CCR Short Takes

Telesat and Tandberg make deal with CBCTelesat Canada, in partnership with Tandberg Television, has been awarded a $5-million contract to manage, furnish and install advanced digital video compression technology on CBC’s English TV satellite distribution system. The system will allow CBC to offer higher quality signals and distinct services to Northern Canada. Regional Cable restructures in northern OntarioRegional Cablesystems has reduced its workforce by 30 at its Northern Ontario operations, as part of a corporate restructuring. The move will result in a one-time charge of about $1.2 million. The 30 full-time jobs in Sudbury and Timmins are being eliminated through a combination of early retirements, attrition and layoffs. Another Stern warning from standards councilThe Howard Stern Show has again been censured by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council for a rant against "retards" aired on the show last spring. Stern’s show leads the ratings in Toronto, where it is broadcast by CILQ-FM (Q107). The standards council ruled that the broad-cast violated the industry’s Code of Ethics. "The comments create an atmosphere of intolerance. If any part of the audience buys into the expressed sentiment, it represents a loss to all of society," the council said. Italian groups lobby for cancellation of CTV importThe National Congress of Italian-Canadians, angry over how the "offensive" series the Sopranos portrays its community, has taken its protests to CTV Inc, Parliament and the CRTC. "The series is crude, ruthless and an insult to all Italian-Canadians," the congress tells MPs in a letter. RobTV is re-launchedReport on Business Television will officially re-launch its service on Sept. 18 at 6:00 a.m. EST from the network’s new broadcast centre in downtown Toronto. Since ROBTv’s launch in September, 1999, the network has been broadcasting a limited schedule from an interim facility. ROBTv’s re-launch will feature a new on-air look and an expanded program schedule. Global TV and Granada partner in IrelandCanWest Global Communications Corp has a new partner in the TV3 network in Ireland. The Winnipeg-based broadcaster says Granada Media PLC has taken a 45% stake in the Irish network for $62.2 million. CanWest retains its 45-per-cent interest in TV3. The transactions are subject to approval by Ireland’s Independent Radio and Television Commission. CRTC orders most BDUs to carry VoicePrint serviceThe CRTC has ordered the majority of broadcast distributors across Canada to distribute the programming service VoicePrint for a maximum monthly fee of $0.01 per subscriber. VoicePrint is a national English-language audio reading service operated by the National Broadcast Reading Service. This service is currently distributed on a voluntary basis. Cablecos with more than 2,000 subscribers, and wireless cablecos operating in English-language markets will be required to distribute VoicePrint. DTH satellite providers such as Bell ExpressVu and Star Choice will also be required to distribute the service to their English-language subscribers. Trailervision dupes film snobsTrailervision.com hoaxed the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival for the second time in as many years, sending fake stars down the red carpet at the opening gala and even back again. The hoax only became apparent when one of the fake stars Patrick Brannigan, (Trailervision actor Ken Leonard) pretended to collapse as he walked the wrong way back down the red carpet and was eventually thrown into the street by the festival’s security force. At last year’s gala, in an event that grabbed international attention, Trailervision smuggled several fake stars into the green room with Alex Baldwin and Dave Foley by having bogus paparazzi shout their names as they stepped out of a limousine. The footage from the hoax will be used in the upcoming film Trailervision: The Movie which premieres at the Raindance Film Festival in London, England October 20th. Trailervision created the online phenomenon of imaginary movie trailers which are now being hailed as a new form of web entertainment. Chapters launches web radioChapters Online Inc has launched a new online radio station -- www.chapters.ca/radio. The station, which offers a selection of more than 20,000 songs on 23 channels, enables customers to access music inside office buildings, for example, where conventional radio signals often can’t reach. Cisco Systems buys digital video firm PixstreamCisco Systems Inc has bought Waterloo ON-based PixStream Inc, which makes hardware and software for the delivery of digital video over high-speed networks. Cisco said the US$369-million all-stock deal will extend its product reach in the market for providing high-speed voice, data and video systems to business customers. The purchase of privately held Pixstream is the 17th announced so far this year by Cisco as it pursues its goal of 20 to 25 acquisitions by year-end. BulldogGroup makes CTV dealCTV Inc has selected BulldogGroup Inc’s software to manage its television network’s comprehensive library of video and text-based assets. The system will enable staff to quickly search and view the library’s collection, allowing them to compile new files from archived information and to streamline the distribution of the material to internal audiences and outward across multiple delivery channels. NABET threatens raid on commercial film techsA fight is brewing over the unionization of film technicians in Toronto. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees is facing a threat from the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, which is planning a drive to organize technicians in Toronto’s commercial production sector. Both unions already represent technicians — the people who light and decorate the sets, create the actors’ wardrobes, apply their make-up, drive the transport trucks, etc. — at work in the city’s long-form television and film production sector. The commercial sector has been unorganized since 1998. At present, key technical positions in the commercial sector earn from $34 to $36 per hour, while similar positions on feature films and television series earn $28 a hour. Astral helps to save old filmsAstral Television Networks Inc /Astral Télé Réseaux Inc is contributing $500,000 to the AV Preservation Trust. The money will be used to preserve and restore Canadian films. Astral’s MOVIEPIX has been instrumental in restoring and preserving a number of Canadian movies, some almost destroyed over time through neglect, including: Tit Coq, a 1953 Quebecois movie directed by Gratien Gélinas and René Delacroix; The Act of the Heart, directed by Paul Almond; and Goin’ Down the Road, Don Shebib’s timeless classic. Canadian film Centre gets $1.5 million giftGlobal Communications Inc has given the Canadian Film Centre’s Fast Forward Campaign $1.5 million, the largest single donation to date. The money will be used to build and equip a new production studio, to be called the Global Television Production Studio. Launched in 1998, the Canadian Film Centre’s $15-million Fast Forward Campaign was established to create scholarships and endowments for the benefit of the centre’s film, television and new media training programs. Global pumps $23.9 million into western productionGlobal Television has set up a $23.9-million fund to support western Canadian independent film and television production. The Western Independent Producers Fund (WIP) is earmarked to assist independent Canadian producers west of the Ontario/Manitoba border. The WIP Fund is part of the total national benefits package of more than $84 million that CanWest committed to spend on acquiring the WIC stations. Global puts $20 million into MedbroadcastMedbroadcast Corp and CanWest Global Communications Corp have completed the transaction by which Global will invest $20 million over three years in the health-based web company. Global will initially acquire a 20% stake in the company. The alliance with Global gives Medbroadcast access to the content distribution channels, consumer traffic and advertising sales strength of the Global Television Network and the Canadian Internet assets of Hollinger Inc, including canada.com as well as its Canadian publications.

CCR Short Takes

Broadcast | September 14, 2000

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