CAB convention coverage

Ministers pledge support to private broadcastersCanadian Heritage minister Sheila Copps pledged support to private broadcasters on a number of fronts on October 28 during an appearance at the 75th annual convention of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) in Ottawa. She said she would write the Treasury Board to try to get CRTC licence fees paid by broadcasters and broadcast distributors reduced, and would push Finance minister Paul Martin to include money for the Canadian Television Fund in the next budget. Copps also pledged to have changes that would explicitly exclude Internet retransmission of broadcasters’ signals from Section 31 of the Copyright Act introduced by Christmas (see CCR Special Update, Oct. 29/01). Meanwhile, Industry minister Brian Tobin, speaking earlier on October 28, told CAB delegates that it was important to get on with the government’s agenda, including the rollout of broadband, in spite of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. "We are beginning to realize that we have to get on with it and to rebuild confidence in the economy…We can’t be held captive by the events of September 11," he said. Tobin acknowledged, however, that security concerns have bumped the government’s foreign ownership review on the priority list. "Frankly, it’s not of the highest priority, given the other matters that are on the agenda. But certainly within the next year," he said. The minister appears less committed now to opening broadcast distribution and telecommunications infrastructure up to increased foreign investment than he did before September 11. "We want to build bigger and stronger, and more globally competitive Canadian companies – I’m all for it – but I think we have to be careful not to leap to policy directions that might have the opposite effect – and that is to cause the decision making ability to take flight and leave the country." Tobin also pledged his department’s support for changes to the Copyright Act. Colville expects to be replaced as chair ‘within weeks’CRTC acting chair David Colville expects a new chair of the CRTC to be announced within weeks, at which time he will return to his position as vice chair of telecommunications at the commission. "I’m told we’re probably talking about weeks, and not months for a new replacement," he told reporters following a speech to CAB delegates. Colville said he has not been told who will be replacing him. He added, "I agreed to step in to fill the gap while they were looking for a new chairman. I’ll go back to my position as vice chair of telecommunications and still have an input on broadcasting issues, which I have over the years, until my term runs out in 2003." 37 new pay and specialty services join CABThe CAB announced at its convention that 37 new pay and specialty services had been approved to join the association as members. It now has 99 specialty and pay services members. The CAB absorbed the members of the former Specialty and Premium Television Association (SPTV) right after the new digital specialty channels were licensed. The CAB membership, including full and associate members for all divisions, stands at 673 – the highest in the association’s 75-year history. More details. CRTC report finds Canadian broadcasting industry healthyCRTC acting chair David Colville says newly released figures show that the government’s policy objective of ensuring Canadian programming is produced and watched is working. Colville was referring to data contained in the second edition of the CRTC’s Broadcasting Policy Monitoring Report, released Oct. 30. "In general, our numbers show that viewing of Canadian programming is generally increasing across all genres of programming," Colville told reporters at the CAB convention. John Traversy, director of economic analysis and research with the CRTC’s broadcasting division, noted: "Overall viewing to Canadian English-language programs (on specialty and conventional networks) as a percentage of all programs in the system went up to 33 per cent in the fall of 2000, up from 31 per cent the year before. That was primarily related to information and news programming, but there was general increase in all categories." He added, "There are specific charts on private conventional viewing, and you’ll see that both through the whole day and in primetime, the viewing numbers are up slightly in the fall of 2000 over the previous year." Traversy told CCR that spending on Canadian programming was also up. "Overall, spending to Canadian programming when you include all the sectors – pay and specialty, the CBC, and private conventional – it’s up. I think at the end of the year 2000, it was over $1.5 billion, up some couple million dollars over the year before. That’s primarily related to the new pay and specialty services, but overall the television business spending on Canadian programming is up." Last week, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting released a report called Follow the Money: Who Paid for Canadian Television, 1990-2000? that indicates conventional broadcasters had increased their spending on foreign programming by 50 per cent since 1994, while decreasing what they spent on Canadian shows (CCR, Oct. 26/01). More details. Major radio players file applications for digital audio broadcasting in OttawaAstral Radio Inc., CBC/Radio Canada, Chum Ltd., Rogers Media Inc., Standard Radio Inc., and Telemedia Radio Inc. have filed applications with the CRTC and Industry Canada for the launch of digital audio broadcasting in Ottawa, according to Digital Radio Roll-Out Inc (DRRI). The organization, a consortium of radio broadcasters including the CBC, also announced Oct. 29 that General Motors of Canada Ltd. would be the first automaker to deliver factory-installed Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) technology to the automobile marketplace. The Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo, assembled in Oshawa ON, will be among the first models with DAB. More details: Digital Audio Broadcasting press release General Motors press release For more coverage of the CAB’s convention, including an update on the new diginets, the views of incoming CAB president and CEO Glenn O’Farrell, and where key broadcast executives see the industry heading, check out the next edition of CCR. Producers, actors reach labour accordCanadian performers reached a tentative new agreement with Canadian and U.S. producers Oct. 26 after only five days of negotiations. The new two-year Independent Production Agreement gives actors a 3 per cent pay increase in January, and another 3 per cent increase at the beginning of January 2003. The current agreement expires Dec. 31. The new agreement, which still has to be ratified by members of both the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) and the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA), would run from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2003. It covers wages and work conditions for Canadian actors on film and television productions in all provinces, except British Columbia, which has a separate agreement. The memorandum of understanding for the deal was signed by ACTRA, representing 18,000 Canadian performers; the CFTPA; its French counterpart, l’Association des producteurs de films et de télévision du Québec (APFTQ); and was agreed to by Nick Counter, president of the U.S.-based Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. More details. Leafs TV, Raptors TV expand distributionHamilton ON-based Mountain Cablevision and Southmount Cable, Aurora ON-based Aurora Cable, and Regional Cablesystems’ Class 1 system in Sudbury and surrounding areas are now distributing the new digital channels, Leafs TV and Raptors NBA TV, it was announced Oct. 29. Outside of Ontario, Raptors NBA TV was also added to the digital cable offerings of Regional Cablesystems in Newfoundland, Rogers Cable in New Brunswick and Newfoundland, EastLink in Halifax, Bayview Cable in Nova Scotia, Westman Communications in Manitoba, Access Communications in Saskatchewan, Monarch Cablesystems in Alberta, and Whistler Cable in British Columbia. Leafs TV is a regional service and thus is restricted mostly to carriage in Ontario, while Raptors is national, and is already available on satellite TV services, Bell ExpressVu and Star Choice. Corus gets CRTC approval on TelelatinoThe CRTC has granted Corus Entertainment Inc. approval to acquire a controlling interest in Telelatino Network Inc. (Decision 2001-665). Corus agreed in March to pay $11 million for shares in the specialty channel to increase its stake from 20 per cent to 50.5 per cent. More details: Decision CRTC 2001-665 Corus receives CRTC approval for controlling interest of Telelatino Corus partners with the Hard Rock CaféThe Hard Rock Café International Inc. has partnered with Corus Entertainment Inc.’s Corus Radio Toronto to bring a radio studio to its restaurant in Toronto. The newly renovated Hard Rock Café Toronto will have a street level, state-of-the-art radio studio, from which Corus Radio’s classic rock station Q107 will broadcast. More details.

CAB convention coverage

News | 10/31/2001 5:00 am EST

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