CCR Short Takes

Canwest Global second largest donor to Liberals last yearData provided by Elections Canada show Canwest Global/Global TV was the second-largest donor to the federal Liberal party in 1999, giving the party’s national office $87,622.21. Other donors to the Liberals included: Bell Canada/BCE/ExpressVu ($51,438.87); the Rogers group of companies ($48,985.43); Craig Broadcast Systems ($48,297.66); and, Telus Corp ($34,567.14). Donors to the Canadian Alliance included: Telus ($20,158); BCE ($10,000); Rogers Communications ($10,000); Teleglobe Canada ($5,209); and, Agincourt Productions ($4,180). The Progressive Conservatives’ donors included: the Rogers group of companies ($28,669); Telus ($11,178); and, CanWest Global Communications ($10,000). ITAC urges feds to increase funding for digital collectionsThe Information Technology Association of Canada says Canadian Heritage should receive a $50-million funding boost to help digitize artistic collections. The recommendation is one of several that ITAC made in a brief to the Standing Committee on Finance filed earlier this month. Canada and U.S begin policy alignment for DTVIndustry Canada and the Federal Communications Commission have signed a letter of understanding detailing some of provisions for the coordination of policies relating to the transition from analog TV to digital TV. The migration is expected to take several years to complete. There may be some interesting implications in Canada, as security and safety organizations are sure to be looking to grab a portion of the spectrum in question. The FCC recently delayed an auction for the upper channels of the spectrum that was to be used for mobile voice applications. CAB responds to Industry Canada questionsThe Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) was recently asked by Industry Canada to outline its view of the future of broadcasting and convergence. Last April, the CAB released its report, Future Plan: Blueprint for the Digital Age. Industry Canada requested further information. The Sept. 11 Q&A is available on the CAB’s web site (www.cab-acr.ca). Rogers increases Maritime holdings with Cable Atlantic buyOne of the last remaining independent cablecos in Atlantic Canada has been sold. Rogers Communications Inc announced Sept. 18 that it had reached a deal to purchase Cable Atlantic Inc of Newfoundland for approximately $232 million in cash and stock. At $3,000 per subscriber, it’s the highest price yet for a cable system acquisition. Cable Atlantic serves some 75,0000 in the province, and its system is considered among the best in Canada. More than 90 per cent of its plant has been upgraded to 750 MHz capacity and two-way capability. Rogers is expected to rely on some senior executives at Cable Atlantic to oversee cable upgrades at several of its New Brunswick cable plants. The acquisition won’t be final until it receives CRTC approval. Global wants Globe out of ROBtvCanWest Global Communications Corp has notified the Globe and Mail that it will launch a takeover for the newspaper’s share in ROBtv, the all-business channel whose ownership has come into dispute due to recent media mergers. No proposed price or time frame was disclosed. CanWest says the newspaper breached a 1996 partnership agreement when it asked the CRTC last month to block CanWest from attaining joint ownership of ROBtv. That request for intervention trips a mechanism allowing CanWest to buy out the Globe’s share, the Winnipeg-based company told Globe publisher Phillip Crawley in a letter. CRTC to review Télébec’s purchase of CâblevisionQuebec telephone company Télébec Ltée has applied to the CRTC for permission to take over regional cableco Câblevision du Nord de Québec Inc. The commission has issued Public Notice 2000-135, asking for comments. The deadline for submissions is November 1. Cogeco buying back sharesCogeco Cable Inc, considered by many to be a hot takeover target for a bigger BDU, is buying back 250,000 subordinate voting shares, representing 1.2 per cent of the stock of the company. The buyback began last week and will not continue beyond September 19, 2001. Another 31,400 subordinate voting shares were purchased by Cogeco under a previous notice of intention which ended September 6, 2000 at an average price of $26.88 per share. Corus to create lifestyle sitesCorus Entertainment Inc is joining forces with a 16-month-old partnership of four U.S. radio broadcasters to create a network of local lifestyle portals. Corus will join Bonneville International Corp, EMMIS Communications, Entercom Communications and Jefferson Pilot in the Local Media Internet Venture. The partnership will create a common technology backbone and content database allowing each of the partners’ radio stations to put content online. Jack Swarbrick, a partner in the Hoosier state law firm Baker & Daniels heads the venture as president and CEO. The move is the latest in a trend towards radio stations offering more localized niche content. Corus buys NelvanaCorus Entertainment Inc has purchased Toronto-based animation house Nelvana Ltd for $540 million. Corus paid 60% in cash and 40% in Class B non-voting shares. Cabinet orders CRTC to look at Toronto radio marketThe federal government wants the CRTC to look for ways to ensure that radio audiences in Toronto receive services which reflect the diversity of their languages and cultures. The government asked for the study after it received 39 appeals of the commission’s recent awarding of radio frequencies in Toronto. Still, the government upheld Decision 2000-203, awarding 93.5 FM to Milestone Radio in Toronto and Decision 2000-205, which allocated 740 AM to PrimeTime Radio in Toronto. Cancom begins working MiracleCanadian Satellite Communications Inc has been chosen by The Miracle Channel (CJIL-TV) to provide full network distribution services, including space segment, uplink facilities and digital video compression. CRTC approves new Quebec specialty channelWhile the CRTC has not yet rubber stamped Bell’s takeover of CTV, it has allowed the telco to be a partner in a newly licensed French arts specialty channel. BCE joins Radio-Canada, Télé-Québec, Sept ARTE and Équipe Spectra in co-owning "la Télé des Arts", which will be offered to BDUs across Canada. The service is to reflect the uniqueness of Quebec culture and the needs and circumstances of French-language communities in other parts of Canada; and programming must complement that of existing services, and not have a negative impact on them. CTV Newsnet live with Blue Zone technologyCTV Newsnet and CTV News have been made available over a full range of access platforms and with personalized content. Users can read, listen and view news stories on TV sets, computers or hand-held devices. On the back end, Blue Zone Inc has pro-vided the infrastructure to make publication of content nearly immediate, cutting down on production time. World Television Network fails again to secure specialty licenceA Toronto newspaper publisher has failed again in his attempt to launch a foreign-language specialty TV channel. In Decision 2000-393 released Sept. 21, a majority of CRTC commissioners denied a licence application by World Television Network/Le Réseau Télémonde Inc. If approved, the network would have won a spot on the coveted analog dial, and all cable subscribers would have been forced to pay $0.30 more on their monthly cable bill. In the end, the CRTC decided the applicant was asking too much for a service with limited audience appeal. It was a view not shared by one CRTC commissioner. In a dissenting opinion, Stuart Langford said the application should have been approved, saying the long term benefits of such a service would have outweighed the costs. "It afforded the opportunity to bring into the mainstream of this country’s broadcasting community a large and growing segment of Canada’s changing population, a segment that in recent years has been complaining ever more vocally about its marginalized status," Langford writes. The man behind World Television Network, Dan Iannuzzi, has applied since 1989 on four separate occasions for approval to launch his service. The channel was to have featured news, public affairs, film and entertainment programming from around the world. But the application was opposed by Canada’s cable and broadcasting associations, as well as ethnic specialty channels. Quebecor puts TQS up for sale following Vidéotron purchaseMultimedia giant Quebecor Inc is selling its interest in the Télé Quatre Saisons television network. The move is predicated by Quebecor’s recent takeover of Groupe Vidéotron ltée, which operates the other private network in Quebec, TVA. Quebecor said Wednesday it made the decision to sell the network following discussions with the Competition Bureau and other interested parties. TQS owns stations in Montreal and Quebec City , and a relay transmitter in Rimouski. The network covers 97.5 per cent of Quebec’s broadcasting area. The sale is conditional upon the CRTC approving the purchase of Vidéotron.

CCR Short Takes

Broadcast | September 28, 2000

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