Cloud services and data limits creating new problems for end users: Report

Media | 02/06/2012 11:51 pm EST

The increasing popularity of cloud media services is creating new problems for Internet users with bandwidth caps and data overage charges, a new report commissioned by the CRTC says. The report, released Monday and titled “Environmental Scan of Digital Media Convergence Trends: Disruptive Innovation, Regulatory...

CRTC opens hearings for new FM radio stations in Calgary

Media | 02/06/2012 10:59 pm EST

The CRTC opened a weeklong hearing Monday to hear from groups and companies seeking licences to operate radio stations in Calgary, Alta. Twelve applicants will appear before commissioners at the hearing this week seeking radio licences for frequencies available at 95.3 FM, 100.3 FM, 106.7/9 FM and 1670 AM.  Corus...

Super Bowl expected to break records for online, mobile live streams, analysts say

Media | 02/02/2012 9:45 pm EST

Known for breaking records in traditional TV viewing, Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVI is expected to become North America’s most-watched live program on mobile and online platforms, analysts say. For the first time in Super Bowl history, Sunday’s game will be streamed live on the websites of the NFL and NBC...

Film and TV production in Canada grew to new high in 2011: Report

Media | 02/01/2012 10:31 pm EST

The volume of all film and television production in Canada hit an “all-time high” in 2011, says a new report commissioned by the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA), the Association des producteurs de films et de télévision du Québec (APFTQ) and the Department of Canadian...

Tory MPs table petitions to defund CBC

Media | 01/31/2012 11:22 pm EST

Three Conservative MPs tabled petitions from their constituents Monday to defund CBC/Radio-Canada. Conservative MP Colin Carrie tabled a petition in the House that called on Parliament to end public funding for public broadcaster. Carrie said petition, from “the residents of Canada,” was drawing attention to the government's annual $1.1 billion funding for the public broadcaster and that this “vast amount of government of Canada funding gives the CBC an unfair advantage over its private sector competitors.” Conservative MPs Brian Jean and Cheryl Gallant tabled similar petitions. “I am presenting a petition on behalf of people who want to see the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which is being overfunded at $1.1 billion per annum, sold,”...

Bell says it cannot implement CRTC mobile exclusivity decision

Media | 01/30/2012 11:22 pm EST

BCE Inc. does not have the authority to abide by a CRTC decision ordering it to share exclusive NHL and NFL mobile content with competing wireless carriers, the company told the commission Monday. In a three-page letter signed by Mirko Bibic, Bell’s senior vice-president of regulatory and government affairs, the...

34% watch TV online in Canada: MTM report

Media | 01/27/2012 10:01 pm EST

Google Inc.’s YouTube attracted the highest proportion of Canadian online video watchers last year, with online television programming second, a new Media Technology Monitor (MTM) report says. According to the report, released Thursday, 58 per cent of English-speaking people in Canada watched YouTube videos in 2011. Thirty four per cent of...

FMRI technology helping advertisers choose most effective platform

Media | 01/26/2012 9:29 pm EST

Toronto communications firm PHD Canada is using new “neuromarketing” tools to help advertisers explore the different marketing values of TV, radio and other media. In its technology and media predictions report for 2012, released last week, international consulting firm Deloitte said functional magnetic...

Funding incentives for ‘transmedia’ projects pushing old media into new media

Media | 01/24/2012 8:41 pm EST

Funding incentives for “transmedia”—the deployment of media across all platforms—are pushing Canadian television producers to acquire whole new skill sets, industry experts say. Lalita Krishna, founder of Toronto-based production company In Sync Media, said in an...

Von Finckenstein one-on-one: On set-asides, foreign ownership, cord-cutting, and more

Media | 01/21/2012 5:01 am EST

Konrad von Finckenstein, 66, does not intend to retire this year, but he's not encouraging universities to come knocking. The outgoing chair of the CRTC says he's more of a manager, not the academic type.  After five years at the helm of Canada’s chief regulatory agency for...

Traditional TV, ‘neuromarketing,’ to play key roles in advertising in 2012: Deloitte

Media | 01/21/2012 12:26 am EST

OTTAWA—Traditional television advertising and the use of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI) are new and potentially “more effective” advertising strategies, Deloitte and Touche LLP’s TMT Predictions 2012 report says.  “Traditional TV advertising is...

CRTC proposes backup emergency broadcast system for territories

Media | 01/18/2012 10:19 pm EST

The CRTC issued a call for comments Wednesday on a proposal to allow the legislative channels for federal, provincial and territorial legislatures to broadcast emergency messages when other emergency communications systems fail. The commission said the proposed amendments to the Parliamentary and Provincial or...

ISPs not neutral, control video traffic, cultural groups tell Supreme Court

Media | 01/17/2012 2:55 am EST

OTTAWA—Internet service providers (ISPs) that block some pages of content and prioritize others effectively control the transmission of online videos and as a result should fall under the Broadcasting Act, a lawyer representing a coalition of cultural groups argued before the Supreme Court Monday. That argument was...

Bids for FM country music radio station heat up in New Brunswick

Media | 01/17/2012 2:54 am EST

Two competing broadcasters saddled up to compete for a licence to Miramichi’s newest FM country music station at a CRTC hearing in New Brunswick Monday. Radio broadcast company Newcap Inc., and incumbent local broadcaster Maritime Broadcasting System Ltd. (MBS) are competing for a licence to introduce a new country music station on the 95.9 MHz and 102.5 MHz frequencies, respectively.  A church broadcaster, the Miramichi Fellowship Group, also made a pitch to use the local 96.5 MHz frequency to extend the reach of its Christian music-oriented Life Radio station CJFY FM in nearby Blackville, N.B. Jackie Rae Greening, operations manager of CFCW in Camrose, Alta., told CRTC commissioners that 14 of Newcap’s country stations are local and that the company is proposing the...

Social media monitoring startup seeks ‘golden nuggets’ for Canadian broadcasters

Media | 01/13/2012 8:23 pm EST

Montreal-area startup Seevibes is making a splash in the world of audience measurements with its new social media monitoring service dedicated to understanding how much Canadians like what they watch on TV. The brainchild of founder Laurent Maisonnave, Seevibes measures the numbers and types of comments about 750...

Tories preparing package of ‘technical amendments’ to C-11

Media | 01/11/2012 10:11 pm EST

The Conservative government is readying a package of technical amendments to copyright reform Bill C-11 and hopes to see the legislation head to committee quickly after the House of Commons returns to business this month, Dean Del Mastro, the parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister, said in an interview....

Commission’s executive exchange program flatlines, for now

Media | 01/06/2012 5:15 pm EST

For the first time since 2004, the CRTC starts the new year without an industry executive working inside its walls under its executive interchange program, the commission says. The reason, analysts and industry insiders speculate, ranges from personal to political and economic to ethical. An extension of the Treasury...

Cablecos misrepresent community programming requirements: CACTUS

Media | 01/06/2012 2:47 am EST

A web-based community TV monitoring group is charging that Canadian cablecos are misrepresenting how much they’re spending on local community programming and failing to meet local programming requirements on channels that should be tailored for specific communities. In a study released publicly on Tuesday, the...

GlassBox searching for the elusive ‘digital popcorn’

Media | 01/04/2012 10:06 pm EST

GlassBox Television Inc. wants to become a top source for comedy, music and travel-related content without relying on traditional TV to do so, the company’s CEO says. GlassBox's team of “digital ninjas” will roll out a parade of online and mobile tools this year to supplement its traditional broadcast channels with other revenue streams, CEO Raja Khanna told The Wire Report in an interview in December. “The 1920s and 30s movie theatres were really looking for something to grow to take it to the next level, getting beyond ticket sales alone, and that’s when popcorn sales came in,” Khanna said. “We’re now experimenting in what’s the digital popcorn.” The broadcaster of music, comedy and travel specialty channels Aux, BiteTV,...

Reproduction, communications royalties for song downloads total $7.5M annually: Estimate

Media | 01/03/2012 6:54 pm EST

A digital “communication right” recognized under the Copyright Act would be worth about $2.1 million in annual royalty payments from Canadian music download retailers, according to an estimate calculated by The Wire Report. That $2.1 million would be in addition to the approximate...

Cord-cutting predicted to register statistically this year, take $1.7B from earnings by 2017

Media | 12/15/2011 10:17 pm EST

Cord-cutting is expected take a $1.7-billion bite from the Canadian broadcasting industry's annual revenues by 2017, a new report by RBC Capital Markets says. “We...

Astral’s plan for HBO online an incentive to discourage cord-cutting, analysts say

Media | 12/14/2011 11:28 pm EST

Astral Media Inc.’s new online TV service is a “protective measure” aiming to stop or slow the migration of cable and satellite subscribers towards unregulated over-the-top services, analysts say.  But the new service is only available to TV subscribers and it's not clear...

Future of MLSE specialty channels uncertain under Rogers-Bell ownership: Analysts

Media | 12/13/2011 9:50 pm EST

The future of three sports specialty channels is up in the air after rivals BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. last week joined forces to acquire the channels’ parent company Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), analysts say.  Competitors Bell and Rogers announced Friday they will spend $533...

CRTC orders Bell to share mobile sports content, Bell says rights lie with the leagues

Media | 12/12/2011 10:49 pm EST

BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Mobility went out of bounds when it offered its subscribers exclusive access to popular NHL and NFL games over their mobile devices, the CRTC ruled on Monday.  The decision stems from a complaint filed by Telus Communications Co. earlier this year, in which Telus...

MLSE deal protects Rogers, Bell in online competition for sports rights: Analysts

Media | 12/09/2011 11:05 pm EST

A $1.32-billion joint deal to buy Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) will mean a significant boost for the broadcasting platforms of Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc., analysts say. Over the longer-term, the acquisition may be just as important to prevent potential online competitors from seeking the coveted...

Cable alliance using CRTC staff to mediate carriage dispute with Bell

Media | 12/09/2011 10:21 pm EST

The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) says it has asked the CRTC to step in to help solve a carriage dispute with BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Media Inc. Chris Edwards, the CCSA’s vice-president of corporate and regulatory affairs, said the organization is using the CRTC’s “staff-assisted...

Cultural groups say Astral’s request for bilingual designation means lower Cancon

Media | 12/08/2011 10:52 pm EST

Astral Media Inc.’s request for a bilingual group designation from the CRTC came under fire from various industry groups Thursday at the commission's French-language television licence renewal hearings. Throughout three days of hearings this week, Astral’s request has been the source...

Broadcast distributors fight $45M in new royalties at Supreme Court hearing

Media | 12/07/2011 10:30 pm EST

OTTAWA—Lawyers for a group of broadcast distributors appeared before the Supreme Court Wednesday for a hearing that is considering whether music copyright holders are entitled to collect about an annual $45 million from television providers for the “performance” of music in movie and TV show soundtracks. The Supreme Court opened two days of hearings Tuesday for a group of five cases related to copyright law. Those hearings concluded Wednesday with arguments for Re:Sound v. Motion Picture Theatre Associations of Canada (case No. 34210), which will determine whether copyright collective Re:Sound can seek royalties from broadcast distributors for television broadcasts....

Broadcast distributors will launch competing OTT services next year, Purdy predicts

Media | 12/07/2011 5:14 pm EST

TORONTO—Broadcast distributors across the continent will rush to launch a series of Netflix-style services between now and the end of 2012 to remain competitive in a rapidly changing broadcasting market, a Rogers Communications Inc. television executive predicted at the NextMedia conference Tuesday....

Commissioners eye V Interactions for increase in local programming

Media | 12/07/2011 3:08 am EST

The CRTC may require French-language TV network V Interactions Inc. to increase its original local programming as the broadcaster’s subscriber base continues to grow, commissioners said Tuesday at a hearing to discuss television licence renewals. “You only have one hour in seven days of Category 1...

Supreme Court justices question SOCAN on song previews, communication right

Media | 12/07/2011 12:02 am EST

OTTAWA—Lawyers for a copyright collective seeking to apply “communication rights” royalties to Internet downloads received a series of tough questions from a full panel of Supreme Court justices Tuesday. The Supreme Court on Tuesday opened two days of hearings on an unprecedented collection of five...

TVA says group-licensing model will hold back specialty channels from profitability

Media | 12/06/2011 11:56 pm EST

Requiring Groupe TVA Inc. to be part of the CRTC’s group-based French-language television licensing model would hold back the broadcaster as it tries to make its specialty channels profitable, officials from TVA and parent company Quebecor Media Inc. told commissioners at a licence renewal hearing in Quebec...

Rogers to rebrand with digital strategy in March, focus on social media engagement

Media | 12/06/2011 3:03 am EST

TORONTO—Rogers Communications Inc. is looking to track, target and engage customers across a variety of media platforms as a part of a corporate digital rebranding strategy to be launched in March, Jason Tafler, Rogers’ chief digital officer said at the NextMedia Conference Monday. “One of the biggest opportunities and where we’re focused is really looking at consumer behaviour across all devices and understanding that it is the same consumer ... no matter what device they’re on,” Tafler said during a panel discussion about broadcasters’ plans for an increasingly online media world. Tafler said there will be cross-platform smartphone and tablet...

French group licence renewal hearings start Monday in Quebec

Media | 12/04/2011 6:39 pm EST

Astral Media Inc. is expected to continue its fight for a bilingual designation during the CRTC's French-language television licence renewal hearings that start Monday in Quebec. The hearings will also consider group-based licence renewals for the broadcast properties of Quebecor Media Inc., which owns Groupe TVA Inc....

Hurt Locker lawsuits raise stakes for C-11 reforms, experts say

Media | 12/02/2011 11:41 pm EST

Voltage Pictures LLC’s Canadian Hurt Locker lawsuits appear to be part of a strategy to ramp up the Internet piracy fight and bring attention to the government’s copyright reform bill, copyright advocates say. Anthony Hémond, an expert in telecommunications, broadcasting, and privacy issues at Quebec...

Broadcast profits from Winnipeg Jets games still a question, analysts say

Media | 12/02/2011 3:12 pm EST

It’s too soon to tell whether broadcasters will earn profits from airing Winnipeg Jets hockey games, analysts and industry insiders say.  High production and rights acquisition costs support programming that serves a relatively small broadcasting market with little opportunities for national coverage, which...

Friends launch ‘preventative’ campaign to protect CBC funding

Media | 11/29/2011 8:28 pm EST

The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting launched a new campaign Tuesday that it says is a “preventative” measure to remind the Conservative government of its promise to maintain or increase funding to CBC/Radio-Canada. At a news conference Monday, Ian Morrison, a spokesman for watchdog group the Friends of...

Moore calls on opposition to stop C-11 delays

Media | 11/29/2011 6:53 pm EST

OTTAWA—Heritage Minister James Moore is urging the opposition parties to stop delaying copyright reform Bill C-11 in the House of Commons and send it to committee. “We just need to get it back to committee, to where it was in the previous Parliament. Let’s hear from Canadians, let’s hear from witnesses,” Moore told...

CBC would be ‘eliminated’ as a private broadcaster, Lacroix says

Media | 11/28/2011 10:15 pm EST

OTTAWA—CBC/Radio-Canada would be devastated if it dropped advertising and eliminated entirely if moved to operate as a private company, the public broadcaster’s president and CEO, Hubert T. Lacroix, said at a communications conference Monday. “There’s a lot of debate right now about public...

Tory MP seeks CBC salaries, expense records, through order paper questions

Media | 11/25/2011 8:54 pm EST

Conservative MP Brent Rathgeber intends to bypass the Access to Information Act’s section 68.1 exemption for CBC/Radio-Canada by using Parliament to obtain key programming information, according to the House of Commons order paper. Four questions submitted by the MP on the Nov. 25 order paper seek information...

Broadcasting industry ‘open their kimonos’ to CRTC on over-the-top services

Media | 11/25/2011 4:02 pm EST

The CRTC held a round of closed-door meetings last week that was an opportunity for broadcasting officials to “open their kimonos” and share sensitive data about over-the-top services in Canada, insiders say. Representatives from 27 telcos, broadcasters and other stakeholder groups...

Ethics committee to return sealed documents to CBC, Tories to propose amendments

Media | 11/24/2011 9:25 pm EST

OTTAWA—CBC/Radio-Canada president and CEO Hubert T. Lacroix says he doesn’t agree that the House of Commons ethics committee has been on a “witch hunt” against the public broadcaster. “Today wasn’t a witch hunt,” Lacroix told reporters following an ethics committee meeting Thursday morning. “The committee asked us to explain why we went to court with the information commissioner and we responded to those questions.” During the committee meeting, Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia said that, “as an outside member of the committee, it seems we have sort of a witch hunt going on.” Scarpaleggia said the last time he saw...

CBC loses key court battle on access-to-information

Media | 11/23/2011 10:49 pm EST

The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld a Federal Court decision from last year that gave the Office of the Information Commissioner the authority to order CBC/Radio-Canada to produce records. The CBC argued during the proceeding that section 68.1 of the Access to Information Act allows it to withhold documents from the public and the information...

Bell, Quebecor, exchange kinder words under new carriage agreement

Media | 11/23/2011 8:39 pm EST

Under a new agreement for BCE Inc. to carry Quebecor Media Inc.'s TVA Sports, Sun News, Yoopa and Mlle specialty channels, the competing companies are exchanging kinder words. In a release Tuesday, Groupe TVA said that the four TVA specialty channels will be offered to Bell subscribers by Dec. 15, 2011. “With...

Lawyers offer predictions on Supreme Court’s copyright ‘pentalogy’

Media | 11/23/2011 3:51 pm EST

OTTAWA—A panel of copyright lawyers offered a preview Tuesday in what to expect from a “pentalogy” of five copyright cases to be heard at the Supreme Court next month. The Supreme Court announced in September that it will hear a series of five copyright cases over the course of two days on Dec. 6 and...

Cablecos take issue with CRTC’s customer transfer rules as TV wars pick up

Media | 11/22/2011 9:08 pm EST

The CRTC's proposed new guidelines intended to ensure “seamless transitions” for customers switching TV providers are not practical in buildings with multiple dwellings like condos, townhomes and apartments, Rogers Communications Inc. has told the commission in a submission. The CRTC has proposed new...

Commission awards radio licence for new Montreal gay and lesbian station

Media | 11/21/2011 11:21 pm EST

Dufferin Communications Inc. is ready to launch a gay and lesbian AM radio station in Montreal as a result of new radio broadcasting licences awarded Monday. The CRTC announced that it has awarded the coveted 690 kHz and 940 kHz AM radio frequencies in Montreal to Dufferin Communications Inc., as well as licences for a partnership involving Bell Media Inc. (owned by BCE Inc.) and numbered company 7954689 Canada Inc. Dufferin Communications, a subsidiary of Evanov Communications Inc., applied to the commission in September requesting the AM frequency for a new French-language AM service dedicated to serving Montreal’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. In...

Broadcast Act regulates ‘activities,’ not technologies, coalition tells Supreme Court

Media | 11/18/2011 7:50 pm EST

A coalition of cultural groups is arguing in court documents filed with the Supreme Court that Parliament intended the Broadcasting Act to be “technology neutral”—so that the statute's regulatory framework for broadcast distribution should cover the activities of Internet service...

In Quebec, Quebecor a ‘planet that creates its own gravity’: Enquête report

Media | 11/16/2011 11:14 pm EST

Quebecor Media Inc. (QMI) has used its vast media empire to control its journalists, evade press standards and try to carve out its own path in the Canadian media universe, CBC/Radio-Canada investigative program Enquête reported in a special about the company this month. ...

CBC sends ‘sealed’ information to ethics committee, suggests: Don’t open it

Media | 11/14/2011 11:34 pm EST

OTTAWA—CBC/Radio-Canada has provided the House of Commons ethics committee with the information it ordered under the parliamentary rules for the production of records.  But in a twist, some of the information comes in the form of sealed envelopes, and the broadcaster argues that making...

Secret ‘piracy report’ at the centre of Quebecor’s piracy lawsuit against Bell

Media | 11/10/2011 4:40 pm EST

MONTREAL—Quebecor Media Inc. is citing a secret, internal “piracy report” produced at Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. to justify legal arguments that Bell deliberately ignored piracy on its satellite TV system in an effort to increase its market share and ramp up the presence of Bell...

CRTC opens hearing on potential radio ownership rule exception for Corus

Media | 11/09/2011 10:56 pm EST

The CRTC opened a hearing and issued a call for comments Wednesday on an application from Corus Entertainment Inc. on behalf of CKIK-FM Ltd. to add an FM rebroadcasting transmitter in Calgary, Alta. for station CHQR Calgary.  The hearing will consider whether to grant an exception to the commission's common...

Industry Canada could get in the way of U.S. spectrum plan, broadcaster says

Media | 11/08/2011 5:03 pm EST

A bilateral working agreement regulating spectrum allocation along the Canada-U.S. border could complicate a U.S. congressional proposal to free up more frequencies from traditional TV broadcasters for wireless broadband, an American broadcast company says. The TV broadcasting service treaty requires Industry Canada...

ACTRA lobby day blitzes the Hill, 50 meetings in two days

Media | 11/07/2011 10:37 pm EST

OTTAWA—Members of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) were in the capital last week to lobby for long-term funding for Canadian programming and tax averaging for actors.  ACTRA brought Canadian actors from across the country to Parliament Hill to meet with MPs. Heather...

CRTC vertical integration rules encourage OTTs to buy sports rights: Gourd

Media | 11/04/2011 8:30 pm EDT

OTTAWA—The CRTC's new vertical integration framework will require major Canadian broadcasters to sell their valuable sports programming rights to Canadian and foreign over-the-top online competitors, Alain Gourd, chair of an industry-led working group on over-the-top services, said at a telecom conference in...

Tory MPs on ethics committee order CBC documents by Nov. 14

Media | 11/03/2011 8:59 pm EDT

OTTAWA—Conservative MPs on the House of Commons ethics committee have passed a motion ordering CBC/Radio-Canada to produce documents it has withheld under the Access to Information Act.  The order was sent to the Crown corporation late Wednesday following a meeting of the committee and the passage of a motion to do so. At an ethics committee meeting last week, Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro, the parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister, proposed a motion that would require the CBC to produce withheld redacted and unredacted documents to Parliament. The Tory motion was passed Wednesday during an in-camera meeting boycotted by NDP and Liberal committee members. “We believe the motion clearly oversteps the division of powers between the legislative and...

CBC can’t compete with specialty channels for sports, experts say

Media | 11/03/2011 8:05 pm EDT

OTTAWA—CBC/Radio-Canada's loss of the FIFA World Cup broadcast rights to BCE Inc.'s Bell Media is another sign that the public broadcaster cannot compete for sports rights with private companies, experts say. “It's public broadcasting versus private sector broadcasting,” Brian Schecter, a media...

Von Finckenstein’s final hearing marked by industry appreciation

Media | 11/01/2011 10:13 pm EDT

GATINEAU—Incumbent telcos, new entrants and even a consumer advocacy group all joined forces during the closing moments of the CRTC’s interconnection hearing Tuesday to offer praise and congratulations to outgoing commission chair Konrad von Finckenstein. “There is one other matter that we wanted to...

Bell warned about consequences of satellite piracy since 1997, company says

Media | 10/31/2011 9:18 pm EDT

BCE Inc. says it has consistently warned its customers about the consequences of satellite piracy since 1997. The company is battling a lawsuit that says it failed to properly prevent piracy on its ExpressVu system (now Bell Satellite TV), and one former ExpressVu executive says distribution agreements for the...

Ethics committee in a ‘dirty war’ against CBC, Media Guild says

Media | 10/27/2011 9:49 pm EDT

The House of Commons ethics committee's singular focus on CBC/Radio Canada shows that it has been drawn into a “dirty war” against the country's public broadcaster, the Canadian Media Guild says. Karen Wirsig, communications coordinator for the guild, made the remarks  with Marc-Phillippe Laurin,...

CBC looking to repurpose up to 500 positions from broadcasting to new media

Media | 10/26/2011 4:28 pm EDT

OTTAWA—CBC/Radio-Canada is looking at repurposing approximately 500 positions from its radio and television sector to its digital platforms as part of its five-year strategic plan, Hubert Lacroix, president and CEO of the broadcaster, said to the House of Commons heritage committee Tuesday. Lacroix said five per cent of the broadcaster's budget is now dedicated to the development of web content. But significant changes and shifts in the CBC's staff and resource allocations will only be finalized after the government announces the CBC’s parliamentary appropriation with the budget in March, he said. The Conservative government's strategic and operating review seeks to find...

OPINION: Copyright and ‘the cloud’: What goes up must come down

Media | 10/25/2011 9:07 pm EDT

On Oct. 14, 2011, I had the pleasure of being a commentator along with Grace Westcott on a panel about competition and intellectual property implications of “the cloud.” The panelists were Prof. Salil Mehra, Prof. Pamela Samuelson, Dr. Craig McTaggart, and Prof. Oliver Goodenough. This was the wrap-up panel to...

CRTC’s new ‘standstill’ policy draws interest from distributors seeking better carriage deals

Media | 10/25/2011 12:08 am EDT

The CRTC's new vertical integration policy is slowing down BCE Inc.'s carriage renewal negotiations with some broadcast distributors, including Telus Communications Co. and Cogeco Cable Inc., as carriers eye the commission’s new dispute resolution process for better carriage deals, industry...

Intellectual property still a key area of difference in Canada-EU trade talks

Media | 10/24/2011 5:34 pm EDT

Intellectual property issues remain one of the key areas of differences in the Conservative government's negotiations with Europe on a new trade deal, Canadian and European officials told reporters in a background briefing in Ottawa last week. Canada opened a ninth round of negotiations with European Union officials on...

Protection for digital locks in Europe is less controversial than expected, experts say

Media | 10/21/2011 9:15 pm EDT

European copyright prohibitions on compromising digital locks have not caused the “big uproar” from users that many critics initially expected, an intellectual property rights experts said at a copyright conference in Ottawa on Friday. “There was a lot of academic excitement...

Astral still fighting for bilingual designation in licence renewal

Media | 10/21/2011 8:16 pm EDT

Astral Media Inc. says receiving a bilingual designation from the CRTC is justified because it is the only non-vertically integrated broadcasting group in the country. “We are the only non-integrated large group,” Hugues Mousseau, Astral’s manager of corporate communications, said in an interview....

Péladeau rejects CBC’s charges of federal subsidies, calls them ‘dangerous’

Media | 10/20/2011 9:08 pm EDT

OTTAWA—CBC/Radio-Canada’s suggestion that Quebecor Media Inc. has received more than half a billion dollars in direct and indirect federal subsidies over three years is false and even “defamatory and dangerous,” Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau told a parliamentary...

Supreme Court decision removes chill of hyperlink liability, experts say

Media | 10/19/2011 9:05 pm EDT

A Supreme Court of Canada decision Wednesday that struck down an appeal to define hyperlinks as publications for the purposes of defamation has “removed an element of uncertainty” for online news producers, legal experts say. “I think it’s fair to say there was some concern about the liability...

CBC needs independence from information commissioner, lawyer tells court

Media | 10/18/2011 10:19 pm EDT

MONTREAL and OTTAWA—The words "exception" and "exclusion" are creating problems under the Access to Information Act and must be clarified, Christian Leblanc, a Fasken Martineau lawyer representing CBC/Radio-Canada, told the Federal Court of Appeal at a hearing in Montreal Tuesday....

Despite hiccups, Canada’s ‘hard’ transition to digital went smoothly

Media | 10/18/2011 7:13 pm EDT

With the exception of CBC/Radio-Canada and six other over-the-air television stations that could not meet the Aug. 31 deadline, Canada's transition to digital television broadcasting went smoothly, Valerie Plaskacz, head of broadcast distribution and access policy at the Heritage Department, says. “There were a couple of delays here and there, but the vast majority were able to complete their work on time,” Plaskacz said in an interview. She noted that six stations could not meet the deadline but have received extensions from the CRTC to do so by the end of the year. The CBC has also received a one-year extension from the CRTC for 22 transmitters that were originally...

CRTC changes ‘shall’ to ‘should’ in vertical integration code

Media | 10/18/2011 3:40 pm EDT

The CRTC has issued a correction to its vertical integration code of conduct that changes uses of the word “shall” to “should.” The commission's new policy introduced a set of rules to prevent anti-competitive behaviour in a vertically integrated broadcasting sector in...

Companies tout revenues, diversity, local content in arguments for two AM frequencies

Media | 10/17/2011 10:09 pm EDT

MONTREAL—Revenues, local programming and diversity for Montreal radio listeners are among the top factors the CRTC should consider as it decides how to award two coveted AM radio frequencies, competing companies vying for the spectrum told CRTC commissioners at a hearing Monday....

CBC says subjecting it to ATIP requests goes against principle of ‘arm’s length’ agency

Media | 10/17/2011 9:33 pm EDT

Lawyers for CBC/Radio-Canada will appear at a hearing in Montreal on Tuesday to argue before the Federal Court of Appeal that increased transparency under the Access to Information Act is detrimental to the broadcaster and could lead to a loss of independence and credibility. The CBC is...

Offside? Analysts say BCE’s new HabsTV offering a test case of vertical integration rules

Media | 10/13/2011 9:32 pm EDT

A new service from Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. offering its mobile customers early access to behind-the-scenes footage of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team could become a test case on the CRTC’s new regulations for vertically integrated companies, analysts say. Announced in a Thursday...

Shaw needs better promotions to draw new TV subscriptions, analysts say

Media | 10/12/2011 9:05 pm EDT

Competition for subscription TV viewers in the West is escalating as Shaw Communications Inc. has almost chopped prices in half for its new Gateway digital set-top boxes. But analysts continue to say Shaw is under pressure to follow competitor Telus Corp. by further subsidizing its Gateway product with a special promotion. Shaw launched its new Gateway HD personal video recorder (PVR) cable box this summer, and last week, the company announced that its combined Gateway box and Portal unit (for connecting multiple TVs in the home) is available for $350, down from $600. But Shaw is under pressure to offer a better promotion for its TV service as Telus, its main competitor in the West,...

Cultural groups say designating Astral as bilingual would lower English-language Cancon

Media | 10/11/2011 8:53 pm EDT

Cultural groups are telling the CRTC to deny Astral Media Inc.’s application to be recognized as a “designated bilingual” television broadcast group. The groups' comments were submitted to the commission for its proceeding on the licence renewals for large, French-language...

Netflix reaches near-ubiquitous awareness in Canada, survey says

Media | 10/07/2011 7:43 pm EDT

Netflix Inc.'s online streaming service has reached near-ubiquitous awareness in Canada at a rate of 93 per cent, a new survey says. The survey, released this month by the Canadian chapter of the Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM), said that, although awareness of Netflix is “extremely...

Best strategy for CBC now is to ‘come clean’ on requests, expert tells committee

Media | 10/06/2011 9:15 pm EDT

CBC/Radio-Canada should “come clean” and give up its fight against the release of records under the Access to Information Act, former TV news producer Howard Bernstein told the House of Commons ethics committee Thursday. The CBC's battle to keep records under wraps gives Quebecor...

CRTC adjusts approach to deregulation of online content, opens ‘watching brief’

Media | 10/05/2011 9:48 pm EDT

The CRTC has tweaked its approach toward the deregulation of online content platforms, opening a “watching brief” on over-the-top services and scheduling a more comprehensive consultation on the issue in May 2012. The commission reported Tuesday the results of the fact-finding...

Broadcasters pulling funding away from Canadian film, critics say

Media | 10/04/2011 9:28 pm EDT

New reports about the Canadian film industry from the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) shows that broadcasters are pulling back their funding of film, critics say. “We see it among our members who are telling us how difficult it is for them to get financing for their projects,” Lisa Fitzgibbons,...

BCE’s sharp attacks on regulator aimed at cabinet, experts say

Media | 10/03/2011 7:12 pm EDT

Bell Canada Enterprises Inc.’s aggressive remarks towards the CRTC over its new vertical integration rules is a part of a strategy to appeal to the Conservative cabinet, industry experts say. The question for Bell is whether the strategy could backfire and pose a risk to its regulatory and consumer relationships....

CBC to be under the microscope at two House committees

Media | 09/30/2011 8:41 pm EDT

Following the return of House of Commons business this month, a handful of parliamentary committees are gearing up for studies dealing with Canada’s broadcasting and media sectors.  CBC/Radio-Canada will be in focus at at least two of the committees. The House of Commons heritage committee has not yet...

Government says copyright bill C-11 to be studied intensely, up to 16 hours per week

Media | 09/29/2011 9:36 pm EDT

OTTAWA—In an effort to push reintroduced copyright legislation through the House of Commons by the Christmas break, a special legislative committee studying the bill will sit for up to 16 hours a week, Heritage Minister James Moore told reporters Thursday. Introduced in the House Thursday, Bill C-11, The Copyright...

Supreme Court to hear value for signal appeal

Media | 09/29/2011 7:49 pm EDT

The Supreme Court of Canada said Thursday that it will hear an appeal of a Federal Court of Appeal decision that upheld the CRTC's jurisdiction to implement its controversial value for signal regime. The court announced Thursday that it will look at the jurisdiction of the CRTC and whether it is empowered under the Broadcasting Act to establish the regime. The case will also consider whether the commission's value for signal policy “necessarily conflicts with rights of broadcasting distribution undertakings under [the] Copyright Act [and] Broadcasting Act,” the Supreme Court said in a summary of the case on its website. In a split decision issued in February, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld the CRTC policy, ruling that the commission has the jurisdiction to implement...

Quebecor calls for across-the-board, 75 per cent Cancon minimum

Media | 09/28/2011 10:01 pm EDT

Quebecor Media Inc. says it supports a more flexible, across-the-board, 75 per cent minimum for the Canadian content spending of large, French-language broadcasters. The deadline for interventions on the CRTC’s group-based licence renewals for French-language television companies passed Tuesday. Astral Media Inc.,...

CRTC’s 12 new proceedings mean regulatory pendulum is swinging back, insiders say

Media | 09/26/2011 9:50 pm EDT

The CRTC's 12 follow-up proceedings related to its vertical integration decision are key to ironing out a few wrinkles but are also a reflection of CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein’s “heavy” regulatory hand, broadcasting insiders say. The CRTC released a decision last week...

Independent broadcasters to propose changes to new vertical integration rules

Media | 09/25/2011 6:26 pm EDT

Independent broadcasters say they are encouraged by the CRTC's new rules regulating a vertically integrated broadcasting sector but that they intend to propose some amendments to the regulations. “The actual implications of what the commission has done will require some thought,” Joel Fortune, counsel with the...

CRTC imposes ‘heavy handed,’ ‘interventionist,’ consumer-friendly vertical integration rules

Media | 09/22/2011 2:42 am EDT

GATINEAU, QUE.—In a highly anticipated decision Wednesday, the CRTC took several steps to check the power of vertically integrated broadcast companies, including a ban on the companies’ ability to offer their own TV programs exclusively on new media platforms. ...

Mobile subscriber data a ‘perfect storm’ for advertisers: comScore

Media | 09/20/2011 10:12 pm EDT

New data on Canadian mobile use and subscriber numbers point to a “perfect storm” for the wireless advertising industry in the months ahead, comScore Inc. vice-president of sales Bryan Segal said at the Wireless Canada Technology Showcase in Ottawa Tuesday. A high number of Canadians about to retire their old and outdated cellphones and improving smartphone options as indications of a “smartphone revolution” coming to Canada, Segal said at a day-long conference organized by the Canadian Wireless and Telecommunications Association (CWTA). According to comScore data measuring mobile use by people over the age of 13, Canada now ranks fourth in the world in...

Quebecor accuses Bell of refusing to carry its channels

Media | 09/20/2011 1:14 am EDT

One week following the launch of Quebecor Media Inc.'s new TVA Sports channel, the company says it will thrive without the rights to Canadiens games or carriage agreements with rival BCE Inc. TVA Groupe Inc., owned by Quebecor, launched TVA Sports on Sept. 12. Pierre Dion, president and CEO of TVA, announced that the...

Groups, companies, line up to target draft anti-spam regs

Media | 09/14/2011 9:32 pm EDT

Proposed anti-spamming regulations are too broad and will impact consumers and legitimate businesses, telcos and other industry associations have told the CRTC. Overly restrictive definitions, unrealistic requirements, and a wide scope that fails to accommodate today's communications tools are some of the complaints...

CIPPIC says Voltage Pictures bringing ‘copyright trolls’ to Canada

Media | 09/14/2011 8:58 pm EDT

Voltage Pictures LLC has won a court order from the Federal Court seeking the names and addresses associated with 30 IP addresses involved in the transmission of its Oscar-winning film The Hurt Locker on peer-to-peer (p2p) networks. David Fewer, counsel with public interest group the Canadian Internet Policy and Public...

New ad volume regs to come into force September 2012, CRTC says

Media | 09/13/2011 8:54 pm EDT

Canadian broadcasters will have to control the loudness of their TV commercials by next September, the CRTC said Tuesday. The commission said in a decision that, during a public proceeding on the issue that  began in February last year, it received more than 7,000 comments from viewers complaining about the volume...

Competition intensifies for Montreal’s AM radio frequencies

Media | 09/13/2011 8:17 pm EDT

Four competing companies have put forward their applications to the CRTC on why they should be awarded the coveted 690 kHz and 940 kHz Montreal area AM radio frequencies. On Sept. 7, 2011, the CRTC opened a consultation on radio licence applications from broadcasters seeking access to the pair of Montreal AM frequency...

Cloud music services look to leverage social media to compete with iTunes

Media | 09/12/2011 9:46 pm EDT

Music service provider Rdio Inc. says social media functions tied into new mobile music services will help them compete with music giant iTunes. U.S.-based Rdio is looking to capitalize on the social media aspect of its streaming music service, which customers of Telus Communications Co. can now subscribe to as a...

U.S. embassy cable highlights new twist in industry lobbying on ‘Priority Watch List’

Media | 09/09/2011 7:29 pm EDT

Newly released U.S. embassy cables about Canada's copyright reform process have shone a spotlight on the industry lobbying that goes into the U.S. Special 301 Priority Watch List. The list is where the U.S. publicly identifies countries as laggards on copyright protection, but in a new twist, one...

Little evidence that converged legislation more effective, Australian regulator says

Media | 09/09/2011 7:28 pm EDT

As countries around the world look to merge their telecom and media legislation, there remains little information evaluating how effective converged statutes are in an ever-changing online environment, a new report by Australia’s regulator says. Packet prioritisation, online data protection, and privacy and...

FreeHD secures foreign satellite capacity, eyes Canadian launch next year

Media | 09/08/2011 9:02 pm EDT

FreeHD Canada is on track to launch a new satellite broadcasting distribution service in Canada next year after securing an agreement to use foreign satellite facilities, company chairman and founding CEO, David Lewis, said in an exclusive interview with The Wire Report this week. “It’s probably time for us to say, at least, that we’ve nailed down the biggest pieces and we are progressing forward,” Lewis said. “We’ve been at this two-and-a-half years now and we’re making a lot of progress now working with the right people.” Lewis, who has more than 25 years' experience working in the Canadian broadcast industry, said Industry Canada...