Television service providers have another 20 months before they are forced to abide by a new code governing their relationship with customers. The CRTC on Thursday released a finalized version of its television service provider code, which will, among other things, require broadcast distributors to provide easy-to-understand information about what channels a customer is getting, clarity about the duration of promotional offers and time commitments a consumer must undertake, explicit information on charges or taxes that might be applied on top of an advertised price, and provide 30 days notice...
The CRTC announced Thursday new measures for informing Canadians about charges associating to long-distance calls made from a payphone. The regulator said in a press release that Canadians will be provided with detailed information regarding the costs that come from making such calls when using a credit card or other forms of non-cash payments so that customers can “avoid bill shock.” In a decision posted online Thursday, the CRTC noted that payphone providers need to submit information in six months time regarding how their customers will be notified of long-distance charges made via a payphone, as well as submit information on “how this approach will ensure that all...
The CRTC said Wednesday it will, in spring 2016, release a preliminary report on the results of an ongoing study of the broadband performance of various Canadian Internet service providers (ISPs). The regulator said in a press...
CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan is asking that the affidavit of John Traversy, outgoing secretary general of the commission, be struck from the record in a Federal Court case — in which he's fighting a finding that he...
The CRTC announced Tuesday it is partnering with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) to host two events that will lead to a large summit, in order to start a discussion on discovering content...
The CRTC announced Monday it has created an online public forum as part of its review of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) and is inviting Canadians to participate...
Commissioner Raj Shoan has brought another case against the CRTC to court, asking the Federal Court of Appeal to limit the ability of the CRTC chairman to assign commissioners to panels that make decisions on issues before the regulator. A document submitted to the court by Shoan’s lawyers asked the court to prohibit CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais from “convening and naming panels of Commissioners where the authority to do so in respect of an application, complaint, review or representation is not explicitly granted to him” by the Telecommunications Act, Broadcasting Act or...
Danielle May-Cuconato will become secretary general of the CRTC on Nov. 16. John Traversy announced his retirement from the position Tuesday. CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said in an email to staff Wednesday that May-Cuconato...
CRTC secretary general John Traversy will retire on Dec. 11 after 27 years with the commission, he said in an email to staff Tuesday. “Over the years, I had the opportunity to work on countless files in both the...
A day after the CRTC said it would mandate wholesale access to fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks by small ISPs, financial analysts said the move likely won’t have a significant impact on...
The CRTC will issue its decision on wireline wholesale services on Wednesday, the CRTC announced Monday. It will hold a lock-up session for the media at 2 p.m. and the decision will be released at 4 p.m., it said in a press...
The soured relations between CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais and Commissioner Raj Shoan extend beyond Shoan's court fight against worker-harassment findings and into arguments over travel expenses, according to a report. The...
The federal government and the CRTC have been unsuccessful in their attempt to have documents in the Federal Court case CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan has brought against the CRTC shielded from public view, for the time being. It...
A union representing media workers is asking the CRTC to hold a public hearing within the next month on cuts to Rogers Communications Inc.’s OMNI stations, and to reinstate eliminated ethnic newscasts. Unifor filed a Part 1...
CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais touted the merits of "click to retail" as the next big thing for the future of media during a speech Sunday at the Banff World Media Festival. According to speaking notes released by the CRTC, Blais said: “Now imagine creating a sit-com set in a clothing shop. Now...
CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said Thursday that rules regarding Canadian content for radio stations might change to help stations compete in the digital age. According to speaking notes for a presentation to the Western Association of Broadcasters in Banff, Alta., Blais discussed how younger people are shunning radio in favour of online music streaming. "As they do, we regulators are finding — as we did with television — that broadcast quotas are becoming increasingly less effective," Blais said. He added that the CRTC is "not opposed to adjusting quotas. We...
TORONTO — There has never have been a better time than now to be a consumer of television, it was said during a panel discussion Wednesday at the Canadian Telecom Summit, but it was also discussed how big changes are afoot,...
The CRTC is asking that certain information requested by commissioner Raj Shoan in a Federal Court case he has brought against the government not be released. A letter notes that Shoan, who was accused of workplace harassment...
GATINEAU, Que. — Wireless incumbents are going to have to play by a different set of rules than smaller carriers when it comes to providing network access to competitors, though one industry...
CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais announced Tuesday that the federal government has appointed Linda Vennard and Christopher MacDonald as regional commissioners for the CRTC. A memo from Blais, forwarded to The Wire Report, said...
A former CRTC commissioner says a court proceeding initiated by current commissioner Raj Shoan, which challenges the findings of an internal report into harassment and seeks to limit Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais' control, could help clarify the rights of and limits to the power of various CRTC players. "It's unfortunate, but the case might actually have some longer-term importance if it can clarify the extent of the rights of commissioners to think and act independently in their capacities as commissioners," Timothy Denton, who served on the CRTC from 2008 to 2013, said in a phone interview Wednesday. Most of Denton's time at the CRTC was spent under the chairmanship of...
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) has re-launched an undue-preference complaint against Rogers Communications Inc.'s and Shaw Communications Inc.’s Shomi streaming service,...
The CRTC announced Thursday that it will re-examine the definition and role of so-called basic services, paving the way for potential changes to the offerings telecom companies are mandated to make...
Canada’s national news channels face new obligations from the CRTC even as the regulator is taking away their place on basic cable, raising questions about their future finances. Last month, as...
A case involving BCE Inc.’s mobile-TV service that’s currently winding its way through the Federal Court of Appeal is just one example of how the lines between telecommunications and...
CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais on Wednesday issued a statement warning about the seriousness of "manipulating news coverage" in the wake of a report that a prominent BCE Inc. executive did...
Financial analysts reacting to the CRTC’s new pick-and-pay rules say they don’t expect the decision to have a major impact on the industry, though the broadcasting side of the business is...
GATINEAU, Que. — While the public will generally back the CRTC's decision to require TV service providers to offer pick-and-pay to customers by the end of next year, they don't understand the full consequences for the Canadian TV industry, one media consultant said in the wake of Thursday's announcement....
The CRTC said it will be announcing a decision on Thursday afternoon related to its review of the television industry that focuses on "measures to maximize choice for Canadian television viewers." It's expected that the decision will address whether consumers have the right to pick their own channels in TV...
OTTAWA — The CRTC introduced a new category for video-on-demand services Thursday that allows them to offer content exclusive to certain TV service providers and operate under the digital-media exemption order, as long as they also offer that content online to all Canadians, though the consequences for Shomi and CraveTV remained unclear. In response to an interview question from The Wire Report about how the decision would affect Shomi and CraveTV, CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said in an interview: “I think it would be premature to suggest that we know how it would apply.” Blais said that prior to Thursday’s decision, VOD services in Canada could operate under a licence, which carries obligations including those around Canadian content expenditures, and...
OTTAWA — Kevin Crull, president of BCE Inc.'s media division, said Thursday that monetization is currently his organization's biggest challenge, given the usage of over-the-top (OTT)...
The CRTC on Wednesday ordered BCE Inc.’s Northwestel Inc. to lower its Internet prices for new and existing customers to address the “disparity” between the cost of Internet in the...
The CRTC on March 12 will announce most decisions related to its Let's Talk TV consultation, but it won't be about whether to force TV-service providers to unbundle channels. The Canadian Club of Ottawa will host a lunchtime presentation by CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais on that day. CRTC spokeswoman Patricia...
The CRTC’s ruling on Thursday that BCE Inc. and Quebecor Inc.-owned Videotron can no longer exempt their mobile-TV services from data charges could have implications for the regulation of...
The CRTC said Thursday that it would prohibit the use of simultaneous substitution for the Super Bowl, but would otherwise keep the practice in place, in an approach BCE Inc.’s media division spokesman Scott Henderson called “troubling.” The rights to the event are currently held by Bell Media. In an emailed statement, Henderson said that “we are extremely disappointed of course. The government is damaging the future of local television in Canada while rewarding U.S....
CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais will speak to the London, Ont. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday morning about “the future of local television in Canada.” “At the event Mr. Blais will announce certain decisions...
Louis Sherman, who was a commissioner with the CRTC from 1985 to 1995, has died. CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais issued a statement on Monday saying Sherman died on Friday at the age of 88. Blais said on behalf of himself,...
The government’s budget bill, which gives the CRTC the ability to impose fines and allows the regulator to exert control over companies that operate telecom services but do not own network infrastructure, received royal...
It seems all eyes are on the two newest services in the Canadian TV industry. This fall, the country’s biggest telecom and media companies launched streaming services meant to compete with...
GATINEAU, Que. — CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said during the first day of the CRTC’s hearing into its wholesale wireline regulations that his commission needs to be a...
Three industry observers, including two academics, have released an open letter to senior government officials that seeks strong measures to temper the power of major players in the telecommunications industry. The letter comes...
The CRTC is concerned with “much bigger issues with greater ramifications down the road” than the question of whether it will regulate over-the-top (OTT) services like Netflix, CRTC...
CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais' differences with his government bosses came to the fore during two recent hearings on key telecommunications policy matters. In the two hearings, one on the future of the TV industry and another on the wholesale wireless market, Blais has had to chart a challenging course between...
OTTAWA — NDP Leader Tom Mulcair on Wednesday denounced Heritage Minister Shelly Glover's statements that ruled out regulation for online video services such as Netflix and YouTube, which were made while a CRTC hearing considering the future of television was ongoing. Mulcair did not say what his position on the regulation of online video was when asked by The Wire Report after an NDP caucus meeting on Parliament Hill. "What I found shocking was to hear a minister responsible for these files saying that she was going to determine, before the CRTC even had a chance to study it,...
GATINEAU, Que. — The CEO of Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron told the CRTC Friday that her company needs the regulator to lower the legislated rate for domestic roaming if it is to build a national...
GATINEAU, Que. — Two of Canada's largest wireless carriers called on the CRTC to take some regulatory power from Industry Canada at the commission's week-long hearing into the wholesale wireless market. Both Rogers...
The CRTC said Monday it will remove all evidence presented by Netflix Inc. and Google Inc., including oral and written presentations, from the Let’s Talk TV process, following the...
The federal government’s pursuit of a consumer-driven broadcasting policy instead of a more comprehensive digital strategy has left the CRTC in a difficult position when it comes to regulating Internet video services, says...
Documents from the CRTC indicate its officials felt that if conventional television broadcasters from the United States had the right to negotiate their carriage by Canadian service providers, they would have "little bargaining power" due to their "marginal viewership" in Canada. "Since Canadian television stations acquire the rights and broadcast the most popular U.S. programs in Canada, simultaneous substitution significantly limits Canadian viewership to U.S. conventional stations," said an April 19, 2013, briefing note from Scott Hutton, the commission's executive director of broadcasting, to CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais. This memo and other documents were attained through an access-to-information request. The CRTC declined to comment further on...
Experts say that while CRTC must somehow respond to the refusal of Netflix Inc. to give the commission information it had been ordered to provide by CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais during a hearing...
GATINEAU, Que. — During the sometimes-contentious appearance by Netflix Inc. on the last day the CRTC’s two-week hearings on the future of television, CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais repeatedly ordered the U.S....
GATINEAU, Que. — Telus Corp. says it is “very concerned” Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. are using the beta-test phase of their recently launched over-the-top...
Heritage Minister Shelly Glover says the government will not allow new taxes or regulations on Internet-based television services. Glover, the federal minister responsible for the CRTC, said so in a statement sent Monday night...
GATINEAU, Que. — A move by the CRTC to regulate over-the-top (OTT) video platforms could set a precedent for regulators in other countries, a Google Inc. lawyer told the commission on the first...
Hours after a meeting between telecommunications companies and CRTC officials regarding paper-billing charges that failed to end in a result satisfactory to policy-makers, Industry Minister James Moore said via social media...
CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais reportedly said in an interview with the Financial Post that the commission needs to be careful not to force roaming rates that are prohibitively low or encourage too much competition. The article...
The CRTC said Wednesday that registrations on Canada's do-not-call list will now be permanent. Previously, those that registered phone numbers with this database would have had to register again after six years....
The CRTC has officially endorsed a move toward pick-and-pay television, though it has admitted the transition to such a model is unlikely to be pain-free. The commission proposed in a report Thursday that television-service providers be required to allow customers to choose all their channels beyond a basic package that consists of Canadian over-the-air channels, those deemed to be of public interest such as CPAC or the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, provincial educational channels, community channels and services operated by provincial legislatures. It suggested that subscribers be...
GATINEAU, Que. — The reviews the CRTC will be holding over the coming year, which include proceedings covering wholesale access to wireless and fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks, the future of...
Rogers Communications Inc. had the ear of some of the highest officials in the federal government in early February, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Harper communicated with Rogers on Feb. 5, according to information in...
The CRTC said Thursday it has launched a public consultation into the competitiveness of the wholesale wireless market in Canada. The commission said in a press release it is seeking comments on the...
In response to a question on Twitter about whether the CRTC will regulate Canadian content on all screens, CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais said that “it’s important for Canadian content to be on all screens.” Blais...
The CRTC is asking Canadians for feedback about Canadian content in online television services and their adherence to programming standards in an online questionnaire released Tuesday as part of Phase 2 of its review of television services in Canada. In a section about online programming, the CRTC asks respondents whether they would be willing to pay extra to have more Canadian programming available within online services, and in order to have online services provide closed-captioning and adhere to programming standards. The questions imply the regulator is reconsidering its previous stance...
CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said in a magazine article that hits newsstands Monday that he and Industry Minister James Moore share a similar “philosophy” about consumer affordability...
CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said the television broadcasting framework needs to be adapted to the way people watch television today. “We need to effectively develop a regulatory framework that will be flexible enough to be adapted to the new technological reality, and the way people consume their...
Then-heritage minister James Moore told incoming CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais in an introductory letter last year that he would like to see the commission “comprehensively address consumer...
Jean-Pierre Blais, Chairman of the CRTC, said Monday that his organization is embracing the philosophy of “open government” and cited examples like the hearings that resulted in the commission blocking BCE Inc.’s...
With a review of new media scheduled for next year, the head of Canada's broadcast regulator said he does not foresee any changes to the regulatory exemption for online media platforms like that of Netflix Inc. "Netflix benefits from an exemption, and therefore we've decided, on two occasions, not to require...
The CRTC will review a “complex” broadcasting regulatory framework that has become too much about the rules as opposed to policy objectives, CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais said. “Regulatory fiat is becoming an obsolete concept in a borderless world. There’s nothing to be gained by regulating for...
The CRTC expects CBC/Radio-Canada to exceed programming requirement “floors” it established for the public broadcaster in its latest licence conditions, CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais said. “We have established...