Sequel for Grande Ourse to see illico componentThe sequel to Reeves Interactive’s Grande Ourse series, l’Héritière de Grande Ourse will launch on CBC French-language television on January 6, this time with an interactive game for Vidéotron illico subscribers. The ITV component was funded with a grant from the Fond Vidéotron. The illico piece is being produced with Net Communications, in-house at Vidéotron. The web content accompanying the series will be released in timed fashion as new episodes air. Chalk gives viewers sneak peek into making of showChalk Media Corp. has added new content to the second season of Dave Chalk Connected that shows the audience what happens on the other side of the camera. It fuses informal interview clips with unscripted footage to create what Chalk is calling a "docuality.’"The second season began airing on October 30. D-BOX launches armchair with built-in motion simulatorD-BOX Technology Inc., Longeuil QC, is launching its new QUEST armchair equipped with a fully...
Former Ontario premier Mike Harris has joined OneSTOP Toronto Inc. as its chairman (CNM, Oct. 6/04). Colette Frappier has joined the Alliance numériQC as its new communications coordinator, replacing Pascale Cleroux. CHUM Ltd.’s board of directors has been joined by Catherine Tait, formerly president and COO of Salter Street Films. She is currently president of Duopoly Inc., and also serves as a director on the boards of Aliant Inc. and Triptych Media. Alain Gourd has registered as a federal lobbyist for Bell Globemedia Inc. His registration indicates a broad range of responsibilities in the general broadcasting field. Tim Barber, a principal in Blue Sky Strategy Group Inc., has registered as a federal lobbyist working on behalf of the Music in Canada Coalition....
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.One overlooked consequence of last week’s Federal Court of Appeal decision exempting MP3 players from the private copying regime is the extent to which the ruling drives yet another wedge between copyright owners and the music labels. The decision caps off a year that saw the two groups at odds over...
The Federal Court of Appeal has confirmed the Copyright Board of Canada’s controversial year-old private copying decision with respect to zero-rating and its constitutionality (CNM, Dec. 19/03). However, the court has reversed the board’s decision on the matter of levies on non-removable memory. The decision has led to...
As this issue of Canadian NEW MEDIA goes to press, Canadian Heritage on December 22 released the highly-anticipated final report by its advisory board to the Canadian Culture Online Program (CCOP). The report makes five main recommendations: The federal government should create a new government agency dedicated to the...
Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart has waded into the debate over copyright reform in agreeing with a public interest group that digital rights management (DRM) protection could be a cause of privacy concerns. Her involvement comes at the urging of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), which...
Already flying high on critical praise for its forward-looking approach to digital enhancements for its youth-oriented MuchMusic TV station, CHUM Ltd. will next year take a creative chance on attracting a new audience to interactive content for its arts TV station Bravo! Next spring, Toronto-based Marblemedia will begin a viral and guerilla campaign to draw web surfers to ITV content connected to a new series of comedic operatic shorts dubbed Burnt Toast. Set to debut in the summer of 2005, the series of shorts are a follow-up to the cult hit Toothpaste and will also be broadcast next year by CBC. The content was funded by the broadcasters, Bravo!FACT, and the Bell Broadcast and New Media...
Edward Rogers has had his employment contract as president and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc. extended to June 2008 from December 31, 2006. The extension was granted at a December 15 meeting of the company’s board of directors. Barry Baptie, Reginald Bird and Janice MacKinnon have been named to the board of directors of VCom Inc., the company that has purchased Image Wireless. Baptie has held senior positions...
Bowing to intense pressure from top-level politicians and ethnic communities complaining they are forced to turn to the black market for access to a diverse range of programming in their native languages, the CRTC has thrown its protectionist policy out the window and opened the digital...
The broadcast watch group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting is calling on Canadian Heritage minister Liza Frulla to ensure that if the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is given more money that the majority of it should go toward enhancing its regional TV programming. Friends wants at least 80% of...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Now, that the CRTC has bowed to political pressure and loosened its protectionist policies with regard to foreign-owned, general interest third-language TV channels, it must ensure that its safeguards are adhered to. The commission must enforce the tiering rules that it has established, and...
Organizers of the annual science producers’ conference and those of the history producers’ congress are in talks to try to resolve a turf battle, and perhaps to somehow coordinate the two events that are running next year on two different continents. This year, the two conferences were held back-to-back in Toronto,...
Unique Broadband Systems Inc. (UBS) and Look Communications Inc. are planning to deploy a mobile broadband network in the Windsor-Quebec City corridor, with which they will beam Look TV programming to mobile devices. UBS chair and CEO Gerald McGoey tells Canadian Communications Reports that there will be 80 channels of...
Broadcasters and distributors have different priorities as television transitions to a fully digital environment, according to the comments of veteran industry players on a panel at last week’s fourth annual conference of the Canadian chapter of the International Institute of Communications (IIC)....
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Now, that the CRTC has bowed to political pressure and loosened its protectionist policies with regard to foreign-owned, general interest third-language TV channels, it must ensure that its safeguards are adhered to. The commission must enforce the tiering rules that it has established, and it must be...
A coalition in Canada fighting satellite TV signal theft is working with other organizations around the world to mount a battle here for federal government support to prevent the country from becoming a worldwide base dealing in the crime. Canada’s Coalition Against Satellite Signal Theft (CASST) is working with the European Association for the Protection of Encrypted Works and Services (AEPOC) to push the federal government to increase the penalties for satellite signal theft in Canada. As part of the collaboration, a retired member of Interpol working with AEPOC was in Canada during the recent Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) convention to press the issue. "Signal...
Special Update, Friday, December 17, 2004 Note: Due to the fast-breaking nature of this story, the December 16, 2004 issue of Canadian NEW MEDIA has been moved from the Decima Reports front page. To access Issue #22, please use the “CNM Archives” link to the left.The Federal Court of...
You were wrong to say that I had "harsh" words for the Balanced Copyright Coalition ("BCC") in respect of recent copyright activity. I have only respect for the BCC, and not only because I was a founding father of it. I am disappointed that there has not been time for the BCC to have taken on the full potential of a broadly based corporate, academic, creator and user coalition and that I have not...
Toronto-based Decode Entertainment has seen a flurry of activity in recent weeks. The company has recently begun development on a new original game engine for the Nintendo DS system and has launched an ITV application in conjunction with its Be The Creature property for users of Vidéotron Ltée’s illico ITV set-top boxes, as well completing the beta version of PC Multiplayer video game with DC Studios. Its...
Apple deal first for CSI joint copyright collectiveCanadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd. (CMRRA) executive director David Basskin tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that the licensing deal that made the introduction of Apple Corp.’s iTunes into Canada possible was a first of sorts for the collective. The deal was struck with a joint organization of the CMRRA and its French Canada counterpart, the Société du droit de...
Scot MacDonald has left Technology PEI Inc. as director of investment to join Charlottetown-based Cellar Door Productions as VP of business development. Newly named as special counsel to Canada’s Commisioner of Competition is Randall Hofley, or Stikeman Elliott LLP. He will be taking a leave of absence for the duration of his appointment. Hofley is well-known in copyright law circles, and worked most recently with the coalition of electronics manufacturers appealing Canada’s private copying regime. Mike Klander has registered as a lobbyist in the province of Ontario working on behalf of the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association. Julia Walden is now associated with Digital Wizards to extend Digital’s creative capacity to include television. She is working with Diane Williamson to explore emerging interactive plays, including wireless....
Canadian Heritage has given another year of funding certainty to arts groups in renewing this week $192 million in support for the arts under its Tomorrow Starts Today initiative, a portion of which goes to new media players. The program was due to expire at the end of the fiscal 2004-05 year. Canadian Heritage...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Tomorrow, it appears, doesn’t just start today, but the day after that, and then again the day after that, and the day after that. The ongoing saga of the Tomorrow Starts Today funding program has become an unnecessary drama that leaves one of Canada’s most important economic engines, its cultural...
Pessimism is growing among those opposed to Canada’s apparent moves to implement the controversial World Intellectual Property Organization’s Internet treaties, with Canadian Heritage pressing forward to introduce legislation to that effect by this spring (CNM, Dec.6/04). Critics of that copyright reform, and of...
Regulators don’t need to look to copyright law to impose anti-hacking conditions on yet-to-be-licensed subscription digital radio services, nor should they wait for their U.S. counterparts to finish a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) process on the matter before adopting made-in-Canada rules, argues the Canadian...
One of Canada’s leading Internet lawyers has sacked the Ottawa Renegades’ marketing department. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has ruled that the Canadian Football League (CFL) club violated Michael Geist’s privacy when it twice sent him promotional spam. On January 21 of this year, the Renegades sent an...
Friday, December 10, 2004 Third-language policy notice expected this week from CRTCThe CRTC is expected to release a notice outlining its proposed new policy for foreign-owned third-language specialty channels as early as this Thursday. The CRTC is under considerable pressure from the government, including Canadian Heritage minister Liza Frulla, to allow more foreign-owned third-language broadcasters into Canada (CCR,...
Quebec court decision on grey, black TV market appealedThe federal government has launched an appeal of the October 28 decision on signal theft in which a Quebec court declared that certain provisions of the Radiocommunication Act are contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (CCR, Nov. 8/04). "The federal government appeal will clarify this issue for the benefit of all stakeholders, including producers, actors,...
Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. (MTS) has announced what it says is the first business-on-demand interactive television (ITV) service in Canada, a virtual channel offered to its DSL TV customers promoting events at the recently-opened MTS Centre. The service, developed in collaboration with Toronto-based ExtendMedia and with...
Wayne Clarkson has been hired as executive director of Telefilm Canada. He takes up his duties in January 2005. He has been executive director of the Canadian Film Centre since 1991, and has previously served as founding chair and CEO of the Ontario Film Development Corp. and as the first executive director of the Toronto International Film Festival. He was also a member of the Banff Television Foundation board of governors and the feature film advisory group. The position was filled on an interim basis by Carolle Brabant after former executive director Richard Stursberg jumped ship to the join the CBC this summer (CCR, July 30/04). Former MusiquePlus general manager Pierre Marchand has assumed the new role of VP of marketing and communications. The new director of programming is Paola Simonetto, who was the former director of programming development and production. Lyse George will help MusiMax director of programs Jacque Camerlain on a consultancy basis. Bernard Diaz, current director of sales and creative media, becomes...
Canadian Heritage minister Liza Frulla committed to maintaining government funding to the Canadian Television Fund "as it is or more," and stated that the CRTC’s policy restricting the entry into Canada of foreign-owned third-language channels must changed. In a speech on November 29 at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters convention, she also noted that the current government would give a more detailed...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. A policy shift signaled by Canadian Heritage minister Liza Frulla at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters convention in favour of welcoming further numbers of foreign-owned third-language broadcasters (see Newsmaker) is dangerous and should be reconsidered. The federal government appears ready to...
Though exact details won’t be revealed for months, the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) says a $3-million investment by TELUS Corp. will help it strengthen its activities across the film, new media and television sectors. The investment was announced November 24, and sees TELUS’ broadcast and new media fund fall under the...
Content applications company Macromedia is steadily expanding its presence in Canada as the company finds increased traction for its fast-growing portfolio of projects. The company has recently expanded to 10 people in its Toronto offices, and is hoping to find new office space to house its sales operations in this country. Though the Canadian market...
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. has reorganized its new and emerging content channels, and put the most interactive under a single administrative umbrella. Late last month, the newly-minted executive director of digital programming and business development for CBC’s English-language services, Claude Galipeau, told Canadian NEW MEDIA that he’ll now be responsible for the continued growth and development of new and established digital programming and related services. Claude was executive director of CBC.ca. His colleague Sue Gardner has been appointed senior director of CBC.ca as part of the shakeup. Galipeau says his new unit will incorporate all of CBC’s digital programming...
All signs point to legislation being ready for debate in the House of Commons by February on the contentious issue of Canada’s international digital copyright obligations, and changing the Copyright Act to ratify the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Internet treaties. The trends are encouraging for...
WEBReGenesistv.com ReGenesis Extended Reality Game Developed and designed by Xenophile Media, ReGenesis Extended Reality Game is one of the most ambitious convergent concepts developed on behalf of a Canadian drama series, an emerging new online gaming genre called Extended Reality. The network of sites is a companion to the ReGenesis television series, produced by Shaftesbury Films. ReGenesis Extended...
Despite a high profile CRTC licensing hearing and extensive media coverage, a small percentage of adult Canadians are aware that domestic satellite radio services may be made available in this country, according to a new survey by Decima Research Inc. This suggests the Canadian groups vying to offer satellite radio services...
ClarificationsA brief item in the November 16 issue of Canadian NEW MEDIA incorrectly stated that Macromedia was responsible for the software development behind the CBC ZeD nomination for an Emmy award. The software development was performed by New Toronto Group. We apologize for the error. The November 16 issue of Canadian NEW MEDIA online was initially posted without including a full-length article about the...
Heidi Bonnell, formerly press secretary to Brian Tobin and then a vice-president at Hill & Knowlton, has joined Rogers Communications Inc. as a director of government relations. No announcement was made of the appointment, but Bonnell recently registered as a federal lobbyist in connection with her new position. Aaron Rallo has joined Vancouver-based PhotoChannel Networks Inc. as CTO and VP of technology....
A new advertising-based incentives program designed to boost the production of original Canadian TV drama is being criticized by some private broadcasters despite the fact that it lets them off the hook by not imposing expenditures (Broadcasting Public Notice 2004-93). The policy, released last week by CRTC chair Charles...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. The provision of $3 million in new funding to the Canadian Film Centre, and a broader mandate for the TELUS Broadcast and New Media Fund is excellent news for an industry currently in limbo with regard to finding the cash to mount new media and convergent projects (see story in this issue). Though the...
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) is demanding that the federal government intervene and tell the CRTC to implement spending requirements for the conventional broadcasters in wake of a recent decision that offers only incentives for the airing of Canadian TV drama (see article in this...
Cablecos are cheering a CRTC decision that limits the amount of interactive television content that broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) must carry from broadcasters. On November 4, the commission issued Broadcasting Public Notice 2004-82, which sets out a regime for ITV that forces cablecos and satellite DTH carriers to pass through any content that fits within a normal 6 MHz channel or the bandwidth assigned to a particular channel, so long as it is program-related, but no more. Additional ITV content would be passed through on the basis of negotiation between the distributors and broadcasters, and the commission will keep a careful watch to ensure cablecos and satellite DTH...
When a camera crew from Midwest Broadcasting showed up in Cold Lake AB to cover an air show, people there asked why they even bothered coming since the program wouldn’t reach many viewers because the channel wasn’t on satellite. That was a story Midwest VP of finance Glenda Spenrath recounted during a session at the...
Thursday, November 25, 2004 Diginets planning month-long free preview in JanuaryThe digital channels are planning a month-long free preview this January under the marketing tagline “31 Days of Great TV.” There will be a web site and accompanying TV spots for the national campaign aimed at building awareness of the digital channels first launched in September 2001 and thereafter. All of the major...
A Rogers Cable executive contends that a recent CRTC decision on inside wiring will mean that landlords will be forced to wire their own buildings, while rival Bell ExpressVu counters that the decision will knock down barriers for new competitors offering TV services in the multiple unit dwelling (MUD) market. Mirko...
Despite a high profile CRTC licensing hearing and extensive media coverage, a small percentage of adult Canadians are aware that domestic satellite radio services may be made available in this country, according to a new survey by Decima Research Inc. This suggests the Canadian groups vying to offer satellite radio services...
CBC president and CEO Robert Rabinovitch vowed that the public broadcaster would expand its regional services when he appeared this week before a House of Commons standing committee determining whether he should be granted an extension of his tenure. Rabinovitch appeared November 15 before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage marking the first time that the head of the public broadcaster, or any Crown corporation, required Parliamentary approval for an extension to his term. Rabinovitch came under heavy pressure by the same committee in 2000, though with different members, when he cut regional news programming – something he claimed was fiscally necessary at the time (CCR, July...
The CRTC has adopted a modified version of the United States’ WGN criteria to define what interactive television (iTV) content is program-related, but an executive at Pelmorex says there are still many grey areas. Paul Temple, senior VP of corporate development at Pelmorex – which started the CRTC process by applying...
Rogers Cable Inc. is lashing out at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) over its push to treat them differently than direct-to-home satellite TV distributors when it comes to compensation for time-shifted signals. "We are seeking parity with DTH," Rogers Cable VP of regulatory affairs Pamela Dinsmore...
CRTC agrees to allow Fox News, NFL Network into CanadaThe CRTC on November 18 granted the U.S. cable news network Fox News and the football TV channel NFL Network permission to be distributed in Canada on a digital basis (CCR, April 22/04). The commission determined that the two U.S. services were not partially or totally competitive with any Canadian pay or specialty channels in keeping with current regulatory rules. In...
Michael Scott has been named as executive producer of the National Film Board’s Prairie Centre, based in Winnipeg. He has been Western Centre animation producer since rejoining the NFB in 2002, and he will continue these duties in his new position. He first began working for the NFB in 1966, but left in 1989 to work in the private sector. Guy Beauchamp, former Vidéotron ltée president and COO, has been named as...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. The CRTC should grant Rogers Cable its requested licence amendment with regard to the distribution of out-of-market signals, despite the objections of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB). Cablecos have been forced to offer timeshifted channels in digital in order to remain competitive with...
The Canadian recording industry is asking the CRTC to proceed carefully in licensing new digital radio services due to worries that the technology could exacerbate its current digital piracy woes. The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) warns that the subscription radio ventures being proposed before the...
Quebec new media coffers could be boosted to the tune of $2 million to $3 million a year if the province’s main lobby group is successful in a proposal to earmark some of Télé-Québec’s budget for interactive content. Quebec City is currently studying how the province’s main educational TV broadcaster might be put...
A new Rogers Wireless/CHUM Ltd. white label phone cell phone offering will come bundled with new a video content service developed by a spin-off from one of the country’s leading new media production shops. The service, by start-up QuickPlay Inc., will aggregate CHUM and other video content from sources including CBC and...
Montreal-based ITV Media Experts and Vidéotron ltée have announced a new service offering to launch in the summer of 2005 that will bring long-form interactive advertising on an on-demand basis to the cableco’s digital TV customers at the press of a button. The system, similar in some ways to the now-defunct-in-Canada Wink system (CNM, Oct. 6/04), is being touted as a breakthrough technology for advertisers, broadcasters and distributors as they each seek to exploit digital TV platforms and mitigate negative trends towards personalized, advertising-free TV made possible by personal video recorders and other technologies. While an unnamed advertiser and Vidéotron are pressing forward...
The creation of original intellectual property in video games development is critical to the industry’s success in Canada, and the government has an important role to play in nurturing firms creating titles outside the mainstream of licensing and sequels, attendees to the Montreal Games Summit in Montreal November 3 and 4...
Heritage Committee brings back copyright reform agendaThe Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has retabled its report on the copyright reform process that died with the ending of the last Parliamentary session. The committee had suggested an aggressive fall deadline for preparing legislation dealing with, among others, making changes to the Copyright Act to ratify Canada’s World Intellectual Property Organization...
Claude Galipeau has been appointed to the newly-created position of executive director of digital programming and business development at the CBC. This is a new programming and business division for CBC’s English services. Galipeau will oversee the continuing growth and development and new and established digital programming and services, and fostering business development activities for all CBC platforms. At the same...
On November 3 at the Montreal Game Summit, Telefilm Canada chair Charles Bélanger spoke of the agency’s commitment to new media, though he provided no hint when the Canada New Media Fund might return to operation from its current new funding hiatus. The following is the text of his speech.I’d like to begin first of...
Thursday, November 12, 2004 Cogeco, The Movie Network launch SVODAstral Media’s The Movie Network (TMN) and Cogeco Cable announced November 11 that they have launched a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service. The Movie Network OnDemand will be available to the cableco’s TMN subscribers in Ontario, who will have instantaneous and unlimited access to more than 70 movies and TV series at no extra charge on channel 208. New movies will be added every week, and a completely new lineup will be introduced every month. Cogeco said the SVOD service would be available to 91% of homes in its territories in Ontario by the end of November. It began on November 1 in Burlington, Oakville, Action, Fergus, Georgetown, Mitton, Waterdown and Halton. On November 10, the service area expanded to Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Ancaster, the Niagara area. On November 16 it will be enlarged to Kingston, North Bay, Peterborough and Cornwall, and on November 23 to Windsor, Chatham, Leamington, Smiths Falls, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Huntsville, Parry...
A decision to forge ahead with the News World event in Dublin, Ireland was likely the downfall of the Banff Television Foundation, says its former president and CEO. Pat Ferns tells Canadian Communications Reports that a toe-to-toe competition with the European Broadcasting Union and its competing event was a doomed fight...
Achilles Media principal Robert Montgomery plans to focus the upcoming Banff Television Festival on international cooperation and coproduction, as well as connecting the Canadian industry. "I’ve been in Los Angeles twice in the last month. We know it’s important to have a lot of international people who do business...
Questions arose of possibly merging with the science producers’ conference as Achilles Media attempted to set the stage for the formation of an advisory board to oversee the next World Congress of History Producers. Achilles Media principal Robert Montgomery said that organizing the history congress provides a...
Rajotte calls for carriage of FOX News in CanadaEdmonton-Leduc MP James Rajotte on November 1 during Question Period in the House of Commons called on the Liberal government to allow all Canadians access to the FOX News Network. Rajotte said it’s a "blatant double standard" that MPs can watch the channel at any time on the Parliamentary closed circuit television system, but ordinary Canadians cannot see it....
Mark Prior has been named as president of Comweb Group Inc. He is the founding partner of Entertainment Partners Canada (EP Canada) and its predecessor company Bulloch Systems. He maintains his role as president of Comweb Film Capital Corp. As well, Kevin Gordon has been appointed as president of EP Canada. He has been with the company since 1979, most recently serving as senior VP. Robert Bruce has been appointed as CFO...
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) is opposing an application by Star Choice and Cancom to offer six omnibus channels providing high-definition (HD) programming from various Canadian and non-Canadian sources. On the other hand, the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association (CCTA) sees value in the proposal,...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. One positive outcome of Quebec court judge Danielle Côté’s ruling this month that declared two sections of the Radiocommunication Act illegal because they violate Canadians’ freedom of speech is that it should finally put front and center Charter of Rights issues in the ongoing TV piracy debate....
A lawyer actively involved in fighting the grey and black satellite TV signal market in the courts says the judge in a recent Quebec court ruling "seems to be confused." Bill McKenzie, a senior partner with Crawford, McKenzie, McLean, Wilford, Anderson & Duncan LLP, goes as far as to...
A senior program producer with Arabic news channel Al Jazeera thinks that the launch of an English-language version of the service next year will aid its entry into Canada. Establishing the international English-language version of the channel that has caused controversy for airing tapes of Osama Bin Laden will also allow people to see that it is not anti-Semitic, Hassan Ibrahim told Canadian Communications Reports during an interview at the World Congress of History Producers in Toronto last week. "I think after the launch of our English channel, people will see the real Al Jazeera, because it is getting lost in translation now," says Ibrahim, a Sudanese-British journalist...
Apple Corp. has announced that it intends to launch its Apple iTunes online music store in Canada in November. The announcement, made October 26 in San Jose as part of the launch of iTunes in several countries in Europe, is surprising since negotiations with the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd. (CMRRA) have...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Canadian NEW MEDIA has written frequently about the importance of lobbyists in the policy-making process. An informal search of the federal lobbyist database for individuals using some derivative of “broadcast” in their documents shows dozens of active registrations, working on issues ranging from...
The federal government will likely find it easier to acquiesce to the requests of Canada’s new media sector as those companies benefit from the help of a professional lobbyist and the loose coalition of regional associations formed recently shows signs of becoming a more powerful voice on Parliament Hill. The as-yet...
The copyright industry continues to feel the effects of the watershed Théberge and CCH Supreme Court of Canada decisions as a body of cases continues to build on the subject of electronic content. The latest decision, by the Court of Appeal for Ontario and handed down on October 6 sees the court cite both cases in denying...
Culture met commerce at a recent briefing event held in Toronto for senior Canadian Heritage officials and organized by the Canadian Film Centre, with the end result that some producers in the audience left expressing concern that too much focus was being placed on artist rather than audience. At the McLuhan International Festival of the Future, a gathering of about 40 CFC Habit@t students, government regulators, new media producers and funding agency representatives heard three very different panel presentations exploring interactive new media, with a focus on the role of audiences in art, and moving beyond the web/television convergence model. The panels were kickstarted on October 14...
Molson launches new online radio stationMolson Canada has launched a new online streaming music service dubbed "Junction Radio" on its iam.ca site. The service is being powered by IcebergRadio.com, and offers five channels of tunes: current alternative, hip hop "hot", alternative, active rock and top 40. A spokesperson for Molson says the site is aimed at younger beer drinkers, those of age to 24. A...
A Quebec court has ruled key restrictions in the Radiocommunication Act against decoding satellite signals and the sale or possesion of circumvention devices unconstitutional, though it has suspended that declaration for one year. Justice Danielle Côté, in a 100-page decision handed down from the Court of Quebec on...
WEBhttp://www.11somerset.com/ http://www.telequebec.tv/11somersetzonehautevitesse.sympatico.msn.ca/Accueilsoon at: http://speedzone.sympatico.msn.ca Produced by Trinome Inc. TVCHUM/Newnet, Saturday 7 p.m.Télé-Québec, Saturday/Sunday, 11:30 am Funded by the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund and others, 11somerset.com plunges users into the universe of the supernatural, where they play the role of detective in...
Kevin Goldstein has been pomoted to director, regulatory affairs, at CHUM Ltd. Goldstein will continue to play an important role in CHUM’s day-to-day dealings with the CRTC, and in all matters relating to regulatory issues, policies, licence renewals and applications. Marlene Catterall has been elected as chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. Photochannel Networks has...
The following is an October 7 letter sent by Canadian producers and associations to the Canadian Heritage minister. Dear Minister Frulla: As the newly formed Coalition of Canadian New Media Associations, we are writing to convey the importance of renewing the Canadian Culture Online Program (CCOP) beyond the...
Apple Corp. has announced that it intends to launch its Apple iTunes online music store in Canada in November. The announcement, made today in San Jose as part of the launch of iTunes in several countries in Europe, is surprising since negotiations with the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd. (CMRRA) have not been concluded, and there is no...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.The CRTC should not be pressured by political forces to change its decision on RAI International. It made the right choice in denying RAI entry into Canada, under existing CRTC policy, because it was deemed competitive with Canadian-owned specialty TV service Telelatino. As Ethnic Channels Group owner...
Canada’s cable industry hopes to challenge a CRTC decision that changed the carriage status of three specialty channels on the grounds that the regulator overstepped its jurisdiction and didn’t follow proper procedure. On August 25, Cogeco Cable Inc. and the Canadian Cable Telecommunications...
As a smaller-sized cableco, Mountain Cable in Hamilton insists that it faces unique challenges in introducing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service, particularly in spreading capital expenditures over fewer subscribers than larger TV distributors. But Pat Kiely, director of business operations and development at Mountain Cable, says the company has no choice but to take the plunge because "it represents part of our survival as a business." Speaking October 20 at the GTEC conference in Ottawa during a session on VoIP, Kiely noted, "I think the thing that’s the challenge for us is that we can’t afford to make the mistakes or the guesses that larger operators can....
Canadian-owned Ethnic Channels Group has big plans to eventually bring 30 third-language channels into Canada, but a wrench could be thrown into its scheme if the CRTC makes policy changes. The commission is currently reviewing its approach to granting foreign-owned third-language services into the...
Canada’s advertising industry is lending its support to a proposal by cablecos that commercial advertising in Canada be sold on U.S. specialty TV services such as CNN and A&E. Robert Reaume, VP of policy and research at the Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA), says that the proposal...
Industry Canada’s decision to reclaim allotment C-band spectrum doesn’t affect the country’s primary satellite operator, says an executive with the firm. Paul Bush, VP of broadcast and corporate development at Telesat Canada, explains that the spectrum was virtually unuseable and so its repatriation by the government...
Cogeco registers net gain in basic TV subs, digital TV on riseCogeco Inc. registered its first net increase in basic TV customers since 1998, adding about net 3,200 basic customers in fiscal 2004 to reach a total of 823,855. It added 16,211 digital terminals in the fourth quarter ended Aug. 31, 2004 to reach a total of 823,855, and its Internet subscriber base rose by 5,190 to a total of 245,026. In fiscal 2004 ended...
Bruce Anderson has been named chair and CEO of Decima Inc. Decima Reports, the publisher of Canadian Communications Reports, is one of three wholly-owned subsidiaries of Decima Inc. Bell ExpressVu president Tim McGee has left the company to "pursue other interests," according to an internal memo that thanked him for his service. His last day was October 1. He will not be replaced as Robert Odendaal, who was named president of the newly created Bell Video Group, will assume McGee’s former duties. Jodi Cook joins CTV as manager of programming communications for CTV Travel, Discovery Channel, Discovery Civilization and Animal Planet. Previously, she was publicist for HGTV and other Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. specialty TV channels. Bruno Barrette has been appointed as a new partner in the Montreal office of Stikeman Elliott LLP. He will lead the Intellectual Property Group, and will focus on all aspects of intellectual property, including prosecution, licensing, co-branding, transfer, distribution and...
Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. CEO Michael Hirsh is calling for government support for not only Canadian drama, but also Canadian animation. He made the plea in his address delivered September 23 at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in Ottawa. Below is an excerpt from his keynote address. …Although the...
Monday, October 18, 2004 NAD Centre strengthens video game programThe National Animation and Design Centre (NAD Centre), Montreal, has updated its design and 3D animation for video games course in response to the identified need to allow students more time to produce their projects. The training has been extended by eight weeks to 48, beginning with the winter 2005 program. Tuition fees will increase, as a...
CCR Update October 15, 2004 CCTA calls for a more liberalized approach to foreign third-language channels in CanadaThe Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association (CCTA) on October 13 called for the CRTC to authorize more non-Canadian third-language channels for distribution in Canada. The cable organization said the addition of more third-language channels will promote diversity. The CCTA asked the CRTC to adopt...
Bell ExpressVu LP is taking dead aim at acquiring current analog cable subscribers with new user friendly channel packaging and lower entry-level pricing, as well as new dual tuner receivers. The company has simplified its channel lineup, introduced the new Digital Standard TV channel package priced at $25 a month, and is...
Concerns are being raised that adequate satellite capacity might not be available for Canadian broadcasters and direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV providers from Ciel Satellite Communications after that company last month won a satellite slot licence. Ciel Satellite was awarded the 129 degrees west orbital position on...
A Canadian Heritage-appointed panel is recommending a new regulatory framework specific only to third-language channels that would do away with the current one channel per genre regulation. "…The current rules seem to suggest that no general purpose third-language programming provided by a non-Canadian service will...
As expected, Industry Canada announced last week that channels 63 and 68 are to be used for public safety. Industry Canada determined that designating spectrum from one pair of TV channels would meet the pressing need of public safety and at the same time would not restrict the digital TV transition. "The department...
Advanced digital television services such as video-on-demand (VOD), personal video recorders/digital video recorders (PVRs/DVRs), and interactive television (iTV) – once considered killer applications – are ranked relatively low in importance by Canadian digital TV subscribers, according to...
Rogers adds college football, basketball to sports packageRogers Cable Inc. announced September 30 that it was adding more than 350 NCAA College football and basketball games to its premium pay Super Sports Pak. The package already includes NFL Sunday Ticket, MLB Extra Innings, NASCAR in Car, and NHL Centre Ice, when the NHL hockey season is on. Due to a labor dispute between the NHL and the player’s association, the 2004-05 hockey season is on hold. "For those sports fans who wondered what life would be like this fall without hockey, Rogers is making life more exciting and its Super Sport Pak customers with a huge line-up of college football and basketball," David Purdy, VP and general manager of television at Rogers Cable Inc., said in a media release. The Rogers Super Sports Pak costs $24.95 a month and requires a four-month minimum commitment. CRTC allows documentary diginet to expand programming The CRTC has granted a licence amendment to the Category 1 digital specialty channel The Canadian Documentary Channel that...
