With the fate of proposed amendments to the Copyright Act of 1985 unsure after the Conservative Party of Canada’s recent victory at the polls, a lunchtime panel made up of law academics, rightsholder group members and a Canadian Idol judge examined the likely course of copyright reform in Canada. When asked by moderator and media technologies Jim Griffin if it was possible for content providers to regain control of how their work is used, Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association VP Susan Peacock said she hoped so. "Otherwise there’ll be less commercial content available," she warned. "You’ll be able to get my holiday snaps and my karaoke performances online, but that’s about it." While Canada is a signatory to the World Intellectual...
It says a lot about the state of high-definition television programming in Canada when a new broadcaster can launch its first two channels and automatically become the nation’s HD leader. But that’s exactly what happened when High Fidelity HDTV Inc. launched Treasure HD and OasisHD on Bell ExpressVu earlier this month. By broadcasting nothing but true high-definition programming around the clock on its two channels, High Fidelity moves past Canada’s only other all-HD offering, Discovery Channel’s Discovery HD, in terms of HD content – not to mention the piecemeal HD channels available. "The whole reason we’re in this business is because we feel fundamentally that...
Two of the Copyright Board of Canada’s five members have released their reasons for dissenting with the board’s 2005 decision to grant Breakthrough Entertainment’s use of excerpts from a book on World War Two. In their remarks, Justice William Vancise and Stephen Callary stated that Breakthrough’s use of...
MTV Canada debuts under CTV aegisMTV Canada has pulled out all the stops in its relaunch as part of the CTV Inc. empire. On March 21, the youth-oriented music and lifestyle specialty channel rolled out its Canadian service through no less than six separate channels, including: conventional and specialty channels; mobile content, which includes not just mobisodes and other programming but also wallpaper, ringtones and...
Toronto-based Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI) has lost its chairman of the board. Garfield Emerson, QC, a lawyer with an extensive background in investment banking, had resigned both his seat on the board and the chair. A board member since 1989, and the chair of the board since 1993, Emerson is also national chair at law firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. Following up on a previous announcement, RCI has also...
Commercial radio broadcasters are asking that their Canadian Talent Development contributions go to two funds instead of the current four. One of the funds which stands to lose is the Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings (FACTOR). Below is a submission from FACTOR outlining the group’s contributions to...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. The CRTC’s commercial radio review process has again brought to the forefront a decades-old debate in Canada: how do you foster Canadian culture and identity in an era of global competitiveness? Last year, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters requested the commission hold off on its review to give the traditional radio industry time to evaluate the threat posed by two recently licenced, US-based satellite radio services. This, despite both services’ concessions to Cancon and Canadian Talent Development. Other digital technologies are proving even tougher to grapple with. Authorities as diverse as the Competition Bureau and the Canadian Independent Record Producers Association have recommended that when the CRTC revisits the 1999 New Media Exemption Order – something commission chair Charles Dalfen said earlier this year he would do – it recognize that these unregulated digital distribution...
With the public hearings on the Commercial Radio Policy still two months away, comments have come at a steady pace from all players in the broadcast radio industry. Among the submissions by copyright collectives, artists groups and other music industry bodies, radio broadcasters themselves warn the CRTC that Canadian...
Toopy and BinooA new interactive toy box for kids, the Toopy and Binoo website invites both English and French speaking little ones aged four to six to delve into the imaginary world of their favourite heroes. The Web site is the interactive alter ego of the animated series of the same name, broadcast in English on Treehouse and in French on Télé-Québec. The site was produced by Spectra Animation and created by...
Quebec’s Institut national de l’image et du son (National Institute for Image and Sound, or INIS), the province’s foremost professional training institute for media producers of all stripes, has announced a new executive committee for 2006. Patrick Roy, VP at Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm, the Toronto-based programmer’s Quebec distribution arm, has assumed the role of VP, cinema at INIS, while Zone3 VP of creative...
Shortly into the new year, Leading Edge BC – an organization set up to promote British Columbia’s technology sector – and BC Stats released their Profile of the British Columbia High-Tech Sector report for 2005. Included for the first time were industries related to interactive media such as motion picture and video...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Recent moves by Bell Canada, Telus and Yahoo Canada to offer retail music downloads come at an interesting period in the evolution of such services in Canada. This coming September, the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) is set to face off against the Canadian Musical Reproduction...
This year is another census year, but it won’t be like previous ones: for the first time ever Canadians will be able to turn to the Internet to fill out the questionnaires that will be coming their way. The 2006 census gets underway on May 16, and the federal government agency responsible for the survey is putting the finishing touches on a Web application that will allow respondents to securely complete...
While it’s perhaps no surprise that the Internet has been an effective vehicle for Kids Help Phone to provide free counselling, what is somewhat astonishing is that it’s come at no expense to its phone counselling service. In fact, time spent counselling on the phone increased 4% in 2005, meaning all web activity is...
Canada’s telcos are making major inroads into digital music distribution through both their wireline and wireless telephony services. At the beginning of the month, Bell Canada announced that it will take a majority ownership position in Puretracks, an online paid music download service launched in 2003 by...
Yahoo Canada is hoping its users will find no reason to go anywhere else for their online interaction, and has launched a new communications aggregation effort to try and convince users of the benefits of having all your online networking needs met in one spot. Yahoo 360 Degrees is "a social publishing service that allows people to easily share what matters to them most, and really bring all of the Yahoo pieces together seamlessly...in one central location," says Bryan Lipovetsky, product manager for 360 Degrees at the Toronto-based Canadian operations of Sunnyvale CA’s Yahoo Inc. With a pedigree in community-driven sites – including Yahoo Groups and GeoCities, the collection of personal Web pages Yahoo bought in 1999 – the firm already had many of the...
Other broadcasters looking to capitalize on the growing wireless content trend should look to CHUM Television and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. for advice on how to successfully integrate mobility and other content into traditional offerings. The innovative broadcasters are leading the way in Canada in terms of using...
CSI provides clue to Alliance Atlantis’ fortunesAlliance Atlantis Communications Inc. is riding high on CSI, according to the firm’s latest earnings statement. In the final quarter of 2005 the programmer brought in $84.2 million in revenue, a 16% gain on the same period in 2004. Total advertising revenue was also up by 16% compared to Q4 2004, with ad revenue at the firm’s digital channels growing nearly twice as...
Claude Galipeau will be rejoining Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. at the end of this month as senior VP, digital media, content group. Since 2002, Galipeau has been working to advance new media initiatives at the CBC, as executive director of digital programming and business development. He had previously worked for Alliance Atlantis from 2001 to 2002, as a VP of broadcasting. "Over the past number of years...
On March 2, Canadian Association of Broadcasters VP of television and specialty and pay services Wayne Charman offered his comments on the CRTC’s new proposed service standards. In his letter, excerpted below, he urged the commission to broaden the measures it proposes in Public Notice 2006-16.. …The CAB urges the...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. It’s about time that Canada’s telecommunications providers decided to get rational. In Canadian Communications Reports’ sister publication, Report on Wireless, executives at Canada’s largest wireless communications firms said that although they’re not above cutting prices to match similar moves by rivals, they prefer to compete on value, allowing the quality and breadth of their products and services to speak for themselves. And at a recent RBC Capital Markets conference, Rogers Wireless president Rob Bruce said "undisciplined pricing" doesn’t produce sustainable long-term growth in subscribers and revenues, and characterized price wars as "the biggest threat to the industry." Meanwhile, Rogers Cable president Edward S. Rogers admitted that the firm was looking at raising rates for both its broadband Internet and television services. The implication is that firms are...
It’s a road the CRTC has been down twice before in the past six years, but the commission’s newly appointed chief of broadcasting and telecommunications says the regulator’s latest effort to address service standards and turnaround times on paperwork will be different. In a 2000 document, (Circular No. 440), the...
The CRTC has taken just over a year to consult with the public and come up with findings on how cable firms can best migrate their analog services to digital, and Canadian cablecos seem mostly pleased with the end result. Last month’s Digital Migration Framework (Public Notice...
Dominique Brown, president and GM of Montreal-based game development and conversion studio Beenox, has been recognized as the most prominent youngest businessperson in the field of technology and research by the Quebec Youth Chamber of Commerce. The annual distinction is given out to a young entrepreneur who is remarkable for the effect they have on their local business community as well as their determination, vision and...
On February 3, Ontario minister of culture Madeleine Meilleur announced a new award, the Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, which would provide $50,000 to two individual artists annually. Along with professions such as writing and publishing, film and television production, visual arts, and music, practitioners...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Formal education isn’t everything in new media, but it goes a long way towards establishing a professional’s identity. That’s why it’s exciting to see two new graduate programs addressing the needs of the new media industry: the MBA program at Toronto’s Ryerson University now offers a...
Canada’s new media sector will reach a developmental milestone over the next two years with the admission of students to Ryerson University’s management of technology and innovation masters program in Toronto this fall, and to the professional digital media masters program at Vancouver’s Great Northern Way Campus...
Mobile video content has gained a toehold in the Canadian wireless user market and the industry is bullish on its future, according to industry specialists at a conference in Toronto last month. While its still early days for mobile video in Canada, speakers at the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications...
The Family Channel is claiming a Canadian first with its new series Life With Derek, a television show that will actually premier on the Internet before it airs to television audiences. The show, produced by Toronto’s Shaftesbury Films and St. John’s-based Pope Productions Ltd., will begin a five-day preview...
Remember the phrase, "Content is king"? At one time, Internet video services, interactive TV shows and other new media initiatives seemed set to drive the economy. Although the idea seemed to die with many of the unsustainable business models of the dot-com era circa 1995 to 2001, new endeavours to make homes more tech-enabled could return content to its throne. Content is the heart of the "digital home" – houses in which electronic devices, heating systems and even appliances are interconnected – judging from comments made at the Digital Home Summit, a Strategy Institute conference held in Toronto, February 21 to 22. Tim Woods is vice-president, ecosystem development at the Internet Home Alliance (IHA), a non-profit group researching home...
Hexagram taps six new projectsSix new interactive media projects have been chosen for the sixth round of funding from Hexagram, a consortium of Quebec universities. The projects – by second- and third-year students from Concordia University and l’Université du Québec à Montréal – are experimental in nature and range from wearable instruments to building installations that react to the movements of passersby....
A new exemption order aimed at distinguishing between wireless telco-based mobile video services and yet-to-launch mobile TV services has some wireless network operators upset over its unique take on the broadcast retransmission regime, while others are indifferent. "There’s a fundamental difference between the rights that [over-the-air]...
Digital cable transition framework announcedThe CRTC has announced a wide-ranging framework for both large and small cablecos to transition their services to digital distribution. The commission found that the four large cablecos – Rogers, Shaw, Cogeco and Vidéotron – should be required to mirror their analog line-ups and tiers on their digital service, until at least 85% of subscribers have digital set-top...
The head of Amtelecom says the firm’s recent acquisition of People’s Communications Inc. will not only allow the telecom and cable TV provider to round out coverage for voice and data telephony services, but will help it beef up some of its cable operations. A soon-to-be-launched fibre build project will allow...
Applications for radio licenses in Calgary, Lethbridge being heard nowThe CRTC is holding public hearings in Calgary between February 21 and March 3 to consider applications for radio broadcasting licences in the Calgary area and Lethbridge. The commission is hearing applications from Touch Canada Broadcasting Inc., CHUM Ltd., Evanov Radio Group Inc., Calgary Independent Broadcast Group Inc., Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Ltd., Rawlco Radio Ltd., Harvard Broadcasting Inc., Newcap Inc., Tiessen Media Inc., Golden West Broadcasting Ltd., and Vista Radio Ltd., among others. The hearings are being held at the Metropolitan Conference Centre and can be heard live on the CRTC’s website. Télé-Québec ordered by government to cut workforceThe educational television network Télé-Québec has been ordered by the Quebec government to cut one-third of its workforce and close its Montreal studios to move production to the private sector. The network, which is the Quebec equivalent of TVOntario, is operated and funded primarily by the province,...
Stephen Stohn and Daniel Weinzweig have joined the board of directors at Alliance Atlantis’ Movie Distribution Income Fund. Stohn, an entertainment lawyer, is perhaps best known for his role as executive producer of the popular Degrassi: The Next Generation television franchise as well as the annual Juno Awards. He is a founder partner at Toronto’s Stohn Hay Cafazzo Dembroski Richmond LLP legal firm, as well as a...
CRTC chair Charles Dalfen presented the opening keynote, excerpts of which appear below, at this year’s Prime Time, the Canadian Film and Television Production Association’s annual event. In it, he urged Canadian producers to produce more content in high-definition broadcast formats. As I looked over the program for this conference one thing...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. High-definition television, or HDTV, is an innovation that promises to change the face of video entertainment. Canada, however, is in danger of being left behind. Not by any omission on the public’s part: a quick check of online retailers such as Future Shop shows that the majority of TV sets...
High definition television was high on the agenda at this year’s Prime Time conference, an annual event hosted by the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA). CRTC chairman Charles Dalfen gave the opening keynote, during which he laid out the regulator’s take on Canada’s broadcasting and production landscape. He noted...
Styling himself as a necessary thorn in the broadcast industry’s side, a Canadian Toshiba executive says digital TV providers are doomed to fail in the HDTV market if they don’t get their act together. Robert Gumiela, senior marketing director for television at Markham ON’s Toshiba of Canada Ltd., took aim at telecommunications service...
Digital television services added nearly a quarter of a million new subscribers in the third quarter of 2005, but the race appears to be more or less an even heat between satellite distributors and their cableco counterparts at present. Mario Mota, VP of broadcast and media research at Decima Research Inc., released the latest installment of The...
CNM update – February 22, 2006 SilverBirch’s Mobiloke on the move with WirelesStudiosSilverBirch Studios Inc. has entered into an agreement allowing WirelesStudios Inc. to distribute SilverBirch’s mobile entertainment content throughout Europe and the UK. The top offering will be the Toronto-based company’s Mobiloke, a mobile phone-based Karaoke program, with lyrics display, downloadable tracks and pitch and...
Divine Design OnlineLifestyle new media at its best, Divine Design Online is a do-it-yourselfer’s resource aimed at a primarily female demographic with ages ranging from 25-54. This online foray into the genre has been facilitated by the immense popularity of Fusion Television’s Divine Design with Candice Olson, seen weekly on the W Network in Canada and HGTV in the US. The format of the site is based upon the...
CHUM Ltd. has announced the appointment of Gabrielle Free to the post of director of communication for CHUM Television’s music and youth services. As such, Free will head up external communications for such CHUM brands as MuchMusic, MuchMoreMusic, MuchVibe, MuchLOUD, MuchMoreRetro, Razer and PunchMuch – brands that have heavy online and mobile presences in addition to their traditional television component.Free is a veteran of the Toronto International Film Festival, where served as director of communications, and has also worked in publicity at YTV, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation, among others. She has a degree in English and film studies from the University of Western Ontario in London ON and a communications diploma from Toronto’s Seneca College. Nordicity Group Ltd., a media/entertainment, culture/content, and telecommunications strategy consulting firm has hired Terri Wills to work with senior partner Peter Lyman to grow the Toronto practice. Wills spent the...
Michael Grade, chairman of the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC), gave the keynote address at the 2006 National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) conference last month. In his speech, excerpts from which appear below, he gave advice to traditional broadcasters looking to compete in the convergent world. Looking around the...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Next month, I’ll be moderating a panel at the New Media Business Alliance’s iSummit in Toronto. The session asks the question, "Is It OK to Say Convergence Again?" If we take convergence to mean interactive media and high-tech networks melding with more established forms of...
The "third screen" – in all its permutations – was high on the agenda at this year’s Prime Time, the annual conference of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA). Computer displays are often referred to as the third screen after television and movie theatres. However,...
There is no question as to whether or not digital signage will pick up momentum – it’s already happening, according to the presenters sharing their experiences with the medium at the Strategy Institute’s recent Digital Signage Summit, held in Toronto February 7 and 8. However, there is still a struggle to get advertisers and their agencies to buy...
Imagine the possibilities if mobile content customers could simply recommend a game or application to a friend by entering their mobile phone number. Cascada Mobile, a Toronto-based wireless company, has announced a new technology that allows mobile content publishers and developers to capitalize on the influence of viral marketing and word-of-mouth buzz for their mobile applications. Cascada’s TAG technology enables mobile subscribers to refer J2ME games and applications to their peers. The "friendly" referral then delivers the recipient directly to the purchasing page of the product. Brian Flanagan, co-founder and director of product management for Cascada Mobile, says the critical element to the success of any viral marketing strategy for mobile content is ensuring the consumer has access to the correct version of the game or application. "The idea behind TAG was to create a service that allowed the referral distribution of content to take place," says Flanagan. "We have all these...
With 11 years of experience in developing online gaming software, Toronto-based Cryptologic Inc. seems well-positioned to take advantage of what is now a surging, US$12 billion industry worldwide – even if they can’t sell their product in Canada. During the BMO Nesbitt Burns Canadian Gaming Conference held...
Six months after its launch south of the border, Sunnyvale CA-based Yahoo Inc.’s online music service is now available in Canada. Unlike other services currently available here, Yahoo Music Unlimited Canada gives users the choice to choose either either pay-per-track downloads or a monthly all-you-can-eat...
CBC teams up with telcos for OlympicsThe Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is getting its 2006 Olympic Winter Games coverage into the hands of Canadian viewers in some non-traditional ways. The public broadcaster has signed deals with Bell Canada, which will feature CBC telecast content on its mobile television service, and Rogers Communications Inc., which will provide similar content through its video-on-demand (VOD) service...
MTS Allstream Inc. and Aliant Inc. are still building out their IPTV offerings even as they struggle to maintain local residential telephony market share. Aliant is in the process of rolling out IPTV to approximately 200,000 homes in Atlantic Canada and hopes to achieve that goal by the end of 2007. The company has...
Predictions about the future of television abounded at the annual US National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) conference, held January 24-26 in Las Vegas. The "Digital Strategies: Evolve and Prosper" panel was stacked with titans from the world of US convergence. CBS Digital Media...
CRTC rules on drama development commitmentsAfter its 2004 call for comments on a new English-language television drama production regime (Broadcasting Public Notice 2005-81), the CRTC has ruled on a formula it believes will increase funding for such productions as well as airtime and viewership. The commission wants to see Canadian broadcasters spend 6% of their gross annual revenues on TV drama production five years from...
Kirstine Layfield has been appointed executive director of English-language programming at the CBC, ending a five-month search for the right candidate for the job at the public broadcaster that started when Slawko Klymkiw vacated the position to take up the top spot at the Canadian Film Centre.Layfield was most recently senior VP of lifestyle content at Alliance Atlantis Communications, where she was responsible for...
Etienne Dumont, a 26-year-old radio host and producer currently working at CHLT 630 Estrie in eastern Quebec, has provided the first stakeholder comment on the CRTC’s Commercial Radio Policy review process. We kindly thank Mr. Dumont for the English translation of his intervention, which is excerpted below. Although...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. On the face of it, the CRTC’s decision to grant Shaw Communications Inc. dispensation to offer its terrestrial pay-per-view service nationally might seem unfair to Astral Media Inc. While Shaw and Astral had hitherto shared the country – and the Viewer’s Choice franchise – in a non-competitive fashion, Shaw has had to contend with Bell ExpressVu’s terrestrial PPV service in the West, which is all the more powerful since wringing concessions on its terms of licence from the CRTC in 2003. However, there could be other entrants ready to get into the game: Rogers promised not to create a scene about this most recent ruling if the commission looks favourably on any future applications it might make for a general-interest PPV licence. And, of course, regional telcos are already in the PPV game via their IPTV offerings, even though they must purchase their signals through Shaw or ExpressVu. Working towards...
While many laud the potential of broadband convergence, the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association (CCTA) is a victim of it. Citing the changing face of the cable industry, the 50-year-old organization announced it will cease operations immediately. "The reality is...our major companies...have really shifted from being cable television companies to becoming media and communications conglomerates,"...
Calgary-based Shaw Pay-Per-View Ltd. will soon be coming to eastern Canada, and Astral Media Inc. will just have to learn to share. On January 31, the CRTC approved the Shaw Communications Inc. division’s request for a licence amendment, allowing its well-established terrestrial pay-per-view (PPV) service to branch...
Despite the media attention, the launch of US shock jock Howard Stern’s Howard 100 station on Sirius Canada is being downplayed by both the satellite radio provider and industry groups. "It’s just another channel in our 100-channel line-up," Sirius Canada’s president and CEO, Mark Redmond, tells...
CNM update, February 07, 2006 Yahoo launches Canadian music serviceYahoo Canada officially rolled out the Canadian version of its music download service on January 31. Yahoo Music Unlimited was first launched in the US last August, and Canada is the first foreign market for the service. "We want our service to truly reflect the music community in this country, and basically speak to Canadians with their tastes...
Whether the platform is a console, PC, mobile phone or interactive TV, electronic games are a thriving business. But, not all games make money. An event organized in Toronto on January 20th by the New Media Business Alliance looked at business models, demographics and other facets of game development for gaming in both Canadian and foreign markets. A discussion panel – moderated by Warren Currell, president and CEO of Sherpa Games – featured Damir Slogar, founder and CEO of Big Blue Bubble, which since 2004 has been developing games for mobile devices, as well as Jennifer Crisanti, a founding partner and VP of new business development at Splashworks, which has been developing online games since 1997. Slogar, a 20-year veteran of the gaming industry, said his firm...
Mark Greenspan, training programmes manager at the Canadian Film Centre’s Habitat New Media Lab, attended the recent National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) annual conference in Las Vegas on behalf of Canadian NEW MEDIA. Featured below is his report, which analyzes the leading role network television plays in setting the agenda for new media south of the border. Digital entertainment...
Rogers, Melodeo unveil mobile podcast serviceRogers Wireless and Melodeo Inc. have teamed up to launch Rogers podcast Service, the first mobile podcast service on the continent. Through Melodeo’s Mobilcast software, Rogers Wireless customers will now have the option to listen to podcasts on their cell phones covering 16 different categories, including news and sports, technology, music, and comedy. The podcasts are...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Wow. Somebody pinch me. I’ve never placed much stock in my ability to foresee the future, but the events of this week have got me wondering whether extra-sensory perception does indeed exist. In my last editorial, emboldened by news the CRTC was creating a new media directorship and media...
The lean years after a fateful CRTC decision in 2003 seem to be coming to an end for the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund with another decision from the commission this week. In the course of renewing Bell ExpressVu LP’s licence to operate a direct-to-home (DTH) pay-per-view (PPV) service until August 2012, the commission also approved the satellite broadcaster’s request to direct the entire 5% of its...
As promised in 2004, Telus Corp.’s funding programs for content producers have been streamlined and reintroduced in partnership with director Norman Jewison’s Canadian Film Centre. The Telus Innovation Fund will provide up to $100,000 per project for three projects drawn from the film, television and new media production communities....
Shaw terrestrial PPV to go nationalThe CRTC has approved Shaw Communications Inc.’s request that its terrestrial pay-per-view service – currently offered only in western Canada – be allowed to go national.In exchange, Shaw must agree to minimum levels of French-language programming, minimum Canadian content requirements, a minimum ratio of French-to-English-language channels, and a transfer of 60% of the gross...
Self-styled community broadcaster Jan Pachul is still airing his Star Ray TV signal in Toronto, despite a 2001 order shutting it down and a more recent reminder from the CRTC. "I guess what they’re trying to do is shut down whatever I’ve got on right now," Pachul says, referring to Star TV’s alphanumeric service, a mix of music...
OMNI TV arrives in WinnipegRogers Media Inc. will bring its OMNI brand of multicultural television to Manitoba next month with the launch of multi-faith channel OMNI TV Manitoba. Approval for the deal was granted in May last year when Rogers applied for permission to acquire NOWTV BC (CHNU-TV Fraser Valley) and NOWTV Manitoba (CIIT-TV Winnipeg), as well as for licenses to operate both stations as religious programming...
The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) has appointed its new board of directors for 2006. Chairing the Winnipeg-headquartered network’s board this year is Judy Gingell of the Kwanlin Dun First Nation in the Yukon Territory. Judy is a five-year member of the board, a founding director of Northern Native Broadcasting Yukon, ex-chair of the Council for Yukon Indians, and an ex-Commissioner of the Yukon. More recently, she was the recipient of a 2005 National Aboriginal Achievement Award for community development, and is also the current president of the Kwanlin Dun Development Corp. Of the 16 directors currently sitting, 11 are returning and 5 are new arrivals. New to the board are: Chris Robertson (South British Columbia); Alanis Obomsawin (South Quebec); Linda Simon (South New Brunswick); Daniel Vandal (South Manitoba); and Brian Smith (South Nova Scotia). Breakthrough Films and Television of Toronto has announced the creation of a third-party acquisition business, naming Nat Abraham to the top spot at the new division. As...
Late last year, Canada’s broadcasters had a chance to comment on an Industry Canada consultation paper examining the emerging technology of broadband over powerline (BPL), which allows high-speed networking over electrical wiring. In its comment, an excerpt from which appears below, the Canadian Broad-casting Corp. urged...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. It’s an exciting time to be writing about audio broadcasting in Canada. Although a look back at the pages of Canadian Communcations Reports will reveal that last year was very much about digital television in all its various forms, radio is now back in the spotlight – at least temporarily – with...
After an eight-year interregnum, the CRTC is ready to re-examine its commercial radio policy after announcing a framework for the review on January 13. Topping the list of issues to be addressed is the impact of emerging technologies – satellite and Internet radio broadcasts, podcasting, and music downloading and file-sharing – on existing...
Satellite radio services may have received their licences to operate in Canada six months ago, but the copyright collectives representing Canadian artistic talent and businesses are still waiting for their proposed tariffs on such services to be approved. One organization, the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights...
CNM update, January 25, 2006 CFC, Telus launch new innovation fundToronto’s Canadian Film Centre has launched a new funding program with the financial backing of Telus Corp. Dubbed the Telus Innovation Fund, the program will provide money for three projects annually – up to $100,000 per project – in the form of an upfront advance. New media, film and television productions that mostly feature Canadian copyrighted content are eligible for funding under the program, but firms with less than 40 employees and total annual revenues of less than $4 million will be given priority. The Canadian Film Centre already runs a training program in conjunction with the telco, the Telus Interactive Art & Entertainment Programme, as well as its own Interactive Project Lab, a talent incubator and mentorship program that also features a funding component. Look for more on the Telus Innovation Fund in an upcoming issue of Canadian NEW MEDIA. Montreal’s Nurun buys Chinese Web marketerWeb communications firm Nurun Inc. of Montreal...
Toronto-founded, London-based skill gaming outfit FUN Technologies plc ended 2005 on a high note with a major media holding company bidding for a controlling stake, and that momentum seems to be continuing this year. On Jan. 18, FUN tendered a deal worth up to US$6 million for mobile game developer Octopi LLC of...
A new multimedia marketing campaign aimed at teens and young adults with mobile phones may be the first of many to come, according to an industry analyst. "It’s certainly the highest-profile example we’ve seen of how mobile capabilities can be taken advantage of to market, especially to youth," says Jeff Leiper, director of...
Saskatchewan’s new media community will have its own home-grown conference starting this spring with the launch of Saskatchewan Interactive. Saskatchewan New Media Developers Association president Deborah Black says she has targeted the game development industry as a likely area where the province could...
Canada’s new media industry will have a fourth national conference this spring with the launch of iSummit, a business issues-focused event from the Toronto-based New Media Business Alliance (NMBA). Despite existing events such as Alliance numériqc’s Montreal International Game Summit, New Media BC’s Vidfest, and Nextmedia from...
Photochannel pairs up with KatzRetail multimedia vending device operator Photochannel Networks Inc. (PNI) has signed an agreement with Katz Group Canada Ltd. – operators of the Rexall, Pharma Plus, Guardian and IDA pharmacy chains in Canada, among others – that will see Katz use PNI’s Digital Media Platform to build an online photo service. Customers will be able to upload their digital photographs to the Rexall...
Robert Desautels is the newest addition to the executive team at Longueuil QC motion simulator firm D-Box Technologies Inc. As VP of sales and marketing, he will guide the Quebec firm’s efforts to take its home entertainment-oriented motion feedback devices to new markets, and increase penetration and profile in existing markets. Desautels held the position of VP of marketing and business development at Montreal...
At the end of 2005, Hamilton ON research firm Hill Strategies Research Inc. released their Artists by Neighbourhood in Canada report. The survey "highlights creative neighbourhoods across the country – areas where artists interact and help shape the character of their communities" by looking at the percentage of...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.At the risk of repeating my last editorial, I’m going to reaffirm my belief that 2006 will be a banner year for Canada’s new media industry. On the heels of last year’s news that the CRTC will create a new media directorate, the public sector and producer communities are coming up with...
2005 starts with cavalcade of cableco announcementsBy all accounts, Canada’s cable industry is in growth mode, with two major cablecos seeing greater than 100% increases in their net income during recent quarters. Shaw Communications Inc., and Cogeco Cable Inc. both issued earnings statements less than two weeks into the new year, while Rogers Communications Inc., and Vidéotron ltée issued - subscriber growth figures. Calgary’s Shaw grew its net income to $75.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2006 – a three-month period which ended November 30, 2005 – up from $44.7 million in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year. While digital telephony and high-speed Internet growth led the charge in subscriber addition numbers, the firm’s basic cable customer base grew by 29,429 during the quarter, while digital cable added 28,296 new customers. Shaw’s direct-to-home satellite television operator Star Choice also contributed with a 10,199 gain in users. "Both of our divisions [Cable and Internet] are contributing...
CTV Inc. is the first conventional network to be named Canada’s top TV service in terms of viewer satisfaction, according to the latest edition of TV Quality Report, a national audience study examining Canadian’s attitudes toward television. In the past, specialty channels Discovery and The Learning Channel (TLC)...
More than four years after many of Canada’s other large cablecos applied for basic cable deregulation, EastLink has followed suit. Paula Sibley, a communications specialist with the Atlantic Canada-based cableco, tells Canadian Communications Reports that applying for the deregulation later than other cable...
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) calls 2004-05 a record year for complaints, with the number of decisions issued soaring to 125. The self-regulatory body of the broadcasting industry receives roughly 2,000 complaints a year based on language, violence, sex-role portrayal and journalistic ethics. CBSC...
Rogers OMNI releases production benefits package detailsRogers OMNI Television has unveiled details of its $950,000 benefits package for independent documentary production in British Columbia and Manitoba over seven years. A maximum of $250,000 will be spent each year, with proposals being reviewed twice a year: January 1 to March 1, and September 1 to November 15. The money will go toward the creation of 30-minute and...
Peggy Tabet has been named as director of regulatory affairs and broadcasting at Quebecor Media. She assumed the new position on January 1. Previously, she worked at TVA for seven years where she held various positions in the traffic and sales and marketing division. She also worked as an affiliate relations representative. Board chairman Michael Cytrynbaum and vice-chairman and CEO Gerald McGoey were re-elected in December to their positions at wireless cableco and Internet provider Look Communications. Also elected to the company’s board as directors were Scott Colbran, Tim Casgrain, Stuart Smith and Louis Mitrovich. Nathalie Courville has been named as head of the National Film Board’s (NFB) new marketing and communications branch. She has close to 20 years experience in the cultural and entertainment sector, including working in the communications department of Equipe Spectra. As director general of communications, she will focus on the NFB’s outreach development, collections management, festivals and communications...
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) is giving "qualified support" to Rogers Cable Communications Inc.’s and Shaw Communications Inc.’s requests to use the 25% portion of local avails – currently used to promote discretionary programming services and packages, customer service information, channel...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. The beginning of a year is a time for change. Accordingly, this will be my last issue as editor of Canadian Communications Reports. It’s been a blast meeting and speaking with all of you about broadcasting in Canada over the past five years. The broadcasting industry is certainly an interesting...
Canadian content levels, talent development payments and spectrum issues are among the myriad concerns that radio broadcasters are expected to raise during this year’s review of the CRTC’s radio policy. Although the CRTC has yet to release its notice outlining the issues it wants to examine, Canada’s radio...
FUN Technologies’ foreign affairsToronto-headquartered FUN Technologies plc, a provider of online entertainment for the casual gaming market, has been busy abroad inking new deals with distributors in the United States and Denmark. South of the border, FUN subsidiary SkillJam Technologies Corp. signed a "comprehensive" agreement to create a private-label gaming platform for Waltham MA-based search engine...
Canada’s cultural organizations and unions are dissatisfied with the amount of attention campaigning politicians are spending on communications and cultural matters, and are gearing up to make a change. "It’s easy to focus on gang violence – which is important – by demanding more police or more social...
CNM update – January 4, 2006 Copyright a campaign issue: CRIA pollA new poll conducted for the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) claims more than two-thirds of Canadian voters support stronger copyright laws, regardless of who wins the upcoming election. Of the more than 1,200 Canadians selected at random for CRIA by Pollara Inc., more than two-thirds – 68% – said they feel the new government...
Although a formal announcement hasn’t been issued, Corus Entertainment Inc.’s newest vice-president is rumoured to be Lucie Lalumière, who has reportedly been tapped to head the Toronto-based firm’s interactive content efforts.A veteran of new media with more than a decade’s worth of experience, Lalumière was most recently executive director of new media at CBC/Radio-Canada, where she oversaw news, sports,...
Cookie Jar Entertainment has submitted an application for an interactive educational channel in both official languages. Ana Serrano, director of the Canadian Film Centre’s Habitat New Media Lab, recently expressed her support for the proposed channels in her comments to the CRTC, excerpts from which appear below. Dedicated to the training,...
The CRTC looks set to devote considerably more resources to interactive media with the creation of a new director’s position dedicated to new media and technology. As part of the wide-ranging reorganization announced December 15, the commission is creating a third "pod" to supplement the existing broadcasting and telecommunications industry directorates. At the top of that pod or silo is the newly created position of associate executive director of industry analysis, economics and technology, under whom four directors will serve; one of those positions has been titled director of new media and technology. While the associate executive directorships for broadcasting and telecommunications will still exist alongside the new one for industry analysis, economics...
