GATINEAU – There were some pretty big surprises as Canada’s large broadcast groups took the stand one last time during the CRTC’s group licensing proceeding in Gatineau last week.
While it should come as no shock that Bell Media maintained its position on symmetrical regulation of Canadian content spending requirements – 30% on Canadian production expenditure (CPE) and 5% programs of national interest (PNI) – Rogers Media shocked commissioners when it asked to be excluded from the group licensing regime.
For Bell, complying with the new group licensing approach is simple: all large broadcast groups should follow the same…
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MONTREAL – Not surprisingly, Quebecor-owned Videotron was the first TV service provider to trumpet the arrival of the Sun News Network, also owned by Quebecor, which launched nationally Monday afternoon.
Canada’s newest all-news channel, a re-brand of the over-the-air Sun TV in Ontario and simltaneously a digital specialty channel elsewhere, “is poised to shake up the Canadian news media landscape”, according to Videotron’s news release. With a mixture of “hard news” by day and “straight talk” by night, the network features talent such as Charles Adler, Ezra Levant, Theo Caldwell, Brian Lilley, Krista Erickson, Pat Bolland, Alex Pierson and David Akin.
“The network is…
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HAMILTON – Cable industry veteran Owen Boris died Saturday night at his home in Hamilton after suffering a heart attack. He was 79.
Boris founded Hamilton’s Mountain Cablevision in 1959 and remained principal owner of the successful cableco for half a century before selling the business to Shaw Communications in July 2009. At that time, Boris told Cartt.ca that he felt that the time was right to retire and to “pass this great history on to someone with more financial muscle.”
Fellow industry veteran JR Shaw described Boris as “truly one of a kind”.
“There’s no one else in the…
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TORONTO – Now that the largest Canadian broadcast and specialty networks are owned by the big four distributors, look for them to start to push harder at monetizing their online presences – while trying not to negatively impact their traditional TV advertising revenue and access provider programming fees – which totalled about $6.23 billion in 2010, says a new report from Convergence Consulting.
As it currently stands, online does little to improve broadcast and specialty networks’ bottom line, says the report, the latest instalment of the company’s ongoing “Battle for the North American Couch Potato” series. Most private Canadian broadcasters…
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GATINEAU – Rogers Media’s proposed Canadian program expenditures and programs of national interest spending drew the ire of the CRTC during the second day of hearings into the group-based licence renewals.
“When I listened to what you both said on CPE and PNI, you are really asking for a policy change. That’s as simple as that. It’s like a review and vary application, saying we like what you did but we want you to change it so it fits better to ,” said CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein. “I don’t understand why you feel we should change the basic…
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GATINEAU – Corus Entertainment must be included in the group-based licensing regime so as to better compete with its fellow broadcasters, the company said during its licence renewal hearing on Tuesday.
John Cassaday, president and CEO of Corus, explained that despite the fact it only owns a couple of small local broadcasters (CHEX Peterborough and CKWS Kingston) the group approache enables the primarily pay and specialty company to more flexibly spend money where needed.
“What this group-based licensing approach would allow us to do is to allocate our programming to those areas that have either the greatest strategic need or the…
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OTTAWA – Canadian independent producers and the country’s major private broadcast groups reached an agreement in principle over terms in trade on Monday.
The framework deal, which is still subject to final approvals, will apply to the entire life cycle of a show – from first pitch, through to development, production and broadcast on all platforms, the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) said. Once fully executed, it will apply to all independently produced projects developed and commissioned by Astral, Corus, CTV, Rogers and Shaw Media.
“Terms of Trade will bring greater clarity and certainty for both broadcasters and independent producers in…
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TORONTO – Public Mobile launched new rate plans on Friday, plus confirmed that it will begin offering data services later this month.
The wireless upstart rolled out an unlimited province-wide calling plan in Ontario or Quebec priced at $15 per month, which it is positioning as an alternative to landlines and prepaid calling cards. It is also offering national roaming rates at 15< per minute, a $5 per month email service, and teased the arrival of its first data-capable wireless phone, referred to as ‘the Buzz’, that is scheduled to arrive in stores in April.
The company also announced a new community initiative…
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CALGARY and EDMONTON – CBC broadcasts on its Calgary and Edmonton affiliates shift to high definition starting Friday, the ‘pubcaster said.
Viewers in the two Alberta centres will be able to watch HD CBC programs on Shaw Cable channel 209 starting April 1st, while Telus TV subscribers will have access on May 27 through channel 600 in Calgary and channel 621 in Edmonton.
“With Calgary and Edmonton as Canada’s third and fourth largest English TV markets respectively, we’re really pleased to be adding these important members to Canada’s CBC HD family,” said Alan Dark, CBC’s executive director of media sales and…
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BANFF – Media leaders from five of Canada’s major broadcast media companies will come together to kick off this year’s Banff World Media Festival.
Phil Lind, vice chairman of Rogers Communications; Paul Robertson, group vice president, broadcasting and president of Shaw Media; Kevin Crull, COO at CTVglobemedia; Kirstine Stewart, executive vice president of English services at CBC; and John Riley, president of Astral Television Networks, have been confirmed for the event’s Media Leaders panel.
Moderated by Gordon Pitts, senior reporter for The Globe and Mail, the executives will speak to the issues they find most pressing for today’s media ecosystem, plus…
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