By Connie Thiessen
TORONTO – Radio broadcasters from across the country are once again coming together on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Friday, Sept. 30 with A Day To Listen 2022.
This year’s 12-hour broadcast will be hosted by JUNO Award-winning Indigenous singer-songwriters William Prince and Celeigh Cardinal. Airing from 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. local time, it will feature stories from Indigenous leaders, residential school survivors, elders, musicians, and teachers centred around the theme of “Messages of Hope.”
Produced by the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund (DWF), in partnership with Orbyt Media, last year’s A Day To Listen captured the Broadcast Dialogue Canadian Radio Award for Continue Reading
MONT-TREMBLANT – Free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) is “going to be the dominant system all around the world,” Alan Wolk (above), co-founder and lead analyst at TVREV told attendees of the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance Connect 2022 conference yesterday.
At the moment, we are living in a hybrid environment, which will be around for a while, Wolk said, explaining in Canada, 51% of people are subscribing to both linear and streaming services.
“The thing about hybrid that’s interesting is that it’s not necessarily one or the other all of the time,” he said. There will be some people who watch mostly…
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By Connie Thiessen
OTTAWA – New data shows the Canadian Energy Efficiency Voluntary Agreement (CEEVA) for Set-Top Boxes has resulted in a 58% drop in average energy consumption since the program’s launch in 2017.
Five of the largest Canadian Pay TV service providers (Bell Canada, Cogeco, Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications, and Videotron) are signed on to the program in addition to manufacturers (CommScope, EchoStar Technologies, and Technicolor, soon to become VANTIVA), the Consumer Technology Association and CableLabs. A second program was launched in 2019 for small network equipment (SNE), such as modems and routers.
According to a new independent annual report, the program has resulted in a fifth consecutive year of…
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OTTAWA – Telus has told the CRTC this week that Timeless Inc.’s complaint that Rogers’s refusal to carry its OneSoccer channel gives it an undue preference should be investigated by the regulator as “timely,” as Rogers pushes to buy Shaw Communications.
Rogers has refused to carry the channel because it said it has limited appeal with its viewers. Timeless, which said it has been trying to get a carriage agreement with Rogers for over a year, has argued in its original complaint last month that there is a “surge in popularity and success for Canadian soccer” and that Rogers…
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OTTAWA – Canada’s major telecommunications providers have agreed on an initial five-year term to allow customers to roam on each others’ networks on an emergency basis in the event of a major network outage to ensure Canadians are not left out of essential services, such as 911 access, according to a formal agreement announced Wednesday by the Minister of Innovation.
The companies, including Bell, Rogers, Telus, and Shaw, have also committed to assisting each other in such an event and also “to providing clear and timely communications to keep Canadians and appropriate authorities informed about response and restoration during major…
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MONTREAL and TORONTO — Independent internet service provider Distributel has agreed to be acquired by Bell for an undisclosed amount, the companies said in an announcement today.
Distributel will continue to operate independently after close of the deal — which is subject to standard regulatory approval — and Matt Stein, the CEO of the company, will remain at the helm, a press release said.
“With this announcement, Distributel is better positioned to compete and deliver on our decades-long commitment to bringing choice and affordability to Canadians from coast to coast to coast,” Stein said in the release. “We hope Canadians are…
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TORONTO — Kids’ and family entertainment broadcaster WildBrain Television announced today it has commissioned three new original productions from independent Canadian producers for its flagship network Family Channel.
The new content — two animated series and a live-action movie — will roll out on Family Channel beginning this fall and continuing into 2023.
First to premiere will be Slugterra: Ascension (above, top right), a series of 20 four-minute, CG-animated shorts produced in partnership with Epic Story Media. The series marks the return of Slugterra characters Eli Shane, Trixie Sting and the slugs for the first time in six years.
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No set rates means decision will require a lot of work and time to implement, CEO says
By Amanda OYE
OTTAWA – Last week, when renewing independent broadcaster OUTtv’s licence for a five-year term, the CRTC also granted the service dedicated to the LGBTQ2 community, “must-offer” status for three and a half years in the English-language market starting next March.
Noting that with the decision the CRTC has recognized the distinctiveness and vulnerability of the LGBTQ2 community, OUTtv CEO Brad Danks said in an interview with Cartt.ca the decision was also an indication the Commission recognizes that without regulatory support, OUTtv…
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TORONTO — Bell Media, athlete empowerment brand Uninterrupted Canada, the Canadian Football League (CFL) and OK Tire announced last week a new feature documentary, Rivalries: The QEW Series, which chronicles the long-standing rivalry between the Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Each September, the two southern Ontario teams face each other in the Labour Day Classic, an annual event that “dates back to the 1950s and has become destination viewing for Canadian sports fans, making it one of the longest-standing rivalries in pro football history,” reads a press release.
Scheduled to air this fall exclusively on Bell Media’s TSN, Rivalries:…
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OTTAWA – When the federal government announced it was proposing a new telecommunications policy direction to the CRTC back in May, it emphasized how it would improve competition.
This is supposed to help ensure telecommunications services are affordable and encourage innovation in the industry.
The proposed policy direction compels the CRTC to consider, among other things, how its decisions “encourage all forms of competition and investment”. But while several telecommunications service providers (TSPs) that submitted comments to the government on the proposed policy direction seem to agree competition is important, there is disagreement on what kind of competition the CRTC…
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