CCR Update

SaskTel launches digital interactive TV serviceAfter testing its digital television distribution service with 200 employees, SaskTel launched the service in Regina on September 12. The service, called Max Interactive Services, uses the same technology as Aliant Telecom Inc.’s VibeVision, which is in the process of being shutdown (CCR, Sept. 12/02). SaskTel officials say they are not worried about meeting the same fate as VibeVision. For more details, see the upcoming issue of Canadian Communications Reports. More details. Telus looking at delivering TV service on broadbandTelus Communications Inc. has applied for two regional Class 1 broadcast distribution licences to deliver television service over broadband in Alberta and British Columbia. The telco plans to initially serve seven communities in Alberta and nine in B.C. Telus is proposing to offer its service alone and in packages with high-speed Internet access or with other Telus enhanced or long-distance services. "Telus’ proposed offering will provide consumers with a competitive alternative to the services offered by incumbent cable companies and direct-to-home (DTH) satellite providers in Alberta and British Columbia, and to the competitive services offered by Multiple Distribution System (MDS) service undertakings in parts of British Columbia," Telus writes in its application to the CRTC. The matter will be considered at a public hearing on November 18 in Gatineau QC - Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing 2002-10. Interested parties have until October 24 to comment on the applications. For more information, see the upcoming issue of Canadian Communications Reports. CRTC rules Cancom must pay contributionIn Telecom Decision 2002-57, released September 13, the CRTC ruled that Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (Cancom) must pay into the contribution fund, which is used to help keep telecommunications costs low in rural and remote areas of Canada. Cancom, which is owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications Inc., had argued that it is not a telecommunications service provider and should be exempt from the payments. The commission disagreed and has ordered the company to submit financial information by the end of the month. Cancom’s satellite TV unit, Star Choice Television Network Inc., was among a group of satellite users including broadcasters that failed to convince the federal Cabinet to exempt satellite services from the CRTC’s contribution regime (CCR Special Update, May 28, 2002). Rogers’ second ethnic TV station hits the airThe Toronto-based ethnic channel Omni.2, owned and operated by the broadcasting subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., has launched in Ontario. It is the second ethnic television station in the province after CFMT-TV, also owned by Rogers and that was recently relaunched as Omni.1 (CCR Update, July 24/02). About 70 per cent of the programming on the new ethnic channel will be targeted at the Asian and African communities. Rogers announced that the channel has the capacity to reach 90 per cent of Ontario. The CRTC also approved a request by Rogers to distribute the ethnic station as a distant Canadian signal on the basic service of its cable systems in London and area, Collingwood and area, and in Ottawa – Broadcasting Decision 2002-292. Despite several submissions opposing the application, including from Craig Broadcast Systems Inc. and Global Communications Ltd., the commission also approved the use of channel 44, with an effective radiated power of 179,000 watts, for the operation of Omni.2 – Broadcasting Decision 2002-293. Beginning September 16, Omni.2 has been available over-the-air on channel 44 in Toronto, Hamilton and other parts of southern Ontario. For Rogers Cable customers in Toronto, the station can be received on channel 14, after the cableco bumped the ABC affiliate out of that channel slot. The station is available on Rogers Cable in Ottawa on channel 70, in London on channel 64, and in Collingwood on channel 61. More details. Rogers adds educational content and games to high-speed Internet serviceRogers Cable Inc. has launched School Zone, a unique channel of educational activities for children in kindergarten to grade 8 that is available free to its Internet customers. It has also introduced Disney’s Blast, an online club for children aged 3-9 that is designed to make learning fun, to high-speed Internet customers. Disney’s Blast costs $5.95 per month, with the first month free. More details. Da Vinci’s Inquest, Tom Stone among successful applicants for promotion fundingThe two Canadian shows getting the most funding from the Canadian Television Fund’s (CTF) Promotion of Programming Fund (POP) are Da Vinci’s Inquest (225,000) and Tom Stone ($200,000). Created in 2001, the POP fund is meant to increase Canadian audience awareness of distinctively Canadian television programs and talent. For a list of successful applicants, go to: http://www.canadiantelevisionfund.ca/frames_HomeLinks/top_200802.htm Alliance Atlantis to provide movies for Shaw’s VOD serviceAlliance Atlantis Communications Inc. has signed a long-term agreement to supply movies for Shaw Communications Inc.’s video-on-demand (VOD) service, set to launch this month in Calgary. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. When Shaw announced the upcoming launch of its VOD service this summer, Hallmark Interactive was the only program supplier (CCR, July 4/02). Alliance Atlantis will supply Shaw with both current and old movies. Major titles to be supplied by Alliance Atlantis on the VOD service this fall include John Q, Amelie, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and Blade II. More details. Wireless cable distributors gaining ground over traditional cable: StatsCanAn increasing number of Canadians are turning away from cable to satellite TV and wireless cable distributors for delivery of their television signals, according to figures released September 12 by Statistics Canada. The 2001 figures should not come as a surprise to industry observers. Satellite and multipoint distribution systems, or wireless cable, had captured 17 per cent of the television distribution market at August 31, 2001, up significantly from 11 per cent in 2000 and more than double the 6 per cent level in 1999, StatsCan reported. The figures also show that satellite distribution is no longer just a rural phenomenon, having cut into the cable market in metropolitan areas for the first time in 2001. "The number of subscribers to cable services in census metropolitan areas declined in 2001 for the first time in the industry’s history," StatsCan states. More details. CBC launches mobile news video channel on Mazingo.netThe Canadian Broadcasting Corp. has reached a deal with San Francisco-based Mazingo Network, Inc. to deliver CBC news video to handheld wireless devices using Mazingo software. Subscribers to the service will have mobile and wireless access to CBC video. The CBC service is the latest of more than 1,600 channels, including full-length movies, TV shows, sporting events, comics, and more available through Mazingo Network. More details. CHUM’s MuchMusic makes Guinness record for shortest TV adMuchMusic has announced that it’s going in the Guinness Book of Records for producing the shortest television commercials. Its series of on-air station promos, called Quickies, are just 1/60th of a second, or half a frame of video tape. "It should have been impossible to produce half-frame edits with today’s editing systems, but I was able to pull it off using a loophole I found," Much producer and editor Tharanga Ramanayake said in a media release. CBC French Radio creates working group on language qualityCBC French Radio has formed a working group to study the quality of the French on the Première Chaîne, the Chaîne culturelle, and Radio-Canada web sites. After analyzing the quality of the French currently used, the working group will make recommendations for improvement in a report to be issued in March 2003. More details. Hearings for new radio licences in Toronto underwayThe CRTC has begun a hearing to consider 17 applications for new AM and FM radio stations in Toronto that is expected to last until October 2 – Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing 2002-8. The hearing follows a September 13, 2000 Order in Council from the federal Cabinet to the CRTC asking for a report on measures to ensure that a range of radio stations reflecting the ethnic diversity of the city were available. It was determined that if technical rules were relaxed, additional channels could be slotted into the radio spectrum serving the Toronto area (CCR, May 24/01; May 10/01; March 29/01; Feb. 14/01). More details. …and the Vision award goes to the director of Russian Ark Alexandr Sokurov, the director of Russian Ark, was named the winner of the Independent Film Channel Visions Award. The award in its first year includes a $20,000 purse and is presented as part of the Toronto International Film Festival’s Visions program. There were 25 films in contention this year. The award honours a filmmaker who displays the true spirit and unique vision of independent film. More details. INTERNATIONAL NEWS FCC to review media ownership rulesThe Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced September 12 that it would review media ownership rules, including a re-evaluation of whether current restrictions on the ownership of newspapers and radio and television stations are appropriate in a market now influenced by the Internet, satellite TV broadcasting, and cable television. The regulator voted 4-0 for the review to make the rules stand up to legal challenges. FCC chair Michael Powell called the review "the most comprehensive undertaking in the area of media ownership in the commission’s history." The courts have recently ruled that the FCC’s rule prohibiting any company from controlling television stations that combined reached more than 35 per cent of U.S. households went "too far." Courts have also rejected restrictions on companies wanting to own two television stations in the same market. The FCC expects the review to be completed by next summer. More details: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-226188A3.txt http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/4065822.htm http://www.tvinsite.com/multichannelnews/index.asp?layoutstory&doc_id101665&displaybreakingNews Scientific-Atlanta to introduce overseas interactive systemScientific-Atlanta Inc. is introducing an interactive television system aimed at cable operators outside North America this December. The system, called EyeQ, will enable the implementation of interactive services such as on-demand applications, set-top and network-based PVR, email, Internet, and pay-for-play games. It will also support digital broadcast services such as electronic program guides and will contain plug-ins for integration with other interactive offerings from Liberate Technologies and OpenTV Inc. More details. Advertising will rise modest 1% to 3% in 2003: Television Bureau of AdvertisingThe New York-based Television Bureau of Advertising (TVA) predicts that local spot advertising in the U.S. will increase 1 per cent to 3 per cent in 2003, while national spot advertising, coming off a lucrative political year, will be flat at up to 2 per cent. Overall, the TVA forecasts combined spot advertising to rise 1 per cent to 3 per cent in 2003. In 2004, it forecasts a 6 per cent to 8 per cent increase in local spot advertising and an 8 per cent to 10 per cent rise in national spot advertising, for a combined spot advertising increase of between 7 per cent and 9 per cent. The Olympics and political advertising boost the advertising in two-year cycles, the TVA notes. TVA also reported that local broadcast television ad revenues rose 4.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2002 compared to the same period a year earlier. For the first half of the year, there was a 3.5 per cent increase for local broadcast television advertising. Cable ad revenues up 1% in Q2National cable advertising revenues in the U.S. were up 1 per cent to U.S. $2.77 billion in the second quarter of 2002 over the same period a year earlier, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers data released by the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau. However, cable ad revenues declined by about one per cent in the first quarter. More details.

CCR Update

News | 09/18/2002 4:00 am EDT

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