Will be harder to close stations
GATINEAU – The CRTC has tweaked broadcasting policy in Canada by standardizing Canadian Programming Expenditure (CPE) requirement at 30% for the country’s major private broadcasters. It has also imposed new spending requirements for local reflection news and information programming, commitments to Aboriginal and Official Language Minority Communities (OLMCs) as well as established a new process for TV station closures.
On the latter point, Broadcasting Decision 2017-148 highlighted the various opinions from the broadcasters with respect to a formal Commission process for station closures. Bell Media opposed a condition of licence, while Corus Entertainment didn’t object…
Continue Reading
New competitive call and hearing coming
GATINEAU – The CRTC today approved Rogers Media’s request that its OMNI-branded multicultural TV stations be converted to a must-carry, regionalized, specialty service – but only as an interim measure.
OMNI Regional, as of this September, is added to the digital basic service with mandatory carriage, as per section 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act, with a wholesale fee to distributors of $0.12 per subscriber per month. It's license is for three years only.
While making sure OMNI lives on (Rogers executives had all but said during the license renewal hearing they would close the stations without this switch) the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA and GATINEAU – The CRTC will announce its decisions on the license renewals for the large French-language ownership groups and large English-language ownership groups on Monday at 4:00 PM ET.
The Commission will also unveil its decision on Rogers Media’s request to approve the mandatory distribution of OMNI Regional on all digital basic TV packages.
Those decisions were originally intended to be released this week, but were postponed due to ongoing flooding in the region, as Cartt.ca reported.
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Bell Media announced today that its authenticate streaming apps Space GO and Bravo GO now offer more programming to subscribers of its participating distribution partners.
Available on iOS and Android devices, as well as Space.ca and Bravo.ca, the Space GO and Bravo GO apps allows subscribers of Bell TV and Fibe, Bell Aliant, Rogers, Telus, and soon Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct, to watch hundreds of hours of premium content, offering full-season or multiple-stacked episodes, in addition to live streaming.
Non-subscribers can access a sampling of a selection of Space and Bravo programming.
“We are delighted to expand Bravo and…
Continue Reading
DARTMOUTH – Newcap Radio owner Newfoundland Capital Corporation said Wednesday that flagging advertising rates and Alberta’s ongoing economic uncertainty helped to weigh down first quarter revenues and profits.
For the period ended March 31, 2017, revenues of $35.7 million were 3% lower than the same period last year, primarily due to revenue declines in the Alberta markets due to continued economic uncertainty in that region and declines in Ottawa due to downward pressure on advertising rates.
Profit for the period plunged 35% to $3.0 million year-over-year due to lower revenue and a higher provision for income taxes. Earnings before interest, taxes,…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – Continued flooding in Gatineau, home of the CRTC and many of its staff, means the big decisions planned for this week have been put off until next week, Cartt.ca has learned.
Multiple sources have been told by the Commission that since some staffers are dealing with flooding in their own homes (the Regulator’s offices have not been flooded) that the decisions on the license renewals for the large French-language ownership groups and large English-language ownership groups, originally intended for this week, had to be pushed back to next. The CRTC office was also closed Monday and remains so…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Rogers Communications has pulled the plug on three more community cable TV stations in the Greater Toronto Area, and cut resources at many others across Ontario.
Rogers TV in Mississauga and Richmond Hill, along with Toronto and Brampton, have ceased operations effective immediately and the channels will go dark on August 31, 2017. The move eliminated 23 full-time positions, which come in addition to the 10 lost in February when production was shut down in Toronto.
Between now and August, Rogers will offer a single Rogers TV channel across the GTA, featuring a mix of community programming and City…
Continue Reading
REGINA – Bell, Rogers and Telus have reportedly registered to lobby SaskTel, something which came to light just days after a privatization bill was passed that allows the provincial government to sell up to 49% of the Crown corporation.
That law, known as Bill 40, received Royal Assent late last week. According to a Regina Leader-Post report, representatives of the Big Three are listed on Saskatchewan’s lobbyist registry.
The report quotes SaskTel as saying that the activity regarding the company is “in reference to day to day wholesale negotiations for each other’s services and this relationship has been occurring for…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – RTDNA Canada has released the 2017 finalists for its annual National Awards.
The RTDNA Canada Awards honour the best journalists, programs, stations and news gathering organizations in radio, television and digital. National winners will be announced at the 2017 National Conference & Awards Gala in Toronto on May 27.
The finalists are:
Digital
Adrienne Clarkson Award – Diversity
CBC Montreal: Real Talk on Race
CBC Nova Scotia: School Board Deals with Racially Charged Incidents
CBC Yellowknife: Kitikmeot Women Revive Traditional Inuit Tattoos
Charlie Edwards Award – Spot News
CBC Toronto: Rob Ford’s Death Coverage
CTV Vancouver Island: On-Duty Mountie Killed in Langford Crash
Global Edmonton: Fort McMurray Wildfire
Data Storytelling…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – BlackBerry’s new Android smartphone, the BlackBerry KEYone, will be available in Canada next month at Bell, Bell MTS, Rogers, SaskTel and Telus Business.
BlackBerry’s global smartphone licensing partner TCL Communication said Thursday that the new device sports a sleek aluminum frame and soft grip textured back, a Smart Keyboard with customizable shortcuts and touch navigation, extended battery life, and a 12MP rear camera and an 8MP front camera.
The BlackBerry KEYone will start at $199 CAD on a two year term. Ahead of its May 31st official on-sale date, the device will be available for…
Continue Reading
