Towards a Canadian strategy
OVER THE LAST two weeks, I’ve argued the Canadian strategy of supporting, and indeed actively pushing for, the vertical integration of our broadcasting system was a mistake, suggesting the vertically integrated companies – namely Bell, Shaw, Rogers and Quebecor – had not and will not become international distributors of content as it was presumed.
(Click here for part one and here for part two)
A reader pointed out it’s always easier to take the position of a critic – particularly in hindsight – so let’s look at the changes which…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor has donated $15 million to the Fondation du centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montreal (CHUM), the largest philanthropic commitment in the Foundation’s 20 year history.
The donation, made as part of the "Donnons-nous le meilleur de la santé" (Giving ourselves the best in healthcare) capital fundraising campaign, will enhance the CHUM's performance through new state-of-the-art equipment and support for research, teaching, health promotion and patient experience initiatives. The campaign is currently at 75% of its $300 million goal.
In recognition of the donation, the CHUM will name its amphitheatre, the architectural centrepiece of the new hospital's third and…
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The big four have not become the content exporters they were supposed to
LAST WEEK, I RESPONDED to a Scotiabank report which said the success of Netflix in gaining subscribers, along with Google and Facebook’s dominance of the Canadian advertising market, meant a merger of Bell and Corus was a logical market response to ensure we remain competitive.
I question the strategy of further vertical integration in light of its obvious failure. My core argument is VI has failed because it did not properly take into account the competitive advantages of the vertically integrated companies. As their…
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FIRST DISNEY BUYS FOX’S MEDIA LIBRARY, so then maybe Corus buys Bell Media – or the other way around? If so, is this a good idea or a bad one for our system?
A Scotiabank report from December 2017 entitled “Converging Networks” and reported by Cartt.ca has suggested that Corus and Bell Media should merge in order to “make them more competitive.” It’s hard to know if this report is a trial balloon or just mere speculation, but we’ve seen support in other quarters for this point of view.
The research also says Facebook and Google now…
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Proposes new agency to battle billion-dollar problem
OTTAWA – FairPlay Canada, a new coalition of Canadian artists, content creators, unions, guilds, producers, performers, broadcasters, distributors, and exhibitors is has filed an application with the CRTC urging the Regulator to have Canadian ISPs shut down access to websites which enable content piracy.
According to the coalition, the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Canadians who work in the creative sector (songwriters, set builders, TV writers, makeup artists, reporters, as well as cable technicians, engineers and customer service reps) are at risk as a result of increasing online piracy…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has ruled that Bell’s offer relating to the distribution of French-language sports service TVA Sports is “more reasonable” than the offer proposed by the channel’s parent Quebecor Media.
Once their own negotiations reached an impasse, Quebecor Media and Bell asked the Commission last September to initiate a final offer arbitration process on the per-subscriber wholesale rates for the distribution of TVA Sports in the francophone market, defined as the province of Quebec.
After hearing final offers from both companies, the CRTC said Wednesday that it selected Bell’s offer after finding that the evidence does not support the rate increase…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor Content is behind a new television dance competition that will debut in Quebec before the format waltzes over to English Canada, the U.S. and internationally.
Revolution will feature solo, duet and group dancers as they vie for a $100,000 grand prize. Originally developed jointly by Quebecor Content and Montreal-based producer Groupe Fair-Play, Omnicom Media Group’s Highway Entertainment is also part of the partnership to fund and distribute the show.
“Revolution is a new and unique TV dance competition open to all styles and ages, revolving around breathtaking performances and inspiring moments. It will showcase dancing in an unprecedented, spectacular way,”…
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A hard-nosed businessman, he made a brilliant cable territory swap, competed ferociously with Telus and pulled Global television from the Canwest inferno
FEW OCCASIONS BETTER illustrated the cultural divide between the world of the western bottom-up entrepreneur and that of Ottawa’s top-down public service bureaucracy than when Jim Shaw and Konrad von Finckenstein crossed swords in a hearing room.
There, front and centre of the raised platform bearing commissioners, would be the multilingual von Finckenstein, a six-foot-something-awesome lawyer who was chief legal adviser on the original North American Free Trade negotiations, served as head of the Competition Bureau, became a Federal…
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Search continues for new CEO
GATINEAU – Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly named five new directors to the CBC/Radio-Canada board of directors on Tuesday.
The new members are:
− Harley Finkelstein (Ontario), mandate effective immediately
Mr. Finkelstein is an entrepreneur, lawyer and chief of operations for Shopify. He is a member of C100's board of directors and advises Felicis Ventures, which makes him involved in two organizations that promote innovation. He was also one of the dragons on CBC's Next Gen Den. Mr. Finkelstein was a recipient of the Order of Ottawa in 2016 and recently received Canada's Top 40 Under 40 award.
− René…
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CANADIAN CABLE SYSTEMS Alliance CEO Jay Thomson knows Canadian networks and media inside and out. How could he not? Before the CCSA, he worked for the Canadian Cable Television Association, the Canadian Association of Internet Providers, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the Canadian Media Producers Association (Telus and the CRTC, too).
The long-time Ottawa executive was hired as CEO of the CCSA in January 2017, replacing Alyson Townsend, who was let go in the summer of 2016. Thomson is steeped in the business and, as importantly, knows government – especially an Ottawa whose politicians and bureaucrats tend to be…
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