OTTAWA – The Canadian Copyright Board has ruled that 8.8% of the price of a song that is permanently downloaded must go back to the copyright holders. It also set a minimum fee of 4.5 cents per file in a bundle and 5.9 cents per permanent music download in all other cases.
In its March 16 decision on royalties for online music services for the years 2005 to 2007 (to be paid retroactively), the board set rates of 5.9% of the month’s subscription price for limited music downloads that require an online subscription and 4.6% for on-demand streaming music….
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ONE OF THE KEY DEMOGRAPHIC differences between the U.S. and Canada is the number of Hispanics here versus there.
Stateside, there’s an entire media sector dedicated to the Hispanic consumer, of which there are 40 million or so, including several cable channels such as Univision. In Canada, there are about one million Spanish-speaking Canadians and until recently, just one place to get some Spanish language programming: Telelatino.
Of late, however, other Spanish language channels have been added and in March, two Canadian channels were launched, one by the legacy brand owner in Canada, Telelatino.
In a recent chat with Cartt.ca…
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GATINEAU – Leave it to the mavericks at Shaw Communications to best articulate how carriers feel about granting analog channels preferred status once digital migration occurs.
In its intervention, which opposes all of the applications, Shaw’s senior vice-president of corporate and regulatory affairs Ken Stein writes: "Shaw considers that the Digital Migration proceeding and the subsequent gazetting of applications for mandatory digital carriage on basic has been a colossal waste of time and energy for Shaw. Shaw’s request for packaging flexibility to serve consumers and meet unprecedented competitive challenges, all of which will strengthen the system and protect it…
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THE CLOCK CAN’T BE TURNED back on announced acquisitions (CTV/CHUM, CanWest Global-Goldman Sachs/Alliance Atlantis and Astral/Standard) but the CRTC has decided it must look into the overall affect of media consolidation on the tenets of the Broadcasting Act.
As predicted, this turned into a "locking the doors after the horses escaped" analogy in some quarters.
In an interview with Cartt.ca on Wednesday, CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein (who must be a little shell-shocked with all that’s gone on within two months of taking the job) said yes, a thorough review of the diversity of voices in…
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TORONTO – The death knell has been sounded so often for radio that many take it as gospel the oldest type of electronic media is on an irrevocable slide downwards.
But with results like these, which have been persistent for some time now, those bells must now be muted.
According to Canadian Broadcast Sales, the national radio sales company that is owned by Corus Entertainment and Rogers Communications, the Canadian radio industry continues to produce strong revenue growth with a 6.8% increase in sales over the first two quarters of 2007. Second quarter growth of 4.9% was supported by…
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TORONTO – A new mobile video clips service is now available to customers of Rogers Wireless, Telus, and Bell Mobility from Score Media.
It will also be available on Amp’d Mobile (which runs on the Telus network) upon Amp’d’s launch in Canada tomorrow, March 14th.
The new service (available by subscription or on a pay-per-clip basis, depending on the carrier) will give viewers access to Score programming, packaged specifically for mobile viewing in two-to-three minute clips.
Score Mobile Video will feature exclusive mobile coverage of the NCAA March Madness tournament, which begins today, including previews, in-game highlights, features and…
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CANADA’S BIG THREE wireless carriers have been repeatedly quick to say that they expect a minimal impact on their businesses when wireless number portability takes effect on March 14th.
The Bell-to-Bell free calling deal announced last week by Bell Canada is meant to mitigate the negative effects, as are the myriad contracts that Telus, Rogers and Bell force customers to sign for terms of up to three years.
So while they are all expecting some increased churn, on the surface Canadian wireless executives seem pretty calm about the removal of the most significant barrier preventing customers from switching providers…
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ENTITLED "BDU CONTENT Strategies: Can Cable and Phone Companies Do Their Own Thing?", the session on what TV distributors think of content and its changing place in their business plans was a popular session at the Canadian Film and TV Producers Association annual Prime Time conference in Ottawa two weeks ago.
The elephant not in the room, however? A cable company. But one former cable guy spoke for the industry anyway. Moderated by Peter Lyman, senior partner, Nordicity Group, the panelists included Chris Frank, vice-president, programming and pay-per-view, Bell ExpressVu, Michael Hennessy, vice-president, broadband and video policy, Telus; Tom…
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GATINEAU – After months of waiting (it took CTV until almost Christmas to submit its application to the Commission to purchase CHUM Ltd.) the CRTC will hear the request at a public hearing beginning April 30th.
In July, Bell Globemedia (now CTVglobemedia) announced a $1.4 billion purchase of CHUM Ltd. from the Waters family ($1.7 billion if assumed debt is included). If approved, CTV will take ownership of the Citytv broadcast stations across the country, numerous popular specialty channels like MuchMusic, Space and Star! as well as 33 radio stations.
As for the secondary market A-Channels, CTVgm will sell…
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TORONTO – CBC Television today announced the appointment of Scott Moore as executive director, CBC Sports, effective March 5.
"As a Gemini and Emmy award-winning producer with an international reputation for innovative sports production, Scott has a wealth of knowledge and experience which will provide a tremendous benefit to the CBC," said Richard Stursberg, executive vice-president of CBC Television, in a press release. "Sports are a key part of the CBC’s service to Canadians."
Most recently, Moore owned an independent production company, Vancouver-based Top Notch Studios, where he was involved in the Athens and Torino Olympic Games, the Melbourne…
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