TAGGED AS MEDIA
Asian Television Network wants authorization for Indian news channel
Media | 05/05/2021 5:28 pm EDT
The Asian Television Network International Limited is asking the CRTC to authorize the “Mirror Now” channel for distribution as programming. The network, which says on its website that it operates with 54 specialty digital television channels as well as a radio service, said in a Part 1 application filed with the CRTC Monday that the Mirror Now channel offers 24/7 English-language general interest and news programming from India. “The Service provides an in-depth analysis of the...
Alberta judge denies injunction in Super Channel piracy suit
Media | 05/03/2021 5:43 pm EDT
An Alberta judge shot down a request from Allarco Entertainment 2008 Inc. for an injunction against Best Buy Canada Ltd., Staples Canada ULC, Canada Computers Inc., and London Drugs Limited as part of its suit against the retailers whose employees allegedly recommended to customers that they pirate content using media boxes. In a decision released Friday, Justice Michael Lema of the province’s Court of Queen’s Bench denied Edmonton-based Allarco, the owner of the Super Channel television network, an injunction stopping the stores from selling “certain TV set-top boxes.” The...
LinkedIn disputes privacy breach claims
Media | 04/29/2021 5:19 pm EDT
Professional networking platform LinkedIn will have its applications for a summary trial heard in the...
Few internet giants weighed in to BTLR, submission list shows
telecom | 03/08/2019 4:13 pm EST
The panel in charge of reviewing the broadcasting and telecom acts received...
CRTC approves Corus sale of TNI stake
Media | 03/07/2019 5:49 pm EST
The CRTC has approved the sale of Corus Entertainment Inc.’s stake in Telelatino Network Inc.,...
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 reviewing Canada’s communications legislation. “Non-Canadian broadcast undertakings like the foreign-owned OTTs need to be required to commit to buying and streaming Canadian content, and in particular, Canadian feature films as well as contribute to the Canadian cultural eco-system,” CAFDE...
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...
Online discoverability a challenge for books, magazines, BTLR hears
Media | 02/25/2019 2:31 pm EST
Organizations representing Canadian publishers are flagging the difficulty...
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...
CACTUS asks BTLR for $150M community TV framework
Media | 02/22/2019 12:53 pm EST
A group representing the Canadian community TV sector is asking the panel reviewing the broadcasting and...
Corus shuffles executive VP roster
Media | 02/21/2019 5:41 pm EST
Corus Entertainment Inc. has promoted Troy Reeb and Colin Bohm to its executive vice-president ranks,...
Netflix setting up production hub in Toronto
Media | 02/19/2019 1:09 pm EST
Netflix Inc. will expand its production presence in Canada by leasing space at two Toronto production...
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...
Public music should feature Canadian content, Stingray says
Media | 02/01/2019 1:18 pm EST
Music in public establishments such as malls, bars and restaurants should...
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 the damage done by European colonialism, comments she made at a high-profile industry event Thursday where representatives from every sector of Canadian...
Gaming companies bristle after review panel suggests they’re broadcasters
Media | 01/28/2019 4:05 pm EST
A meeting with individuals leading the federal government’s review of...
Canadians split between traditional, online viewing: MTM
Media | 01/18/2019 2:16 pm EST
The number of Canadians who consume their video content mostly through...
44.5% of under-30 households don’t have TV: report
Media | 01/07/2019 5:41 pm EST
A new report using data from Statistics Canada says 44.5 per cent of Canadian households headed by...
Top telecom and media stories to watch for in 2019
Media | 12/21/2018 5:46 pm EST
As the new year begins, the months ahead promise a new spectrum auction, new CRTC announcements on...
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 broadcaster said Tuesday. In 2002, he was the CBC’s executive director of digital programming and business development, according to his LinkedIn profile, and has since held digital media roles at BCE Inc.-owned Astral Media between 2008 and 2009 and...
Bell must pay $433k in ‘ineligible’ tangible benefits
Media | 12/18/2018 3:20 pm EST
The CRTC has dismissed an appeal by BCE Inc. and ordered it to pay...
Don’t give Corus tangible benefits exemption: CanCon groups
telecom | 12/11/2018 5:09 pm EST
A proposal by Corus Entertainment Inc. to shut down 44 television...
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...
English Canadian subs to OTT jumps to 65%: MTM
Media | 12/06/2018 1:17 pm EST
The number of English-speaking adults in Canada subscribing to over-the-top streaming services continues...
CEO says Copyright Board to ‘run tighter ship’
Media | 12/06/2018 12:24 pm EST
OTTAWA — The Copyright Board will work to address long-standing criticism over how long it takes to issue decisions, including by implementing new regulations, CEO Nathalie Théberge told members of the House industry committee....
Ontario’s increasing social media advertising worries AG
Media | 12/05/2018 5:25 pm EST
Ontario’s auditor general is raising concerns about a legal "loophole"...
CRTC approves $22.5M budget increase for video relay service
Media | 11/29/2018 1:46 pm EST
The CRTC has approved a budget increase for a service that allows...
Telus and Shaw say their customers largely aren’t watching OMNI
Media | 11/28/2018 4:29 pm EST
GATINEAU, QUE. -- Telus Corp. and Shaw Communications Inc. say...
1-in-10 say ISPs should play a role identifying ‘fake news’: survey
Media | 11/28/2018 2:21 pm EST
There’s a lack of consensus over who should help Canadians determine what counts as ‘fake news’, but the government, non-profits and internet service providers (ISPs)...
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,...
Google asks MPs for ‘flexible copyright exemption’ for AI
Media | 11/27/2018 1:58 pm EST
OTTAWA — Alphabet Inc.’s Google wants members of Parliament to include...
Rogers focuses on past shortcomings for ethnic must-carry licence
Media | 11/26/2018 5:55 pm EST
GATINEAU, QUE. -- Rogers Communications Inc. is taking what it learned a year ago and is proposing to rectify what a previous CRTC panel said were shortcomings to run its national ethnic channel for a...
Stingray in talks with Rogers for music channels on basic TV
Media | 11/22/2018 5:31 pm EST
Stingray Digital Group Inc. is in negotiations with Rogers Communications...
Elections commissioner expects ‘very positive’ relations with tech giants in 2019
Media | 11/22/2018 4:50 pm EST
OTTAWA — Canada’s elections commissioner said his office has nurtured a good relationship with employees of the tech giants and doesn’t expect that to deteriorate going...
Budget bill risks ‘compromising’ copyright board autonomy, committee hears
Media | 11/22/2018 12:18 pm EST
An expert in copyright law is asking senators to nix a reform measure in...
OPC on global working group addressing AI challenges
Media | 11/21/2018 4:17 pm EST
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner and its counterpart in Quebec are party to a “permanent working...
Marie-Hélène Labrie new Cogeco SVP of communications
telecom | 11/21/2018 2:01 pm EST
Cogeco Inc. has a new senior vice-president of public affairs and communications, the telecom announced Tuesday, following the retirement of René Guimond.
Marie-Hélène Labrie will replace...
Facebook to cooperate with French regulators on pilot project
Media | 11/13/2018 4:26 pm EST
The French government will work with Facebook Inc. on a new initiative to...
Broadcasters ‘perfectly positioned’ to leverage podcast boom
Media | 11/08/2018 6:43 pm EST
TORONTO — Broadcasters should think about renting out their own studios...
Combine Heritage and ISED, move spectrum to CRTC: professor
telecom | 10/18/2018 2:16 pm EDT
The government should combine the Heritage and Innovation ministries, and...
Stingray’s business division expands in Europe
Media | 10/12/2018 3:19 pm EDT
Stingray Digital Group Inc.’s Stingray Business division, which provides background music and digital signage to businesses, is expanding in Europe.
It said Friday it has purchased Belgian company DJ-Matic, which also...
Blue Ant buying Saloon Media
Media | 10/11/2018 3:45 pm EDT
Blue Ant Media Inc. is acquiring Saloon Media, a Toronto production company “specializing in globally relevant factual television,” it said in a press release Thursday. Saloon Media’s shows include Mummies Alive and...
Cogeco gets CRTC go-ahead for acquisition of RNC stations
Media | 10/11/2018 1:54 pm EDT
The CRTC has approved Cogeco Inc. to purchase 10 radio stations from RNC Media Inc., it said in a decision Thursday. “The Commission considers that the RNC stations integrated into Cogeco could benefit from economies of scale and Cogeco’s resources to maximize advertising revenues, which would contribute to the financial viability of these stations,” the regulator said. The $18.5 million deal will double Cogeco’s stable of radio stations, with the company picking up new stations in Quebec’s Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean and Abitibi-Témiscamingue regions, as well as in Lachute,...
EU, Canada move closer on telecom regulation, further apart on OTT
Media | 10/05/2018 4:05 pm EDT
Streaming video platforms in the European Union will have to ensure 30 per...
Court reversal of Wholesale Code to have little effect: CCSA
Media | 10/02/2018 5:09 pm EDT
The Federal Court of Appeal said in a Monday decision that the CRTC lacks the jurisdiction to implement its Wholesale Code -- governing the business relationships between TV service providers and...
Broadcast, telecom acts review panel kicks off consultation
telecom | 09/25/2018 5:31 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The expert panel in charge of reviewing Canada’s...
Government to respond to e-petition on ‘malicious’ pirate radio
telecom | 09/21/2018 4:26 pm EDT
An e-petition concerning a Quebec man who allegedly kept operating an illegal radio station, despite being shut down by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) has gathered the...
Canadian Heritage gets new deputy minister
Media | 09/21/2018 4:00 pm EDT
Hélène Laurendeau will be the new deputy minister at Canadian Heritage, the Prime Minister’s Office announced Friday afternoon. Laurendeau is currently deputy minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, a role she’s held since April 2016. Laurendeau has worked across a wide swath of departments, including the Public Service Commission, Treasury Board, Privy Council Office (PCO) and Justice Canada, although this will be her first time at Heritage. She will replace Heritage’s current deputy minister Graham Flack, who is moving over to become deputy minister of...
Amazon introduces Fire TV DVR for over-the-air-channels
telecom | 09/21/2018 2:12 pm EDT
Amazon.com Inc. is launching a DVR that will work with a digital antenna to...
Small ISPs ask for new limits on infringement notices
telecom | 09/20/2018 2:26 pm EDT
The Canadian Network Operators’ Consortium (CNOC) told a House of Commons committee reviewing the Copyright Act that small internet service providers would like to see “some tweaking” to the notice-and-notice regime.
That...
Senators asked to champion net neutrality in comms laws review
Media | 09/18/2018 6:38 pm EDT
OTTAWA -- Lawmakers need to make net neutrality a major priority and...
Class action filed against Facebook over Android metadata collection
Media | 09/17/2018 12:35 pm EDT
Facebook Inc. is facing another class action suit in Ontario over how it...
Big concessions on NAFTA cultural exemption unlikely, experts say
Media | 09/07/2018 2:40 pm EDT
As cultural protection emerges as a last-stretch NAFTA sticking point,...
CBC ‘can’t stand still,’ Lacroix says on shift to digital
Media | 09/15/2016 9:39 pm EDT
MONTREAL — As technological change accelerates, CBC/Radio-Canada has to keep pace, according to CEO Hubert Lacroix, who said Thursday “we can’t think of the...
ACTRA Toronto writes to Trudeau, Joly over CIPF decision
Media | 09/07/2016 5:14 pm EDT
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA)’s Toronto branch is asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly to “call on...
CanCon review panel announcement draws mixed reaction
Media | 06/28/2016 9:19 pm EDT
Heritage Canada’s announcement of an expert advisory panel for its review of Canadian content in a digital age, which includes representatives from a number of broadcasters, was met with both praise and...
CBC funding to destroy ‘precarious balance’ in industry: Que. broadcasters
Media | 05/25/2016 8:37 pm EDT
A group of Quebec broadcasters say that unless accountability measures are put in place, the increased funding the federal government has slated for CBC/Radio-Canada will be a “blank cheque” allowing it to “step up its already ferocious competition against private broadcasters.” Quebecor Inc.’s TVA, Group V Media Inc. and Groupe Serdy issued a press release Wednesday afternoon in response to comments by CBC CEO Hubert...
Amazon launches ‘self-service program’ for video creators
Media | 05/10/2016 6:01 pm EDT
Amazon.com Inc. has launched Amazon Video Direct, a new “self-service program” that will allow video creators to distribute their content to Amazon customers. The company said in a...
CRTC approves Canal Q for distribution
Media | 05/03/2016 6:58 pm EDT
The CRTC said Monday it has approved the addition of Canal Q to its list of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution. It said in the decision that the channel is “a 24-hour...
Phil King named SVP of distribution for Canada at Sony
Media | 05/03/2016 6:06 pm EDT
Sony Corp.’s Sony Pictures Television (SPT) said Monday it has named Phil King its new senior vice-president of distribution for Canada. “Based in Toronto, King will be responsible for managing and growing SPT’s distribution activity across Canada, leading all film, television and formats licensing...
Joly cites net neutrality regarding Que. Internet-blocking bill
Media | 04/22/2016 8:46 pm EDT
In response to a question about the federal government’s position on a Quebec bill that would lead to the blocking of gambling websites, Heritage Minister Melanie Joly said “we believe in...
U.S. mobile ad revenue up 66% last year: IAB
Media | 04/22/2016 7:34 pm EDT
In the United States, mobile advertising revenues were up 66 per cent in 2015 compared to the previous financial year, totalling $20.7 billion US in 2015, according to a new report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Overall, Internet advertising revenues grew 20 per cent from 2014 to 2015, when they totalled $59.6 billion US in the American market. The report said that over the past 10 years, Internet advertising has had a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17 per cent, and since 2010, that growth was “fueled” by a 100 per cent CAGR in mobile advertising, while...
Corus working on programmatic ads for linear TV
Media | 04/20/2016 8:09 pm EDT
Corus Entertainment Inc. said Wednesday that it plans to launch programmatic, or automatic, ad-buying for traditional TV. “Corus will be the first Canadian broadcaster to commit to bringing programmatic TV advertising...
CRTC approves one Ontario radio station, denies another
Media | 04/20/2016 6:54 pm EDT
The CRTC has approved an application for a radio broadcasting licence in St. Catharines, Ont., while denying a licence for a developmental community station in Mississauga, Ont. The commission said...
Steve Ladurantaye moving from Twitter to CBC
Media | 04/15/2016 6:32 pm EDT
Steve Ladurantaye, head of news and government partnerships at Twitter Inc.’s Canadian division, will be the new managing editor of digital news at CBC/Radio-Canada. The move is effective May 9, Ladurantaye said in a...
Corus radio, TV revenue up 3%: Q2
Media | 04/13/2016 5:50 pm EDT
Corus Entertainment Inc. reported Wednesday a three-per-cent rise in revenue in the second fiscal quarter of 2016 to $197.7 million, up from $191.5 million the same period a year earlier. In the three months...
Netflix ending grandfathered subscription pricing
Media | 04/11/2016 8:50 pm EDT
Next month, long-time Netflix Inc. subscribers will be notified of a price hike to their monthly bill, with subscriptions going from $7.99 per month to $9.99 per month, the company confirmed in an email Monday. The price...
As streaming services grow, is TV-everywhere still relevant?
Media | 04/08/2016 4:00 pm EDT
When companies launched TV-everywhere products a few years ago, they did so as part of an effort to compete with then-new streaming services — but now that many of those same companies have...
23.7% of Canadian households don’t subscribe to TV: report
Media | 04/06/2016 6:35 pm EDT
A new report from Convergence Consulting Group Ltd. estimates 3.43 million Canadian households, or about 23.7 per cent, didn’t have a traditional TV subscription with a cable,...
Katherine Wolfgang CBC’s new head of publicity
Media | 04/06/2016 4:58 pm EDT
CBC/Radio-Canada said in a press release Wednesday that Katherine Wolfgang will be its new head of publicity as of April 26. Wolfgang most recently worked as vice-president of marketing and communications at...
CRTC approves France 24 Arabic for distribution
Media | 04/05/2016 7:19 pm EDT
The CRTC said Tuesday it has approved the France 24 Arabic TV channel for distribution in Canada. The channel is an Arabic-language news service originating in France, it said. The regulator said in a separate decision Tuesday that it has also removed the Korean-language MBC Channel America from the list, following an application by Mondo Globo Inc. asking for its removal. The company had indicated “it is in the process of registering the service as an exempt third-language service,” the CRTC noted....
Competition Bureau updates IP enforcement guidelines
Media | 04/01/2016 7:32 pm EDT
The Competition Bureau has updated its Intellectual Property Enforcement Guidelines, as part of what it said in a Thursday press release would be an annual review. It said the updated guidelines clarify “the Bureau’s...
Bell selling unlimited access to on-demand movies
Media | 04/01/2016 5:22 pm EDT
BCE Inc. said in a press release Friday it has begun allowing customers to buy ongoing access to on-demand movies. The Own with Bell service is available to its IPTV customers, who can access it through their...
Corus closes Shaw Media deal, announces new exec slate
Media | 04/01/2016 5:14 pm EDT
Corus Entertainment Inc. has closed its $2.65-billion acquisition of Shaw Communications Inc.’s media division and appointed a team of executive vice-presidents for the combined company....
Exec cites ‘tipping point’ in customer demand as Sportsnet goes OTT
Media | 03/31/2016 10:46 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. will begin offering its Sportsnet channels without a TV subscription for $24.99 per month, the company announced Thursday. Scott Moore, president of Sportsnet and NHL...
CRTC approves distribution of Nautical Channel
Media | 03/24/2016 8:16 pm EDT
The CRTC has approved an application by Ethnic Channels Group Ltd. to add Nautical Channel to the list of non-Canadian services authorized for distribution. The British TV channel focuses on “programming for nautical sports enthusiasts and audiences interested in nautical lifestyle programming from around the world,” the CRTC said....
CRTC denies request by station that must vacate FM frequency
Media | 03/16/2016 5:10 pm EDT
The CRTC has denied an application by a low-power station that has to stop broadcasting over its current frequency as a result of a previous CRTC decision, because its proposal would put it in direct...
As skinny basic arrives, experts doubt consumer appeal
Media | 03/01/2016 9:41 pm EST
On the day Canadian TV providers were required to make their skinny basic options available to consumers, experts expressed skepticism about how many Canadians will sign up for the new offers and...
Mobile video advertising growing: Videology
Media | 02/26/2016 6:45 pm EST
The number of advertising campaigns in Canada that used video ads only on mobile platforms more than doubled in the past quarter, growing from three per cent to seven per cent, according to Videology Inc. Mobile was included in...
Government to consult on impact of ‘digital shift’ on media sector
Media | 02/25/2016 10:12 pm EST
The federal government will hold a consultation on the Internet's effect on Canada’s media industry. According to a transcript, Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly said in question period...
Rogers to offer $3-$18 theme packs with skinny basic
Media | 02/25/2016 8:34 pm EST
Rogers Communications Inc.’s $24.99 skinny basic offer will include the U.S. "4+1” networks ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and PBS, and its theme packages will cost between $3 and $18. Rogers spokeswoman Jennifer Kett sent...
Stingray buys in-store audio company for $2M
Media | 02/25/2016 5:14 pm EST
Stingray Digital Group Inc. has bought Numedia, a company that provides technology used by retail stores to play in-store audio. The company said in a press release Wednesday that the deal is worth $2 million. According to...
CRTC won’t change course despite appeals, criticism: Blais
Media | 02/17/2016 11:05 pm EST
CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said Wednesday the CRTC will stick to the course of action it has set despite disapproval by those who feel the CRTC’s direction “upsets their entitlements...
TVA, Bell Media take down illegal sports streaming website
Media | 02/05/2016 9:44 pm EST
Quebecor Inc.’s TVA division and BCE Inc.’s media subsidiary have shut down a website that was pirating the TVA Sports and RDS sports channels. The companies said in a press release...
TV advertising needs better metrics, execs say
Media | 02/04/2016 10:21 pm EST
While advertising will remain a key part of the TV ecosystem, the television industry will have to provide better audience data in order to keep up with digital competition, said Barbara Williams, president of Shaw Communications Inc.’s media division. “The future is not ad-free,” Williams said during a panel discussion on Thursday at the annual conference of the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), formerly known as the Canadian Media Production Association. “There will be some subscription models, there will be some ad models, there will be some hybrids, but...
Growth in telecom to lag behind economy: Conference Board
Media | 02/03/2016 10:48 pm EST
According to the Conference Board of Canada, high debt levels and weak job prospects will make it difficult for Canadians to increase spending on telecom services in 2016, limiting industry growth. A...
Joly non-committal on $150M in extra funding for CBC
Media | 02/02/2016 10:08 pm EST
Heritage Minister Melanie Joly is refusing to specify that the CBC will receive the $150 million in extra funding the Liberal government promised during last year’s election, despite receiving questions on the subject from...