Unlike his fellow candidates for leadership of the Conservative Party, Alberta MP Deepak Obhrai said he won’t wade into the debate about the future of CBC/Radio-Canada. “Why are politicians getting to decide what will happen to the CBC?” Obhrai said in a Thursday press release. “The CBC is funded by Canadian taxpayers; therefore Canadians should decide the future of the corporation.” Obhrai said that as party and government leader, he would “propose a more Canadian approach” to the public broadcaster and establish an independent task...
OTTAWA — The CRTC has transformed over the past few years to become less binary — with outcomes that were strictly either pro-business or pro-consumer — in its decision making and more into an organization that finds the balance that best serves the public interest, according to chairman Jean-Pierre Blais. In a Thursday evening speech delivered at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre’s (PIAC) annual fundraiser that referenced no less prominent figures than Canadian pioneer Samuel de Champlain, architect Buckminster Fuller, and President John F. Kennedy, Blais asked his audience to weigh the perspective of those who complain about the CRTC’s recent...
Canada is one of Netflix Inc.’s top three locations for original productions, and while the company doesn’t play a part in the official Canadian content system, the dollars invested...
Conservative Party leadership candidate and Ontario MP Kellie Leitch said she has put CBC/Radio-Canada “on notice” and that if selected to lead her party and form government, she...
Tuesday’s Major League Soccer (MLS) game between the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC was Canada’s most-watched MLS game ever, BCE Inc. said in a press release. The game, part of the...
CBC/Radio-Canada is selling the building that houses its headquarters in Montreal and will move into a new building on the same site. The public broadcaster said in a press release Wednesday that it has accepted a...
Anglophone viewers of Netflix Inc.’s over-the-top (OTT) service now spend 67 per cent of their time on the platform watching TV shows and 33 per cent watching movies and other content, MTM, a project of CBC/Radio-Canada, reported Wednesday. In comparison, three years ago, viewers’ time on Netflix was evenly split between TV and movies. Netflix is also by far the most popular way to binge-watch, MTM said, with 82 per cent of respondents reporting using the platform...
MONTREAL — Facebook Inc. is increasing opportunities for the news media to monetize content, the company’s Canadian head of public policy said Wednesday, citing initiatives...
OTTAWA — Conservative MP Maxime Bernier said Wednesday that if he is selected as the next leader of the federal Conservative Party and the next Canadian prime minister, he would move...
VMedia Inc. is permanently prohibited from broadcasting BCE Inc.’s CTV channels on its over-the-top skinny basic service, an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday. Judge Frederick...
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) has appointed Erin Finlay as its new chief legal officer to provide legal advice and strategic direction. Her areas of expertise include entertainment litigation, policy...
CBC/Radio-Canada CEO Hubert Lacroix has responded to recent statements by the heads of some Canadian newspapers about the public broadcaster competing in the digital advertising space, writing...
Jeffrey Eisenach has been named to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s “landing team,” with responsibility for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), according to a Monday press release. Mark Jamison,...
The best practices for TV service providers offering skinny-basic cable packages announced by the CRTC Monday don’t amount to much more than lip service, with no real consequences for...
Shaw Communications Inc.’s Wind Mobile will be rebranded as Freedom Mobile and its LTE roll-out will come sooner than expected in two cities, the company’s CEO said Monday. The move comes despite some analyst...
Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. are near the top of this year’s list of the 100 companies in Canada that spend the most on research and development. The list, released annually by Research Infosource, is based on information from “proprietary databases,” the company said in a Nov. 14 press release. Bell was number four for the second year in a row, spending $530.3 million in 2015. That’s compared to the $425.3 million spent by Rogers, which was in the ninth spot, one lower than the previous year. Telus rose two spots to number...
Amazon.com Inc. will be bringing its new automotive-based reality show, The Grand Tour, to more than 200 countries next month, the company announced this week. In a video and post on the company website featuring the stars...
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron said in a press release Thursday it’s now making all of its TV channels available on a pick-and-pay basis. The move means the company is “fully meeting the new CRTC...
An industry association representing Canadian distributors and exporters of TV and digital content has been formed, with the intention of helping develop content at home and export it abroad. The Canadian Association of...
OTTAWA — Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly said Thursday that imposing a tax on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to fund cultural content remains a possible outcome of her sweeping review of Canadian...
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. said Thursday that subscribers of its infiNET maxTV set-top box will now have access to Netflix Inc.’s over-the-top service (OTT). “SaskTel is excited to be the first television provider in the province to be able to bring this level of integration to our customers,” Ron Styles, SaskTel’s president and CEO, said in a press release. “The way our customers consume content is continuously evolving, and many of our customers already subscribe to Netflix.” The announcement comes a day...
OTTAWA — With more than six months left in his term as CRTC chairman, Jean-Pierre Blais isn’t ready to start using the word “legacy” in relation to his term as head of the Canadian regulator, but in a...
OTTAWA — Creating the oft-asked-for level playing field by making foreign digital services subject to Canadian sales tax would hurt smaller companies trying to break into the country’s market, a House of Commons...
An organization representing four-dozen major online-based companies has reached out to president-elect Donald Trump, congratulating him on his victory while proposing digital policy planks for his administration to consider....
Momentum that Canadian telecoms saw in their wireless divisions over the previous two quarters is expected to continue into 2017, according to an analyst note by RBC Capital Markets. The high levels of overall activations reported by wireless operators that began in the second quarter and exceeded analyst expectations were driven by lower churn and...
Rogers Communications Inc. has introduced a new feature that will give customers a better idea of what time technicians are expected to arrive at their homes. Customers will be able to use their phones to track when a...
Blue Ant Media Inc. has sold four reality shows to Discovery Communications Inc., which will be broadcast on Discovery’s channels airing in the United States and Latin America. Blue Ant said in...
The CRTC has named Judith LaRocque its new vice-chairwoman of broadcasting, a year after the position was left open following the departure of Tom Pentefountas. According to an email sent to...
Multi-channel networks (MCNs) have carved out a space in the online video ecosystem in recent years, leading traditional broadcasters to move into MCNs as a relatively low-risk way to reach younger...
The Community Radio Fund of Canada, a national independent not-for-profit organization supporting campus and community radio stations, has appointed a new executive director. Amély Friolet-O’Neil will officially begin in the position on Nov. 25, the organization said in a press release Thursday. She was previously executive director of the Regroupement féministe du Nouveau-Brunswick and the vice-president of the Société Nationale de l’Acadie (SNA). “Her arrival at the Fund will allows us to consolidate our achievements and to...
The Federal Court of Canada dismissed a copyright lawsuit Thursday involving the sharing of news articles without purchase or consent because the content was used for “proper research” purposes. The case...
Canadian anglophones between the ages of 35 and 49 are, more than other generations, drawn to tablets and TV-enhancing technologies, according to a Media Technology Monitor (MTM) report released Tuesday. In its second...
Corus Entertainment Inc. has launched History Vault, a subscription over-the-top (OTT) service featuring programming from its History channel. The service, which costs $5.49 a month, “features hundreds of hours of...
CBC/Radio-Canada said Wednesday it is launching a $7.5 million, three-year fund to tackle the lack of diversity in film. The Breaking Barriers Film Fund is an attempt “to make a meaningful difference by...
CRTC commissioner Christopher MacDonald said radio stations must build on their strengths in order to deal with increasing competition in a speech to the Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB) conference Thursday. He noted “the growing popularity of streaming services and satellite radio among Canadians continues to erode listenership” and said the numbers of Internet-connected cars are projected to grow, according to a transcript. In response, radio stations must “must leverage the competitive advantages provided by the intimacy they foster with listeners...
Two communities in Ontario’s Hamilton-Niagara region can handle “at least” one radio station, the CRTC said as it issued a call for applications Thursday. The announcement...
TORONTO — The heritage ministry and the CRTC should engage in a more balanced discussion on what to do about taxes in support of cultural content, as both seem to be moving in...
The creation of a new federal agency to handle government funding for Canadian content could help the heritage minister’s goal of boosting exports of domestic cultural products, according to a report sponsored by Rogers...
BCE Inc.’s Bell Media has made available to its online advertisers two new services that it says will enable ”expanded and more accurate targeting against Bell Media audiences.” Advertisers will be able to use...
The CRTC has denied an application for a new radio station in Nova Scotia because its service area would have encroached that of existing stations. It said in a decision Tuesday that Atlantic Broadcasters...
Telus Corp. announced Monday that is making Netflix Inc.’s app available on its Optik 4K set-top box, allowing subscribers to stream Netflix in 4K resolution. “4K is the ultimate way to immerse yourself...
GATINEAU, Que. — Those who innovate shouldn’t be penalized because their competitors can’t keep up, the CRTC heard Friday from representatives of the telecom company...
The CRTC is looking for comment on whether the Brampton, Ont. and St. John’s, N.L. radio markets can support additional stations. It said Friday in separate notices of consultation it has received two applications for new...
Telus Corp. reported strong wireless revenues and subscriber additions Friday, as data helped propel overall revenues up to $3.23 billion. For the three months ended September 30, the company’s overall revenues were slightly higher, with a 2.6 per cent increase, than the $3.15 billion it earned in the same quarter last year. Net income, however, was down slightly by 2.7 per cent to $355 million against the comparable period last year. Wireless revenues did the heavy lifting, increasing 4.9 per cent to $1.7 billion compared to the same quarter last year. This was...
GATINEAU, Que. — The question of whether differential pricing practices (DPPs) can be used for socially beneficial purposes came up on the fourth day of the CRTC’s hearing on DPPs...
DHX Media Ltd. announced Thursday it received approval from the CRTC to allow broadcast advertising on its specialty Family channel, a move that one analyst describes as “clearly...
Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. will cut about 80 jobs to save about $7 million following a voluntary workforce reduction program “for certain employees who are not in customer-facing roles,” the company announced...
Cogeco Inc. saw a 3.2-per-cent increase in revenue to hit $572 million for the final quarter of fiscal 2016, the company reported Wednesday. In a press release, Cogeco said the growth was driven by its communications...
Quebecor Inc.’s telecommunications services boosted its third quarter, as it posted an $8.3-million loss, the company said in its quarterly financial report Thursday. The loss from the three months ended Sept. 30, compared to an $85.1 million profit the same period a year earlier, was "mainly due to $136.2 million unfavourable variance in the charge for restructuring of operations, gain on litigation and other items,” as well as “$122.1 million unfavourable variance in losses and gains on valuation and translation of financial instruments, including $119.6...
GATINEAU, Que. — While Rogers Communications Inc. said it generally does not support differential pricing practices (DPP), it suggested Wednesday that the regulator should stay flexible in its approach given...
The CRTC has issued a “working document” to guide discussion in the upcoming public hearing on the renewal of television licences by large ownership groups. “The inclusion of specific proposals in the working...
CBC/Radio-Canada announced that Michel Bissonnette would be taking over as executive vice-president of French services at Radio-Canada. Bissonnette will succeed Louis Lalande, who announced his upcoming retirement...
Quebecor Inc. said Wednesday it was making cuts to its media division to “maintain its lead in news and content production and keep focusing on its flagship brands.” In a press release, the company said...
Federal Court has granted BCE Inc. leave to appeal the CRTC’s decision not to allow simultaneous substitution for the Super Bowl, though it declined to delay the implementation of the decision until the court...
GATINEAU — The CRTC shouldn’t take the non-participation in this week’s hearing by content providers who might eventually benefit from zero-rating and other differential pricing practices as non-interest, a...
Ronnie Stanton will leave his current position as vice-president of radio programming for Corus Entertainment Inc.’s Corus Radio Network, though he will continue to consult for the company. Corus spokeswoman Samantha...
The federal government is providing interested parties additional opportunity to comment on its repurposing of 600 MHz spectrum. The department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) posted a notice on its website Monday, asking for input on its “Proposed TV Transition Objectives and...
GATINEAU — On the first day of the CRTC’s hearing on differential pricing practices, a consortium representing small telecoms asked the CRTC to allow but regulate the practice of zero-rating, though CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais questioned how zero-rated categories would be determined under such a regime. The exchange occurred on the first day of the week-long hearing into differential pricing practices, including the practice of exempting various services from data caps, called zero-rating. Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron’s Unlimited Music Service, which exempts various music...
The Competition Bureau has wrapped up a sweep of online reviews and endorsements, as part of an annual initiative it conducts with other consumer protection agencies around the world. It said in a monthly...
TVA Group Inc. reported a smaller net loss in the third quarter compared to the previous year, as revenues were lifted by the World Cup of Hockey event this fall. In the three-month period ended Sept. 30,...
A BCE Inc. application to sponsor a Spanish-language channel has been approved, the CRTC said Friday. In a notice posted to its website, the CRTC said CincoMas, described as a 24-hour general interest service,...
OTTAWA — While traditionally, government funding has been directed to boost fixed Internet service, perhaps there should be some public assistance for improving wireless coverage, a member of...
Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. is asking the CRTC to exempt a television service from being offered in a package to meet the commission’s basic TV mandate later this year. The telecom provider, which is in the midst of being purchased by BCE Inc., filed an application dated Oct. 21 to the CRTC asking for The Cult Movie Channel Inc. to be exempt because of the nature of its programming—"often portraying violence in a highly graphic manner,"...
Twitter Inc. announced that it is cutting nine per cent of its workforce globally in a restructuring that it estimates will make it profitable next year. The social media company announced the reduction, estimated at...
Even though the CRTC is an arms-length organization, there is “a lot this government can do directly to support artists and creators across this country,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday, in response...
Groupe V Media Inc. has filed a complaint with the CRTC over BCE Inc.’s removal of Groupe V Media’s French-language music channels from its cheapest pre-assembled cable TV packages. According to the Part 1...
The broadcasting sector saw its first overall revenue decrease in the previous decade last year, while traditional TV viewership among youth continued to fall, according to numbers reported by the...
OTTAWA — CBC/Radio-Canada has prioritized a shift to digital platforms to reach all Canadians, but ensuring they are able to access those platforms isn’t part of the public...
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) is suggesting Netflix Inc. be taxed, as it calls on the government to take action. Netflix is benefiting from Canadian tax exemptions and a lack of regulation, while the...
TORONTO — A panel of Federal Court of Appeal justices dismissed an application from former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan challenging the authority of chairman Jean-Pierre Blais to name commissioners to panels. Following a...
The CRTC said Monday Steven Harroun is its new chief compliance and enforcement officer, effective Nov. 14. “Steven’s extensive experience at the Commission and as our representative...
A potential merger between AT&T Inc. and Time Warner Cable Inc. highlights a move by United States-based companies toward vertical integration, just as developments in Canada suggest the opposite is happening north of the border, according to an analyst. “While the U.S. is becoming more vertically integrated, Canada is moving in the other direction,” Jeff Fan, an analyst at Scotiabank, said in a note Monday. The deal, which would see AT&T acquire Time...
The federal government is appealing a Federal Court justice’s ruling that former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan was denied procedural fairness and that set aside an official report finding he had harassed a senior staff member....
BCE Inc.’s over-the-top (OTT) service CraveTV will be the new launching pad for Showtime programming in Canada, the company announced Monday. In a press release, Crave said new and returning shows will debut on the OTT...
Anglophone millennials spend more than 30 hours a week on the Internet, and about four-fifths of that generation watch TV online, according the latest report from Media Technology Monitor, a project of CBC/Radio-Canada. The...
Shudder, an over-the-top (OTT) service focusing on the horror genre, has launched in Canada, a year after it became available in the United States. According to a press release, the AMC Networks Inc.-owned...
OTTAWA — CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais defended the rationale and timing of the regulator’s controversial decision to change the eligibility requirements to access certified independent production funds (CIPFs) in face of pointed questions from members of Parliament Thursday morning. The Aug. 25 decision to reduce from eight to six the number of certification points a production must have — granted for each key role a Canadian fills on a production — has sparked concern from members of creative industries (such as actors and screenwriters) who...
OTTAWA — On the same day that a new report was released arguing the CRTC’s role and authority should be reduced in response to technological change, CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais defended the relevance of the...
Corus Entertainment Inc. reported Wednesday a 99 per cent increase in revenues for the fourth quarter, despite a decline in radio revenues. The three-month period, which...
Corus Entertainment Inc. is adding to its culinary line up with the Cooking Channel, a new 24-hour, food-focused network launching in Canada on Dec. 12. The Cooking Channel — which will be a rebrand of...
SoundCloud has opened its subscription service, SoundCloud Go, to Canadian customers, the audio platform announced Wednesday. In a post on the company’s blog, SoundCloud said the service, which allows listeners to...
It could be mid-2017 before former Telus Corp. head Joe Natale takes over as CEO at Rogers Communications Inc., according to financial analysts, some of whom said Tuesday that...
Ontario’s French-language public broadcaster has teamed up with an American partner to distribute its educational programs in the United States, Groupe Média TFO said in a press release Monday. The...
Canadian multi-platform network (MPN) BroadbandTV Corp. (BBTV) has signed a deal to manage the Hispanic content of Univision Communications Inc. The Vancouver-based media company will provide the management services for...
In an unexpected move, Rogers Communications Inc. has announced Guy Laurence is no longer CEO of the company and will be replaced by former Telus Corp. CEO Joe Natale, a choice...
Ann Cavoukian, executive director of the Privacy and Big Data Institute at Ryerson University, is founding an international privacy organization, according to a press release Monday. The International Council on Global Privacy and Security, by Design organization aims to “dispel the commonly held view that organizations must choose between privacy and public safety or business interests,” the release said. “The council's goal is to educate stakeholders that public and private-sector organizations can develop policies and...
VMedia Inc. said in a court document it has removed BCE Inc.’s CTV channels from its over-the-top (OTT) skinny basic service pending the resolution of a legal dispute between the two...
Twitter Inc. will partner with Buzzfeed Inc. to provide live coverage of the United States presidential election next month. The Nov. 8 election night special will be streamed exclusively on Twitter, the companies...
The Sudbury, Ont. radio market can’t sustain any more stations, the CRTC said yesterday, citing high unemployment, no projected population growth in the next few years, and below-average profitability of the city’s...
The breach of millions of Yahoo Inc. email accounts revealed in late September could affect the acquisition of the company by Verizon Communications Inc., Reuters reported. The news service quoted Verizon...
Stingray Digital Group Inc. said Friday it has purchased more than 600 hours of exclusive music and documentary content from EuroArts Music International GmbH, making it Stingray’s first content distribution partner. The Montreal-based music distributor said in a press release it will receive “hundreds of exclusive pre-2013 concerts and documentaries” from Berlin-based EuroArts in the $1.3-million deal. The agreement also includes worldwide rights to not only EuroArts’ back catalogue, but an option to buy all its future content, according to the release....
The CRTC has approved a new Native FM radio station in Campbell River, British Columbia, the regulator said in a decision Friday. The station will operate at the 100.7 FM band and will broadcast each week 106 hours of...
BCE Inc. hasn’t demonstrated enough evidence that a court should postpone the implementation of the CRTC’s decision to eliminate simultaneous substitution for the National Football League's (NFL) Super Bowl,...
Amazon.com Inc. has launched a stand-alone music streaming service in the United States. While it has offered music streaming for its Prime customers since 2014, the new Amazon Music Unlimited is available to...
OTTAWA — Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains said Wednesday three areas have stood out so far in its Innovation Agenda consultations—talent, the need to work on emerging technologies, and investments in...
Corus Entertainment Inc. is making seven of its news talk radio stations available for free internationally on Apple Inc.’s Apple Music streaming service. The company said in...
The CRTC has approved two separate applications to operate English-language radio stations in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador. On Friday, the commission said on its website it approved an application to operate an FM radio...
iHeartMedia Inc.'s free digital radio and music streaming service is now available in Canada, according to a press release from BCE Inc.’s media division. The free app, iHeartRadio, is available on a preview basis...
OTTAWA — Raising the level of broadband Internet service for Canadians would go far in levelling the playing field for both media producers and consumers, a House of Commons committee...
BCE Inc. is asking the Ontario Superior Court to grant an interim and permanent injunction to stop VMedia Inc. from delivering Bell's CTV channels on its over-the-top (OTT) service. VMedia began offering the $17.95 skinny basic package to Canadian users of Roku Inc.’s devices last month. Bell says that by including its CTV and CTV Two networks on the service, VMedia is infringing its copyright. In an Oct. 3 application filed with the court, Bell said that its agreement with VMedia allows VMedia to distribute the CTV channels to subscribers of its...
