Pelmorex says vertical integration hampering its interactive TV features

Media | 05/04/2011 10:00 pm EDT

Pelmorex Communications Inc. says vertical integration is impeding its move to interactive television and that distributors are launching their own services to compete with or pre-empt The Weather Network’s interactive offerings. In a submission to the CRTC for its vertical integration hearings, Pelmorex senior...

Top mobile advertising opportunities in apps, texting, product placement, experts say

Media | 05/03/2011 10:10 pm EDT

Mobile advertising revenue is expected to shift to texting, applications, and a more effective integrated format in the next few years, experts say. “In general, I think mobile has really come of age,” IAB Canada president Paula Gignac said in an interview. “People are...

Quebecor accuses BCE of ‘undue advantage’ in refusing Sun News carriage proposal

Media | 05/03/2011 8:50 pm EDT

Quebcor Media Inc. is accusing BCE Inc. of an “undue advantage” for refusing a proposal to carry the company’s new Sun News Network. Luc Lavoie, the company’s head of development for Sun News, said in an interview that Quebecor proposed a carriage deal to Bell that will cost...

New IPTV distributor planning to offer niche, over-the-top Russian-language content

Media | 05/02/2011 7:58 pm EDT

A new broadcasting distributor is planning to offer on-demand ethnic content to draw customers to an IPTV television service in the Greater Toronto Area and Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.  On April 19, the CRTC approved a broadcasting distribution licence for 2251723 Ontario Inc., owned by Canadian...

Independents call for framework to prevent ‘retaliation’ from vertically integrated players

Media | 04/29/2011 6:19 pm EDT

Independent broadcasting companies are calling on the CRTC to establish safeguards to prevent large, vertically integrated players from discriminating against smaller broadcasters by way of retaliatory measures like dropping or moving channels.  “We can no longer afford to come to the Commission to discuss difficulties we are experiencing with BDUs [broadcasting distribution undertakings] due in large measure to poor or non-existent regulatory oversight only to be told that if we complain we risk the loss of carriage of our other services,” Stornoway Communications, an independent broadcaster that operates three specialty services, told the commission in comments for its...

OTT services not a viable broadcasting substitute before 2017: Report

Media | 04/29/2011 4:37 pm EDT

Traditional broadcasters have a few years before they have to worry about serious competition from over-the-top service providers like Netflix Inc., according to new report from RBC Capital Markets. In an April 15 research note, RBC predicted that over-the-top services wouldn’t become a viable substitute for...

Potential regulation of Netflix steeped in questions, barbed answers

Media | 04/28/2011 10:21 pm EDT

As a working group of industry insiders awaits the CRTC’s response to its request for a public consultation on the role of Netflix Inc. in the Canadian broadcasting system, experts are unsure how—or even if—over-the-top services can be regulated. “I think we’re in uncharted territory in...

Telus proposes vertical integration ‘safeguards’

Media | 04/27/2011 9:31 pm EDT

Telus Corp. proposed safeguards to the CRTC Wednesday to prevent what it calls “anti-competitive practices” in the broadcasting sector. In a submission for the CRTC’s proceeding on vertical integration, Telus has proposed rules to prohibit: distributors from withholding content from competitors;...

Rogers, CBC, say no need to regulate ad volumes, new standards under way

Media | 04/27/2011 6:50 pm EDT

The CRTC’s proposal to regulate the volume of television commercials is not necessary when broadcasters are themselves taking the initiative to standardize ad volumes, the CBC and Rogers Communications Inc. say. “Rogers does not believe regulatory changes are required in order to ensure the effective control of...

Lower education levels in management drops Canada’s ICT ranking, expert says

Media | 04/27/2011 5:15 pm EDT

Canada’s business leaders aren’t as educated as their U.S. counterparts—a factor that may have impacted its ranking in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual Global Information Technology Report. Released last week, the 2010-2011 report ranked Canada eighth out of 138 countries for “network...

Electronics retailers report high demand for DTV antennas

Media | 04/26/2011 9:10 pm EDT

 Electronics retailers across Ontario are reporting a significant rise in demand for high-definition TV antennas. Retailers say consumers are feeling pinched by high cable and satellite television fees, and that more people are increasingly looking for powerful antennas to turn to free, over-the-air digital...

Opinion: The ‘scourge’ of Netflix and the Cancon cabal to the rescue

Media | 04/26/2011 7:45 pm EDT

Let’s say you have near-monopoly control of Internet access in millions of homes. All your retail rates are deregulated, because the regulator has identified a force that faithfully eliminates any market distortion: vigorous competition. And yet, paradoxically, you can use your market power to eliminate competitors...

Clement talks digital issues, says functional separation ‘completely unrealistic’

Media | 04/21/2011 8:25 pm EDT

Conservative candidate and Industry Minister Tony Clement calls the Liberal party “completely unrealistic” for its support of functional separation, a regulatory approach that attempts to encourage competition by requiring incumbent telcos to divide their wholesale and retail services....

Scotia Capital identifies major ‘barriers’ to OTT services in Canada

Media | 04/19/2011 9:45 pm EDT

As Canadian broadcasters discuss the potential for over-the-top services like Netflix to disrupt the Canadian broadcasting sector, a report by Scotia Capital Inc. identifies a number of significant consumer barriers in Canada “that offer a measure of protection to incumbent broadcasters.” The 100-page equity research report, titled “Going over the top: Implications for the Canadian broadcasting system,” released in January, identifies three central barriers to the consumption of over-the-top services in Canada: “securing sufficient content rights”; “overcoming bandwidth caps”; and an “evolving regulatory framework.” The report...

‘We’re simply not going to walk away’ from feature films, Corus argues

Media | 04/15/2011 9:46 pm EDT

Corus Entertainment Inc. defended the inclusion of its pay channels within the group licensing framework Friday, arguing that producing Canadian feature films and drama is “at the heart” of its operations and that pay TV benefits the system. “Limiting this spending flexibility would prevent Corus from...

Quebecor to replace over-the-air Sun TV signal with all-news channel programming

Media | 04/15/2011 8:56 pm EDT

Quebecor Media Inc.’s new Sun News Network will air its programming on the company’s Toronto conventional station Sun TV to deliver the all-news channel into Ontario living rooms. The Sun News Network, a new Quebecor specialty channel slated for launch Monday, has so far only reached carriage deals with Shaw...

Rogers says CRTC’s group-licensing framework too onerous, asks to pull out

Media | 04/14/2011 10:26 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. says it wants out of the CRTC’s group licensing framework, telling commissioners Thursday that it can’t meet the policy’s requirements for Canadian programming expenditures.  “While we believe it is a forward-thinking policy that provides large broadcast groups with...

CRTC working group joins call for proceeding on Netflix

Media | 04/14/2011 7:23 pm EDT

A CRTC working group of industry insiders is the latest voice to call on the commission to open a public consultation on the role of Netflix Inc. in the Canadian broadcasting system.  The working group, tasked with looking at over-the-top programming services, asked the commission in an April 1 letter to open a...

Fate of documentary sector rests with group-based licensing proceeding, DOC says

Media | 04/13/2011 7:04 pm EDT

The Canadian documentary sector is “in crisis” and its fate is in the hands of the CRTC’s group-based licensing policy, the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC) told commissioners at a hearing in Gatineau Wednesday. “The combined impact of the financial recession, genre creep, lack of documentary commissioning, and the consolidation of Canadian broadcasting services have created the perfect storm, which has decimated the Canadian documentary industry. The sector is experiencing job losses, massive drops in production volume, declining regional production, less access to funds, and fewer windows,” Lisa Fitzgibbons, executive director of the DOC, told...

Media Access Canada calls for 100 per cent accessibility programming by 2020

Media | 04/12/2011 9:19 pm EDT

GATINEAU—Media Access Canada called on the CRTC Tuesday to increase the required levels of descriptive and closed-captioned programming as a condition of the commission’s new group licensing policy for broadcasters. Beverley Milligan, CEO of Media Access Canada, told commissioners at a hearing that help is...

18 months on, industry divided on effectiveness of CRTC net neutrality policy

Media | 04/12/2011 6:51 pm EDT

Nearly 18 months since the CRTC adopted its Internet traffic management practices (ITMP) policy, industry experts are divided on its effectiveness in securing net neutrality. Some suggest that the commission needs more powers to investigate and enforce the policy. Others say the CRTC has not faced serious enough cases to...

Groups lobby commissioners for more local news hours

Media | 04/11/2011 10:49 pm EDT

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) called on the CRTC Monday to maintain a minimum quantity of local news hours as broadcasters push the margins of the commission’s new group licensing policy.  Peter Murdoch, vice-president of the CEP, told commissioners at a hearing Monday that broadcasters should gradually...

Party campaign platforms underwhelming on digital issues

Media | 04/11/2011 10:20 pm EDT

Following the release of the top five political parties’ campaign platforms for the 2011 election, Canadian voters and policy experts are weighing in on who’s out front on digital policy issues.  But the results are a little underwhelming. “In a word: yawn,” Ottawa technology consultant Bill...

Cultural groups urge commission not to fall for ‘more U.S. programming’

Media | 04/08/2011 8:51 pm EDT

Canadian writers, directors and performers warned the CRTC Friday not to heed the broadcasters’ call for more “flexibility” in the licence renewals, saying that the word is just a synonym for “more U.S. programming.” “Broadcasters are asking for even more flexibility than the 2010 TV...

CMPA invokes threat of Netflix to argue for more Cancon funding

Media | 04/07/2011 11:54 pm EDT

GATINEAU--In response to the potentially disruptive forces of Netflix Inc. in the Canadian broadcasting system, the CRTC should hold firm on its Canadian content spending requirements in its new group-based licensing system, encouraging more support, not less, the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) told the...

Quebec market can’t support four sports specialty stations, experts say

Media | 04/07/2011 7:24 pm EDT

The Quebec broadcasting market could soon go from one sports channel to four following Rogers Communications Inc.'s application for a French-language sports station, but experts say they don’t expect all of the channels to succeed.  “I'm not sure there's room for as many stations, but at the same time...

Shaw calls for access to broadcasting funding for Montreal station CKMI

Media | 04/06/2011 7:21 pm EDT

Shaw Media Inc.’s English-language TV station in Montreal deserves access to the Local Programming Infrastructure Fund (LPIF), the company says. But one CRTC commissioner says that would open the door to difficult discussions with other broadcasters in the country. On Monday the CRTC started two weeks of hearings on...

Lobby groups push Internet policy, foreign ownership, Canadian broadcasting as campaign issues

Media | 04/06/2011 3:32 pm EDT

Internet policy is expected to be in the foreground in the 2011 election campaign as lobby groups push candidates and parties to put their issues onto the political agenda. Advocacy group OpenMedia.ca says it plans to build on the success of its “Stop the Meter” petition with another online campaign to raise the profile of Internet policy issues. “We’re advocating that the Internet be a central issue in the election itself,” Steve Anderson, executive director OpenMedia, said in an interview. “We want to force the parties to answer to the public and admit to where they stand on broadband access.” The advocacy group plans to launch a website,...

Group-licensing rules an obstacle to profitability for Citytv stations, Rogers says

Media | 04/05/2011 9:56 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. says the CRTC’s new licensing framework for large broadcasting groups could hurt its business and that the commission shouldn’t take a one-size-fits-all approach to regulating the industry.  The CRTC launched a public hearing on the licence renewals Monday, and in its...

Court denies May’s request for expedited review of CRTC regs

Media | 04/05/2011 8:25 pm EDT

Green party Leader Elizabeth May will not participate in the televised leaders’ debates after the federal court rejected her request for an expedited hearing to review a CRTC broadcasting regulation.  Federal Court of Appeal Justice Marc Nadon declined a request to hear May’s application for judicial...

CTV calls for looser licence conditions for MuchMusic, Muchmore and Access

Media | 04/04/2011 11:02 pm EDT

CTV Inc. is calling on the CRTC for more regulatory flexibility in its Cancon and music video licence requirements for the broadcaster’s MuchMusic, MuchMore More and Access channels.  At a hearing in Gatineau on Monday, where the CRTC launched its licence renewal hearings for large broadcasting groups, CTV...

Liberals say use $500M from spectrum auctions for broadband

Media | 04/04/2011 10:40 pm EDT

Although critics say broadband at speeds of 1.5 Mbps may not be ambitious enough, the federal Liberals say they would deliver it to the entire country within three years by investing $500 million in proceeds from upcoming spectrum auctions.  “Using proceeds from the upcoming spectrum auction slated for 2012, a...

Green party calls on CRTC, Federal Court for new leaders’ debates rules

Media | 04/04/2011 8:48 pm EDT

The Green party says it wants the CRTC to issue explicit guidelines for the televised leaders’ debates so that all leaders of the federal political parties participate so long as they received at least two per cent of the vote in the previous election.  On Tuesday, the Federal Court of Appeal is scheduled to hear a notice of motion from the party for an expedited hearing on the issue.  Right now, a consortium of broadcasters—which includes the CBC, Radio-Canada, CTV, Global and TVA –determines the debate’s participants. CRTC broadcasting decision 1995-44, issued in March 1995, stated that the commission would no longer require debate programs to feature...

Bell to negotiate for value for signal for CTV stations

Media | 04/01/2011 9:19 pm EDT

Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. announced Friday that, with the final acquisition of its media division, the company now supports value for signal. “[T]he model planned by the CRTC allows TV broadcasters and TV service providers to negotiate VFS [value for signal] on a level playing field,” Bell said in a release...

Industry leaders take on key issues at CRTC’s ‘state of the union’ forum

Media | 04/01/2011 7:53 pm EDT

The CRTC’s “state of the union” forum last week sought to bring together key industry leaders outside of a hearing and gain input on new, broad policy directions, say those who attended. “They made much about having broadcasting and telecom people in one room. That never...

Netflix growing, aims for one million Canadian subscribers by summer

Media | 03/30/2011 10:15 pm EDT

Netflix Inc. is taking up customers faster than expected and is stocking up its online library in an effort to attract one million Canadian subscribers by the summer, Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey says. “That's a faster trajectory than we expected,” Swasey said in an interview Wednesday. “The more...

Production industry concerned about uncertainty of CMF budget

Media | 03/30/2011 8:28 pm EDT

The dissolution of Parliament and the failure to pass the federal budget has left the Canada Media Fund (CMF) without guaranteed government funding of $100 million. The issue is causing concern among the broadcasting and production community, which says some producers now have to wait in a period of uncertainty before new...

Ubisoft, Université de Montréal to make videogames less frustrating

Media | 03/25/2011 9:21 pm EDT

Future titles from videogame maker Ubisoft Entertainment will analyze players’ skill levels to automatically adjust the game's difficulty. The development comes in part from a new partnership between the company, the Université de Montréal and the federal government.  On March 15, Ubisoft...

CBC to re-submit rejected transition plan for Fredericton, Saint-John

Media | 03/24/2011 9:42 pm EDT

Following the CRTC’s rejection of a CBC application about its over-the-air television service for Fredericton and Saint John, N.B., the broadcaster says it intends to re-file an amended application that would still see the end of an over-the-air signal for Saint-John. “We studied the option of installing a...

Supreme Court to weigh in on thorny issue of ISPs as broadcasting undertakings

Media | 03/24/2011 4:49 pm EDT

Canada’s highest court said Thursday it will weigh in on the thorny issue of whether Internet service providers (ISPs) carry on broadcasting activities and qualify for regulation by the CRTC. A coalition of cultural groups had appealed the issue to the Supreme Court, which said Thursday it will look at whether the...

CRTC appointee Pentefountas chalks up controversy to political climate

Media | 03/23/2011 11:28 pm EDT

OTTAWA—The CRTC's new vice-chair of broadcasting, Athanasios (Tom) Pentefountas, says the controversy swirling around his appointment to the commission is the result of political tensions. “I think there's a overheated, political, highly partisan period right now. I can't imagine why that's the case, but I'd...

Heritage committee, CMPA, call for CRTC consultation on foreign, online broadcasters

Media | 03/23/2011 7:13 pm EDT

The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) and the House of Commons heritage committee are among voices now calling on the CRTC to open a proceeding to look at the emergence of foreign-owned digital broadcasting players like Netflix Inc.  In a report tabled Monday, which looks at the impacts of private television ownership changes and the move towards new viewing platforms, the Commons heritage committee recommended that the CRTC hold a hearing on non-Canadian over-the-top providers to determine whether and how they should support Canadian cultural programming. The CMPA said Wednesday that it supports the idea. In February, the CMPA met with film and television industry...

Exclude copyright from all trade agreements: Heritage committee report

Media | 03/23/2011 3:57 pm EDT

The opposition parties on the House of Commons heritage committee have recommended that the government exclude copyright policy from trade negotiations and focus on developing international copyright policy through bodies like the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). A committee report tabled in the House...

Tories’ federal budget silent on broadband, spectrum

Media | 03/22/2011 10:42 pm EDT

OTTAWA—The federal Conservative government says its 2011 budget lays the groundwork for its upcoming digital economy strategy—but the budget document makes no mention of broadband initiatives, foreign ownership or spectrum issues.  “Budget 2011 sets the stage for the release of Canada’s Digital...

Delayed copyright law impeding notice-and-notice system for ISPs, providers say

Media | 03/22/2011 10:16 pm EDT

OTTAWA—Uncertainty surrounding the future of Canada’s copyright law is impeding Internet service providers’ (ISPs) attempts to deal with infringing content online and is leading to a “cat and mouse game” in their pursuit of alleged infringers, ISPs told the House of Commons legislative...

Quebecor takes CRTC content sharing decision to Federal Court

Media | 03/17/2011 10:23 pm EDT

Quebecor Media Inc. has filed a motion with the Federal Court of Appeal to contest a CRTC decision in January that forces the company to share its exclusive video-on-demand content with Bell Canada and Telus Corp. “The CRTC exceeded its powers, by-passed the applicable test, and improperly applied inapplicable...

CRTC working group finalizing new media reporting requirements

Media | 03/17/2011 9:49 pm EDT

The CRTC’s new media working group has finalized some of its reporting requirements for new media broadcasting services, which are now preparing revenue reports for the commission.  “The only way we can know if there is a need for regulation on [the new media broadcasting] side is if we have information,” Kelly Lynne Ashton, director of policy for the Writer’s Guild of Canada and member of the working group, said in a phone interview.  Last August, the CRTC announced a policy to request relevant financial information from new media broadcasting services affiliated with licensed broadcasters.  At the time, the commission issued a call for participation in a new media working group to develop standard requirements for the reporting of new media...

Moral rights more important as digital works are seen as ‘raw material, data’: Author

Media | 03/16/2011 7:49 pm EDT

Last year, a 17-year-old Berlin author, Helene Hegemann, published a teen bestseller that set off something of a controversy about moral rights in the digital environment. Hegemann’s book, Axolotl Roadkill, was comprised largely of passages from other books and works. Writing about...

Industry not showing a lot of love for Songwriters’ new licence fee proposal

Media | 03/14/2011 9:05 pm EDT

The Songwriters Association of Canada’s (SAC) latest proposal for a licence fee on Internet services to legalize music file sharing isn’t getting a lot of love from record labels, Internet service providers (ISPs) and screenwriters. In the latest version of its policy proposal, updated in January, the SAC calls...

Reproduction right ‘punishes’ radio stations for adopting new technology, Lake says

Media | 03/10/2011 9:37 pm EST

Music copyright collectives defended the tariffs that radio stations pay to transfer music files Thursday against charges from the government that the royalties are “punishment” for the adoption of new technology.  Music copyright collectives, which administer the collection...

Quebecor conducting legal analysis of CRTC’s exclusive content moratorium

Media | 03/09/2011 9:57 pm EST

Quebecor Media Inc. is conducting an internal legal analysis to determine the CRTC's authority to implement a moratorium on exclusive content agreements for mobile and online platforms, Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau says. “We're asking ourselves, and we're going to go through a legal review,...

Cost of digital TV subsidy program ‘prohibitively high’: Heritage Department

Media | 03/08/2011 9:43 pm EST

OTTAWA—A subsidy program to assist television viewers affected by the transition from analog to digital television broadcasting could cost more than $200 million, Jean-Pierre Blais, assistant deputy minister of cultural affairs at the Heritage Department, told the House of Commons Standing...

Tories looking at potential agreement with Bloc to pass C-32

Media | 03/08/2011 4:36 pm EST

OTTAWA—The Bloc Québécois and the Conservative government are in talks about a potential deal to amend, fast track and pass copyright bill C-32. The Bloc’s proposed deal would meet conditions that the bill be amended to close some user exceptions in the bill. Although the Bloc is asking that the...

XM-Sirius merger is satellite radio’s ‘best chance of survival,’ executives say

Media | 03/08/2011 1:11 pm EST

The future of satellite radio in Canada depends on the successful merger of the industry’s only two competitors, Sirius Canada Inc. and XM Canada, company executives told the CRTC at a hearing Monday.  “Your approval of this application will provide Canadian satellite radio with...

CRTC approves BCE-CTV transaction, imposes moratorium on exclusive content deals

Media | 03/08/2011 12:09 am EST

The CRTC addressed concerns about potential anti-competitive behaviour for vertically integrated companies in a decision Monday, imposing a moratorium on exclusive content deals for vertically integrated carriers until the commission deals with the issue in a hearing this spring.  In a decision that approved BCE...

MediaTube plans to launch IPTV in Toronto market by end of summer

Media | 03/04/2011 6:38 pm EST

MediaTube Corp. is counting on the differentiated offerings of Internet protocol television (IPTV) to help launch a competitive new broadcasting distribution service in the greater Toronto and London areas this year. “We have similar capabilities with what you have with cable, but we’ll also open up the full suite of IPTV products and services,” MediaTube president Ted Chislett said by phone. “So the idea is that someone who takes our box will be able to watch the Internet on their TV, and see YouTube, as well as the normal cable channels.” MediaTube’s set-top box technology will include a browser, which Chislett said will “be as general purpose...

Radio broadcasters target Liberals in copyright ad campaign

Media | 03/03/2011 11:29 pm EST

OTTAWA—Facing tough resistance from all three opposition parties about a change to the Copyright Act to eliminate mechanical royalties for radio broadcasters, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) is airing a coast-to-coast advertising campaign that points the finger at the Liberals. The radio spot, which is...

French-language TV network V a logical acquisition for Bell, experts say

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

French-language TV network V Interactions Inc. would be a logical acquisition for BCE Inc., experts say. “Considering that over 50 per cent of their market share is probably in Quebec. They're going to need French-language content,” Richard Paradis, president of consulting firm Groupe CIC and an instructor in...

Music industry groups say amend Bill C-32—or kill it

Media | 03/01/2011 10:34 pm EST

OTTAWA—Lobbying on the Conservative government’s copyright reform legislation is intensifying as the country’s largest music industry groups now say they don’t support the bill’s passage, and that if passed as-is, it will do more harm than good. Influential music industry groups the Canadian...

CBC not asking for funding to fill holes in controversial digital transition plan

Media | 03/01/2011 1:22 am EST

OTTAWA—The CBC is not asking for any additional funding for its transition to digital, over-the-air television broadcasting, even though the move will leave at least 10 communities across Canada without access.  Even if it received funding, the CBC probably wouldn’t spend it on the digital transition,...

Broadcasters win value-for-signal court victory; CRTC policy gets green light

Media | 03/01/2011 12:55 am EST

In a victory for broadcasters Monday, the Federal Court of Appeal issued a split decision that said the CRTC has the power and jurisdiction to implement its controversial value-for-signal regime. The commission released its policy decision in March 2010, but referred it to the Federal Court of Appeal for a determination on whether it has the jurisdiction to implement it. “No one believed it could be won,” a broadcasting industry source, who asked not to be named, told The Wire Report by email Monday, noting that the court decision came after “a long hard battle.” “Who knows what will happen next but it is an important day in the broadcasting business as...

PVRs will not eliminate TV advertising’s 30-second spot, experts say

Media | 02/28/2011 8:47 pm EST

The popularity of personal video recorders (PVRs) and the power of television viewers to fast-forward through ads is leading to new advertising strategies.  Although experts say the PVR won’t kill the 30-second spot, it may make conventional advertising more sophisticated. PVR devices allow viewers to record...

Apple’s 30 per cent subscription charge to challenge legacy media companies

Media | 02/25/2011 7:20 pm EST

Media companies are pondering their digital sales strategies after Apple Inc. announced it will take a 30 per cent share of all content sold through its app store’s new digital media subscription service. Observers say the sector’s new entrants can plan around the charge—but it’s not very good news...

Netflix meeting discussed new condition for new media exemption

Media | 02/24/2011 9:53 pm EST

Industry leaders who met last Friday to discuss the role of online streaming site Netflix Inc. in the Canadian broadcasting system are looking at the power of the CRTC to implement new conditions on its regulatory exemption for new media. Industry and regulatory sources say that at last Friday’s...

Online newspapers increasingly competing with broadcasters for advertising

Media | 02/23/2011 7:43 pm EST

The Winnipeg Free Press’ new online video portal puts newspapers and TV stations in closer competition for advertising dollars, industry observers say. Accessible via the Free Press website, the new platform, WFPtv, offers four-minute-long video stories on sports, cars, culture and other content not driven by hard...

Video game industry divided on impacts of usage-based billing

Media | 02/22/2011 10:49 pm EST

Canadian video game developers are divided over the impacts that usage-based billing has on their industry. Senior industry insiders would not comment on the record but told The Wire Report in background interviews that some developers feel bandwidth caps hinder digital distribution and others say it protects against game...

Independent broadcasters call for more flexibility under new group-licensing model

Media | 02/22/2011 10:45 pm EST

Independent broadcasters are calling on the CRTC for greater regulatory flexibility as the commission prepares to apply its group-based licensing policy to Canada's large broadcasting groups. “Independent programming services compete with the large broadcast groups for viewers, programming, access to distribution...

Court decision closes the file on CRTC exception for Cogeco-Corus deal, for now

Media | 02/22/2011 9:35 pm EST

The Federal Court of Appeal’s decision Friday to turn down a request to appeal the CRTC’s regulatory exception for Cogeco Inc. has for now “closed the file” for competitor Astral Media Radio Inc., the company says. In a decision on Dec. 17, the CRTC granted Cogeco a regulatory exception to operate...

CMPA, broadcasting industry, large ISPs meet to discuss regulation of Netflix

Media | 02/18/2011 10:50 pm EST

OTTAWA—Concern about the role of over-the-top broadcasting service Netflix in the Canadian broadcasting system is mounting as broadcasting and telco industry leaders met behind closed doors Friday to discuss regulating online broadcasters. Industry sources told The Wire Report that the Canadian Media Production...

Von Finckenstein says commission will withdraw ‘false and misleading news’ amendment

Media | 02/18/2011 9:13 pm EST

OTTAWA—CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein says the commission tried to stall the amendment to its prohibition on false and misleading news for 10 years, but eventually gave into pressure from the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations when it proposed its amendments in January. But now that the regulations committee has agreed to no longer pursue the issue, the chair says the CRTC will drop it. “We never wanted to touch this thing. We put it forward because we were ordered to do it. We did what we thought would be a workable compromise,” von Finckenstein said in brief interview Friday at the Prime Time conference in Ottawa, organized by the Canadian...

‘Collateral damage’ to hit broadcasters through vertical integration, Stursberg says

Media | 02/18/2011 11:51 am EST

OTTAWA—Broadcasters will bear significant “collateral damage” in the move to vertically integrated communications companies that will inevitably fail, Richard Stursberg, Telus Corp.'s new senior advisor on media and entertainment strategy, said Thursday. “The track record so...

Heritage committee recommends opening up CMF to digital media

Media | 02/17/2011 9:41 pm EST

OTTAWA—The House of Commons heritage committee issued a report on digital media Thursday that called for increased access to the Canada Media Fund (CMF) for digital media projects. “What we’ve heard again and again is to open up the Canada Media Fund so that new digital forms of culture can be accessed...

Regulations committee drops advice to CRTC on false and misleading news

Media | 02/17/2011 5:49 pm EST

OTTAWA—Facing mounting public pressure, the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations, a committee of the House and Senate, agreed Thursday to withdraw advice to the CRTC to water down a regulation prohibiting the broadcast of false and misleading news. Some observers now expect the CRTC, which is...

Look to budget for government policy on CBC funding, Moore says

Media | 02/17/2011 12:02 pm EST

OTTAWA—The Conservative government will make its policy clear on multi-year funding for the CBC in the upcoming federal budget, Heritage Minister James Moore told the House heritage committee Wednesday. “I understand the concern, I understand the needs, I understand the request and ... You'll see the...

Shaw, Rogers, Corus oppose CTV proposal for common Cancon spending requirement

Media | 02/16/2011 8:11 pm EST

Broadcasting players and industry groups are quarrelling over a CTVglobemedia Inc. proposal to apply common Canadian content spending obligations to all large broadcasters under the CRTC's new licensing policy for television groups. “Rogers strongly disagrees with this position,” Rogers Communications Inc. wrote in a submission to the CRTC. “Rogers submits that a case-by-case determination of each group's CPE [Canadian programming expenditures] obligation is the only fair and equitable way to proceed.”  The CRTC is now conducting a proceeding on licence applications from the large, English-language Canadian broadcasting groups—CTV, Rogers, Shaw Media...

CRTC opposed to false and misleading news change, but taking heat for it

Media | 02/15/2011 10:17 pm EST

The CRTC disagrees with its own proposed regulatory change about false and misleading news—an amendment spearheaded by a parliamentary committee that has drawn national public attention and criticism of the commission. The CRTC opened separate consultations in December and January that said it intends to amend a...

Satellite radio merger will help XM, Sirius compete, experts say

Media | 02/15/2011 6:28 pm EST

A merger between Canada's two satellite radio players will shift their focus from battling each other to competing with traditional radio and new media platforms, industry observers say. “[Sirius Canada Inc.] is a company that looks like it's doing well enough to try to get a larger part of the market,” Richard...

CBC still waiting on multi-year government funding

Media | 02/15/2011 1:21 pm EST

OTTAWA—The CBC continues to wait for a move to stable, multi-year funding as recommended by the House heritage committee in February 2008, CBC president and CEO Hubert T. Lacroix said Monday. “We have asked the government for years during conversations with the [heritage] minister to extend or prolong the $60 million [in funding] so we...

Local1 proposal was more weather than news, Pelmorex says

Media | 02/14/2011 8:59 pm EST

The CRTC made the right move this month when it denied Corus Entertainment Inc.’s application for a new specialty channel that leaned more towards weather than news and information, Pelmorex Communications Inc. says. “It was a weather service, and I think the commission upheld their own policy,” Paul...

Radio companies mine targeted audiences online for new advertising revenues

Media | 02/11/2011 6:29 pm EST

Canadian radio stations are starting to use new Internet analysis tools to mine online audiences for targeted promotions and additional advertising revenues. Astral Media Inc. and Corus Entertainment Inc. are using a web content management system and online audience tracking platform from Emmis Interactive, a subsidiary of...

Shaw to start deploying only fibre next year

Media | 02/10/2011 9:43 pm EST

Shaw Communications Inc. will start deploying only fibre cables next year in a defensive move to increase its Internet service speeds and network reliability.  “We have a strategy that involves extensive fibre-to-the-home deployments beginning next year,” Dennis Steiger, Shaw's group vice-president of engineering, said in a phone...

Distributors argue against renewal of mandatory carriage for Pelmorex

Media | 02/08/2011 11:46 pm EST

Canada’s major broadcasting distributors are lining up against Pelmorex Communications Inc.’s request to renew its mandatory carriage order for The Weather Network for a seven-year licence term. The CRTC is now considering Pelmorex’s application to renew its broadcasting licence for The Weather Network...

CRTC receives thousands of comments on ‘false and misleading news’ amendment

Media | 02/08/2011 8:08 pm EST

A small and seemingly technical regulatory change under way at the CRTC about the broadcasting of false and misleading news has inadvertently drawn thousands of public comments directed at the commission. But as CRTC staff sort through unhappy messages about a “completely unacceptable”...

Critics take aim at lack of experience of new CRTC appointee

Media | 02/08/2011 1:42 am EST

OTTAWA--Opposition MPs and industry observers are criticizing the Conservative government’s appointment of Athanasios (Tom) Pentefountas to the position of vice-chair of broadcasting at the CRTC, pointing to the new appointee’s lack of broadcasting experience. “We’ve never seen [Pentefountas] working with broadcasting and telecommunications. We’ve never seen him at the CRTC. When you see the job description, there is nothing in it that corresponds with what we know about Pentefountas,” Carole Lavallée, Bloc Québécois MP and heritage critic, said in an interview. Heritage Minister James Moore announced Friday that Pentefountas will fill the vacancy at the commission left by Michel Arpin, whose term expired Aug. 30 without...

Election speculation taking toll on work of C-32 legislative committee

Media | 02/07/2011 10:48 pm EST

OTTAWA—Productivity at the C-32 legislative committee appears to have slowed to a crawl as partisan gamesmanship takes centre stage and political parties fail to sit down and negotiate possible amendments. Liberal MP and heritage critic Pablo Rodriguez, a member of the C-32 committee, said in an interview Thursday...

‘Thought-controlled’ gaming technologies gaining traction, experts say

Media | 02/07/2011 8:54 pm EST

Mind-based game interfaces could become more prevalent within a few years following the debut of a “thought-controlled” video game from Toronto software company InteraXon Inc., industry observers say. InteraXon unveiled a thought-controlled version of Zen Bound 2 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las...

BCE makes final offer on tangible benefits, removes funding for HD news

Media | 02/04/2011 6:45 pm EST

GATINEAU—BCE Inc. presented the CRTC with a final offer for its benefits package Friday, removing funding for the production of high-definition local news content and lowering the amount for satellite conversion. Lobby groups and companies had previously called some of the proposals, including a satellite upgrade to...

Industry quarrel continues over BCE’s use of benefits for satellite TV upgrade

Media | 02/03/2011 9:08 pm EST

GATINEAU—Cultural groups and competitors continued to weigh in Thursday on how to spend the tangible benefits derived from Bell Canada Enterprises Inc.’s acquisition of CTVglobemedia Inc. Thursday was the third day of the CRTC’s hearing on the transaction. At issue is the size and contents of BCE’s...

Quebecor urges new framework to prevent exclusive sports content

Media | 02/03/2011 7:51 pm EST

GATINEAU—Quebecor Media Inc. is asking the CRTC to establish a new regulatory framework to prevent the exclusive ownership of broadcasting rights for sports content, arguing that BCE Inc. is on the verge of holding a monopoly in the Quebec market.  “By preserving the status quo, BCE will hold a monopoly over the broadcasting rights of sports events in the French-language market that exists nowhere else in Canada,” Pierre-Karl Péladeau, Quebecor’s president and CEO, told the commission Thursday.  The CRTC is conducting public hearings this week about BCE’s $3.2-billion acquisition of CTVglobemedia Inc.’s broadcasting assets. The transaction will give BCE full ownership of sports stations TSN and RDS, which own the regional...

Telus, Cogeco say negotiations with BCE have already led to competitive disadvantage

Media | 02/02/2011 11:46 pm EST

GATINEAU—Telus Corp. and Cogeco Cable Inc. told the CRTC Wednesday it should implement safeguards to protect them from undue preference under BCE Inc.’s acquisition of CTVglobemedia Inc., noting they have already experienced a competitive disadvantage in negotiations with Bell.  “Telus has filed a...

Competitors, advocacy groups, criticize BCE benefits package, ask to redirect funds

Media | 02/02/2011 11:19 pm EST

GATINEAU—BCE Inc. is taking heat for a revised tangible benefits package it has proposed as part of its acquisition of CTVglobemedia Inc.’s broadcasting assets.  Competitors and cultural groups describe some of the spending as “self-serving.”  “There are always many other things...

‘We invented Hockey Night in Canada,’ Lacroix says

Media | 02/02/2011 10:29 pm EST

Hubert T. Lacroix says he wants to take CBC/Radio-Canada further into Canada’s regions. And he’s going “to do what is necessary” to ensure that Hockey Night in Canada remains with the CBC. Lacroix, president and CEO of the public broadcaster, released a $33-million, five-year strategic plan Tuesday...

Artists tell committee they want content ‘widely distributed, not locked up’

Media | 02/01/2011 10:29 pm EST

Content creators and advocates told the legislative committee on Bill C-32 Tuesday that a “lock and litigate” formula in the Conservative government’s copyright reform bill will curb artistic production.  “Every creator wants their content to be widely distributed, not...

BCE not commited to sharing all content following CTV acquisition

Media | 02/01/2011 10:17 pm EST

GATINEAU—BCE Inc. president and CEO George Cope told the CRTC Tuesday he can’t guarantee the company will not use exclusive content after it completes its acquisition of CTVglobemedia Inc.’s broadcasting assets. “We’re not prepared to make the same categorical commitment that Shaw...

Carriers look to optimization technologies to fight mobile video data crunch

Media | 01/28/2011 4:21 pm EST

As an increasing number of customers use their mobile handsets to watch online video, carriers are starting to move to new video optimization technologies for higher quality streaming.  Patrick Lopez, chief marketing officer at Vantrix Corp., a Montreal video-optimization software company, said the technology is...

CRTC’s undue preference ruling sets precedent for wireless, online, Telus says

Media | 01/27/2011 11:39 pm EST

A CRTC ruling Wednesday that said Quebecor Media Inc. acted with undue preference when it held back competitor access to exclusive content for video-on-demand services has set a precedent for similar issues on mobile and online platforms, Telus Corp. says. “I think it very much sets a precedent for both wireless and...

Quebecor’s launch of Sun TV News on target

Media | 01/27/2011 10:54 pm EST

Quebecor Media Inc.’s Sun TV News channel is expected to receive carriage with the major broadcasting distributors by its launch deadline of March 31, industry sources say.  Several senior industry sources told The Wire Report in background interviews that major television distributors Shaw Communications Inc., Rogers Communications Inc.,...

Cable companies should lay fibre for IPTV, analysts say

Media | 01/26/2011 8:16 pm EST

Cable companies should upgrade their network infrastructure to fibre so they can offer Internet protocol television (IPTV) and keep up with telcos now offering the technology, analysts say. “For the first time, cable is the incumbent, telcos are the insurgent, and arguably they have a better technology,” Dvai Ghose, a telecom analyst with Canaccord Genuity, said in an interview. Experts say cable networks can continue to compete with fibre for up to another 10 years, but at some point the major cablecos are expected to upgrade to fibre. The most obvious advantage of fibre over cable is its bandwidth capacity and speed. Australia is building out a national fibre network that will offer a 100 Mbps fibre-to-the-home Internet service. But another advantage of fibre is...