CHUM Ltd. was left to defend itself against a suggested decrease in the wholesale rates of some of its specialty channels during a CRTC hearing that wrapped up this week on the licence renewal of the specialty services licensed in 1996 (Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing 2003-3). Several channels, including CTV Newsnet, The Score and Rogers Sportsnet, came cap in hand to the hearing seeking regulatory permission for unprecedented hikes to their regulated wholesale rates. But Cogeco Inc. used the proceeding not only to oppose those requested increases, but also to ask the CRTC to decrease the rates of the most profitable channels.

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With more broadcast distributors looking to roll out digital set-top boxes with personal video recorder (PVR) capability and new models on the way, Ian MacLean, VP of Montreal-based Media Experts iTV Lab, is predicting that 50% of Canadian TV households will have a PVR by 2007 or 2008. But MacLean says the broadcast industry shouldn’t fear consumers using the PVR to skip through commercials (CCR, April 25/02). His research reveals that PVRs will enable advertisers to better reach the high-end consumer that they covet.

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The Canadian Television Fund (CTF) finds itself under the scrutiny of a Parliamentary committee after minority-language producers complained to politicians about the level of funding they received this year. CTF president and CEO Sandra MacDonald and Canadian Heritage ADM Michael Wernick faced pointed questioning from Standing Committee on Official Languages chair Mauril Bélanger on June 3 over the matter.

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Canada’s television creative community is blasting a recent report on Canadian television drama for not recommending any new regulatory obligations for broadcasters. Instead, broadcast veteran Trina McQueen’s much anticipated Dramatic Choices: A Report on Canadian English-language Drama suggests new, mostly government, funding for drama, and a series of incentives aimed at enticing broadcasters to air homegrown drama. Her other suggestions include increased political will to support the genre, more shelf space, and more efforts at star building and promotion.

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