GATINEAU – Don’t do it again, or else.
The CRTC released its ruling on the Quebecor vs Bell dispute over TVA Sports Thursday afternoon. As readers will recall, Quebecor’s TVA Group pulled the TVA Sports signal from Bell TV on April 9th in a dispute over wholesale fees – and Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau’s desire to see specialty service regulations changed.
Following yesterday’s hearing, the CRTC said Thursday afternoon it found Quebecor guilty of violating section 15(1) of the Discretionary Services Regulations (the Regulations) and issued a mandatory order requiring the company to provide the TVA Sports feeds to…
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GATINEAU – On Wednesday morning the CRTC held a rare show-cause hearing to determine whether TVA Group is in violation or has violated CRTC regulation by withdrawing TVA Sports’ signal from distribution by Bell Canada (Bell), and if the CRTC should issue a mandatory order requiring the licensee to comply with the said regulations (not to mention more consequences).
In principle, it is a legalistic argument and a little dry. Of course, Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau (pictured today in a CPAC.ca screen cap, right) used his time in front of the Commission today to continue…
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Industry, others, provide feedback
OTTAWA – On February 26th, the Government of Canada proposed new CRTC Policy direction to put Canadians at the forefront of future telecommunications decisions, as Cartt.ca reported.
By law, this proposed Order must be put for comments for a period of 30 days after being published in the Canada Gazette. April 8th was the deadline for intervenors to make their comments known to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.
(Ed note: By law, the federal government doesn’t have to listen to any of the recommendations, if it has already made up its mind,…
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MONTREAL – On Friday, in a ruling from the Bench, Justice Claude Champagne of the Québec Superior Court issued an injunction requiring Québecor to provide the signals of TVA Sports 1, TVA Sports 2 and TVA Sports 3 to Bell TV before 6 p.m. Québecor complied with the order, restoring French language NHL Playoff action for Bell subscribers.
However, Bell’s request to stop Québecor’s “Fair Value” advertising campaign was not granted, citing freedom of expression.
Pierre Karl Péladeau, in a scrum with reporters, said he was disappointed. He added “This injunction does not resolve the problem, which I have raised with…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC has called TVA Group to an expedited hearing at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 17 over the company’s decision to yank its TVA Sports signal from Bell TV – and it warned the broadcaster the its sports channel’s broadcasting licence hangs in the balance.
Specifically, the Commission has called the company in to “consider whether TVA Group Inc. (TVA) is in violation or has violated section 15(1) of the Discretionary Services Regulations (the Regulations) by withdrawing TVA Sports’ signal from distribution by Bell Canada (Bell) and related undertakings or otherwise interfering with the signal in a…
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Expect a pressure-packed, high-demand, 3500 MHz auction in 2020
BAY STREET’S TELECOM industry analysts were a little surprised at the $3.47 billion collectively shelled out by Canada’s wireless carriers for 600 MHz spectrum (except for Bell, which shelled out nothing for no 600 spectrum) in the federal government’s just-completed auction.
“(I)t appears the competition amongst (the big three) was far fiercer than expected, driving the price up to $1.89/MHz-pop and leading to a total spend of $2.65B,” wrote Canaccord Genuity’s Aravinda Galappatthige in a note to investors, which said he had expected the trio of Rogers, Bell…
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MONTREAL – Two weeks ago, Cartt.ca reported Québecor had complained to the CRTC alleging undue preference in Bell TV’s treatment of TVA Sports.
Tuesday, Bell filed its answer, saying it was not a valid complaint since, among other things, negotiations were under way to set affiliation agreements for the next few years.
Most complaints would not warrant coverage such as this but it comes at a time of heightened tension between Québecor and Bell that has resulted in Québecor pulling TVA Sports from Bell TV (despite repeated CRTC warnings not to do so), depriving Bell’s subscribers of French-language NHL…
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Auction raises $3.47 billion
OTTAWA – The results of Canada’s 600 MHz spectrum auction were announced after the markets closed Wednesday afternoon.
Rogers Communications acquired the most licences, 52, for a whopping $1.725 billion. “We are proud to make leading and meaningful investments to build the 5G ecosystem in Canada and to help drive our country’s global competitive advantage,” said Joe Natale, president and CEO, in the company press release. “This 5G spectrum is a precious and scarce resource that will benefit Canadians and Canadian businesses across the country.” Rogers was awarded licences in the A and…
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MONTREAL – TVA has sold a production licence for its original television dance competition Révolution in Lithuania.
Developed jointly by Quebecor Content and Montreal-based producer Groupe Fair-Play, Révolution features solo, duet and group dancers vying for a $100,000 grand prize.
With previous sales in France and Spain, the new Lithuanian deal is the first to include a licence agreement, reads Wednesday’s news release. Production is scheduled to begin in the next few weeks for broadcast on the LNK channel.
“I’m delighted to see that yet another pool of viewers will get to experience the ‘Révolution’ format, and I hope it will be as…
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MONTREAL — Quebecor’s TVA is so fed up with how its all-sports channel is being treated by Bell that an executive confirmed it will defy a CRTC demand and pull TVA Sports from all Bell TV distribution systems at 7 p.m. Wednesday, just as the National Hockey League playoffs begin.
"We don't have confidence" in the CRTC process, said Groupe TVA COO Martin Picard in an interview. "We've already waited too long."
While the Commission has a dispute resolution process that uses final offer arbitration to impose new carriage contracts when asked to do so by one of the parties,…
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