The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.
 

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Members of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) and the United Steelworkers descended on Parliament Hill on November 24 to push their cause to politicians prior to the next election, expected early next year. The two organizations challenged politicians to make developing a strong cultural and national identity for Canada a priority. The groups presented politicians with their laundry list of what needs fixing, including the CRTC. Below is an excerpt from the document they presented to MPs called A Platform Pitch: Things You Can Fix in the Next Election.

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Telecommunications and cable industry veteran Louis Brunel has been appointed to the National Research Council Canada’s governing council for a three-year term. He spent 11 years as a senior executive at Vidéotron ltée, and is president and CEO of the International Institute of Telecommunications.

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Global podcasting news, information
CanWest Global MediaWorks has been podcasting news and information for over a month, according to Steve Wyatt, senior VP of news and information at Global Television. Wyatt tells Canadian Communications Reports that since Global doesn’t have an all-news specialty TV channel, it is important to deliver the news in other forms, such as podcasting or streaming. Global podcasts four bulletins a day from its news show Global National – usually 30-second updates with video and audio. "I don’t really know who’s watching, how they are used [the podcasts], or where they watch them. All that kind of stuff is fascinating to see if they are of any value at all," Wyatt said. Global is also podcasting entertainment update bulletins from its Entertainment Tonight Canada show, and will be expanding to other areas such as weather and business updates. "We can do a 30-second business update on conventional [TV] and just drive that right to podcast. It’s really simple to do and it’s seamless for us, and that’s what in my mind we have to do," added Wyatt. Canada’s other major broadcasters – CHUM Ltd., CTV Inc., and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. – have also started experimenting with podcasts although there is no established business case for the delivery of non-real time audio and video feeds (CCR, Nov. 4, 2005).

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