CCR Short Takes

Rogers ups stake in CogecoRogers Communications Inc. announced March 6 that it had reached an agreement to buy three million subordinate voting shares of Cogeco Cable Inc. from a third party, spurring talk of a possible takeover. The purchase increases Rogers’ share in Cogeco to 18% of all classes of common shares from 11%. The shares were acquired from a group of investors unaffiliated with the Cogeco group in exchange for 2.7 million Rogers class B non-voting shares. Rogers noted in a media release that the purchase was made for investment purposes and that it had "no current intention of acquiring ownership of or control or direction over any additional shares of Cogeco Cable." The Audet family owns 17% of parent Cogeco Inc. and holds 72% of the votes. Copps confirms CBC slated to receive extra $60 millionCanadian Heritage minister Sheila Copps confirmed last week that the government will be giving an extra $60 million to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. in 2003-04. For the past two years, the CBC has received an additional $60 million in "special funding." There was no immediate indication in the federal budget released February 18 that there would be top-up funding for the public broadcaster. "It’s going to be in the fiscal framework," Copps told reporters on March 7. "The reason it wasn’t in the previous estimates is it’s kind of the bureaucratic way they table money." The $60 million in top-up money is separate from the $997.5 million in taxpayers money that will go to the public broadcaster’s annual operating budget. CRTC OKs Canal Évasion change on ownership restrictionThe CRTC has eliminated a condition of licence for Canal Évasion that requires commission approval prior to TVA Group acquiring more than a 10% stake in the specialty channel (Broadcasting Decision 2003-86). CFTPA embarks on letter-writing campaign on CTF fundingThe Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) is asking its members to write letters to their Members of Parliament asking for the reinstatement of $25 million that was cut from the Canadian Television Fund (CCR, Feb. 28/03). Aliant pulls application to CRTC for an experimental licenceAliant Telecom Inc. has withdrawn its application for an experimental licence that would allow it to broadcast conventional stations over the Internet without the permission of broadcasters (CCR, Dec. 5/03). The decision to not proceed with the application was made given that the CRTC decided not to re-open its New Media Exemption Order, and that Bill C-11, which removes the protection of compulsory licensing for Internet operations, is expected to come into force at the end of March. Aliant filed its application prior to the January 17 CRTC ruling that indicated it wouldn’t re-look at the new media exemption order. The application was pulled on February 17. "Once the decision came out, we obviously went through an assessment process as to what impact exactly that decision would have on us, and concluded that at this junction, it made no sense for us to continue on with that application," said Richard Stephen, Aliant’s director of regulatory affairs. Aliant will remove any over-the-air channels from its TV on my PC service for which it has not negotiated carriage (CCR Update, Jan. 22/03; CCR, Sept. 12/02). "It’s not what we wanted to do," Stephen added. "The plan is to add more content. Rather than over-the-air, it will be specialties..." CRTC approves intracorporate reorganization at CorusThe CRTC has approved a multi-step reorganization with the Corus Entertainment group for tax purposes (Broadcasting Decision 2003-91). The intracorporate reoganization involves the numbered company 591987 BC Ltd. and 11 other licensee companies. The CRTC notes that the restructuring "would have no impact on the ultimate control of 591987 and the other affected licensees. Ultimate control would remain with Corus." Vidéotron introduces single billing for all servicesNext month, Vidéotron ltée will begin providing clients with a single bill for all of its Internet and cable services ordered. It means that customers will have only one monthly bill with one due date. Vidéotron says the change is being made in response to repeated requests from its customers. To simplify the process, Vidéotron customers will be given a single account number based on their cable TV service, while those who do not subscribe to TV will be assigned a new account number. Bell ExpressVu to introduce $2.99 system charge next month Bell ExpressVu LP will be introducing a new monthly system fee of $2.99 for all customers, effective April 28. The direct-to-home satellite TV distributor says the charge will "help ensure our customers continue to receive the leading edge products and services that have been the hallmark of Bell ExpressVu service." An explanation on the company’s web site states, "The $2.99 system charge will allow us to continue to build Canada’s leading satellite company by continuing to make signficant investments in state-of-the-art technology, industry-leading customer support and the range of programming and superior quality picture and sound." Bell ExpressVu also notes that it has invested more than $1.5 billion in building its satellite television service. It also points out that another recent increase in programming costs was on specific packages, while the new fee is to help maintain the technology platform. CHUM Television unveils new web design, enhanced contentCHUM Television International has launched a new web site (www.chumtv.com/international/), which includes a program catalog and virtual tour of the CHUMCity building. "The virtual building tour provides potential business partners with a taste of what MuchMusic and Citytv formats have to offer," says Kevin Byles, VP and general manager at CHUM Television International. "The ultimate result is to encourage interested parties to come into the building and experience what we do first hand." The redesign was developed by Blue Spark.

CCR Short Takes

Broadcast | March 13, 2003

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