DENIED. We’re still surprised (and most anyone who tells you they feel otherwise is pretty much full of it).
I mean, many of us had suggested a full-on denial could happen – and the overall tone of the public hearing last month surely had some believing it was a possibility, but it was pretty difficult to find anyone who would actually say with any certainty before Thursday afternoon this deal would be nixed. The CRTC hasn’t really fully said “No” to a significant deal since Vidéotron tried to buy CFCF in the 1990s and Power Corporation wanted to buy Quebec…
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OTTAWA – Bell Canada claims the CRTC, in its decision to kill the company's $3.4 billion takeover of Astral Media, ignored its own rules, created a bunch of new ones, was based on incorrect market share calculations and because of that it has asked the federal government to directly step in.
Calling the CRTC decision “absurd,” on Monday, BCE Inc. submitted a request to the federal Cabinet that it issue a policy direction under Section 7 of the Broadcasting Act that directs the CRTC to follow its existing policies when reviewing change of control transactions in broadcasting,…
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GATINEAU – Saying it is “shocked” and “appalled” at the CRTC’s decision to deny its $3.4 billion purchase of Astral Media, Bell Canada says it isn’t through with this fight yet.
"This is a decision that should not stand. Canadian consumers were told today by the CRTC that they don't deserve more – more choice, more competition, more Canadian content funding – all of which Bell and Astral committed to with this transaction," said George Cope, president and CEO of Bell Canada and BCE Inc. in a sharply worded statement released hours after the Commission decision was made public at…
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THE ASTONISHED FEEDBACK came fast and furious late Thursday as people tried to give voice to their feelings on the Commission decision to deny Bell Canada’s $3.4 billon purchase of Astral Media.
******************** “Like most observers, we had expected conditional approval,” said analyst Dvai Ghose of Canaccord Genuity in a note to clients. “This could also have implications for other potential media transactions such as Shaw-Corus, although in that case both entities are already controlled by the Shaw family. We also believe that the speculation of a Corus bid for Astral could rise and could be more palatable for regulators.
“While…
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ORLANDO – Look for the next generation of cable's DOCSIS broadband platform to support "multi-gigabit speeds" and be backwards-compatible with earlier DOCSIS versions, according to Phil McKinney, the new president and CEO of CableLabs.
Speaking on a cable technology panel here just prior to the annual SCTE Cable-Tec Expo show, McKinney said CableLabs and its members and vendor partners began working in earnest on the new DOCSIS 3.1 specification about two months ago. Although he didn’t spell out all of the technical details about the proposed standard, he said the aim of the new initiative is to boost MSO broadband…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC said Thursday that Corus Entertainment's OWN and G4techTV (co-owned by Rogers Communications with minority owner Comcast Corporation) specialty channels are not complying with their licenses and must tell the CRTC why those licenses shouldn't be revoked or suspended. The hearing is set for December 11 in Gatineau, Quebec.
As analyzed by Cartt.ca in August, Corus had filed an application to change OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network which began life in 1999 as Canadian Learning Television) from a Category A service to a Category B service and to drop its educational…
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TORONTO – Stephanie MacKendrick is calling it quits after more than 16 years at the helm of Canadian Women in Communications. She will be leaving the organization as president on December 1, 2012 to pursue new opportunities. She will remain involved in the organization as a Special Advisor to the Board.
The CWC also announced a number of “transformative measures“ it`s taking to “accelerate its position as the leading organization for women to advance and navigate their careers in Canada's media, communications,…
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TORONTO – As part of its major re-launch, specialty channel GameTV has announced a number of new executive appointments. To support the re-launch the channel has also unveiled a trade media campaign this week, with a consumer campaign planned for October 29th. The channel, owned by Insight Sports, launched in 2005 as Casino & Gaming Television. It was renamed GameTV in 2007 and is now available in 9 million households across Canada.
“We have assembled this stellar team to lead the re-launch of the GameTV brand across all aspects of the channel from sales and marketing…
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MY FIRST MEETING WITH SHAW Communications president Peter Bissonnette in the winter of 1998 seems like a lifetime ago. It was in Richmond Hill, then the home base of Shaw’s substantial Ontario cable operations. I think it was February.
This was before Bissonnette was even president of the company. Before Shaw and Rogers traded their Ontario and British Columbia cable systems to each other. Before Izzy Asper and JR Shaw split up WIC (Western International Communications). Before the Shaw family spun its media assets into Corus Entertainment. Before a Jean Monty-led BCE bought CTV the first time, claiming – a…
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GATINEAU – A monthly per subscriber compensation regime proposed by CBC/Radio-Canada is being panned by its private sector opponents while the corporation’s foray into the digital arena is also being questioned by interveners to its licence renewal.
In its application, CBC said that it needs to be compensated for its signals because the broadcast distribution undertakings (cable, satellite and telco TV companies) are free riding and making money off the back of the corporation’s content. In essence, the public broadcaster is seeking a value for signal, or fee-for-carriage, regime. (The CRTC’s authority to implement such a model was Continue Reading
