OTTAWA--The traditional television subscription model remains the most viable way to financially support televised content, Rogers Communications Inc. told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Tuesday. The Heritage committee is studying emerging and digital media. At a committee meeting Tuesday, Pablo Rodriguez, the Liberal heritage critic, asked whether there is a future for traditional, linear television, when some experts say people’s watching habits will migrate to the Internet. “If Rogers succeeds in harnessing digital technology to modernize its cable television service, it means that the CRTC can continue to impose the Canadian content...
STRATFORD, Ont.—The wireless industry must embrace data monetization as traffic from new mobile devices increases broadband access and congests networks, says Wade Oosterman, president of Bell Mobility and chief brand officer at Bell Canada. Oosterman, who participated in a panel discussion Monday about the future of mobility at the Canada 3.0 conference, hosted by the Canadian Digital Media Network and the University of Waterloo, said monetization of data is becoming increasingly important in the new environment. “The industry has to embrace monetizing data, because at some point you’re going to have two massive collisions between available capacity and capacity...
STRATFORD, Ont.—The federal government will draw up a digital economy action plan with the collective input of stakeholders and the public, but the plan could take up to 18 months to develop, Industry Minster Tony Clement said at the Canada 3.0 conference Monday. “This will not be...
Canadian independent producers are having trouble accessing new media funding, the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) told the House Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Thursday. John Barrack, the CFTPA’s chief operating officer and chief legal officer, said the new Canada Media...
Shaw president Peter Bissonnette says he hopes to see the CRTC approve the company’s acquisition of Canwest Global Communications Corp.’s broadcasting assets by September. “Our applications are filed, the commission has those, and we would expect it to be vetted by the beginning of June,”...
Cogeco Inc. can turn around its newly-acquired Corus Entertainment Inc. radio stations by making more efficient use of resources and focusing on local markets, experts say. The companies reached an agreement late last month that will see Cogeco acquire Corus’s 11 Quebec FM radio stations. Corus and Cogeco...
OTTAWA—The federal government should appoint an expert panel to study communications regulatory reform and come up with a roadmap on how to how to proceed on the prickly issue, CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein says. “You need the foundation. Someone has to develop a new concept, a new way to [proceed],” von Finckenstein told The Wire Report following a panel discussion in Ottawa Thursday, titled “Telecom in Canada: A New Owner’s Manual,” hosted by Canada 2020. “The way you normally do it is you appoint a panel of people who are knowledgeable about the industry and give them a clear mandate,” von Finckenstein said. Regulatory...
OTTAWA—Opening up the Canadian telecommunications sector to more foreign investment would increase tax revenues and create fiscal room to fund more Canadian content, a University of Alberta economics professor told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, Thursday. “I...
The federal government is poised to introduce a new copyright bill within the next six weeks that will include American-inspired anti-circumvention measures and reject flexible fair dealing, Michael Geist says. Geist, a digital rights advocate and the Canada research chair of Internet and e-commerce law at the University...
OTTAWA--Canadian content creators should be compensated for the illegal sharing and distribution of digital content through a broad levy collected at all distribution and storage points, including Internet services, storage devices, and mp3 players, the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) is...
GATINEAU, Que.—At the conclusion of the CRTC’s hearings to review of the policy framework for community television, the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) said Tuesday that the issue of ownership has become the central question for the sector. “The commission has two models in front of it,”...
The Canadian telecom and broadcasting sectors would benefit from a unified ministry of communications, Astral Media Inc. chairman André Bureau told the House industry committee Tuesday. The House Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology is studying the liberalization of Canada’s foreign...
GATINEAU, Que.--Rogers Communications Inc. told the CRTC Monday that free market competition is better for the community television sector than partnering to provide channels. On Friday, Bell Canada proposed a plan to create two national community channels, one English and one French, and that existing community...
Carriers are starting to eye the cloud music space. Cloud music services—or those streamed live from the Internet—can be accessed anywhere via smart phones and other devices, and don’t require downloading. Some observers consider them a potential Holy Grail for music...
GATINEAU, Que.—Bell Canada faced tough questions from the CRTC Friday about a new proposal to merge the cable and Internet protocol TV (IPTV) providers’ community television channels in the same markets and share their content with two national Bell TV community channels, one in English and one in French....
OTTAWA--Canada could find itself scrambling to provide a national voice on the Web if the country doesn’t get serious about its commitment to digital media and better communications infrastructure, the head of the National Film Board (NFB) told the Commons heritage committee Thursday. Speaking before the House Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Tom Perlmutter, chair and film commissioner of the NFB, said the fast-paced changes brought about by social media like Facebook and YouTube are propelling new media toward a “tipping point,” in which countries with ubiquitous broadband systems and frameworks for digital media production will have secured their places...
Experts say CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein’s calls for a merger of the telecom and broadcasting acts may not be worth the effort. “I’m not really sure that the act of putting two bills into one really achieves a great deal,” Hank Intven, a lawyer and telecommunications expert with...
Companies and community organizations presented video-on-demand (VOD) and innovations in new media as alternatives to the existing community television model at the CRTC Thursday. As the commission continued hearings on its review of the community television policy framework, Telus Corp. presented a description...
GATINEAU, Que.—Two of Canada’s largest cultural workers’ unions told the CRTC Wednesday that a growing concentration of ownership in the country’s large cable providers is generating more “regional” programming than local, effectively limiting Canadians’ access to community...
Canada needs do develop a “national media strategy” focused on Canadian content in the digital age, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) told the House Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Tuesday. ACTRA spoke before the committee as part of its study on emerging and...
GATINEAU, Que.— Quebecor Media subsidiary Videotron proposed an increase in community television funding Tuesday. At the CRTC’s hearings to review the community television policy framework, Videotron proposed that cable companies with more than 20,000 customers be required to put five per cent of their revenues into community television. Currently, cable providers with more than 20,000 customers are only required to dedicate two per cent of their revenues to community television. In an effort to better serve small communities, cable companies with fewer than 20,000 customers are also obligated to pay five per cent of their revenues into community channels. Quebec’s...
GATINEAU, Que.—The CRTC heard a new proposal Monday during its review of the community television policy framework—from one its members. At the commission’s hearings, launched Monday to review the community television policy framework, commissioner Michel Morin raised the idea of cable companies and...
The effectiveness of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) is under debate as groups prepare for the privacy commissioner’s upcoming 2010 Consumer Privacy Consultations. While companies and industry associations say PIPEDA protects consumer privacy effectively, public interest...
TORONTO—Marketers are struggling to track advertising reach in the brave new world of digital media, experts told a conference hosted by BBM Canada Friday. Researchers are looking for innovative ways to track digital media consumption as it becomes more important—but challenging—for companies to...
Lobbying is intensifying among community interest groups as they prepare for a heated debate next week at the CRTC’s hearings on community television. Community television supporters are celebrating a development at the Quebec National Assembly this week, which unanimously adopted a...
OTTAWA—Responding to criticism that the federal government’s national copyright consultations “failed” last year, the Industry Department says online consultation is an “excellent method that allows for broad engagement” and that the 2009 consultation process was...
OTTAWA--A levy on digital storage devices and music players such as iPods would help legitimize illegal music file sharing, the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) told the House Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Thursday. “Do we have an issue with levies that are targeted and focused on private...
Deep packet inspection (DPI) technology doesn’t threaten people’s privacy. People threaten people’s privacy. Or that’s what Canadian network policy control solutions company Sandvine Inc. suggests in a recent submission to the privacy commissioner. The Office of the...
Provincial tax credits for the interactive digital media sector can be like manna from heaven for start-up firms and established companies, but some enterprises may be unaware of the subsidies. Ontario's refundable credit—up to 40 per cent of eligible labour costs—could mean thousands of dollars in the...
Online content providers should make it clearer when they track consumers’ online behaviour for marketing purposes, digital rights and marketing groups have told the privacy commissioner. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is holding consultations on online tracking, profiling and targeting in April, May and June in Montreal, Toronto and Calgary. According to submissions for the consultations obtained by The Wire Report through access-to-information, groups are expressing concerns about interest-based advertising (IBA), also known as behavioral marketing or targeting. Interest-based advertising allows companies to track a user’s online...
The demise of television has been discussed at length. Video killed the radio star, remember? Well, of course, that didn't happen, and neither is television at much risk of being killed by new media, games or apps. However, I have looked into the flat, multi-touch screen crystal ball of the iPad, and seen the future. The future has no room for...
TORONTO—Technology companies looking for new products and services for next-generation consumers may want to turn their attention to the innovative student projects at Ryerson University. The university opened a new business incubator called Digital Media Zone (DMZ) this month that offers hard-nosed business...
Online content producers face an uphill battle to secure funding for projects and experimentation with innovative ideas, Jeff Anders, CEO and co-founder of The Mark News, told the Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Thursday. “Speaking as one member of a vibrant community of start-up companies across the...
Experts suggest that a failure to bring the World Cup in 3D to Canada could be a missed opportunity to give the technology the kick it needs. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) says it is providing 3D footage of soccer matches during June’s World Cup...
OTTAWA—The government should invest more heavily in next-generation satellite technology to provide broadband Internet access to remote areas, Ken Stein, senior vice-president of corporate and regulatory affairs with Shaw Communications Inc., told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, Thursday. “If the government really wanted to do something in this area, one of the things they could do is to invest in a Ka band satellite capability to develop high-speed Internet services in remote areas,” Stein told the committee. Stein said the investment could reach hundreds of millions of dollars, or even billions, but that it would go a long...
OTTAWA—Although the Liberal Party voted in favour of a non-binding motion in the Commons Wednesday to create a levy on digital music devices, the party says the vote was not an expression of support for the policy. Liberal MP and party heritage critic Pablo Rodriguez said the party is still consulting on the issue...
Despite modest inroads in Canada, over-the-top (OTT) television has the potential to alter the way Canadians consume television, experts say. OTT, a form of Internet protocol television (IPTV), is the direct delivery of video over the Internet to any device, anywhere, at any time. “When I...
Facing competition in the West, Telus Corp. is viewing its television services as a growth area as the company invests $1.7 billion across the country this year. Telus Corp. said Monday it is investing $250 million in Quebec, bringing the company’s announced investments across the country this year to more...
Facing questions about delays in the transition to digital television broadcasting Tuesday, Heritage Minister James Moore asked the Commons heritage committee, “How many people who are not prepared for the digital transition don’t want to [be]?” A significant percentage of people...
OTTAWA--Canada needs a single piece of legislation to cover telecom, broadcasting and radio communications in a converged technological world, Konrad von Finckenstein, chair of the CRTC, told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology Tuesday. “The legislative and regulatory structure...
A coalition of cultural groups is requesting to intervene in support of Public Mobile’s Federal Court challenge of the government’s decision on Globalive Communications Corp., arguing that the law must be applied fairly and "in a manner that is consistent with the [Telecommunications] Act." On...
OTTAWA—The question of whether Internet service providers (ISPs) should be regulated as distributors under the Broadcasting Act has reached a boiling point as cultural groups and ISPs have put their arguments on the table at the Federal Court of Appeal. The CRTC referred the legal question to the Federal Court...
In response to the CBC’s internal memo that it will lose $12.6-million in digital production and television program funding this year, the Canada Media Fund (CMF) says it is trying to “level the playing field” between the CBC and private broadcasters. “The policy...
Industry insiders say they expect the federal government’s upcoming consultations on a national digital economy strategy to play out on a scale similar to last summer’s copyright consultations. “They are going to hear and experience a lot of emotion from Canadians,” Tom Copeland, chair of the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP), said in an interview. “Ultimately though, they have done this before, and really taken no action, or waited years to take action. We can’t afford to wait any longer.” Copeland said he expects the upcoming consultations to feature town hall-style meetings and roundtable discussions, much like those held...
Telus Corp. and Bell Canada say the CRTC released misleading financial information that favoured the broadcasting industry just days before the commission’s seminal March 22 decision on value for signal. In a March 29 letter to CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein, Kevin Crull, Bell...
The pressures of vertical integration are increasingly pushing Canadian telecom operators into offering Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services, say experts. Pacôme Revillon, CEO of satellite applications, communications, and digital broadcasting research and analyst firm Euroconsult, told The Wire Report that...
Television providers CTVGlobemedia and Score Media are challenging new television licence applications from Jay Switzer and Canyon TV, arguing that they would compete directly with existing television services. Jay Switzer, former CEO and president of Chum Ltd., has applied for a Category 2 specialty service,...
TORONTO—Google Canada officials predicted the trends that will shape the future of the mobile Web at a “Mobile Monday” presentation at the Mars Centre in Toronto on Monday. About 400 people turned up for the event Easter Monday, eager to hear about the search giant’s direction. Some major...
On most days, the CRTC is not top-of-mind for the average Canadian, but on March 22 the commission issued a key decision on value for signal, and the public took notice. The lament that it’s “time the CRTC start thinking about consumers”—as one newspaper expressed it—rapidly became a refrain in editorial pages and online postings following the decision. Some consumers took the decision, which may or may not affect the nation’s television bills, to heart. “The CRTC protects monopolies,” read one anonymous online posting. “The CRTC is a disgrace,” read another. The CRTC has noted that only one...
The rising popularity of location-based services and applications has been described as potential gold mine for advertisers and a potential minefield for privacy advocates. Applications like FourSquare, Yelp, Google Latitude, AroundMe and Poynt use the GPS capabilities on mobile devices to track users’...
OTTAWA—What started as an ideological debate about foreign ownership turned emotional Thursday as groups representing Canada’s broadcasting artists went head-to-head with Tory members of the Commons industry committee. “You’re not listening to what we’re telling...
Anyone following the fallout from the CRTC’s recent decision on value for signal is sure to have noted CBC/Radio-Canada’s forceful reaction. Some have called it exaggerated. Others have gone further than that: “Rattling cuff links. Umbrage. Outrage.” Had I been wearing cuff links, that would indeed...
At a time when technology is becoming an integral part of the way people communicate and get information and entertainment, the CRTC’s job as a regulator is harder than ever. That’s because regulatory systems are being undermined by the relentless spread of new kinds of communication and a borderless...
OTTAWA—Liberal Party MPs are pushing for a special legislative committee of the House of Commons to review the government’s new copyright reform bill once it is tabled in Parliament. The move would be a way to handle potential conflicts over copyright policy within parties and for the MPs responsible for...
Broadcast distributors Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc. say they are pleased with the CRTC’s decision to allow advertising on video-on-demand (VOD) services—and that the move should encourage broadcasters to put forward more content for VOD. The CRTC decision, issued Monday, means a company like...
OTTAWA--The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting warned the Commons industry committee Tuesday that loosening the foreign ownership restrictions in a vertically integrated telecommunications sector would have adverse ripple effects on the Canadian broadcasting sector. “In this integrated...
Canada should recreate a federal department of culture and communications, Glenn O’Farrell, former president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), said Saturday during a panel at the Liberal Party’s Canada at 150 conference in Montreal. O’Farrell, now CEO and principal at...
Despite a $350 million budget, the new Canada Media Fund (CMF) will meet the demands of only 50 to 60 per cent of the market, CMF chief executive Valerie Creighton says. The CMF released its guidelines at a launch in Toronto last week, and Creighton spoke to The Wire Report by telephone Monday about the new fund. On April 1, the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) and the Canada New Media Fund (CNMF) will officially cease to exist. Out of their ashes will emerge the CMF. The fund will be divided into two branches: the experimental steam and the convergent stream. The experimental stream aims to fund Canadian interactive, digital media content and software applications. In order...
Satellite and cable distributors are quietly regrouping and planning their next course of action following the CRTC’s decision this week on a negotiation regime for value for signal. Although the private broadcasters declared victory following the CRTC decision—which if approved by the Federal Court of...
It’s said the next big thing for tech-hipsters is augmented reality, and carriers stand to profit from a coming wave of these cool and groovy applications for smart phones. Augmented reality (AR) is a catch-all term for a wide range of smart phone applications that operate with image-capturing functions. “It’s...
Representatives of the Ontario Technology Corridor (OTC) have returned from a mission to San Francisco to convince digital media companies to set up shop in the province, but the province appears to have significant work ahead of it to put itself on the map. Representing the five regions across the...
Where you end up depends on where you start. That’s the most important thing to remember as you parse the decisions released this week by the CRTC. The decision on consumer impact is a hoot too. We're going to have a lot of angry Canadians, quietly seething in their quiet,...
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) says it supports CRTC commissioner Michel Morin’s argument that the proposal for a new framework for conventional television does more good for industry players than consumers. “There’s a lack of competition in the provision of TV services, and consumers need some form of protection in a similar way that they had with local telephony,” Michael Janigan, executive director and general counsel with PIAC, told The Wire Report. “There should be a modified basic service with a price ceiling on its cost.” In the CRTC’s report to cabinet Tuesday, commissioner Michel Morin took a step back from commission with a minority report, in which he argued the commission “defends the interests of the...
OTTAWA--Dean Del Mastro, parliamentary secretary to the minister of Canadian Heritage, says the government is taking the interests of consumers into consideration as it reviews the CRTC's recommendations to the government, issued Tuesday. The CRTC’s report to cabinet Tuesday issued three recommendations to...
Monday’s highly anticipated CRTC decision on value-for signal is turning attention to the United States’ “retransmission consent” system. The CRTC has recommended a Canadian version of the system, guarding approval from the Federal Court of Appeal. By this time next year, Canada could have a system similar to that of the United...
GATINEAU, Que.—CTV celebrated a key CRTC decision Monday that will allow private broadcasters to force open negotiations with the cable and satellite distributors by having the power to pull their programming—including popular American shows—from the distributors. The...
The Conservative government will be introducing a digital economy discussion paper “very shortly,” Industry Minister Tony Clement told the House industry committee Thursday. “We’ll be launching a discussion paper very shortly that will go to the country, and the fact...
Online television viewing has reached a tipping point, and carriers need to move faster to catch up with the trend, industry experts say. More Canadians now catch their favourite TV shows online than via personal video recorders (PVRs) and video-on-demand (VOD) combined, according to a recent survey of 1,000 people by...
OTTAWA--The Conservative government intends to introduce a copyright reform bill before Parliament’s summer recess, Industry Minister Tony Clement told The Wire Report. The government held national public consultations last summer on copyright reform. Over the past several months the industry and heritage...
Canadian conventional broadcasters spent 59 per cent of their programming expenses, or $846.3-million, on foreign programming in 2009, a 9.2 per cent increase over the previous year, say CRTC financial results released Thursday. Total revenues for the private conventional broadcasters,...
The House Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology is giving top priority to its review of the foreign ownership rules in the telecom and broadcasting sectors, committee chair and Conservative MP Michael Chong says. The committee will give the telecom review first priority...
OTTAWA—NDP MP Charlie Angus proposed two key copyright measures in Parliament Tuesday that are expected to force the governing and opposition parties to stake out positions on divisive copyright reform issues. One measure is in Angus’ private members’ Bill C-499, tabled Tuesday, which proposes to adapt the Copyright Act’s private copying levy to digital music devices like iPods and mp3 players. The Conservative government quickly staked out territory against Angus’ bill Tuesday, calling it a “tax” on iPods. “I think it’s totally nonsensical,” Industry Minister Tony Clement told reporters on Parliament Hill. “We’re...
Canada’s conventional television players are expected to fend for themselves after the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) closes this June, say experts and insiders. Last month, the CAB announced that it is closing in June due to an impasse between members. In its current form, the...
The Conservative government’s plan to remove foreign ownership restrictions for the Canadian satellite sector will help Canadian companies compete internationally, but the policy change isn’t likely to impact consumers, telecom experts say. The federal government announced in its 2010 budget last week...
Canada’s most powerful lobby group for the information and communications technology (ICT) sector reported 21 meetings between January and November 2009 with top federal officials and cabinet ministers who were laying the groundwork for a national digital strategy. The...
Although industry observers are calling Jay Switzer’s application for gender-specific specialty channels a “shrewd proposal,” they don’t expect his broadcasting pedigree to give him an upper hand in the search for a distributor. Switzer, former CEO and president of Chum...
Bloc Québécois private member’s Bill C-444, which would create a regional CRTC office in Quebec, met strong opposition from Conservative, Liberal and NDP MPs during a House debate Monday. The bill, introduced by Bloc MP Nicolas Dufour on Sept. 28, 2009, was debated at second reading in the House of Commons. Dufour proposes creating a provincial regulatory equivalent to the CRTC, called the Conseil québécois de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications (CQRT). The bill is not likely to progress in Parliament given that, during the debate, MPs from all other parties rose to criticize it. During debate, Dufour said Quebec’s need for its own version of the CRTC stems from its unique culture and broadcasting system. Liberal MPs Paul...
Rogers Communications is in talks with potential partners to bring a new 3D television channel to Canada, David Purdy, vice-president of video products at Rogers, said in an interview. Consumer demand for 3D television will be tested in the United Sates as ESPN, Discovery and Imax partner to launch a shared 3D television channel in the next few...
Regionalizing telecommunications and broadcast regulations in Quebec could hamper Canadian innovation policy, experts say. Experts are weighing in on the issue as Members of Parliament are scheduled to debate private member’s Bill C-444 Monday. The bill, introduced by Bloc...
TVA Sports is expected to struggle in a market dominated by RDS, but industry observers say the station has opportunities to carve out niche sports programming, or better yet, prepare the groundwork to potentially air NHL games in Quebec City. Last month the CRTC approved an application...
MPs from all four federal political parties agree the House Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage should study new media when it reconvenes. The heritage committee launched a study on new media in October 2009, but the discussions were sidetracked by Bill C-302, the Italian-Canadian Recognition and...
Critics are questioning Corus Entertainment’s move to operate a local specialty television service aimed at 64 markets in Western Canada, saying the battle for local audiences and advertising would be a tough one. The service, tentatively known as Local1, plans to provide “hyper-local” news and information to communities in...
Canada shouldn’t necessarily view the ongoing negotiations surrounding the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) as a threat. The country should instead view the process as a way to leverage some of its Intellectual property (IP) interests onto the agenda, Jeremy...
Calgary company Canyon TV Inc. has posed the question of whether broadcast carriers should have to air channels that have received CRTC licences. Canyon TV has filed a lawsuit with the Alberta provincial court against Telus Corp., seeking damages for a failure to carry its channel. The company argues that...
OTTAWA—The Province of Quebec is lobbying the federal government to regionalize some CRTC responsibilities, a spokeswoman for the Quebec minister of culture told The Wire Report. “[We are asking for] the establishment of a consultation mechanism when federal laws are revised involving telecommunications and...
Google appears to be heating up the competition for local advertising—one of the last bastions for traditional media players. Until recently, consumers looking for pizzas or dentists would get global results when they searched those terms online. But not anymore. Last year, Google made changes that identify a user’s location through a computer’s IP number, automatically generating local results. Local search is an important priority for the search giant. More than eight in 10 people use search engines to find local businesses, according to Google’s figures. Google would not provide figures on its Canadian advertising sales. Now local businesses are facing...
Shaw’s bid to take over CanWest’s broadcast assets will face close scrutiny from regulators including the Competition Bureau, which will examine Shaw’s potential power in the Canadian advertising market, says a former competition bureau commissioner. On Feb. 19, Shaw Communications Inc....
Following the announcement that the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) will cease operations in June, a small group of independent specialty channels will be discussing over the next few weeks the possibility of creating a new lobby group, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) CEO Jean LaRose told The...
CRTC commissioners met Monday to consider 14 broadcasting licence applications for Category 2 specialty television channels. Parties did not appear before the commission Monday. At the non-appearance hearing, commissioners discussed the licences on the basis of the parties’ written applications. Astral...
Canadian telecommunications and new media companies will showcase their information and communications technology (ICT) services this week during a trade mission in Mexico. The Canadian trade mission, sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), will be held from Feb. 22 to 26 in Monterrey and Guadalajara,...
OTTAWA—CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein says the commission has arrived at a decision on the controversial value-for-signal debate, but he’s holding his tongue on whether it will include a negotiations regime to determine the “value” of local broadcasts. At the Canadian Film and Television Production Agency’s Prime Time Ottawa conference Friday, von Finckenstein took part in a question-and-answer session with Trina McQueen, journalist and professor at the Schulich School of Business, where he said that the commission “hammered out a decision” over the previous three days. “It’s done in my head. It now has to be...
OTTAWA—The role of the CRTC could change significantly in the coming years as converging technologies change how Canadians use and access media, CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said at the Prime Time Ottawa conference Friday. “The Broadcasting Act is based on the principle of limited access,...
OTTAWA—3D television is on its way in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, but Canadian broadcasters are waiting for a critical mass before 3D content shows up in Canadian homes, Kevin Wright, senior vice president of programming with Astral Television Networks said at a conference Friday. Wright took...
OTTAWA—The release date of the new Canada Media Fund (CMF) guidelines has been tentatively pushed back from March 1 to the third week of the month, Canadian Television Fund (CTF) president and CEO Valerie Creighton said Thursday. Creighton noted the change during a speech at the Canadian Film and Television...
OTTAWA—Canada’s digital strategy efforts should be spearheaded by players in the communications industry, not a slower-moving federal government, experts agreed at a panel discussion Thursday. Entitled “Looking at a National Digital Strategy with a Creative Eye,” the panel was part of the...
OTTAWA—The Canadian film and television industry received an earful of advice from young video producers Thursday. At a discussion panel, titled “Meet the kids of the brave new world,” held at the Canadian Film and Television Production Association’s Prime Time Ottawa conference, young, successful...
OTTAWA—A panel of experts on the mobile industry said Thursday there is significant potential for mobile entertainment sales as more Canadians engage in “impulse commerce” and use their wireless devices for more than communication. The panel, called “Mobile Entertainment—Understanding the Value Chain,” was...
Canada’s three big wireless operators are joining forces on an application-distribution initiative that could change the online app-store landscape—a move that industry analysts say is designed to win a piece of the Apple Inc. App Store market. “They obviously and understandably want to find a way...
Rogers Communications Inc. sold 400,000 smart phones in the fourth quarter of 2009 that helped drive wireless data revenues to 24 per cent of the company’s total wireless earnings, the company reported Wednesday. About 40 per cent of the smart phones were sold to new Rogers customers, the company said. The company carries more than 20...
Shaw Communications Inc.’s plans to acquire a controlling stake in Canwest Global Communications Corp. may be held up by the CRTC’s approval over concerns about foreign ownership and media convergence, says a BMO Capital Markets report released Tuesday. Shaw announced Friday its intentions to acquire a minimum 20 per cent equity interest and an 80 per cent voting interest in a restructured Canwest. The deal, which would see Shaw gain access to Canwest’s conventional and specialty television channels, is subject to CRTC approval. The report, written by BMO analyst Tim Casey, foresees a “spirited CRTC review,” as the deal would allow Shaw to...
