OTTAWA – With less than a month before the CRTC hearing into the purchase of CHUM Ltd. by CTV and rumours swirling as to who might emerge as the winning bidder for CHUM’s A-Channels (see below), the NDP says the CRTC has to set up some tough content conditions governing the combined company.
NDP Heritage Critic Charlie Angus said Friday "that if the CRTC is going to give the green light to this unprecedented merging of television media, clear and binding conditions must be laid down."
Angus is calling for enforceable targets for new prime time drama, for example. “Where…
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TORONTO – The 2007 Canadian Telecom Summit, June 11-13, includes 18 keynote addresses by some of the most senior folks in the sector and has become a must-attend event.
Delegates will hear from the leaders of Canada’s major telecom service providers, equipment and software suppliers. Panel discussions will take more in-depth looks at wireless networks, consumer and business services, wireless content, VOIP/unified communications and illegal content on the Internet.
With the continued growth of wireless and the strong emergence of IP that will power next-generation voice and broadband offerings, Canada is embarking on an exciting and fast-paced telecom journey…
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TORONTO – Rogers Sportsnet will show a whopping 400-plus baseball games this Major League Baseball season (which begins Sunday).
One hundred and sixteen of those are corporate cousin Toronto Blue Jays games but kicking off coverage this year is the New York Mets visiting the St. Louis Cardinals this Sunday evening.
"Baseball fans can watch more MLB on Sportsnet than any other network in Canada this season," says the press release. "In addition to the 250 regular season MLB broadcasts Sportsnet also features 116 Toronto Blue Jays games; and all games from the 2007 MLB Playoffs. The total broadcasts…
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TORONTO – CBC will continue to have Hockey Night In Canada until at least 2014.
The country’s public broadcaster and the National Hockey League today announced a new six-year broadcast agreement for national English-language broadcast and multimedia rights to NHL games in Canada. The new agreement commences with the 2008/09 season and runs through 2013/14. The agreement is subject to approval by the NHL’s Board of Governors at its June 20 meeting.
"Hockey is part of the Canadian fabric and we’re proud and pleased to continue what is the longest-standing sports rights partnership in the world; one that dates…
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MISSISSAUGA – Ontario’s SCTE Cable-Tec Games will be held Thursday, April 26 from 2:30 p.m. to approximately 9 p.m. at the Mississauga Grand.
This will be the only Games event in Ontario this year, but the top technicians will again be eligible for prizes and will represent Ontario at the National SCTE Games held at the annual Cable-Tec Expo, June 19 to 22 in Orlando.
"We are planning a big event so get your company’s top techs whipped into shape now. We also have a team event again this year. Participation is open to all cable techs in Ontario,…
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TORONTO – A new age of interactive content created by small independent producers is dawning, now that the broadband “asteroid” which hit the traditional media market some time ago is causing incumbent “dinosaurs” to die off. That was how Canadian science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer characterized the current state of the interactive digital media industry to kick off the recent Interactive Content Exchange (ICE) 2007 conference held in Toronto.
“This is the age of the blurring between consumer and producer,” Sawyer said. “The asteroid has hit. The future is there to claim, the world is there to claim.”…
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MISSISSAUGA, ON – Canada’s digital specialty channel BITE Television has been nominated for an international Emmy in the Interactive Channel category.
BITE Television’s content consists of user-generated, acquired and in-house short-form productions. The three- to five-minute edgy shows target the 18 to 34-year-old male demographic. Last week, the channel finalized an agreement to provide Amp’d Mobile with short-form content.
“While we are still a very young company, it’s great to be internationally recognized,” said company president and CEO Jeffrey Elliott.
Mississauga-based BITE Television, which launched in April 2005, is available on channel 322 on Rogers Cable, channel 123 on…
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DEJA VU IS A CURIOUS THING. It happens sporadically to most of us where we think "hey, I’ve been here before."
It often feels like that time is now in the media/telecom space: That we have been here before, riding a weird, growing technological and services wave. Just like the late 1990s and into 2000-’01 it seems like we have every company (some really big, some really small) going a million miles an hour in every direction all at once.
Back then, AOL bought (snicker…) Time Warner, CanWest bought The National Post and what was the Southam newspaper group…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has launched a public proceeding to set out rules regarding the installation of a network interconnection device (NID) when the incumbent local exchange carrier’s (ILEC) network is disconnected from the inside wire at the home of a residential customer who has elected to take a cable telephone service and no longer wishes to use any services provided on the ILEC’s network (Telecom Public Notice 2007-3).
The commission is asking for comment on whether a NID should be installed at the premises of a residential customer when no such device is present; should the cableco or…
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OTTAWA – Official Languages commissioner Graham Fraser called Tuesday on the government to compel the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. to spruce up its regional programming to help build cultural connections among Francophone minorities outside Quebec and English minorities inside the province.
Appearing before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage which is in the midst of an investigation of the role of the CBC in the 21st century, Fraser said one of the shortcomings of the public broadcaster is that it has become too centralized in Toronto and Montreal.
He noted that Francophone communities outside of Quebec need to have access…
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