It was more hug-fest than slugfest during an hour-long panel session on the Canadian Television Fund at the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA)'s Prime Time conference in Ottawa Thursday. But although all panellists were CTF supporters, there certainly was no consensus on how best to restructure the fund. "Since there's no one from Vidéotron or Shaw on the panel, we can start the campfire and sing Kumbaya," said David Goldstein, CTVglobemedia's senior VP of regulatory affairs, noting the absence of the two biggest CTF dissenters. "The fact that Shaw claims CTF-funded shows don't get audiences is not true...The CTF is not broken, we just need to take her in the shop and change the tires and oil." Canwest Media Inc.'s proposal is...
With 80% of purchasing decisions made in-store and traditional advertising continuing to fragment, more and more retailers are implementing digital signage and complex IP advertising networks throughout their stores to broadcast branding and messages to shoppers. "Everyone's looking at digital signage now, trying to figure out what content is needed on-screen in stores to make people pick up a product, and not just be pretty wallpaper in the background," says Michael Girgis, president of Toronto-based Onestop Media Group, adding that retailers are realizing the store is a medium in and of itself. More retailers are implementing IP networks across their sites to create an infrastructure for integrated in-store messaging, says Girgis. Depending on the store's needs,...
If the CRTC is looking for ways to spur the conversion to high-definition television, it should look no further than its own policies, which discourage actual HD adoption by allowing BDUs to pass off up-converted standard definition programming as true HD. As would-be broadcaster HDTV Networks Inc. pointed out last week, surveys still report...
Advertising, BDU fees and export sales are not enough to cover the over $1 billion in losses Canadian companies continue to absorb for producing home-grown television shows. As such, expect subsidies to be a permanent fixture on the Canadian broadcasting scene, concludes a recent study from Nordicity Group Ltd. CBC...
Canada is not only one of the world's biggest copyright offenders, it is also the wealthiest country among the 12 nations singled out in an international report this week to the US Trade Representative. The 2008 Special 301 Report by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) submitted to the US Trade...
CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein said the regulator would have to create a new class of broadcasting licence for HDTV Networks Inc., which wants approval to deliver its high-definition television to large cities without the requirement to include local news. At a CRTC hearing this morning in Gatineau QC, von...
The Canadian Television Fund Task Force Report's recommendation to direct $25 million of CTF money to new media initiatives was given scarce attention at last week's CRTC hearings in Gatineau QC. While the majority of the broadcasting industry agrees more new media funding is needed, the CTF seems an unlikely source. "There is no question that we need new money in the system or we need money in the system somehow for new media," said Andra Sheffer, executive director of the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, the Independent Production Fund and the Cogeco Program Development Fund. "It is an important new platform where our culture is being disseminated and it is...
‘Total hours tuned' to a network's overall programming - not just Canadian content - is the most appropriate audience success metric for determining Canadian Television Fund allocations, Canwest MediaWorks Inc. told the CRTC on day four of the CTF hearings. It was a day ruled by bold recommendations and contrasting...
Stakeholders are frustrated with Industry Canada's closed-door approach to drafting amendments to Canada's Copyright Act, saying Industry minister Jim Prentice has ignored requests to open the process to a public process involving all legitimate parties. "The consultation question just strikes us as such a...
Forget about two funding streams; the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) should be split into two separate funds to achieve public policy and private sector goals, Rogers Communications Inc. told the CRTC this morning. "We accept that public resources should be spent in support of government objectives," said Rogers vice-chairman Phil Lind in the...
More than three quarters of Canadians say it's important to have a choice of television programs that reflect Canadian society, values and perspectives, according to a poll released at the onset of the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) hearing on Monday. The Harris/Decima poll, commissioned by the Directors Guild of...
The Canadian Television Fund could be increased by $80 million simply by forcing BDUs to contribute the originally mandated 5% of revenues, the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) told the CRTC Monday as hearings into the CTF kicked off in Gatineau QC. With the CRTC entertaining ideas for new sources of CTF capital, CFTPA...
The Canadian Television Fund should not be tapped to fund new media projects, unless new money sources are found, such as a levy on ISP revenues. That's the view of the majority of respondents to the CTF's Task Force Report, which calls on the CTF to divert some of its budget to support new media.The hearing into...
Broadcasting consultant Michael McEwen predicts the CRTC will rule in favour of a carriage fee for conventional broadcast signals following April's BDU and specialty review, but that, in return, broadcasters will be required to put some of the new revenue back into the system. "I don't know whether 50 cents is...
The anticipated surge in demand for homegrown TV as a result of the US writers' strike hasn't materialized as many had hoped. Canadian network and production house executives say we shouldn't be surprised.With the Writers Guild of America's strike now moving into its fourth month, holes are starting to appear in Canadian...
The Border (CBC, Mondays at 9 pm), a White Pine Pictures series, dramatizes the issues of the Canada-US border. In keeping with the crime-solving theme of the show, the interactive components produced by Stitch Media, invite the players to participate in simulation border-related crime solving using tools of surveillance and decryption. In The Border, everyone watches or is watched. Inside the sleek, stylish Immigration Custom Services (ICS) headquarters, a bank of monitors displays suspects' faces no matter their country of origin, race, religion or political faction. Some are friends, some are foes - and some are both. The Border: Interactive is divided into two parts: a prequel game where users are drawn into the story by being asked to help solve border-related crime by the...
Some $25 million in proposed new media funding will be up for debate beginning February 4 at the CRTC's proceeding on the Canadian Television Fund Task Force Report. So how come no dedicated new media companies or industry associations will be participating? The short answer is that most of them didn't know about it. New Media BC president...
Toronto's High Fidelity HDTV Inc. (HiFi) is proving a Canadian broadcaster and content producer can be successful completely in high definition and without Canadian Television Fund (CTF) support. Last week HiFi announced an international distribution deal with London UK-based TVF International for HiFi's catalogue of HD programming. The...
CTVglobemedia Inc. says compensation for carriage of its signals by BDUs is essential if the broadcaster is to sustain the level of service it provides to local communities and its contributions to the Broadcasting Act. The statement comes in a release from CTV as a preview of its response to the CRTC's call for comments on fee-for-carriage and...
Leverage Canadian content for government support, mirror the film financing model and mitigate investment risk are ways the Canadian video game industry can increase funding. That was the advice from international investment and gaming veterans speaking at the first ever GameON Finance summit in Toronto last week.Robert...
A coalition of content creators wants the federal government to adopt a "notice and takedown" system compelling ISPs to forcefully police their networks on behalf of copyright holders. It's one of numerous recommendations made by the rights holders group in a January 22 document outlining its position on copyright reform as Industry minister Jim Prentice's drafts proposed amendments to the Canadian Copyright Act. "Exempting ISPs from liability for infringement devolves the heavy responsibility of policing the Internet onto rights holders, who must then assume the consequences of copyright infringements resulting from the commercial activities of service providers, even though they do not enjoy the profits generated by these activities," states the Creators...
In a rare re-examination of one of its own decisions the CRTC yesterday confirmed its earlier ruling to approve the mandatory distribution of Avis de Recherche (ADR) on basic digital television services in Quebec. With subscription fees now assured, the crime-prevention channel says it will set its sights on eventual national distribution....
Online videogames are creating new revenue opportunities for CBC and other media organizations looking to retain and grow audience share, say gaming executives. Top gaming companies also shared their secrets for making money with free online games at the inaugural GameON Finance summit held January 17-18 in Toronto -...
The Office of the National Science Advisor (ONSA) is being shut down by the government of Stephen Harper and NSA Dr Arthur Carty has decided to retire. The move comes less than four years after its creation by the previous Liberal government of Paul Martin. The decision to terminate Carty's office and position was made earlier this month and has...
The Department of Canadian Heritage and the National Arts Centre opened a new window for Canadian culture with the January 14 launch of Podcasts.Culture.ca, the government's first directory of cultural podcasts. The site is starting with a collection of about 300 podcasts related to everything from Canadian cuisine to education, film and urban...
Reactions to the Diversity of Voices ownership policies announced by the CRTC on Tuesday has certainly been mixed. While some organizations are praising the guidelines and others are electing not to comment, the Communications, Entergy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP)'s VP of media Peter Murdoch questions the...
The CRTC today concluded its Diversity of Voices initiative by introducing three policies to ensure a plurality of editorial influence in Canada that in many ways resemble the three recommendations put forth by CBC during September's public hearings. The three policies introduced by the commission today are: a person or entity will only be...
Ontario's film and television production industry is trying to become more environmentally friendly. But more than simply jumping on the green bandwagon, the Toronto Green Screen Initiative plans within two years to launch the world's first green production certification program. "We're trying to set up a...
In December 2006 the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab introduced Psiphon, a censorship circumvention computer program to open Internet access to residents of countries with repressive governments. A year later, the Citizen Lab has launched an enterprise-class version of the so-called human rights software tool to...
The Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) yesterday repealed a July 19, 2007 Copyright Board of Canada decision certifying a levy to be placed on MP3 players, including iPods and cellular phones. Although the ruling could save consumers up to $75 on MP3 player purchases, it also raises questions about the legality of music copying. "[It] means that Canadians who copy music from their CDs to their iPods are not covered by the exception and thus arguably infringe copyright," blogged Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. "Industry Minister Jim Prentice...must decide whether he [will] amend the law by creating a clear, uncompensated exception to format shift (as the United Kingdom has just proposed) or leave millions of...
On February 4 the CRTC will commence a public hearing as part of its review of issues related to Canadian programming funding and the governance of the Canadian Television Fund. Excerpted below are some of the opinions on the key issues from those who will appear at the hearing. On introducing a private funding stream:...
A study looking at the feasibility of a creating a multimedia production centre in the Ottawa region kicked off this week with the help of $30,000 from the Ontario Media Development Corp.'s Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnership Fund. Commissioned by the Ottawa-Gatineau Film and Television Development Corp....
Earlier this week the Ontario Media Development Corp. (OMDC) announced an investment of $245,000 in nGen, an interactive media business incubator in the Niagara ON region. Like all new media business development initiatives nGen is a collaboration of educational institutions, private business and government, but its...
Beginning February 1, Bruce Telecom (BT) will offer 180 TV channels - including 22 HD channels - and video-on-demand services over an IPTV network using MPEG-4 compression technology to its customers on the eastern shore of Lake Huron. With a customer base of 15,000 the competitive telco may seem an unlikely candidate to be a leader in IPTV delivery,...
CanWest Media Works Inc. may have another battle on its hands for control of Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting Inc. The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) says it may appeal the CRTC's December 20 approval of CanWest's acquisition of Alliance Atlantis, which allowed US-based investment bank Goldman Sachs Capital Partners to retain a 65% equity stake."We feel that this is such a significant issue and significant decision that something must be done," says Stephen Waddell, ACTRA's national executive director. "We haven't yet made any decisions with what options we're going to use, but we're looking at various options including an appeal to the Cabinet, or alternately some sort of appeal to the courts of this decision."...
One of Canada's high tech pioneers is moving into the television distribution business. Terry Matthews, founder of Mitel Networks and March Networks, is expanding his latest venture - IPTV and VoIP - from the UK to university students in Canada.Inuk Networks Ltd. currently offers free IPTV and VoIP services to more than 100,000 university students...
Bringing copyright legislation in line with consumer realities and increased funding for new media efforts make their way onto the 2008 wish list."In the early 1990's there were many people who were fearful of changes that new technology inevitably brings. As a way to slow down this change they came up with a...
In 2008 the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) would like to see positive changes which will strengthen and grow the Canadian film and television industry. In what is certain to be an election year, we are hopeful that our issues will be given a priority during the election campaign, and that the party that forms the government will view culture as an...
In 2008 I'd like to see regulatory and legislative amendments that modernize the Canadian broadcasting system and enrich the roles of independent broadcasters and producers. As we can see, scarcity of bandwidth is back with a vengeance due to phenomena like peer-to peer, HDTV, and the commercial priorities of the...
The CRTC added to its already busy 2008 schedule last week when it announced a February 11 hearing into HDTV Networks Inc.'s application to operate an English-language high definition over-the-air television (OTA) service. Analysts say the application raises several questions, and that's before you even get past the...
If the holiday wishes of a trio of interactive media executives come true, one third of Canada's media marketplace will no longer be inaccessible by the end of 2008. "The biggest change that should happen in Canadian new media as we stand is the CRTC's regulation of mobile bandwidth fees. That's the number...
Not surprisingly, a decision on fee for carriage and the transition to a digital television universe top the 2008 wish lists from representatives of CanWest MediaWorks Inc., the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance Inc. and former Canadian Digital Television president Michael McEwen. "The time has come for adequate compensation for the carriage of...
Over the next four to six months McMaster Children's Hospital (MCH) in Hamilton will be the live testing ground for Upopolis.com, a social networking website designed exclusively for hospitalized children.Launched by the Kids' Health Links Foundation, Telus Corp. and MCH, the secure, controlled portal delivered on...
While all eyes were on the Canadian government this week and whether it would actually table new copyright legislation, which is likely to include ratification of the World Intellectual Property Organization's copyright treaty, a group of European nations contemplated renewing talks on a portion of the stalled WIPO broadcast treaty in an effort to combat signal piracy. Intellectual Property Watch, a Geneva-based newsletter, reported earlier this week that The Council of Europe, which predates the European Union and includes 47 member states, is deliberating whether to negotiate a convention to protect broadcasting and neighbouring rights. At issue, in particular, the retransmission of over-the-air signals by a cable operator from across a border. Copyright owners have long...
Ending days of back-and-forth speculation, Industry Minister Jim Prentice officially delayed tabling proposed amendments to the Canadian Copyright Act in Parliament until 2008. Prentice's press secretary advised this morning that the bill would not be introduced today or tomorrow, the final two days until the House of Commons breaks for the...
Who Do You Think You Are? is a 13 part documentary series on the CBC exploring the genealogy of 13 famous Canadians including Don Cherry, Shaun Majunder, Mary Walsh and Chantal Kreviazuk. Each half hour episode retraces the family roots of a celebrity. The web companion to this Barna-Alper Productions television series was...
Television is by far Canadians' number one source for general and breaking news according to survey results released today by the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC). The National Media Choice and Trust Poll also revealed that all traditional media - TV, radio and newspapers - are seen as more accurate and unbiased than online news...
The head of the Canadian Independent Record Production Association is confident the much-anticipated amendments to the Canadian Copyright Act will be tabled in the House of Commons this week. While news outlets reported yesterday that Industry Minister Jim Prentice will now delay tabling the bill until 2008, CIRPA...
The CRTC today approved four applications for Category 2 pay television broadcasting licences, including one from Sex-Shop Television Inc. to operate a national French-language channel called Vanessa, and two from Movieola and Silver Screen Classics owner Channel Zero Inc. Vanessa (CRTC 2007-417)Sex-Shop TV applied April 30, 2007 to offer "an adult pay television service dedicated to the themes of sex appeal, sensuality, eroticism and sexuality." Programming will focus on the industries associated with these themes and the personalities involved in these industries, and Sex-Shop proposed to devote no more than 10% of its broadcast week to theatrical feature films. The licensee had...
A dozen broadcast properties will be getting the interactive treatment as part of the latest round of the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund support. Listed below are the ventures awarded production grants from the October 1, 2007 round of applications including the broadcaster, producer and online partner, followed by the seven projects receiving...
TVOntario has taken a critical step to migrate its content to the Internet, mobile devices and other distribution platforms, announcing earlier this week that its transition to full digital production will be complete early next year. TVO CEO Lisa de Wilde says generating new revenue streams and increased net earned revenues are key to building a...
Canadians oppose foreign ownership of the country's broadcasting and communications companies and they're willing to vote for politicians who do as well, according to a nation-wide poll released in Calgary today by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, ACTRA, and Friends of Canadian...
Online advertising revenues are now exceeding $1 billion annually but it isn't translating into more made-in-Canada new media content, said panellists at the CRTC town hall meeting at last week's nextMEDIA conference in Toronto. The blame, they contend, lies with an ineffective regulatory environment."Although...
Quebecor Media Inc. president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau announced the launch of a new Canadian web broadcasting service of online television last Wednesday at the nextMEDIA conference in Toronto. Canoe.TV will offer a wide selection of on-demand video content from partners such as CBC, House and Home, The Fight Network, Just For Laughs and SUN TV....
The Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) and the Canadian Music Creators Coalition (CMCC) have proposed attaching a monthly licence fee to Internet subscriptions to compensate all rights holders for music downloaded and shared over peer-to-peer networks. The groups say allowing unabated filesharing by consumers while...
Canadian broadcasters warming to the idea of releasing content on alternative websites like YouTube are finding their online distribution strategies pale in comparison to the posting habits of fans. "It's like trying to put out a forest fire with your foot," says Bob Kerr, the CBC's director of digital...
A US economist specializing in copyright issues is taking aim at a new Canadian government study claiming that peer-to-peer filesharing is actually good for the music business. Stan Leibowitz, the Ashbel Smith Professor of Economics at the University of Texas, has written a detailed critique of the Industry Canada-commissioned study. He concludes that...
The Copyright Board's October 18 release of the highly-criticized Internet tariff has already triggered the first round of legal appeals. Officially published in the Canada Gazette on Friday, Tariff 22.A allows the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) to collect 3.1% on the sale of each song downloaded from music sites such as iTunes or Puretracks. The new royalty rate has sparked criticism from both distributors as well as music producers. Appeals to the Federal Court of Appeal have been filed by Telus Corp., Bell Canada, Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Cablesystems Ltd., Puretracks Inc., the Canadian Recording Industry Association, the Entertainment Software Association and even SOCAN itself, which takes issue with the treatment of music previews in...
How many ways can you say a foreign majority owner will inevitably exert control over the operation of a Canadian broadcasting entity? At this week's CRTC hearing into CanWest MediaWorks Inc.'s acquisition of Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc., commissioners and interveners got creative - no one more so than omnipresent Fasken Martineau...
While crowdsourcing - harnessing a community of volunteers to collaborate on a large task (see Wikipedia) - has been mostly a testament to amalgamative power of the Internet thus far, some websites are finally starting to deliver a profit to their content producers. One major crowdsourcing player is Calgary-based iStockphoto. Described as the...
After a day and a half of debate over equity and control CanWest MediaWorks Inc. revealed to the CRTC it would have to invest an additional $110 million to retain more than 50% of the equity in a CanWest/Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc.-merged company. While that extra outlay would go a long way to appeasing those who...
CanWest Media Works Inc. did little to ease trepidation over foreign investment in Canadian broadcasting despite assurances from company executives before the CRTC yesterday. The crux of CanWest's argument was that although Goldman Sachs Capital Partners (GSCP) would own 65% of CanWest's equity after it helps...
As expected, Canadian control was a central issue at today's CRTC hearings into CanWest MediaWorks Inc.'s proposed acquisition of Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc., which is being heavily financed by investment bank Goldman Sachs Capital Partners - an affiliate of US firm Goldman, Sachs & Co.. Knowing foreign ownership was on many minds, including those of the commissioners, CanWest's panel addressed the issue early in its opening remarks to the commission. "I want to assure you that Goldman Sachs does not wish to control any Alliance Atlantis or CanWest broadcasting entity," Goldman Sachs managing director Gerry Cardinale told the commissioners at the...
The task was simple: find out the status of television advertising created and aired in high-definition in Canada. Do advertisers covet ad space in HD broadcasts? Is HD creative more beneficial for certain products? How much of the advertising during HD programs was produced in HD? Unfortunately, responses from advertisers,...
When it comes to growing its video game sector, Prince Edward Island's interactive media association and provincial government have lofty goals. But judging from the testimonial of the president of an international video game developer that just opened a new operation on the island, these targets certainly seem...
In a relatively light decision issued yesterday, the CRTC amended the Exemption Order regarding cable BDUs that serve between 2,000 and 6,000 subscribers with respect to the commission's community channel policy. Canadian Communications Reports, however, wonders if the amendment was a bit of housekeeping by the...
While the withdrawal of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) as a member of the Canadian Interactive Alliance/l'Alliance interactive canadienne (CIAIC) may seem like a damaging blow to the credibility of the fledgling national new media industry association, members of...
Although they've had more than a week, Canada's recording industry has yet to respond to the Industry Canada-commissioned study on peer-to-peer filesharing concluding that the practice actually tends to increase music purchasing. While it's unlikely to be the case, those who oppose anti-circumvention laws hope the labels' silence is...
While most of the decision makers in Canada's broadcasting industry were debating how to manage the rise of alternative distribution platforms at the annual convention for the Canadian Association of Broadcasters at Ottawa's Westin hotel earlier this week, a multi-platform, multi-stakeholder success story was being...
It's one thing to decide to deliver content over new platforms, but knowing what content works best with each medium, which channels to deliver it through and how to monetize it will strengthen the business proposition. Panellists at Monday and Tuesday sessions at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' convention...
Billed as a discussion on the future of broadcast regulation, the Tuesday morning plenary session at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' convention more closely resembled a series of opening remarks from a CRTC hearing as broadcasters and BDUs offered up their regulatory desires. But with the help of some levity from Asian Television Network...
Sitting on a panel of broadcast executives Monday morning for the TV.2011 session at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters convention, Rogers Broadcasting Ltd.'s president and CEO Rael Merson showed that although his employer is now a conventional broadcaster as owner of the Citytv channels, it will always be a BDU at heart - especially when the issue is fee for carriage. "I have nightmares about waking up and reading a newspaper headline that says broadcasters are charging for a service they have been providing for free for 40 years," said Merson when pressed on the issue, adding "the world is evolving towards advertising and away from pay...The answer isn't to look to Big Brother to bail us out; we have to be creative. That is television 2011." René...
Last night following the new episode of NBC's The Office, I, at the behest of my television set, logged on to DunderMifflinInfinity.com, which appears to be some kind of social networking website for fans of the show. I didn't stay long, but the mere fact that I went online to investigate complimentary TV content...
Those with a vested interest in new media sector want to pay attention to February's BDU and specialty service hearing. As BDUs use competition from unregulated online content as a platform on which to call for lighter regulation and industry associations advocate for discussion of a national new media policy, the BDU proceeding figures to be a...
Concerned that the 2011 analog shutdown date is fast approaching even though multiple barriers to consumer entry into the high-definition television market still exist, broadcasting consultant Michael McEwen hopes recommendations to encourage HD uptake are put on the table at February's BDU and specialty review. And...
Although a recent study from KPMG reveals that consumers worldwide are likely to break out of their multimedia bundles and switch to another provider for most services if the price is right, games appear to be the one product category where consumers show loyalty in spite of price. "When asked how their usage of a particular site or application...
The talking point of the ramifications of lighter regulation in broadcasting found a home once again last week at Insight's Entertainment Industries Summit in Toronto, where a panel of industry experts weighed in on the potential impacts of deregulation for both broadcasters and consumers. "If a new direction is to regulate only when necessary, what does that mean to each of us?" asked David Keeble, an Ottawa-based broadcast industry consultant and moderator of the panel. "What is a matter of public policy and what can be safely left to the market place? Where do we snafu regulations and where do we keep them?"Pierre-Louis Smith, vice-president and chief regulatory officer at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, noted that the CRTC is no longer in a position to...
At a Toronto conference earlier this week one of the authors of the now notorious Dunbar/Leblanc regulatory framework review elaborated on how deregulation can benefit Canadians and Canadian programming. Speaking at Insight's Entertainment Industries Summit about the relevance of the regulatory body's broadcast regulations, Christian Leblanc, a...
Given the CRTC's desire to lighten its regulatory burden in the broadcasting space we could be headed for a major industry realignment following February's BDU and discretionary services review. Industry observers, however, are wary about how much the commission can, and will, let market forces reign in broadcasting. "I think once the...
With an absence of defined standards for remuneration for creators in the digital age, individual artists need to exercise due diligence in informing themselves about royalties, licensing fees, and multiple revenue streams to augment compensation for their services or products, says a panel of entertainment association...
While the Copyright Board of Canada certified the Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers of Canada's (SOCAN) Tariff 22 (Internet - online music services) last week, those who opposed the tariff feel the issue is far from resolved for multiple reasons. "The overall impact of the tariff is still certainly very much up in the...
In his speech Saturday to the International Institute of Communications Regulators Forum in London, England, CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein outlined all of the responsibilities of the commission and gave his international audience a glimpse at how the regulator is handling the constantly evolving communications...
With initial comments due last Friday for next February's BDU and specialty service regulatory framework review the CRTC and the industry at large now has more than three months to examine the thousands of pages of policy wish lists submitted. Certain to be one of the more polarizing issues will be whether to relax the...
When is a primetime top ten list not a top ten list? According to CTV, when that list is issued by Global Television. Of course, the logic seems to also work in the other direction as the two national private broadcasters battle not only in the ratings, but over how to interpret them correctly. Wednesday Global issued the press release Canada's ratings race officially a dead heat, which declared it had finally split...
Advertising is to the television what gas is to automobiles: both are basic elements of their respective industries and it's highly doubtful that either sector will operate completely free from these fundamentals within our lifetime. However, as consumers' attitudes and habits change, each industry must reduce its...
No longer content to simply tell as many people as possible to ‘Just Do It,' Nike Inc. and many companies like it are finding it's more effective advertising to help people do it, keep track of how often they do it and introduce them to others who are doing it, too. And these companies are turning to the emerging global phenomenon of social networking to make this happen. "The whole idea of just give me a chance to put my products in front of a group of people is going by the wayside," says Bob Reaume, VP of policy & research at the Association of Canadian Advertisers. "The mantra now among advertisers is I need to connect with my customers or potential...
If the Competition Bureau was second-guessing itself after more than six years, it can stop: a report released earlier this month reveals the bureau accurately assessed market conditions and reasonably predicted outcomes when it approved Corus Media's acquisition of the WIC Broadcasting assets in 2000. For everyone else...
Last May, Toronto-based mobile media company MyThum Interactive Inc. was named Company of the Year at the Canadian New Media Awards. Since then, MyThum has continued its push in television interactivity and is gaining national, and global, recognition as a result."We've always been strong and focused on the entertainment and new media sector,...
There's more than a month before the CRTC hearing to consider CanWest MediaWorks Inc.'s proposed acquisition of Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc.'s broadcasting companies (Broadcasting Public Notice 2007-11), which leaves plenty of time to review the 225 interventions the...
Bell Fund Pick ArchiveIn honour of last week's 10th anniversary of the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, Canadian NEW MEDIA is proud to offer a look at the monthly profiles of the stellar works of the Fund's recipients. Below is a listing of those profiles, in chronological order. August 14, 2007: Boost your brainpower with...
With the ambitious goal of increasing the workforce at its Montreal and Québec City studios by more than 1,000 employees by 2013, videogame designer Ubisoft has launched the second, and improved, edition of its TooMuchImagination.ca interactive recruitment challenge. This year's goal? To recruit 150 new talented designers, artists and programmers for its two Québec studios. "There's definitely a [recruitment] challenge right now in the industry," says Cédric Orvoine, director of external communications at Ubisoft Montreal. "Every gaming company is growing right now so everybody's kind of fighting for the talent. And at the same time there are not enough young graduates on a yearly basis. So that's why we're trying to create a different approach than...
Let's be clear, this is not a story about anyone withdrawing from the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. In fact, it's quite the opposite. But while the formation of a splinter faction of broadcasters to rival the venerable CAB on regulatory issues would certainly make for great copy, it...
CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein kicked off the commission's New Media Invitational Session Monday by asking the three fundamental questions about the treatment of new media in our regulated broadcasting system: Is it a necessity to regulate commercial broadcasting over new media?; If so, what measures need to be...
With $50 million invested in over 500 new media projects associated with television productions, it's impossible for the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund to acknowledge every venture its had a hand in since its inception in October 1997. That's why for its 10th anniversary the fund today announced the selection of...
The public hearing for the Review of the regulatory frameworks for broadcasting distribution undertakings and discretionary programming services (CRTC 2007-10) is set to begin on February 4, 2008, but few actual members of the public are likely to appear to address the commission. Before their comments are overshadowed by the lengthy rhetoric of...
Tour guides may soon find themselves housed among museums' relics and treasures if Augmented Reality Experience (ARE) Mobile's Strata program catches on. Mobile-based and GPS-enabled, the interactive mediascape guides users through historical sites, cities, galleries or museums, accompanying them with narrated...
While it held their public hearings two days apart, the CRTC today ruled on both Rogers Media Inc.'s and Astral Media's proposed acquisitions of the Citytv stations and Standard Radio Inc., respectively. Not surprisingly, both transactions were approved by the commission. Rogers/Citytv:In Broadcasting Decision 2007-360, the CRTC approved...
With its inaugural Great Canadian Video Game Competition now over, Telefilm Canada hasn't yet decided if it will sponsor a second instalment of the event. One of the finalists, however, has already made up Telefilm's mind. "I absolutely demand that they do it again this year," says Jason MacIsaac, design...
Representatives from Telus Corp. and the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) have responded to the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) report alleging both organizations offered digital rights management (DRM)-enabled services that violated privacy laws. While both parties seem sincere in their desires to protect customer privacy,...
The Stuart Langford Show may be going off the air, which is to say it will no longer be streamed live online during CRTC proceedings. Commissioner Langford's current term ends November 15, meaning last week's Diversity of Voices proceeding may have been his final performance at the commission.Langford has a well-honed style of effectively grilling the interveners sitting opposite him while simultaneously tallying, or setting up, more Laughter/Rires in the transcripts than any other commissioner. It's a style that in a country occasionally starved for popular home-grown content seems well suited to the broadcast airwaves. So, should we expect to see Stuart, you have a question? - a show about a former journalist turned CRTC commissioner who seamlessly riffs with all facets of a...
