GATINEAU – The CRTC decided Wednesday to eliminate restrictions on the broadcast of hits by English-language FM radio stations in English-language markets, but to uphold the restrictions in the bilingual markets of Montréal and Ottawa-Gatineau.
And at least one radio broadcaster is unhappy with the Commission’s decision. Calling the policy “insane, inane and asinine”, Chuck McCoy, executive vice president of programming and marketing for Rogers Radio, said that there is “no logical reason” for the decision.
“If you live in Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Winnipeg or Toronto, you can listen to stations that play hits, the music that the consumers…
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TORONTO – The recent cutbacks and sharp shift in focus for the Canadian Association of Broadcasters is something that should be re-thought, say its independent broadcast members.
Readers will recall that the group recently cut its size in half and retrenched its focus so that it will be much less involved with the CRTC and spend far more time and resources lobbying government MPs directly instead.
That’s not to say the smaller members don’t recognize some change is required. “I think it’s important to recognize that the CAB leadership had every good intention of being responsible and changing with…
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TORONTO and VANCOUVER – The official “digital hubs” for live coverage of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games – websites CTVOlympics.ca and RDSolympiques.ca – went live on Monday, pledging to provide 2,400 hours of live coverage from Vancouver 2010 in both English and French.
The sites, to be rolled out in five phases over the next year, will feature embedded video, user generated content, interactive and participatory games, information about Canadian Olympic athletes, and “exclusive live online coverage of every single moment of Olympic Games competition”, the press release detailed.
During the Games, which run February 12 – 28, 2010…
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TORONTO – Dan Price, founder and president of the award winning U.S. radio production company Oink Ink Radio Inc., has been confirmed as the keynote speaker at this year’s Radio Marketing Bureau’s (RMB) Crystal Awards Creative Summit.
Price will also participate in a panel discussion on radio creative along with Terry O’Reilly from Pirate Toronto, Alan Cross from Corus, and Wray Ellis from the Radio Marketing Bureau.
The Summit and RMB Crystal Awards Show will be held on March 12, 2009 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto, in conjunction with Rogers Canadian Music Week.
For more details…
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EXTON, PA – Last week’s inaugural SCTE Canadian Summit attracted more than 600 attendees, and organizers are calling the two days of technical sessions and exhibits “hugely successful”.
The event, held at the Toronto Congress Centre, focused on the impacts of integrating new technologies into existing cable infrastructures, and examined the opportunities and pitfalls — all to maximize customer satisfaction and gain operational efficiencies.
The “exciting” opening CTO roundtable discussion was moderated by independent technology analyst Leslie Ellis, and some of the sessions, such as ‘Internet Capacity Management’ and ‘Fiber-Rich/Fiber-Deep’ played to a packed house.
The Summit also…
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TORONTO – Canadian Women in Communications (CWC) has selected this year’s award winners in the categories of ‘Woman of the Year’ and ‘Employer of the Year’, plus the inaugural ‘Excellence in Leadership’ award.
Susanne Boyce, president of creative, content and channels for CTV, has been named Woman of the Year. The award recognizes an outstanding woman who has made a significant contribution to any sector of the communications industry throughout her career, and who has contributed materially to the advancement of women within the industry.
Employer of the Year goes to Xerox Canada, as an organization that has an outstanding history, and/or…
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WINNIPEG – Canwest Global said yesterday afternoon it has launched a “strategic review” of its five E!-branded conventional television stations. Saying they are no longer core assets, the company wants to sell the stations and says it should take no more than six to eight weeks to conduct this review.
The stations in question are CJNT-TV in Montreal, CHCH-TV in Hamilton, CHCA-TV in Red Deer, CHBC-TV in Kelowna and CHEK-TV in Victoria. There are three other E!-branded stations out west, but those are affiliates owned by Pattison Broadcasting.
The sale of the stations is one of several choices being…
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TORONTO – Praise was near universal for the brand new Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers Canadian Summit, which wrapped up Wednesday afternoon at the Toronto Congress Centre.
The final registration number for delegates has not yet been tallied as there were a large number who registered on site, but the show was very well attended with delegates from across Canada – from the Territories to Regina to Newfoundland – and all points in between.
If there were any complaints, it’s that the show wasn’t big enough (and that it snowed too much on Tuesday…). The 40 vendor tables sold…
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TORONTO – New low-cost wireless carrier Public Mobile officially launched today in Toronto with a demonstration that its phones will work on the G-Band spectrum it purchased.
The company, BMV Holdings, is helmed by former Bell Canada and Rogers Cable executive Alek Krstajic.
Public Mobile “feels wireless services are a right, not a luxury for Canadians and will offer an unlimited flat-rate talk and text package, with no term commitment, no credit checks, no fine print and no surprises to residents in both provinces when it launches later this year,” says today’s press release.
The goal of Public Mobile…
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WINNIPEG – Canwest Global said today it has launched a “strategic review” of its five E!-branded conventional television stations.
Officially, the company “is exploring strategic options for five of its conventional television stations, CJNT-TV in Montreal, CHCH-TV in Hamilton, CHCA-TV in Red Deer, CHBC-TV in Kelowna and CHEK-TV in Victoria,” reads the press release.
The sale of the stations is one of several options being considered by the company following an internal review. Another, worse option was recently mentioned by Canwest TV head Peter Viner in a recent story on Cartt.ca.
RBC Capital Markets has been retained to assist…
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