CCR Update

Corus to relaunch WTN on April 15The Women’s Television Network (WTN) will be rebranded as W and relaunched on April 15, Corus Entertainment Inc. announced March 6. Corus says for the first time there will be dual feed of the specialty channel’s signal to "better serve Western Canadian viewers". It also announced that it had licensed five original Canadian series and movies to be telecast on the network. New programming on the channel will include These Arms of Mine, Riverdale, Our Hero, Ally McBeal and Chicago Hope. More details: W: A compelling new television brand for Canadian women Corus Entertainment to launch W, a revitalized women's television network Corus unloads children’s book publisher KlutzCorus Entertainment Inc. is selling its children’s book publisher Klutz to Scholastic Inc. for about U.S. $43 million in cash plus a three-year earn-out based on revenue. The deal was announced March 4. Corus acquired California-based Klutz through its acquisition of Nelvana Ltd. in November 2000. Corus says the money from the sale will be used to repay debt. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of March. More details. Rogers spends big on bid for Vancouver ethnic TV stationRogers Communications Inc. spent $2 million on its application for a licence to run an over-the-air ethnic television station in Vancouver, according to financials the company released for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2001. The CRTC granted the licence to Multivan Broadcast Corporation (CCR, Feb. 15/02). More details. HITS QT proving popular with small cablecosSmall cablecos are embracing HITS QT, a more economical version of the Headend-in-the-Sky (HITS) service provided by Canadian Satellite Communications Inc., to bring digital to small systems. See the upcoming issue of CCR for more details. Global gets regulatory extension on VOD undertakingGlobal Communications Ltd. received CRTC approval on March 4 for a year’s extension to Jan. 2, 2003 for implementation of a video-on-demand (VOD) service – Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2002-67. The extension to Global’s licence follows approvals granted February 12 by the CRTC for extensions to other VOD licence holders (CCR, Feb. 15/02). Rogers Cable Inc. has unveiled plans for a VOD service that it anticipates rolling out commercially this June (CCR, March 01/02). The Miracle Channel gets only short-term licence renewal after falling short on Canadian contentThe non-profit over-the-air Miracle Channel Association (MCA) was given only a two-year renewal of its licence by the CRTC on February 28 – Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2002-60. MCA operates Lethbridge AB based CJIL-TV, with retransmitters in Bow Island and Burmis. The CRTC was so displeased with MCA’s failure to meet Canadian content requirements and to provide a wide range of religious programming that it "gave serious consideration" to an even shorter licence term. In the end, the licence was extended from March 2, 2002 until August 31, 2004. But MCA must within 30 days report to the CRTC on the establishment of a regulatory review committee charged with reviewing the balance of religious programming aired on the station. In its decision, the CRTC noted that descriptions of programming provided by MCA and found on its web site "call into question the extent to which these programs have actually served to expose the station’s audience to religious views differing in substance from the evangelical Christian beliefs held by the operators of CJIL-TV." CRTC asks for comments on end-user choice following Novus complaintOn February 28, the CRTC issued a call for comments on what constitutes an "end-user" as a result of a disagreement between cableco Novus Entertainment Inc. and satellite TV operator Bell ExpressVu LP – Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2002-11. Novus filed a complaint against Bell ExpressVu, which signed an agreement with the council running a condominium in Vancouver that states "the owner will not allow more than two providers of television or audio service, including Bell ExpressVu, to provide service within the ." One argument made by Bell ExpressVu was that the owners of the building, in entering into the agreement, made an authorized decision on behalf of its membership, and hence, of end-users. However, Novus believes that the concept of end-user choice should be applied at the level of individual units. The CRTC will accept comments on the matter until April 5. Amendments sought to Lonestar, Sportsnet licencesGlobal Television Network is asking the CRTC to allow it to air infomercials and promotional and corporate videos on its Category 2 digital specialty channel Lonestar. Rogers Sportsnet Inc. has asked for permission to include analysis and interpretation programming, and long-form documentaries on SportsNet – Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2002-10. Asper responds to Rabinovitch’s claims of ‘blatant self interest’ CanWest Global Communications Corp. executive chair I.H. Asper issued a statement denouncing claims by the president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Robert Rabinovitch has called criticism of the CBC in CanWest-owned newspapers as "blatant self-interest" (CCR, March 01/02). "Yet his contention that this represented some organized plan by CanWest or Southam is utterly and categorically false," Asper said in a statement released February 26. "The reality is that the articles and commentary were based on news reports generated independently of CanWest or Southam, and by independent judgements of editors of the newspapers that commented." More details. Alliance Atlantis announces strong quarter, but excludes losses on new channelsAlliance Atlantis Communications Inc. announced EBITDA had risen 32% to $58.2 million in the third quarter ended Dec. 31, 2001 compared to the same quarter last year. However, Alliance Atlantis notes in financials released February 27 that it did not include developing specialty channel operating losses, including its new diginets. Alliance Atlantis notes that its digital channels – Showcase Action, Showcase Diva, The Independent Film Channel Canada, Discovery Health Channel, National Geographic Channel, BBC Canada, and BBC Kids – remained in a "freeview" period until January and, as expected, generated only modest advertising revenue and no subscriber revenue in the quarter. "Our Broadcast Group operating channels continue to show advertising growth compared to the prior years’ quarter and we are pleased with the preliminary ratings results being delivered by our new digital developing channels," chair and CEO Michael MacMillan said in a media release. More details. INTERNATIONAL NEWS 43% of U.S. stations to miss digital TV deadlineAt least 43% of local television stations in the United States will miss the May 1 deadline to have their digital television stations operating. According to the Federal Communications Commission, 562 of the 1,309 commercial stations in the U.S. had filed for permission to miss the deadline. About 160 stations have not yet been granted permits to construct their digital TV stations. In their applications, television stations stated legal, technical, and financial problems were making it impossible to make the deadline. More details: FCC powerpoint presentation DTV stations on the air CableLabs issues VOD specificationsThe U.S. cable television consortium Cable Television Laboratories Inc. (CableLabs) has issued the first standardized guidelines for handling descriptive data associated with VOD. CableLabs says that to date there is no agreed upon common approach to how metadata should be handled. CableLabs adds that by having a common approach to metadata, VOD operating costs and content encoding costs could be reduced while bandwidth management would be easier. More details. U.S. Department of Justice to take responsibility for all media mergersThe U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached an agreement March 5 whereby the DOJ will assume authority for reviewing all media and entertainment mergers. The wide-ranging agreement between the two departments allocates media and entertainment, an area in which both the DOJ and FTC have experience, to the DOJ, it is noted in a media release issued by the DOJ. More details.

CCR Update

Broadcast | March 6, 2002

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us

CCR Update

Broadcast | March 6, 2002

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Trump’s trade rep targets Online Streaming Act, Online News Act, raising questions about future of Canada’s cultural exemption

Producers challenge 20 per cent copyright threshold in new CanCon policy

Streamers challenge CRTC decision to publicly disclose financial information

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us