Memo to myself:
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Richard Stursberg has been appointed executive director of Telefilm Canada. The appointment, announced Dec. 6, comes about a year and a half after he gave a controversial speech at the Banff TV Festival calling for the privatization of the government film, television and new media funding agency. In the past few years, Stursberg has served as president and CEO of Canadian Satellite Communications, Star Choice, Vision.com and the Canadian Cable Television Association. From 1990 to 1994, he was executive VP of Unitel, now AT&T Canada. He also worked as assistant deputy minister of culture and broadcasting and as assistant deputy minister of telecommunications research and technology in the Department of Communications from 1985 to 1990. As well, Charles Bélanger was appointed chair of Telefilm Canada. Since 1997, he has been president of a firm specializing in electronic media management. He has also served as senior VP of programming services at BCE Media, and vice-chair of broadcasting at the CRTC. Bélanger is also a past member of the CAB TV board. Both appointments are for five years.
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CRTC at long last licenses WTM
The CRTC has finally licensed World Television Network/Le Réseau Télémonde Inc. (WTM), granting it a Category 2 digital licence but denying it an analog licence and guaranteed access on cable – Decision 2001-757. The applicant proposed a model that would have guaranteed the service carriage in a high penetration tier or package in analog on all but the smallest systems (CCR, May 10/01). The request was based on the premise that the channel, which would broadcast Canadian and world programming, would be of exceptional importance to the achievement of the multicultural objectives of the Broadcasting Act. Toronto businessman Dan Iannuzzi had proposed supplying three separate feeds of the same programming: one with subtitles of the foreign programming in French and two with English subtitles (one for carriage in eastern Canada and a time-shifted version for western Canada). CRTC commissioner Martha Wilson dissented, arguing that granting WTM a licence for modified dual status service would provide necessary "bridge programming" in the broadcasting system. "While there is a substantial amount of third-language programming in the system, and while conventional broadcasters are turning their attention to a more realistic reflection of Canada’s demographics in their news and other Canadian progamming, there is, in my view a clear gap between the two," she wrote in her dissent. The CRTC granted the Category 2 licence on Dec. 14 after years of delays and rejected licence applications (CCR, May 11/00).
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The CRTC is requiring Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. to maintain the headquarters of The Independent Film Channel Canada (IFCC) in Halifax as part of its approval of the broadcaster’s acquisition of the digital specialty channel. The move signals a possible new tough stand by the commission regarding commitments made by broadcast licensees in applications.
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The federal government introduced an amendment to the Copyright Act on December 12 that would mean Internet players would have to meet certain unspecified conditions before they could qualify as a retransmitter under Section 31. The legislation, Bill C-48, establishes a new regulation-making power that would give Cabinet the power to decide which Internet companies qualify and which don’t.
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Independent television producers and those charged with running the Canadian Television Fund are putting a positive spin on the short-term renewal of the fund, despite the fact they had lobbied aggressively for a long-term commitment from the government. Finance minister Paul Martin’s December 10 federal budget earmarked $100 million for the CTF for the 2002-03 fiscal year. This content is available to wirereport.ca subscribers Already a subscriber? Sign in here Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.Take a free trial or subscribe to The Wire Report now. FREE TRIALTwo weeks free access to thewirereport.ca and our exlusive newsletters. SUBSCRIBEUnlimited access to thewirereport.ca and our exlusive newsletters. CRTC confirms small cablecos can source U.S. 4+1 signals from foreign sourcesThe CRTC’s confirmation that small cable systems can source U.S. 4+1 signals from non-Canadian sources will have little impact in today’s market for distant signals via satellite. The launch of competitive satellite relay distribution undertakings (SRDUs) and the threat of competition from foreign signal providers in recent years have produced long-term contracts and lower rates for cablecos. This content is available to wirereport.ca subscribers Already a subscriber? Sign in here Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.Take a free trial or subscribe to The Wire Report now. FREE TRIALTwo weeks free access to thewirereport.ca and our exlusive newsletters. SUBSCRIBEUnlimited access to thewirereport.ca and our exlusive newsletters. Digital cable subscribers to top 1 million at year-end; satellite to continue to dominateThe number of cable subscribers receiving digital service will top 1 million by the end of 2001, but satellite TV will continue to hold the lion’s share of digital TV subscribers in Canada, according to a new report by Decima Publishing Inc. Cable’s share of the digital TV market is expected to be 35 per cent at year-end, with satellite holding 62 per cent and wireless cable 3 per cent. This content is available to wirereport.ca subscribers Already a subscriber? Sign in here Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.Take a free trial or subscribe to The Wire Report now. FREE TRIALTwo weeks free access to thewirereport.ca and our exlusive newsletters. SUBSCRIBEUnlimited access to thewirereport.ca and our exlusive newsletters. Manitoba telco plans to bundle digital TV offering with telecom servicesMTS Communications Inc. is banking that its advanced digital set-top box will help lure customers to the digital television service it expects to offer commercially by 2003. The subsidiary of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc., the province’s incumbent full-service telecommunications provider, also hopes that offering a bundle of digital TV, Internet, and telephony will encourage existing cable subscribers to switch to its service. This content is available to wirereport.ca subscribers Already a subscriber? Sign in here Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.Take a free trial or subscribe to The Wire Report now. FREE TRIALTwo weeks free access to thewirereport.ca and our exlusive newsletters. SUBSCRIBEUnlimited access to thewirereport.ca and our exlusive newsletters. NL EditorialThe opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. This content is available to wirereport.ca subscribers Already a subscriber? Sign in here Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.Take a free trial or subscribe to The Wire Report now. FREE TRIALTwo weeks free access to thewirereport.ca and our exlusive newsletters. SUBSCRIBEUnlimited access to thewirereport.ca and our exlusive newsletters. |