TORONTO – CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais brushed aside certain complaints and complainants Wednesday (saying they come from entitled establishment groups unwilling to change) in a speech to the Canadian Club of Toronto where he addressed the Commission’s recent policy decisions and public proceedings.
Blais (pictured above on BNN after his speech) addressed the various grievances lobbed towards the Commission and its recent regulatory actions, quoting author Ralph Waldo Emerson who said: “Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you’re wrong,” noting that his Regulator can relate.
“Some disapprove of the course the CRTC…
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OTTAWA – Ice Wireless and its affiliate Sugar Mobile are seeking the CRTC’s help to salvage both its roaming agreement with Rogers and what it says is “meaningful competition” for Canadian wireless consumers.
In a Part 1 application posted Tuesday, Ice Wireless says that Rogers wants to terminate the reciprocal roaming agreement and to disconnect Ice Wireless and Sugar Mobile from roaming on its network, despite negotiations to resolve the dispute.
Ice Wireless operates a mobile network that includes coverage in the three Canadian Territories and some communities in Northern Quebec. Sugar Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that…
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TORONTO – With less than two weeks until its debut, Viceland unveiled more of its millennial-focused programming and confirmed that it will be available on a three month free preview at launch.
Beginning Monday, February 29 at 5:00 AM ET/PT (check local listings), viewers wake up in Viceland with the one-hour special Bar Talk, hosted by Vice Canada’s head of content Patrick McGuire from the new Toronto studio. Following that is the 13-hour special 646-851-0347 Leave A Message.
With hosts that include Canadians Ellen Page (Gaycation), Matty Matheson (Dead Set on Life), and renowned actor Michael K. Williams (Black Market with Michael…
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THE ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL DATA PRIVACY Day (which was January 28) is often seen as a day when individuals are reminded ways they should stay safe online. However, Canadian corporate privacy and security officers are likely also reflecting today on a number of recent court and regulatory moves that are affecting their responsibilities.
These include:
An Ontario judge last month expanding the scope of privacy protection under the common law by allowing a person to sue another for putting an explicit video of them on the Internet, an action one lawyer called "revenge porn”
Then, another Ontario judge Continue Reading
THE MILLIONS OF dollars collected from cable/satellite/ IPTV customers’ subscription TV fees for the production of local Canadian content seems certain to be reallocated when the CRTC announces its decision on how to prop up traditional television stations.
When one independent station is making ends meet thanks to the payout of a life insurance policy on its recently deceased founder (as Thunder Bay's Dougall Media told the hearing), another just fired half of its staff (CHCH prior to Christmas) and dozens of others – whether independent or owned by vertically integrated companies…
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TORONTO – Quebecor, Rogers, the Globe and Mail, and Yahoo are among the digital media companies that have signed on to adhere to new standards developed by GroupM that measure viewability for digital advertising in Canada.
The media agency group said Tuesday that it is contracting viewability terms that far exceed Canadian industry standards into all trading deals for its clients. The agreements establish the duration and percentage of a display or video ad that must be visible before it will be counted as an impression and paid for by the clients of GroupM's agencies.
For display advertising, GroupM insists…
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Hearing starts Monday
TORONTO — CRTC commissioners have a lot of reading ahead of them, judging by the hundreds of submissions already made to the Commission’s review of basic telecommunications services, from industry players, consumer organizations, end-user businesses, and local and provincial governments. Then there are the thousands of individual consumers who have submitted questionnaires related to their usage of telecom services.
(Ed note: This is a re-post of a story we ran in February previewing the 14-day hearing that begins Monday. Cartt.ca will have daily coverage of the hearing, which will be available to hear…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is asking for broadcast licence renewal applications from the country’s big English- and French-language ownership groups for their services that have licences set to expire in 2017.
The Commission said Monday that it has sent customized letters to Bell, Corus, Quebecor, Rogers, Shaw and Remstar, given that there is no licence renewal application form for television services owned by large ownership groups. Licensees are required to respond to questions set out in the letter, and the questions and responses provided will comprise the application.
The renewal applications must be submitted prior April 4 unless otherwise required or authorized. …
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TORONTO – CTAM Canada has tweaked its mission statement and membership rules to open the door to employees of satellite and IPTV companies operating in the CRTC-regulated television environment.
The organization, which was geared to cable companies, content providers, and others who supply products and services to the cable industry, said that the changes “will provide increased focus to the industry organization's education and research initiatives and result in a more inclusive space in the advancement of industry solutions and best practices”.
It’s new mission statement reads:
CTAM Canada is the television industry association focusing on the advancement of content distribution across…
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OTTAWA – Middle-aged media execs are usually investors in Vice Media, not managers
So it caused quite a stir when Shane Smith's fast-growing digital powerhouse recently lured David Purdy away from cable giant Rogers Communications to help grow its edgier Vice Media business worldwide as chief international growth officer.
Even Purdy (pictured) shares the surprise, given Vice's production focus on millennials. "My first day at Vice, I came into the room and counted 14 tuques. And I'm the only bald guy in the room, the only guy who should have a tuque on," he recalled during an informal keynote at the…
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