The following is a letter to the editor from the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) responding to the editorial that appeared in the November 22, 2002 issue of Canadian Communications Reports. The issue of why third-party Internet service providers aren’t accessing cable lines was also brought up recently at Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage hearings last month.

Claudette Jaiko has been appointed as producer of The National Film Board’s (NFB) Studio Ontario et Ouest. She starts in the new position on December 9 at the NFB’s Toronto offices. She has been working in French and English radio, film and television production for 25 years.

No date set for launch of new diginets, says MacMillan
No date has been set for the launch of two more of its licensed digital specialty TV channels, DIY and Fine Living, according to Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. chair and CEO Michael MacMillan. That is in stark contrast to claims by Shaw Communications Inc., which has told the CRTC that Alliance Atlantis plans to move ahead with these two channels in January. MacMillan tells Canadian Communications Reports that there are no immediate plans to move ahead with more channels, although the company would like to eventually get more of its licensed Category 2 channels on air. "At some point in the future; we don’t have a date fixed. We’d like to some time in the next few years perhaps launch DIY and Fine Living," MacMillan says. He confirms that they will not be launching in January. Shaw has added Scream to its lineup, putting it offside on the commission’s five-to-one rule. It told the CRTC that it has a deal with Alliance Atlantis to launch DIY and Fine Living in January, which would put it in compliance with the rule that five non-affiliated channels be distributed for every affiliated channel (CCR, Nov. 22/02).

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) hopes to change the way radio tariffs are set in an attempt to reduce the process’ transactional costs, according to president and CEO Glenn O’Farrell. The broadcast lobby group, which represents radio, conventional and specialty television broadcasters, plans to hold a meeting of all music stakeholders to discuss how the process can be simplified. The format of the roundtable is still being discussed, but the CAB expects discussions to get underway in early 2003.

The much-publicized Bell ExpressVu ComboBox has been quietly put on hold for the foreseeable future putting the long-term plans of a key BCE Inc. convergence initiative in limbo. BCE officials won’t comment in detail to inquires from Canadian Communications Reports, but the move to delay the introduction of the ComboBox into the Canadian marketplace is in line with other recent cost-cutting moves by the telecom giant under new president and CEO Michael Sabia. Keith Kocho, president of multimedia firm Extend Media – which had been tapped to deliver new applications for the convergence box – confirms, however, that a Canadian launch has been delayed for at least several quarters.

The cost of the broadcast study currently underway by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage could top $1.4 million, according to a tallying of approved expenses. The broadcast review, which officially began on Nov. 8, 2001, is now into its second year (see story in this issue) and many industry observers wonder whether any meaningful reform will result from the long – and costly – process (CCR, Jan. 31/02, Nov. 22/01, Nov. 9/01).

The chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage says it’s "unfortunate" that Industry Canada has decided to move ahead with a separate review of foreign ownership restrictions in the telecommunications industry. Clifford Lincoln, whose committee’s study of the Canadian broadcasting system is currently in the midst of hearings on media consolidation and foreign ownership (see story in this issue), worries that public confusion might result if the separate reviews result in conflicting recommendations.