OTTAWA – As Bell Canada stole the show with its usage-based billing (UBB) backdown earlier this week, the fact that the cable companies also suggested that billing on an aggregate use basis might be a more palatable approach was overlooked.
Under this type of model, the independent ISP which leases network capacity from a facilities-based carrier would be charged for a pre-determined amount of bandwidth that it could then offer to all of its customers. If the small ISP exceeds this amount, it would be charged additional fees. The current UBB approach contemplates charging independent ISPs on per-customer basis….
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OTTAWA – Granted, it’s just another in the thousands of oft-ignored parliamentary committee reports, but a new one released today by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage wants the CRTC to hold a public hearing about whether or not the likes of Netflix, Google TV, Apple TV, etc., should be contributing funds to the Canadian television industry.
The report, “Impacts Of Private Television Ownership Changes And The Move Towards New Viewing Platforms,” was informed by five fall 2010 meeting days which heard from 21 witnesses representing Canadian media companies (big and small), carriers, producers, Continue Reading
TORONTO – Global TV and ABC will simulcast a new four part miniseries called Titanic in Spring 2012 which will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the tragic event.
Written by Oscar winner Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) along with producer Nigel Stafford Clark, BAFTA winner for Bleak House, the series will re-tell the Titanic’s fateful voyage from the points of view of several protagonists including a steerage passenger, a waiter, an engineer and a middle class financier. Filming begins this spring on location in Budapest, Hungary.
"Despite its legendary fate, on the whole, the Titanic remains a mystery to most, which explains…
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THUNDER BAY – Add Tbaytel to the list of IPTV providers who credit the Microsoft Mediaroom platform for smoothing the way for the rollout of video services.
After selecting the Calix B6 Ethernet Service Access Node (ESAN) for the launch of its advanced IPTV services to residential subscribers in Thunder Bay, Canada’s largest independent telco added Microsoft Mediaroom-powered TV services to its list of services last November by leveraging VDSL2 and Active Ethernet fibre access technology.
Tbaytel president and CEO Don Campbell told Cartt.ca that the VDSL2 multi-year deployment is well underway, but that it will still take “a couple of…
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TORONTO – Canada’s broadcasters and telcos are rumoured to top the list of suitors interested in acquiring the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
The OTTP confirmed Saturday that it will “explore the possibility of selling” its 66% majority share of the sports and entertainment giant which reportedly includes more than a billion dollars worth of assets ranging from Air Canada Centre to the Toronto Maple Leafs to sports channels Leafs TV, NBA TV Canada and Gol TV.
The Toronto Star published a report last December claiming that Rogers Communications was in talks to buy the…
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TORONTO – Global News has been chosen as the 2011 recipient of the ‘Bill Hutton Award of Excellence’ from RTNDA Canada: The Association of Electronic Journalists.
Formerly known as the ‘Friend of RTNDA Canada Award’, the award was renamed in 2009 to honour the late Bill Hutton, RTNDA Canada’s first president. The award is given to individuals or organizations which have shown a true commitment to RTNDA and the betterment of broadcast journalism in Canada.
"I’m happy that Global News continues to be a loyal friend of RTNDA Canada”, said RTNDA Canada president Andy LeBlanc, in the announcement. “Global News and…
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TORONTO – Showcase has released a national consumer advertising campaign in support of its new original series Endgame in advance of its premier on March 14 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
At the cornerstone of the campaign is a street stunt which will see eight-feet high chess pieces displayed around high-traffic areas of the downtown Toronto core. Playing on the theme of the series, the king pieces, one black and one white, appear murdered: the white piece by hanging and the black piece by a knife, both branded with the Showcase logo and Endgame tune-in. The campaign also includes transit shelter ads…
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DENVER – Looking towards the future, two cable industry standards groups have adopted two different sets of technical specifications aimed at spurring the industry’s deployment of all-fibre networks.
In late December, the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) finally approved its Radio Frequency over Glass (RFoG) standard after more than two years of discussion and sometimes testy technical debates. The new RFoG specs enable cable operators to extend fibre lines all the way to homes and businesses without needing to switch out their existing headends, back-office systems, set-top boxes, cable modems, or other equipment. As a result, MSOs now have…
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“WE’RE AT SUCH A significant spectrum disadvantage, we think government should level the playing field,” says Globalive CEO Tony Lacavera about the wireless auction of 700 MHz spectrum, expected in late 2012.
So significant is that disadvantage, the federal government should set aside all of the spectrum and bar any wireless company which holds 800 MHz spectrum (each of the big incumbents, that is) from participating in the 700 auction.
“We know we’re making a pretty significant ask here, but on the other hand, the incumbents have incredible swaths of spectrum,” added Lacavera (whose wireless company operates as Wind, of course)…
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OTTAWA – Let’s not get lost in the weeds, Canadian broadcasters have told the CRTC.
With respect to calls for more specific Canadian content spending requirements suggested by some parties to the group-based licence renewals of the private broadcasters, broad and flexible rules will do a much better job than micro-managing the broadcasters’ Cancon spending obligations – and any requirements to spend additional money on Canadian content should be rejected, say those broadcasters.
CTVglobemedia, Rogers Media, Shaw Media and Corus Entertainment argue that many, particularly those from the creative sector, are trying to re-write the rules by requiring specific spending obligations…
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