LEAVE IT TO SHAW to not only demand genre protection go away, but to use a lovely incendiary word that broadcasters have long used against cable: monopoly.
When Shaw Communications’ submission to the CRTC on its upcoming policy review on broadcast distribution undertakings and specialty services addressed the Commission’s policy on genre protection (which means there’s only supposed to be one comedy specialty, one short film channel, one preschool channel, and so on), it refers to the protection as a genre monopoly.
“I’m not going to be lectured to by Jim Shaw about being in the monopoly business,” said…
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TORONTO – CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada will be broadcasting live and on-demand select games of the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs in Mandarin at CBCSports.ca.
“CBC is committed to providing all Canadians with the most comprehensive coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs,” said CBC Sports director of production Joel Darling. “This is a great opportunity for us to introduce new audiences to the high-intensity NHL playoffs and CBCSports.ca provides us with an ideal platform to do just that.”
One series per round will be available in Mandarin, with commentary by Jason Wang, who provides the play-by-play for the Vancouver…
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WITHOUT A DOUBT, THE highest profile issue CRTC commissioners will tackle beginning next week’s policy hearings on broadcast distribution undertakings and specialty services is fee-for-carriage. That is, paying a new subscription fee for over-the-air broadcast stations.
As the rules now stand the regulatory bargain is such that cable and satellite and telco TV must carry conventional local TV stations low in their channel lineups and must substitute Canadian signals over top of American ones when the programming is the same. We’ve come to know that part as simultaneous substitution. In return, distributors have not ever had to pay the…
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INVIDI TECHNOLOGIES CEO DAVID DOWNEY has been long been dining out on John Wanamaker’s now ancient and clichéd quote: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”
It’s been a key portion of Downey’s presentations to investors and industry folks for years. Now Wanamaker, the innovative American department store pioneer (he’s said to have invented the price tag and the “sale”) died in the 1920s, so one would think that we have progressed beyond the late retailer’s ad spend calculations over the century or so since he spoke those words….
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OTTAWA – Bell Mobility, SaskTel and Rogers Communications were on the list of applicants intending to participate in the auction for Advanced Wireless Services that was released Friday by Industry Canada.
Earlier in the week, Shaw Communications, Quebecor Media, Eastlink and a consortium that includes Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. (MTS Allstream) indicated they would also be participating.
Shaw appears to have applied under the numbered company 1380057 Alberta Ltd, as it announced Friday that it had filed a $400 million financial deposit with Industry Canada in connection with the auction. That is the same amount listed by 1380057 Alberta…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor Media has filed an application to bid as an new entrant in Industry Canada’s spectrum auction for Advanced Wireless Services. Quebecor Media said Thursday it has submitted a deposit of $317 million, in the form of letters of credit, to Industry Canada.
About 40 megahertz of spectrum is expected to go to new entrants in the wireless market.
Quebecor indicated it intended to bid for spectrum across Canada.
“We have always stated clearly that our Videotron subsidiary planned to build its own wireless network to serve the Quebec market. However, exceptionally favourable conditions for new entrants, which may…
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HALIFAX – EastLink announced Thursday it has submitted an application to participate in Industry Canada’s Auction for Spectrum Licences for Advanced Wireless Services (AWS).
EastLink along with Shaw Communications, a consortium that includes MTS, and Quebecor Media have already announced that they plan to participate in the auction.
Industry Canada is expected to release the names of all of the parties who have applied to participate either today or Friday. The auction is scheduled to begin on May 27, 2008.
If successful in acquiring spectrum, Eastlink said it will expand the range of products and services to its customers in…
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CALGARY — Shaw Communications Inc. announced Monday it has submitted an application to participate in Industry Canada’s auction for spectrum licences for Advanced Wireless Services (AWS).
“There can be no assurance that Shaw’s bid will be successful in acquiring AWS spectrum in the auction. In addition, participation in the auction should not necessarily be interpreted as an indication that Shaw intends to build out a wireless network,” the TV distributor said in a statement. “If successful, the ownership of spectrum will provide strategic flexibility as it may be utilized in a variety of ways and in a timeframe yet…
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TORONTO – Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. (MTS Allstream) has joined with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and The Blackstone Group L.P. to jointly submit an application to bid as a new entrant in the Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum auction, it was announced Monday.
The consortium stated it had made a $340 million deposit in letters of credit to Industry Canada. MTS Allstream, CPPIB and Blackstone will each own one-third of the new entity.
If the consortium is successful in acquiring spectrum licences, it is anticipated that Andre Tremblay, founding CEO of Microcell, will lead a team…
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GATINEAU – Reply comments filed with the CRTC on Friday on its broadcasting distribution undertakings and specialty services policy review don’t show anyone has changed their minds. They’ve mostly dug right in, as expected.
(And, we’ll set aside the fee for carriage debate right away for this particular piece. Over-the-air broadcasters and producers who look to see more funds flow their way want consumers to pay a fee for conventional TV stations. Cable and satellite companies do not. We’ll dive deeper into the issue in a later story.)
This story, however, is a tale of two extremes. We looked…
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