TAGGED AS CBC/RADIO-CANADA
UPDATED: Senate passes C-11; Rodriguez expects C-11 to become law next week
Media | 02/02/2023 7:17 pm EST
OTTAWA – The Senate officially adopted the Online Streaming Act, a year to the day since it was first introduced in the House of Commons.
The vote passed Thursday...
Senate committee completes work on Bill C-11
Media | 12/09/2022 5:15 pm EST
The Senate committee studying the Online Streaming Act, Bill C-11, officially completed its work after spending a total of 65 hours in clause-by-clause review and passing 25 amendments.
The Senate Committee of Transport and Communications spent Wednesday and Thursday in...
Heritage committee finishes clause-by-clause study of C-18
Media | 12/09/2022 5:03 pm EST
The House of Commons Committee on Canadian Heritage finished...
CBC to stay in Bill C-18
Media | 12/06/2022 6:29 pm EST
Despite concerns about CBC/Radio-Canada muscling private media out of competition for advertising dollars in the news sector, the House of Commons Heritage committee defeated...
Tories slow down C-18 clause-by-clause consideration with amendments
Media | 11/22/2022 3:23 pm EST
The House of Commons’ Heritage Committee’s clause-by-clause review of...
CRTC’s finances are ‘fine’ for new responsibilities: Scott
Media | 11/22/2022 2:20 pm EST
MISSISSAUGA – CRTC chair Ian Scott said he does not know what the state of the CRTC’s finances will look like in future but the commission is “fine” for the moment as it prepares to take on a...
Heritage Committee hears final witnesses on Online News Act
Media | 11/04/2022 5:50 pm EDT
Canada’s Online News Act could serve as a template for countries around the world who are seeking to protect legacy media from the overwhelming power of Google Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. This was part of the testimony at the House of Commons Committee on Canadian...
PKP still hopeful over Freedom acquisition despite unfruitful mediation with Competition Bureau
Media | 11/03/2022 4:29 pm EDT
Quebecor Inc. released its third quarter figures...
Senator wants to amend Online Streaming Act to deal with CBC
Media | 09/28/2022 11:31 am EDT
A Prince Edward Island senator told his colleagues he wants to bring in a...
In petitions to GiC, broadcasting stakeholders upset of lack of local news requirements for CBC
telecom | 08/12/2022 5:06 pm EDT
Several broadcast industry stakeholders are...
AG won’t fight CMPA’s application for leave to appeal CBC license
Media | 08/11/2022 3:22 pm EDT
The Attorney General of Canada will not make any representations for itself...
CMPA files petition to cabinet on CBC license
Media | 08/08/2022 6:57 pm EDT
The Canadian Media Producers Association, with support from parties across the television and film...
PIAC, pensioners want cabinet to overturn CRTC’s CBC licence renewal
Media | 08/05/2022 3:45 pm EDT
The National Pensioners Federation and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre...
CBC says CRTC decision on French N-word threat to journalistic independence; issues apology to complainant
Media | 07/13/2022 4:28 pm EDT
Editor's note: for clarity, this story makes...
Radio-Canada personalities say mandated apology for using French N-word is censorship
Media | 07/04/2022 5:29 pm EDT
More than 50 personalities for CBC/...
Advocates concerned about CBC licence renewal
Media | 06/23/2022 6:59 pm EDT
Public interest advocacy groups and the union representing CBC/Radio-Canada workers are sounding the alarm about the level of programming discretion afforded to the public broadcaster under the five year licence renewal released by the CRTC Wednesday.
The licence, which allows the broadcaster to spread its expenditure requirements out across its digital and linear platforms and contains no minimum expenditure requirements on linear television, could have a...
Canadian politicians condemn Russian shuttering of CBC Moscow bureau
Media | 05/19/2022 4:13 pm EDT
Canadian politicians were quick to condemn Russia’s move to close the...
Tories put forward motion to kill Bill C-18, send “subject matter” to committee
Media | 05/13/2022 5:12 pm EDT
Conservative MP John Nater wants the Liberal government to withdraw its...
Scott says CRTC will never regulate user-generated content under current Bill C-11
Media | 04/05/2022 3:30 pm EDT
The CRTC is generally supportive of Bill C-11, the revised broadcasting...
CBC license administratively renewed, full decision to come by late June
Media | 03/29/2022 3:56 pm EDT
The CRTC has issued an administrative renewal of CBC/Radio-Canada's...
Rogers, civil groups, say CRTC should remove Russian state-owned channels from airwaves
Media | 03/09/2022 4:27 pm EST
Rogers Communications Inc. and civil organizations told the CRTC that in addition to Russia Today and Russia Today France (collectively, RT) it should remove all state-owned...
Gov. reintroduces Broadcasting Act update, with social media exemption
Media | 02/02/2022 7:32 pm EST
OTTAWA -- Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodríguez called previous...
Marla Boltman to head up Friends
Media | 02/02/2022 12:19 pm EST
Friends, formerly known as Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, announced Wednesday that Marla Boltman has...
CRTC approves migration of Atlantic stations from AM to FM
Media | 01/26/2022 3:33 pm EST
The CRTC Wednesday approved the transfer of two English-language AM radio...
Rodriguez told to introduce news compensation by early 2022, Champagne to focus on spectrum “use it or lose it”
Media | 12/16/2021 4:45 pm EST
Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez is...
Broadcasting regulation debate at electoral standstill as advocates, industry react
Media | 09/14/2021 7:16 pm EDT
According to an advocacy group opposing restrictions on the internet,...
Singh says he’ll oppose Rogers-Shaw merger
Media | 09/10/2021 2:46 pm EDT
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is the first party leader to explicitly oppose the proposed acquisition of Shaw...
TekSavvy takes GoldTV site-blocking fight to Supreme Court
Media | 08/26/2021 6:11 pm EDT
After Canada's first-ever site-blocking court order survived an appeal from...
CRTC dismisses Quebecor complaint of CBC undue preference
Media | 08/03/2021 5:22 pm EDT
The CRTC has ruled that the CBC/Radio-Canada is not giving itself an...
CRTC reports drop in broadcast revenue for 2020
Media | 07/16/2021 5:38 pm EDT
With advertising revenues battered by the pandemic -- particularly the second half of the year -- the CRTC Friday reported widespread drops in broadcast revenues for the 2019-2020 year, with total revenues coming in at over $15.7 billion.
The commission’s report...
Feds boost Universal Broadband Fund by another $1B, propose Digital Services Tax
telecom | 04/19/2021 4:06 pm EDT
As part of its 2021 budget, the federal government is plowing another $1 billion dollars into its Universal Broadband Fund over the next five years, bringing the total fund up to $2.75 billion. ...
Feds considering site-blocking proposal
Media | 04/14/2021 6:20 pm EDT
The federal government has launched a consultation document to solicit feedback on whether or not it...
CRTC report floats idea of Indigenous content quotas
Media | 03/25/2021 7:43 pm EDT
The CRTC has released the findings from its first phase in the development of a new Indigenous...
CBC seeks local content exemptions for Olympics
Media | 03/25/2021 5:09 pm EDT
CBC/Radio-Canada is once again asking the CRTC to temporarily relieve it of its local programming and described video obligations for the period of this year’s Tokyo Olympics. In its part 1 application to the CRTC, posted...
Local news funding needed in C-10: Bell
Media | 03/22/2021 6:07 pm EDT
As the House of Commons Heritage committee hearings on the government's proposed update to the Broadcasting Act carries on, BCE Inc. told the committee in a Monday meeting that while it supports the bill, it needs a carve-out of funding for local news broadcasters.
Even...
Tait again calls for digital flexibility
Media | 02/09/2021 4:30 pm EST
CBC/Radio-Canada president Catherine Tait doubled down on its request for greater flexibility to spend on...
CMPA wants CRTC to stand firm on terms of trade with CBC
Media | 01/27/2021 6:13 pm EST
The Canadian Media Producers Association has called on the CRTC to force...
PIAC, CMG criticize CBC’s request for digital flexibility
Media | 01/26/2021 6:13 pm EST
The new digital initiatives from CBC/Radio-Canada like the English-language Gem and its French counterpart ICI Tou.tv have not yet shown themselves to be good enough to fulfill the broadcaster's...
Directors, writers demand CBC transparency on digital spending
Media | 01/25/2021 6:18 pm EST
To begin the third and final week of the CRTC's hearings on CBC/Radio-Canada's license renewal, organizations representing the directors and writers for Canada's film and television industry have...
COVID impact on CBC not as significant as expected, Tait says
Media | 01/11/2021 6:20 pm EST
The COVID-19 pandemic dropped CBC/Radio-Canada’s revenues by 11 per cent,...
CBC refuses to provide CRTC information about diversity of production staff
Media | 12/18/2020 2:59 pm EST
In the lead up to its license renewal hearings in January, CBC/Radio-Canada has declined to provide the CRTC with statistics about the diversity of its in-house production staff. Following a...
CBC employees pen open letter, petition gov. seeking CRTC investigation of branded content
Media | 12/09/2020 5:38 pm EST
Impatient with the progress of a month-old Part 1...
Journalistic exemption under PIPEDA should apply to Google: CBC
Media | 11/26/2020 6:16 pm EST
In a case that could determine whether a "right to be forgotten" exists in...
Former CBC employees ask CRTC to investigate branded content
Media | 11/13/2020 5:44 pm EST
A group of former CBC employees have asked the CRTC to look into CBC/Radio-Canada sponsored content program Tandem. The Friday Part 1 application, which is not yet available on the regulator’s website, was signed by former anchor Peter Mansbridge, former CBC host and governor general Adrienne Clarkson, and former CBC president Robert Rabinovitch, among others. The group said in an accompanying press release that the Tandem program — which the public broadcaster put on “pause” in October — “blurs the lines between advertising and news, and marks a clear departure from the...
CRTC asks CBC to provide info about diversity of its production staff
Media | 11/11/2020 4:39 pm EST
In anticipation of CBC/Radio-Canada’s January license renewal hearings, the CRTC has requested that the broadcaster collect file information about staff diversity on its productions. In a letter...
CBC putting branded content initiative on ‘pause’
Media | 10/07/2020 11:08 am EDT
The branded content initiative launched by CBC/Radio-Canada last month has been put on hiatus while the...
Broadcasters sign up to BIPOC hiring directory
telecom | 10/05/2020 6:41 pm EDT
Canada’s largest broadcasters have committed to making the use of a Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC) hiring database a prerequisite to giving original productions the green light. The broadcasters are...
Back to Parliament: your (pandemic) preview
Media | 09/22/2020 12:43 pm EDT
Given the precarious situation around the now-escalating COVID-19 pandemic, what will actually be...
Change CAVCO system to highlight Canadian culture, former CBC VP says
Media | 05/28/2020 5:22 pm EDT
Canada should follow Britain’s lead and change the system it uses to classify productions as Canadian content, Richard Stursberg, former head of CBC/Radio-Canada’s English services, said at a communications lawyers conference Thursday. The current 10-point system is “essentially an employment system that ensures that creative talent that works on shows is Canadian. It is not a culturally-based points system,” he said at the International Institute of Communications (IIC) conference,...
CRTC postpones CBC licence renewal, sets new deadlines in other proceedings
telecom | 04/08/2020 2:50 pm EDT
The CRTC said Wednesday that, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is...
CBC suspends local newscasts during COVID-19 pandemic
Media | 03/19/2020 4:28 pm EDT
CBC/Radio-Canada has temporarily suspended its English-language local TV newscasts in all locations bar the North, as it opts to consolidate programming into one national news program during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a...
O’Toole calls for deep CBC cuts
Media | 02/14/2020 5:54 pm EST
Conservative Party leadership hopeful Erin O’Toole has called for CBC/Radio-Canada’s funding for its digital and english-language television department to be slashed, declaring the national broadcaster is “stuck in the...
BTLR panelist ‘optimistic’ about CBC funding
Media | 01/30/2020 6:12 pm EST
OTTAWA — Whether or not CBC/Radio-Canada can move away from advertising revenue is a “political...
Quebecor accuses Radio-Canada of undue preference over Tou.tv
Media | 01/17/2020 2:11 pm EST
Quebecor Inc. wants CBC/Radio-Canada to shut down its subscription streaming service ICI Tou.tv Extra, and has filed a Part 1 application with the CRTC. In a Friday morning press release, Quebecor...
Broadcasters opposed to STB measurement system proposal
Media | 12/18/2019 6:12 pm EST
Several independent broadcasters have written to the CRTC to say the regulator shouldn’t grant a request by TV providers to change a rule forcing cable and IPTV services to hand over viewership...
Plurality of Canadians think CRTC should monitor fake news
Media | 12/11/2019 11:16 am EST
When asked who should be most responsible for monitoring the spread of fake...
Donald Lizotte moves to CBC from Quebecor
Media | 11/04/2019 12:25 pm EST
Starting in February 2020, Donald Lizotte will take over as CBC/Radio-Canada’s general manager and...
OECD seeks unified tax regime for web giants
telecom | 10/10/2019 5:49 pm EDT
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development will host a public consultation next month on its proposed “unified approach” to the taxation of the world’s biggest tech companies. A document released by the OECD Wednesday ahead of the planned consultations outlines skeletal plans for a new approach to tax in the digital economy that would have a significant impact on the web giants, often referred to by the acronym FAANG: Facebook Inc, Apple Inc., Amazon Inc., Netflix Inc., and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. The proposal, which flows out of a series of meetings amongst G20...
CanCon producers silent on CBC-Netflix rift
Media | 10/09/2019 7:14 pm EDT
Organizations that represent important stakeholders in the field of Canadian content are staying...
Broadcasters announce gender parity action plans after CRTC summit
Media | 10/01/2019 5:35 pm EDT
The CRTC Tuesday released the results of its summit on gender parity in the Canadian broadcasting world, featuring “action plans” documents from some of Canada’s largest broadcasters. BCE...
1 in 7 Canadians have cut the cord
Media | 09/27/2019 3:52 pm EDT
According to a report out this week from Media Technology Monitor (MTM), one out of every seven Canadians has gotten rid of their paid traditional TV subscriptions. According to an MTM spokesperson, the one in seven figure --...
DHX rebranding as WildBrain
Media | 09/23/2019 4:22 pm EDT
Three weeks after announcing a new CEO with a background in developing family-based entertainment products, DHX Media Ltd. announced Monday -- alongside its 2019 fourth quarter results -- that it would rebrand as WildBrain and reorganize itself around family-entertainment. On August 30, the...
Unclear who owns set-top box data, broadcasters argue
telecom | 08/21/2019 5:48 pm EDT
Quebecor Inc. hasn’t established that it actually owns the set-top box data at the centre of a new court case filed by the telecom appealing a CRTC decision, a group of broadcasters has told the Federal Court of Appeal.
In late June the CRTC ordered Quebecor’s...
CRTC commissioning research on global public broadcasters
Media | 07/29/2019 12:54 pm EDT
Ahead of its renewal of CBC/Radio-Canada’s broadcasting licences, the...
Bell to buy French-language conventional TV network
Media | 07/24/2019 3:10 pm EDT
BCE Inc. will purchase Groupe V Media Inc.’s conventional TV network V, Bell said in a press release Wednesday. The deal, which must still be approved by the CRTC, also includes “related digital assets including the...
Videotron must give data to STB working group: CRTC
Media | 07/02/2019 5:13 pm EDT
The CRTC has ruled that Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron must continue to participate in an industry-wide working group charged with creating a set-top box (STB) data measurement system. In April, Videotron walked away from the group, saying it didn’t want to provide any of its data to the STB working group. In an April letter to the CRTC, Shaw...
Few surprises in BTLR ‘what we heard’ report
Media | 06/26/2019 10:30 am EDT
The blue ribbon panel in charge of reviewing Canada’s communications legislation has released its...
Broadcast, TV service revenues down again: CRTC
Media | 06/20/2019 8:26 pm EDT
New data released by the CRTC Thursday shows the industry-wide trend of tumbling broadcast sector revenue...
Without independence, CBC would be ‘state broadcaster’: Tait
Media | 05/31/2019 2:36 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The spectre of past Conservative government cuts to...
No broadcaster compensation for 600 MHz move, ISED confirms
Media | 05/28/2019 1:48 pm EDT
Broadcasters have lobbied the government for years to reimburse them for...
Keep satellite OTA replacement program in place, CRTC hears
Media | 05/17/2019 11:47 am EDT
Users of a program that provides free access to conventional TV stations in areas where they’re not available over-the-air are asking the CRTC not to allow Shaw Communications Inc. to shut down the...
Re:Sound seeks to double CBC radio royalties to $3M a year
Media | 05/14/2019 5:54 pm EDT
An organization representing sound recording rights holders wants to more-than double the royalties it bills CBC/Radio-Canada to play music on traditional radio -- to the tune of $3 million per year.
Re:Sound is proposing to increase the tariff on music played by CBC...
Canadians want more money for CBC, don’t trust OTTs to support CanCon: Poll
Media | 05/13/2019 5:18 pm EDT
Almost 60 per cent of Canadians have “low trust and confidence” in Netflix Inc. to “protect Canadian culture and identity on television”; half of Canadians don't trust cable companies to do...
Facebook sets higher standards in guidelines than laws: Chan
Media | 05/10/2019 6:09 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Facebook Inc.’s head of public policy in Canada said Friday the platform’s community guidelines, “in many respects,” go above what is currently prescribed in Canadian law, as the...
Ahead of next alert test, cities group says texts lack specificity
telecom | 04/26/2019 5:13 pm EDT
Before a second wireless emergency alert test went out in November, a group...
OTT subs set to overtake traditional TV by 2020: report
Media | 04/23/2019 4:53 pm EDT
The number of Canadians who opt for over-the-top services is set to surpass the number of Canadians who subscribe to traditional television providers next year, according to a report released...
Court rejects Google motion to expand scope of deindexing case
Media | 04/17/2019 6:31 pm EDT
A chief Federal Court clerk has rejected Alphabet Inc.’s request to expand to constitutional questions the scope of a legal reference that seeks to determine whether Canada’s private sector privacy law applies to its search engine. In a decision on Tuesday, court prothonotary Mireille Tabib said neither the court nor a party to a reference question -- Google in this case -- has the authority to “approve, rephrase or expand the scope” of the reference, which was made by the office of the privacy commissioner (OPC) to get a judicial opinion on whether it could order the search engine...
Google would be regulating media under PIPEDA: counsel
Media | 03/21/2019 6:28 pm EDT
OTTAWA — If a court determines Google’s search engine falls under the country’s private sector privacy law, then that would effectively make the internet company a media regulator, counsel to...
Accessibility groups ask BTLR for legislative changes, new advisory office
Media | 03/07/2019 4:31 pm EST
Canada’s broadcasting and telecommunications legislation should be...
Distributors ask for Canadian film exhibition quotas on broadcast, OTT
Media | 03/01/2019 12:11 pm EST
Both over-the-top services and broadcasters should be required to show a certain amount of Canadian feature films, the Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters is asking the panel...
Monique Marcotte retiring from CBC
Media | 02/28/2019 2:25 pm EST
Marco Dubé will take over the vice-president of people and culture position at CBC/Radio-Canada when...
OTT video revenues comparable to conventional TV in 2017: CMR
telecom | 02/27/2019 7:23 pm EST
Internet-based video services generated enough revenue in Canada in 2017 to rival the total revenues of private and CBC conventional television stations combined, according to the CRTC’s...
Double CBC funding, CMG tells communications review
Media | 02/22/2019 3:59 pm EST
The real value of the funding CBC/Radio-Canada receives has slipped significantly due to inflation, the...
OPC’s deindexing position ‘indirect attack’ on CBC, lawyer says
Media | 02/11/2019 6:33 pm EST
OTTAWA — A lawyer for CBC/Radio-Canada who is asking the Federal Court to...
Trish Williams joins CBC
Media | 02/11/2019 3:21 pm EST
Trish Williams is moving from Temple Street Productions to CBC/Radio-Canada, where she will be CBC’s new executive director of scripted content.
Starting this week, she...
Barbara Williams joins CBC
Media | 02/06/2019 4:46 pm EST
Corus Entertainment Inc.’s former chief operating officer, Barbara Williams, will be CBC/Radio-Canada’s new executive vice-president of CBC.
Williams, who retired from Corus last year, will start the Toronto-based job on May 1, CBC said in a press release Wednesday.
Michel Bissonnette, who has been in the role on an interim basis since Heather Conway left the public broadcaster in December, will continue as interim VP until May, CBC president Catherine Tait said in an internal message to staff Wednesday.
“A visionary leader, Barbara brings with her a wealth of experience with respect to developing future revenue streams and overall content strategies that have consistently resulted in audience growth,”...
Former CBC president Lacroix joins law firm
Media | 02/04/2019 12:59 pm EST
Former CBC/Radio-Canada president Hubert Lacroix has joined the business law firm Blake, Cassels &...
CBC president likens Netflix to colonialism
Media | 01/31/2019 4:27 pm EST
OTTAWA — CBC/Radio-Canada’s president Catherine Tait compared Netflix Inc.’s worldwide presence to...
New Broadcast Act should ‘unambiguously exclude’ OTT: Netflix
Media | 01/25/2019 4:51 pm EST
Netflix Inc. is defending against calls to rope foreign over-the-top...
Daniel Boudreau moves from TVA to CBC
Media | 01/21/2019 2:54 pm EST
Daniel Boudreau, previously vice-president of TVA productions, operations and technology, is leaving the Quebecor Inc. broadcasting division to become executive vice-president of media technology and infrastructure services at...
Fast-track OTT review, clock ticking on CMF ‘top-up’: CMPA
Media | 01/18/2019 10:41 am EST
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) wants the government to immediately launch a review of the CRTC’s enforcement powers when it comes to regulating over-the-top (OTT) streaming services like Netflix Inc., according to its submission to a government-appointed...
Big telecoms fight calls for an ‘ISP tax’, pitch new OTT rules
telecom | 01/16/2019 5:55 pm EST
Some of Canada’s biggest telecom companies rejected calls to force ISPs...
Platforms could pull out of Canadian market if regulated: Google
Media | 01/16/2019 2:17 pm EST
Alphabet Inc.’s Google already contributes to the Canadian creative...
CBC calls for site-blocking provisions for ‘manipulated content’
Media | 01/11/2019 4:09 pm EST
CBC/Radio-Canada wants the federal government to grant the CRTC the ability...
CRTC dismisses bias complaint against Bell Fund
Media | 01/08/2019 5:37 pm EST
The CRTC has dismissed in part a complaint lodged against BCE Inc.’s Bell Fund earlier this year by a...
CBC’s head of sports Greg Stremlaw to leave
telecom | 01/08/2019 12:37 pm EST
CBC/Radio-Canada’s head of sports Greg Stremlaw is leaving the public broadcaster at the end of the...
CBC hires Torstar’s Claude Galipeau
Media | 12/18/2018 3:32 pm EST
Canada’s public broadcaster has hired Torstar Corp.’s Claude Galipeau as its executive vice-president of corporate development.
The chief revenue officer of Torstar will join CBC/Radio-Canada on Jan. 7, 2019, the...
Telecoms argue extending workplace safety to third-party locations ‘absurd’
telecom | 12/10/2018 3:14 pm EST
OTTAWA -- Two of Canada’s largest telecoms and CBC/Radio-Canada told the Supreme Court on Monday that it’s “absurd” and “illogical” for a court to force them to ensure the safety of an...
Michel Bissonnette to be interim CBC vice-president
Media | 11/28/2018 5:02 pm EST
Michel Bissonnette, the executive vice-president of Radio-Canada, has been named interim head of CBC,...
Bell emphasizes original, ‘boots on the ground’ content for ethnic licence
telecom | 11/27/2018 8:35 pm EST
GATINEAU, QUE. -- Seeking to differentiate itself from other applicants, BCE Inc. said it would not outsource, and commit to limit dubbing over, ethnic and third-language...