox, which is carried on simultaneous substitution in Canada on CTV.
The show, created by Korea’s Munhwa Broadcasting, has already been adapted in over 40 countries and Quebecor Content is planning for a fall 2021 premiere of its version.
www.quebecor.com
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Third in a three-part series
By Len St-Aubin
FOR DECADES, CANADIAN broadcasting policy, grounded in the limitations of over-the-air radio and TV, has restricted consumer choice in the name of Canadian culture.
Quietly, Canadians have resisted: with set-top “rabbit ears”, roof-top antennas, pre-regulation cable-TV, and satellite dishes big and small, we asserted our freedom of choice, pulling in foreign signals. We took to online streaming like fish to water.
If passed, Bill C-10 would apply those increasingly out of touch (OOT) policies to online streaming. Virtual private networks (VPNs) are about to flourish.
It’s not that Canadians don’t like Canadian content. Our maple-leaf hearts…
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By Len St-Aubin
DEBATE ABOUT BILL C-10 thus far has focused on Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault’s goal to make big foreign online audio and video streamers, like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, YouTube and Spotify, contribute to the creation of Canadian content.
But Bill C-10’s scope is vast. It will impact broadcasting and the internet in Canada, and all Canadians
It’s a valid public policy goal to expect big foreign streamers which have significant market share and revenues in Canada to engage with Canadian creators in the production of Canadian stories for Canadian and global audiences. It’s a valid question whether amending the…
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TORONTO — Corus Studios announced today it has sold more than 250 hours of content through North American and international distribution deals across linear and streaming services.
“We’ve seen terrific demand from global broadcasters for our strong slate of shows,” said Lisa Godfrey, senior vice-president of original content and Corus Studios. “Corus Studios is hitting the mark creatively with content that resonates with viewers domestically and abroad. Productions in Canada remain safely underway and we are on schedule to deliver additional series across our four pillars of food, renovation, unscripted and factual content this year.”
Newly promoted to SVP of original…
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By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – Québecor CEO Pierre-Karl Péladeau took centre-stage at the CRTC’s hearing into the broadcasting licence renewals for the CBC and reiterated his company’s complaint (which it is advertising here, and in other places) that the public broadcaster must be made complementary to the private broadcasting system, which means the CRTC must put an end to the CBC’s pursuit of advertising.
This is something the Canadian Association of Broadcasters also asked for on Monday.
Péladeau (screen-capped above from his appearance today) also complained over-the-top service Tou.TV Extra is operating in contravention of the regulatory and legislative framework…
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GATINEAU – Monday morning started with the presentation from a new Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB). When their intervention was filed in February 2020, the CAB was a shadow of itself, with skeleton staff and scope yet a year later the newly appointed president, Kevin Desjardins made his first presentation in front of the CRTC.
It should be noted that the main private broadcasters had intervened but had not indicated that they wanted to appear except for Québecor, which will appear Tuesday.
The presentation gave way to the usual boasting:” According to CRTC Data, while the CBC’s share of “contributions to…
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