After 15 months of behind-the-scenes work, the National Film Board (NFB) finally unveiled a massive $1.3-million online screening room this week as part of a strategic plan featuring a sweeping digital transformation at the public film producer and distributor. NFB.ca hosts over 700 films, ranging from trailers to short clips from the NFB's world-famous collection. Though the idea was conceived more than a year ago, online chat rooms and bloggers got wind of it despite the NFB's plans to keep a lid on the site. Tom Perlmutter, government film commissioner and chair of the NFB, tells Canadian Communications Reports that the site is part of a plan to expand the NFB's vast archive of films available to all Canadians through the use of digital technologies. "I have to tell...
One might think that the country's two largest broadcasters could set aside their differences to ensure that all Canadians can watch the 2010 Winter Olympics on their televisions. But an exchange of letters between CTVglobemedia and the CBC reveals just how far apart the two competitors actually are. An alliance between CTVglobemedia and Rogers Communications wrestled the broadcasting rights for both the Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2012 Summer Games from CBC, which had held the rights since 1996. But CTV only reaches 95% of Canadians and both CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein and the Commissioner for Official Languages have said this is insufficient. They are urging CTV...
The CRTC, Canadian Heritage and the CBC are not doing enough to ensure that minority Francophone and Anglophone communities are benefiting from original home-grown programming, according to the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL). Appearing before the CRTC Friday, Graham Fraser said as a first step, the CRTC should...
Shaw Communications is seeing few signs of an economic slowdown in its home operating territories, according to financial and subscriber results released last week. The company added 9,198 new basic cable subscribers in the quarter, versus 8,138 in the same 2007 period. Digital customers grew by 60,717, compared to...
CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein has urged the CBC and CTV to put aside differences hampering a deal to work together in covering the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver to ensure that French-speaking communities do not miss out on the games. A visibly frustrated von Finckenstein repeatedly told CTV executives on...
Cogeco Cable Inc. put out some solid numbers in its first quarter, demonstrating that slower growth reported at Rogers Communications Inc. earlier this month is not a sector-wide trend. "Our results for the first quarter for our cable company continue to be outstanding," president and CEO Louis Audet said...
The proposed Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) has hit its first snag with a Jan. 19 deadline that the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) is finding difficult to meet. It's uncertain if the delay will prompt the CRTC to open up the bidding for other groups interested in administering the new fund. In a Jan. 9 letter to the CRTC, CAB is asking for the deadline to be pushed back by almost a month to allow more time for consultations with the CBC and TVA, broadcasters who are not members of the association. CAB says a push-back to Feb.17 will also enable the association to consult potential fund administrators, which it did not name, and develop "a realistic...
Toronto-based Yangaroo Inc. has won a critical U.S. patent battle for its digital music distribution technology, but its legal woes are far from over. Four multi-million dollar lawsuits over patent infringement and defamation with a Vancouver competitor could ultimately decide which company - and...
As Shaw Communications Inc. awaits a CRTC ruling on the controversial sale of the non-profit Campbell River cable system in BC, a group opposed to the sale is hoping alleged anomalies in tax filing will sway the commission to stop the deal. John Twigg, spokesperson for the Committee to Save CRTV, suggests a pending...
A request by the CBC and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) to delay two CRTC framework proceedings - one on local avails and another on video-on-demand - has met with stiff opposition from broadcast companies and content producers. A majority of the 18 companies-including big names like Bell Canada, CTV...
The Canadian Interactive Alliance (CIAIC) is surveying companies across the country to find how the digital media sector has changed since 2006. The data will be used by lobbyists to push for new policies and funding to stimulate the sector, primarily through better access to money, skilled labour and markets. The...
Having lost its bid to operate a FM community radio station in Ottawa - and then succeeding in persuading Canadian Heritage to force the CRTC to reconsider its decision - an eastern Ontario group is now pushing the regulator to extend the reach of community radio and provincial public broadcasters...
Telcos such as Bell Canada and Telus Corp. will lose the war against cablecos such as Rogers Communications Inc. and Vidéotron ltée for broadband service supremacy – unless the phone companies take drastic and expensive actions, according to telecom analyst Dvai Ghose.Speaking at the 5th Canadian Telecommunications...
Conventional broadcasters need more funding, as well as tax changes that give advertisers an incentive to advertise on Canadian websites, if Canada hopes to have a thriving and sustainable industry for new media, the CBC tells the CRTC.The CBC contends that traditional broadcasters provide the...
Using copyrighted material for satire on social networking sites like YouTube is rampant, but it could also become illegal unless the federal government includes user rights in new copyright legislation, expected to be tabled when the government resumes business after Jan. 27, warns some of Canada's leading copyright...
After five and a half years at the helm of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) Philippa Lawson is hanging up her boots, with a warning that privacy issues on the Internet, convergence and deep package inspection (DPI) still pose challenges that need to be monitored to protect the interests of the consumer.Lawson became CIPPIC director in the fall of 2003. She will be leaving to set up her own private practice in Whitehorse, where her husband is taking up a job with the Yukon government. She plans to do the same kind of work as she has in Ottawa, but on contract. Under her leadership, CIPPIC launched a spirited campaign on a slew of high profile privacy issues...
Moses Znaimer is at it again. The broadcasting pioneer behind Citytv, MuchMusic and Bravo is aiming his crosshairs at a new, yet older, audience - baby boomers. And he's going after them from every angle.The broadcasting visionary and president of Zoomermedia Ltd. recently launched a social networking site, www.zoomers.ca,...
After winning one court battle and then losing another in April, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) has persuaded the Supreme Court of Canada to hear its case into whether - in effect - the CRTC is a de facto tax collector for the federal government.In a decision released without comment today, Canada's highest...
Network throttling in Nunavut is part of daily life and will only get worse unless the government takes action to replace expensive satellite links with fibre as the main method for moving data into and out of remote communities, a Nunavut group tells the CRTC. The situation, it warns, is even more...
MTS Allstream Inc. is going to ramp up cost cutting efforts in 2009 as part of an operational efficiency initiative it kicked off in 2008, president and CEO Pierre Blouin noted during the company's 2009 guidance conference call with analysts yesterday."We will take out more costs in 2009 than...
Unregulated Internet radio services delivered on mobile devices pose a financial threat to the satellite radio industry in Canada and may eventually result in the industry failing to comply with its Canadian content obligations and other CRTC-mandated requirements, Sirius Satellite Radio warns in a letter to the CRTC.Unlike its terrestrial radio counterparts, Sirius argues in its brief to the upcoming new media hearing that satellite radio is still in its nascent stages of development and is therefore vulnerable to unregulated online competitors. It claims the situation is made worse by the fact that broadband Internet is now available to nearly 93% of Canadian households and that 60% of...
Allarco Entertainment Inc. is using a government-mandated hearing on minority language TV services in an attempt to force Videotron Ltd to make Super Channel available to nearly eight million anglophones living in Quebec.More than a year after its launch, Super Channel still isn't available to...
For the first time ever, Canadians with hearing and visual disabilities have a dedicated channel that will feature closed captioned and descriptive audio programming from major Canadian and US broadcasters. Last week’s launch of The Accessible Channel (TAC) – which will cost BDU subscribers 20 cents each per month –...
The cable industry’s expansion into the telephone market is producing dividends in the form of a considerable increase in the number of subscribers, which reached 14.2 million in 2007, according to figures released this week from Statistics Canada.The statistics show that more than half of these new customers were...
Less than 5% of experts in Ontario's mobile content sector believe the province's wireless industry is a leader in entrepreneurship and innovation, and only 20% agree Ontario has a solid global hold on data-centric mobile devices, such as the Blackberry. Despite the poor showing, survey respondents say there are things the...
As the global economic meltdown continues biting, Telus Communications Inc. is warning the CRTC that it has no mandate to impose a levy on ISPs in the absence of a new policy approach on broadband.Telus made the comments in its comments to the regulator's new media hearing scheduled for Jan. 17. A CRTC-imposed levy on...
As ISPs rally against any regulation of online content, the union representing broadcast artists says the CRTC should to start licensing anyone who streams video content that originates in Canada, even video games. ACTRA also wants Cancon rules extended to the Internet and ISPs and wireless service providers to contribute...
Canada's video games sector slipped from third place globally to fifth place this year, but "its long term position in the top echelons of the world's great development territories seems assured". That's the conclusion of a comprehensive study released today in the UK which finds that...
Heritage minister James Moore says a decision asking the CRTC to review a rejected licence application for a French-language radio station in the Ottawa region is not motivated by politics. Nor, he adds, is it an attempt to influence the regulatory agency.“I am not trying to certainly direct any ultimate decision by the...
In what could be his first and last speech to the industry—depending on the outcome of moves for a coalition government next week—Heritage Minister James Moore weighed in on Canada’s transition to digital, urging for an industry-led solution that will see over-the-air (OTA) broadcasters working in partnership with BDUs to ensure a smooth switch without additional costs being pushed on consumers.“We need solutions that will encourage innovation and new approaches rather than asking Canadian taxpayers to subsidize existing business models,” said Moore at a speech delivered today at an International Institute of Communications conference in Ottawa.“If necessary, I will be ...
Canadian communications pioneer Edward Samuel "Ted" Rogers, died at his home this morning in Toronto at the age of 75. Tech Media Reports looks back at a few of the industry issues he has championed over his long career.As the founder and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc., Rogers was known for his indefatigable drive in building his company...
Glassbox TV is expected to shatter expectations when a new deal with Canadian mobile carriers is announced later this month."Put it this way- the carriers are eager to promote their phones as music-friendly and because AUX has a lot of buzz, and could be the next big music thing there's a strong desire to create a...
Toronto-based The Fight Network Inc. received a boost to its ambitions to expand into the French-language market in Canada when the CRTC today approved its licence to operate a category 2 specialty program known as Le Réseau des Combats.Le Réseau des Combats would primarily be available to...
Kenton Low doesn't mince words when it comes to predicting the fate of British Columbia's digital media sector. "It will be gone in 10 years", he told the province's Finance committee this fall. But the president of New Media BC (NMBC) is also optimistic, having scored some initial...
The new VP, corporate and institutional affairs at Quebecor Media Inc. warns that Canadians will look elsewhere for their Internet fix if the federal government and its regulator don’t break with protectionist policies that stifle consumer choice and innovation. At the same time, J.Serge Sasseville told delegates yesterday at the 5th Canadian Telecommunications Forum organized by Insight Media in Ottawa that ISPs need to work with content providers to solve piracy problems and develop new business models.In a wide-ranging speech that dealt with Bill C-61 and the role of ISPs, Sasseville said his company supports the proposed copyright legislation, including tenets in it that absolve ISPs...
A new $10-million equity fund for early stage companies and up to $600,000 per company for international partnering are among the new initiatives announced this week to move homegrown digital media and information and communications technologies (ICT) more quickly into the market.On Tuesday, the...
Carriers and broadcasters could face hundreds of millions of dollars in new costs if the CRTC sides with advocates for audio and visually impaired Canadians demanding universal access to Described Video (DV), Audio Description (AD) and a Video Relay System (VRS). These were among the top concerns raised at last week’s...
The CRTC’s decision to deny a complaint from the Canadian Association of Internet Providers regarding Bell Canada Enterprises’ controversial throttling practices has received a lot of attention – mostly negative – on Internet message boards. But both Canada and the...
Small cablecos, appearing before the CRTC yesterday, cautioned against a one-size fits all approach to providing telecom and broadcast services to people with disabilities, saying installing complex and expensive systems is beyond the financial reach of smaller operators and that the eventual...
Independent ISPs, disappointed with a CRTC ruling today denying a Canadian Association of Internet Providers' (CAIP) application against Bell Canada's traffic management practices, will get a second kick at the can to convince the CRTC that it should uphold Net Neutrality."Essentially what we...
Volunteer-run radio broadcasters, long starved of cash, will receive a jab in the arm next year with the launch of a new national program for training and skills development.Armed with $1.4 million in its coffers, the Community Radio Fund of Canada (CFRC) is looking to launch two programs to support community broadcasting....
The stock markets are taking a beating and venture capital is at an all-time low, but that hasn't stopped J.L. Albright Venture Partners (JLA Ventures) from seeking out promising investments. In the past 11 months, the Toronto-based VC firm - which also co-manages the $150-million Blackberry Partners Fund - has invested...
The CRTC hearing on access of telecom and broadcasting services to people with disabilities kicked off today with calls for the creation of a national fund to subsidize the provision of accessible services to the disabled.The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), which was first up this morning, said such a...
As TVOntario continues on a digital path announced early this year, the Ontario public broadcaster has inked yet another deal that will see its premium content distributed through a channel on the popular Internet networking site YouTube.The deal, made public today, allows both parties to share revenues through advertising sold by YouTube on the TVO channel, says Lisa de Wilde, TVO’s CEO. Plans have been put in place for the channel to carry TVO programs such as the interactive education program Your Voice and the flagship current affairs program The Agenda, hosted by Steve Paikin.“Our main motivation is to increase the impact of our content and that means getting on to more and more platforms so that people can find us easily,” says de Wilde.Earlier this year, TVO embarked on an...
A stipulation allowing the CBC access to money from the proposed Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) is likely to force the public broadcaster to report expenditures incurred by its stations and affiliates in smaller markets to the CRTC -- something the public broadcaster has resisted doing for years.The CBC’s...
A re-branded Toronto-based company is finalizing its choice for a CEO and recruited an industry heavyweight to its board, as its seeks $5-7 million in second round financing for a new technology that can increase ad hits on Facebook and other social media sites by more than 400%.Peerset Inc. – which just recently changed...
The chair of the CRTC warns that a $9 million budgetary shortfall beginning April 1 will mean slower service and a reprioritizing of activities. Konrad von Finckenstein also ruled out increases in licence fees, and with the global economic crisis continuing, it’s doubtful the federal government will be loosening the purse...
Today’s re-launch of Bite TV signals that GlassBOX Television Inc. is ready to take a bite out of youth-oriented channels’ ratings by relying on low-cost, in-house productions. It also sets the stage for the November 24th unveiling of AUX TV- a new digital, interactive, music channel and website.“All of our channels,...
Mobile reading devices are opening new revenue opportunities for book publishers in Canada, but securing rights and identifying profitable business models continue to be a problem, says Jack Illingworth, a marketing technology consultant with the Association of Canadian Publishers. Like the music industry, book publishers have explored online opportunities both in marketing and content delivery. In terms of marketing, sites like Amazon and individual publishers’ websites rake in millions in annual sales. The advent of mobile reading device, such as the Sony Reader, and other online avenues, have opened up new revenue streams, contributing to a 25% growth in the e-book sector in North...
Shaw Cablesystems Ltd. received a slap on wrist Tuesday for marketing practices that specialty channel OUTtv says have cost it hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost subscriber revenue. While an executive with the gay and lesbian channel welcomes the ruling, he says safeguards are needed to protect independents who often...
While the industry – from performers to creators to producers to broadcasters to distributors to even the regulator – all agree more Canadian TV drama needs to be produced and watched, there is little agreement on how it should be financed. A major problem is that broadcasters can’t generate sufficient advertising dollars to cover...
Television has been with us for more than 50 years, and is among the most pervasive and widely used technologies on the planet. Through much of this time period, TV has evolved in a gradual fashion, from small flickering black and white boxes, to colour, to bigger screens, to cable and satellite signals offering an overwhelming choice of programming. As we begin the 21st century, the next generation of TV is now upon...
Competition from big media companies with vast resources and consolidated markets can prevent Canada’s small market broadcasters from creating niche markets, but an effective embrace of innovative web technology will help them counter the challenge, delegates attending the Canadian Association of...
A few days after the release of a new policy governing BDUs and discretionary programming services, stakeholders in the broadcast industry have started to ask tough questions about a key proposal designed to boost local programming in small markets. The new fund has also come under fire by two CRTC...
Last Thursday's landmark CRTC ruling on television carriage is winning praise from both large and small broadcast distributors, but the battle isn't over yet. Cable and satellite TV providers now have to sit down with disgruntled broadcasters to decide on a fair price for carrying distant television...
Broadcasters in Canada could one day be bidding for their spectrum in a government-run auction - just like wireless service providers currently do - if Ottawa greenlights a recommendation in a new report from the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS)."Traditional distinctions between telecommunications and broadcasting are rapidly blurring...
The high cost of producing Described Video (DV) and regulatory restrictions are preventing visually impaired people from fully accessing broadcast services on television, says a report commissioned by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) for the CRTC's Nov. 17 hearing on access of...
More than a year after it issued a call on input to review the regulatory framework governing BDUs and discretionary programming services, the CRTC has finally reached a decision that will be made public at 4:00 PM on Thursday, Oct. 30.Stakeholders in the broadcast distribution industry hailed the review as appropriate and pragmatic in light of challenges brought about by factors like consolidation, convergence and the rise of the digital era. The subsequent responses from various players point to a variety of opinions on a slew of issues, some contentious and controversial. These include issues like discretionary programming services, genre exclusivity, and choice of packaging programs, fee-for-carriage, and Canadian content in Category 2 channels.When it issued the call for input, the...
The Copyright Board of Canada has issued a ruling that opens the way for the Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Producers of Canada (SOCAN) to charge royalties for the online use of music on websites belonging to radio and television stations. The decision, reached last week, comes after years of legal tussles and...
Several Ontario academic institutions and a number of wireless and content companies have banded together to form the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre (MEIC), an organization whose goal is to develop a centre of excellence for applied research, design and commercialization in Ontario's mobile content and services...
A top executive from Telus is urging broadcast content producers and ISPs to find a middle ground on the contentious proposal for a CRTC-imposed ISP levy or risk a standoff in court over the issue. Speaking at the Third Annual Entertainment Summit in Toronto this week, Michael Hennessy, Telus VP,...
The City of Thunder Bay scored a long-awaited victory this week when the CRTC approved an application by TBayTel to enter the cable TV business. It represents the latest move by a dwindling number of municipally owned telcos to expand into the television market.In Decision 2008-289, the commission granted TBayTel a seven-year licence for both a...
Participation by non-commercial, public and consumer groups will be limited in the CRTC's new media review because legislation only allows for such subsidies in telecom proceedings, warns the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. The alternative, says PIAC, is to make a complaint in the form of a "tin cup rattle" for assistance, which usually goes unheeded.PIAC stresses that without financial assistance it will be difficult for such groups to participate in any meaningful way in the proceeding (PN 2008-44), which is says will have "a profound affect" on issues of choice, access, affordability and competition."This means that while the commercial stakeholders will be...
Tech Media Reports' Decision Makers Series probes the top issues affecting Canada's communications industry through a series of one-on-one interviews with business executives and senior government officials. Each installment will feature an article and complete interview transcript - available...
The Canadian Independent Record Production Association (CIRPA) will lead a delegation of 20 Canadian record companies to Japan early as next month in hopes of boosting sales for a Canadian market that has shrunk by 14% this year – primarily as a result of weak copyright laws that allow Internet downloading, and a slow...
The CRTC will hold a public hearing January 20 to decide whether Canada's television and radio sectors are doing enough to serve the interests of minority English- and French-speaking communities, and whether new digital distribution platforms can help. The regulator has until March 31 to report its findings to Canadian Heritage. In Notice of...
It's déjà vous all over again for regulating Internet broadcasting. Nearly a decade after ruling to exempt new media from regulation, the CRTC will hold a public hearing February 17 to determine whether new media and mobile broadcasting should continue to be unregulated, or subject to similar access and funding...
The current economic crisis in the U.S. is expected to further batter Canada’s weak venture capital (VC) market, spelling long-lasting difficulties for start-ups in the digital media industry. Financing for digital media companies has been a tough slog since the industry began taking shape in the early ‘90s. Between...
Four months after being named as the best show at Digital Media Summit, one of Hollywood’s oldest conferences on digital media, Montreal-based Xtranormal Inc. finally unveiled an innovative text-to-movie platform that allows users to make animated movies and share them with friends. Xtranormal.com allows users with no...
Groove Games has teamed up with Sports Illustrated to launch a new online game next month that company executives hope will attract a million players and $10,000 daily in revenue. It's a new business model for the Toronto-based gaming company - one based on banner ads, product placements, brand loyalty and no fees.The...
They won't win this election - in fact it's doubtful they'll even win a single seat - but the Green Party is proposing to shake up the status quo when it comes to political appointments, screen quotas, copyright protection and freeing up the airwaves. Tech Media Reports also examines the platforms...
MediaScrape, the Montreal-based online TV news network, has clinched a deal with PBS that will provide the U.S. public broadcaster with high definition videos from 28 global broadcast partners.Initially scheduled to air on PBS’ Channel 13 in New York City, the videos will eventually be available on PBS affiliate stations across the U.S, reaching an estimated two to three million people and garnering MediaScrape $1 million in revenues over the next 18 months. The videos, mostly news clips from MediaScrape’s partners, will air on World Focus, a new PBS channel that seeks to address the dearth of international news reporting brought about by funding cuts to newsrooms across North America....
Canada's first post-graduate program for new media training and production revealed the fruits of its labour on Saturday, demonstrating that interactive media isn't only about art for art's sake - it can also have mass market appeal with bottom line results.Graduates of the Telus Interactive Art and Entertainment Program at...
Amid objections from cable giant Rogers Communications Inc., the CRTC has approved a licence for a new BDU in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), a move likely to up the competition in the already crowded GTA market. Ravinder Singh Pannu, on behalf of a yet-to-be named corporation, applied for the licence in February this...
An application by Teletoon Canada Inc. to change how it reports its Canadian Programming Expenditures (CPE) has drawn criticism from the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC), which warns the move will result in a $1.5 million loss for Canadian programming and open the floodgates to similar requests from other channels. The...
Some 18 months after the idea was first conceived, the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) has finally announced a new $2-million pilot program for digital media. While the amount falls far short of the $25 million recommended more than a year ago by a CRTC Task Force, there's still hope that the federal government will broaden...
With the traditional manufacturing sector facing tough times, the Ontario government is laying the groundwork to become a bigger player in the $1-trillion global digital media market by boosting financial support for university research. The federal government, meanwhile, is cutting the single largest research fund dedicated to digital media.Announced September 30, the Ontario government is investing $3.5 million in digital media and related information and communications technologies (ICT) projects. The funding is part of $37 million worth of investments the provincial government is making this fall through the Ontario Research Fund, which is targeting three academic research sectors:...
The NDP is positioning itself as the champion of Canadian culture, pledging to strengthen the CRTC’s ability to promote home-grown television and provide sustained funding for television and film production. The NDP’s newly released election platform also calls for tougher licence requirements on broadcasters, cable,...
The US election - unlike here in Canada - hasn't prevented regulators with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from speaking publicly. In a flurry of speeches delivered this month, commissioners spoke about the role of the FCC and industry in combating childhood obesity, the current status on the transition to...
An increasing number of Canadians spend a lot of time online but not at the expense of traditional media, according to a report released today. Specifically, television viewing among Canadians has declined only slightly since 2004, although the decrease has been the same for Internet users and non-users.Canada Online! The...
The market for Canadian short films is about to get a lot bigger. Toronto-based Movieola, a small Toronto-based Category 2 digital channel, will now be available to eight million new subscribers following its majority purchase of PropellerTV, US/European-wide satellite channel distributed by British Sky Broadcasting Group....
The political party that wins this October’s federal election should enact copyright legislation that ensures basic user-rights are not totally wiped out, says Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa professor who has been a vocal critic of the now defunct Bill C-61. “I would like to see an approach modelled from...
Launching animation online will continue to face economic uncertainties until producers come up with business models that can attract advertisers, said a panel at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. In the meantime, producers would be well advised not to abandon traditional broadcast media anytime soon. “It’s...
Canadian animation producers say economic barriers and restrictions on co-production ventures are restricting their access to China's rapidly growing animation industry.Canada and China signed a film agreement in 1987 that mostly deals with feature films, which Canadian producers are reluctant to invest in because they do...
Brazilian television producers say they're anxious to tap into Canada's half century of experience in animation and its international reputation in the sector to expand the number of co-production agreements between the two countries. EU co-production limitations, combined with the launch of a new investment tax credit this...
A majority of participants in an online survey commissioned by the CRTC oppose public support for Canadian content, while nearly half say the CRTC should play no role in regulating Canadian content.The CRTC New Media Broadcasting econsultation Report was conducted by Nanos Research between May 15 and June 15 this year to provide a forum for the new media constituency to express their views on the future of new media in Canada, in preparation for a public hearing in 2009.Participants were asked to respond to four topics that dealt with defining new media broadcasting, support for the creation and promotion of Canadian new media, barriers to accessing new media broadcasting and other issues. The CRTC is not bound by the findings of the report but the opinions expressed could form part of...
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's announcement last Friday to maintain limits on foreign ownership of Canadian telecom companies isn't winning any praise from the country's biggest communications union which warns things could change quickly if the Conservatives win a majority government this fall.At a campaign stop in...
Content providers in Canada could see a future with stable public subsidies and little or no regulation, while telephone, cable, ISPs and other carriers are likely to become established “tax collectors” for content production. It’s a prediction infrastructure providers won’t like, but a...
Echoing a long-held apprehension about the financial feasibility of converting over-the-air (OTA) signals to digital, the president of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters says plans for high definition OTA need to be clarified and fine-tuned as the 2011 deadline for the switch to digital approaches. In an interview...
As rumours of a fall election swirled this summer, some of Canada’s biggest communications companies were busy lobbying senior government officials on a range of issues including hot-button items, such as copyright reform.The Canadian Association of Broadcasters, in particular, has been knocking on more Parliamentary...
New media, wireless, broadband and telecom equipment could see more federal funding for research and development if Industry Canada acts on recommendations released last week by a government advisory body. However, boosting R&D spending for ICT will not be enough to save Canada's struggling IT and telecom sectors, Canada's largest high tech lobby group warns. New media, wireless, broadband and telecom equipment could see more federal funding for research and development if Industry Canada acts on recommendations released last week by a government advisory body. However, boosting R&D spending for ICT will not be enough to save Canada's struggling IT and telecom sectors, Canada's...
Bell Canada's announcement last month to deploy fibre to the neighbourhood (FTTN) in new suburban multiple dwelling units has raised questions about the future of the telecom giant's Internet TV service. Touted as the next-generation in TV viewing by former president and CEO Michael Sabia nearly two years ago, Bell's IPTV offering now appears sidelined...
With a federal election looming, stakeholders in the broadcast industry are ramping up lobby efforts to ensure that their top priorities are on the radar of the three main political parties. While individual stakeholders have different interests, the common concerns regard funding, copyright issues, and the protection of...
More than a dozen new media companies have been short-listed for the top 50 Canadian companies compiled by Red Herring, an influential California-based weekly business and technology magazine. The top 50 winners will be announced at an event taking place from September 15 to 17 in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec.This is the first...
Looking to expand its reach to the estimated 500,000 to one million Arabic speakers in Canada, JumpTV. Inc. has launched a new online service that will stream more than 35 new channels of different genres. Talfazat.com, was launched two weeks ago, but was officially announced this week. Coming just a week before the start of the Muslim holy month of...
Ontario's digital game industry has established strong roots in the province, but with technology constantly evolving, a collaborative effort by public and private partners is required to maintain a competitive edge, says a report from the Ontario Media Development Corporation.Titled Ontario 2012: Stimulating Growth in...
With organizations representing the blind and the deaf raising concerns about closed captioning (CC) and audio description (AD), researchers from Ryerson University are calling for a review of current policies at the CRTC hearing in November."Closed captioning has been around for a long time, the technology for it was...
The lack of universal design and the absence of regulation for terminal equipment are among some of the top concerns that are likely to dominate a CRTC hearing on access to broadcasting services for persons with disabilities.The hearing, which is scheduled to take place in November, will also explore the same concerns for...
As the August 15 deadline for input into the 2008 pre-budget consultations approaches this week, the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) is urging the federal government to bolster film production in Canada by reviewing current funding policies for the industry.“We have made great progress in the last two or three decades but...
With mobile penetration on the upswing, the CBC is poised to overhaul its mobile site to optimize a multi-platform approach to selling targeted advertising and offering better user experience with content tailored to local needs.The news was announced at the end of July after the public broadcaster signed a deal with Quattro Wireless, a U.S-based company specializing in mobile advertising and marketing. Bob Kerr, CBC director of business development, says Quattro, through a process called “juicing,” will provide the technical know-how to reach users on mobile devices.“Research shows that people haven’t been using their mobile phones other than for making calls, despite their phones being capable of doing much more,” says Kerr.“We figured the time was right to upgrade the site...
