Université de Montréal facility to feature interdisciplinary multimedia research

Media | 07/11/2003 4:00 am EDT

A new interdisciplinary multimedia research facility is set to open this fall at the Université de Montréal. Under the direction of André Caron, the Centre Interdisciplinaire de Technologie Émergente (CITÉ) will bring together about 25 researchers from the university to work on several projects surrounding new...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 07/11/2003 4:00 am EDT

Goldstein seeking support for industry initiativeLillyann Goldstein, CEO of @Wallace Studios, is distributing a letter asking for support for a new portal, directory and e-learning initiative dubbed MyMediaBiz.com. The portal would be a partnership with Dante Entertainment and with Humber College on board as part of a strategic alliance. According to a letter of support Goldstein has asked industry players to sign, the...

CNM People

Media | 07/11/2003 4:00 am EDT

Patricia Douey has been appointed acting VP of development for the Banff Television Foundation. Daniel Bissonnette replaces André Lafond as film commissioner and CEO of the Montreal Film and Television Commission. Diane Rhéaume has been appointed secretary general of the CRTC following a competitive process. Rhéaume has worked in a variety of positions in the commission’s broadcasting and corporate sectors...

CNM Newsmakers

Media | 07/11/2003 4:00 am EDT

CFTPA suggests Telefilm fund changes  On July 7, the Canadian Film and Television Production Association responded to Telefilm Canada’s proposals for changing the Canada New Media Fund in line with recommendations made by David Ellis of Omnia Communications Inc. Following is a version of the CFTPA’s letter response, edited for space: While the projects supported by the Canada New Media Fund to date have met...

CNM Editorial

Media | 07/11/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. New media producers with whom Canadian NEW MEDIA spoke for our lead story are entitled to feel ripped off by CTV’s use of the Groundbreaker Fund to mount its production of Canadian Idol. The show is a cynical rip-off of its American counterpart and the CRTC will have abdicated its responsibilities if it doesn’t raise this issue at the next licence renewal hearings for the network. The show, a bootlicking homage to American youth culture, will suck dry one of the only sources of funding available in Canada for truly imaginative programming by the time it enters its fourth season, which, given its strong ratings thus far, it appears it will. There are thousands of writers, directors, cinematographers, programmers, technologists, designers and others in this country with a real stake in seeing the bounds of interactivity pushed to create new forms of narrative. CBC’s ZeD is one of the most outstanding...

Producers miffed as Canadian Idol funded “largely” from Groundbreaker Fund

Media | 07/11/2003 4:00 am EDT

An unknown portion of CTV Inc.’s massive hit Canadian Idol’s $8-million budget is being provided through the broadcaster’s Groundbreaker Fund, much to the consternation of many in the new media producer community who say the choice is uninspired and fails to move the yardsticks forward on...

AOL Canada-DECODE deal furthers Canadian new media strategy

Media | 07/11/2003 4:00 am EDT

AOL Canada has signed another original content deal with a Canadian producer of new media properties - this time licensing material from DECODE Entertainment. Starting this fall, AOL Canada will feature content from Undergrads.tv and Girlstuff Boystuff Avatar World for its members. The agreement, on undisclosed terms,...

British Columbia new media sector growing even as firms face funding woes

Media | 07/11/2003 4:00 am EDT

British Columbia’s new media industry has grown by 350% since the last time it was enumerated, according to a new study conducted by New Media BC. The industry association’s recently published report, new_media/in-bc.ca, notes that since a similar survey done by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1998, the sector has grown from...

CCR Update

Media | 07/09/2003 4:00 am EDT

July 9, 2003   Shaw asks for viewer support in bid to bring U.S. channels to CanadaShaw Communications Inc.’s web site contained an area where Canadians could cast a vote in favour of bringing more U.S. television channels to Canada. The Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA), on behalf of its members including Shaw, has applied for CRTC approval to distribute 17 additional U.S. channels in Canada (CCR,...

CNM Update

Media | 07/02/2003 4:00 am EDT

Alliance numériQC pleads case in open letter to Quebec premierThe Alliance numériQC, stung by recent budget cuts to the multimedia sector in Quebec, has posted online an open letter to Premier Jean Charest asking the provincial government to treat new media as a unique sector requiring support. The letter attacks cuts made to the Cité Multimédia, and the precarious position of the Programme Québec multimédia...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 06/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

Macerola report criticized for being too lenient on CanConThe François Macerola report on Canadian content is coming under fire for its proposed sliding scale that could potentially allow more foreigners to work on shows that receive public money and are certified as Canadian.  "We require from the outset that the top three creative positions - writer, director and lead performer - be held by Canadians. That is...

CCR People

Media | 06/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

Former CRTC chair Françoise Bertrand has been named president of the Federation of Quebec Chambers of Commerce. She will succeed Michel Audet on August 18. She will be the first woman to head up the largest business network in Quebec. Since 2001, she has been a senior associate with the Secor Group, where she managed the company's strategic consulting work for the communications industry. She has also worked as chair...

CAB says CCTA has broken anti-piracy coalition in bid to bring U.S. channels here

Media | 06/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

Canada's private broadcasters say the cable industry has torn apart a coalition aimed at combating TV signal theft with its proposal to bring popular U.S. channels to the country. On June 18, the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) asked the CRTC to authorize the distribution of 17 U.S. channels for carriage on...

CCTA makes its case for the removal of customer winback restrictions

Media | 06/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

The Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) has once again argued for changes to winback rules that prohibit incumbent cable companies from direct marketing customers who have notified them of their intention to cancel their basic cable service. The cable industry stated its case in a June 9 filing to the CRTC (Broadcasting Public Notice 2003-21). Below is an edited excerpt of the submission. The full submission can be found here.  Winback marketing is a common practice in competitive markets and a source of benefit that competition provides to consumers. Accordingly, winback restrictions should be adopted only where no other less intrusive safeguard is available and even then,...

Foreign services should be considered at same time as new Category 2s, CAB says

Media | 06/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

 The CRTC's proposal to consider licence applications for new Category 2 digital specialty television channels at regular intervals could put potential new domestic entrants at a disadvantage to directly competing foreign services, warns the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB). The CRTC has proposed reviewing...

CCR Editorial

Media | 06/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Talk around "Canadian culture" and "consumer choice" when it comes to the broadcast industry has become meaningless. The concepts are used as platitudes in battles over the bottom line. They are often bandied about as the two most common reasons for proposed regulatory concessions or...

CHUM hoping to use channel brands to boost box office fortunes of feature film

Media | 06/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

 CHUM Ltd. is the first to take advantage of changes in Telefilm Canada guidelines that allow broadcasters to become involved in feature films. The Toronto-based broadcaster is contributing about 20% of the budget for the $5-million sci-fi film Decoys, which was shot in Ottawa and is due for theatrical release later this...

Quebec Liberal budget cuts deeper into film/TV than PQ proposals, producers say

Media | 06/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

 Cuts to financial support for Quebec's film and television industry by the province's two-month-old Liberal government will have a deeper impact on the industry than those proposed by the Parti Québécois before it lost power, producers say. The Association des Producteurs de Films et de Télévision du Québec...

Documentary producers call for revamped funding rules as genre rises in popularity

Media | 06/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

 Even as a new report shows that documentary production is on the rise in Canada, producers are warning that not all is rosy and changes need to be made to the funding system. A new report, Getting Real: An Economic Profile of the Canadian Documentary Production Industry, indicates that documentary production in Canada outpaced growth of the overall Canadian content production sector over the past six years. Total Canadian documentary production grew an average of 18% in the six years between 1996-97 and 2001-02 to reach $420 million. The share of viewing of Canadian documentaries also rose from 1.8% in 1998 to the current 4.4% (CCR Update, June 11/03). But there are complaints about how...

Canadian broadcasters protest carriage of rebranded TNN channel in Canada

Media | 06/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

 The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) is trying to block another "back door" entry by Viacom International Inc. into the Canadian broadcasting system of a TV channel genre that it isn't authorized to broadcast in Canada. The association is asking the CRTC to "immediately initiate a public...

Heritage committee sends Bill C-36 to third reading with only minor amendments

Media | 06/25/2003 4:00 am EDT

Opponents of copyright term extensions were dealt a sudden blow June 17 when the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage voted to accept Bill C-36 with only minor amendments, and including provisions to lengthen copyright protection for some deceased authors.  In an extra-curricular meeting of the...

Games-only fund would help SMEs with leg up in lucrative gaming market: Oceanus

Media | 06/25/2003 4:00 am EDT

Barriers to entry into the lucrative games market are significant, especially for a company outside the major Canadian centres, but Ottawa’s Oceanus Communications has overcome these obstacles and scored an important publishing deal with Sega.com for its multiplayer online game Legacy Online.  Lora Ricci, VP of...

Alliance numériQC decries “alarming” cuts to multimedia assistance in Quebec budget

Media | 06/25/2003 4:00 am EDT

The provincial budget handed down June 12 by the newly installed Liberal government in Quebec would reverse many of the gains achieved by the new media industry in the province, dispensing with the protection of generous government measures created and championed by the defeated Parti Québécois....

CNM Short Takes

Media | 06/25/2003 4:00 am EDT

Partnership deals appear unaffected by MSN/Bell dealA spokesperson for Bell Canada tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that, in the wake of a new portal partnership between Microsoft Corp. and Bell, third-party services such as the MUSICMATCH service (CNM, Oct. 3/02) will continue to operate in business-as-usual fashion. Once the co-branded portal is launched next year, Bell "will continue to be responsible for building...

CNM People

Media | 06/25/2003 4:00 am EDT

D3 Management, Toronto, has appointed Sanjiv Purba as technology lead, leadership team, at the interactive agency. Purba is also a regular columnist at The Globe and Mail. Also at D3, Rick Brown has been named creative director. He has held previous positions at The Brainstorm Group, Vickers and Benson Advertising, and Ian Roberts Advertising, among others. RIAN eLearning has elected its executive team for the next...

CNM Newsmakers

Media | 06/25/2003 4:00 am EDT

Technological protection measures and "effective remedies": how much is enough? Canadian Heritage recently released a second research paper with respect to technological protection measures, and how to protect those in compliance with our treaty obligations. Following is an edited excerpt from the paper discussing the level of sanction necessary before Canada can be said to have "effective...

CNM Editorial

Media | 06/25/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Whether or not the attempt to pass copyright term extensions into law along with a workaday bill to merge the National Archives and National Library was underhanded, it should come as no surprise that two small clauses in an innocuous bill have created yet another divisive debate over intellectual...

New media fund budget caps unlikely to be raised without more cash: Telefilm

Media | 06/25/2003 4:00 am EDT

Telefilm Canada will adopt some broad principles from the recently completed report by David Ellis of Omnia Communications Inc. evaluating the Canada New Media Fund (CNM, June 13/03), but several controversial recommendations will likely be left off the table. Telefilm, now in the midst of working on a renewal strategy as the fund nears the end of its current resources, says it agrees the pot needs to be reserved for commercially oriented projects. But Earl Hong Tai, western regional director and new media sector head at Telefilm, says the agency won’t reduce its envelope for small independent producers and likely won’t raise budget caps without a major new injection of cash.  The...

CCR Update

Media | 06/25/2003 4:00 am EDT

June 25, 2003  Bell Canada marries TV, Internet in ‘Surf and Watch’ bundleBell Canada has introduced a “Surf and Watch” bundle that offers Bell ExpressVu satellite TV service and Sympatico high-speed Internet service on one bill for $99.95 a month, it was announced June 25. The bundle is based on a 12-month contract and includes a satellite dish, Model 3100 receiver, free Bell ExpressVu professional...

Hate-related web sites on rise but Canada scores high marks for enforcement

Media | 06/25/2003 4:00 am EDT

Officials from the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) are praising Canada for its progressive legislation dealing with hate on the Internet, but at the release in Ottawa of the SWC’s annual study of the Internet, staff said further work remains to stop its propagation. Specifically, the group continues to push for...

CCR People

Media | 06/20/2003 4:00 am EDT

The three members of Persona Inc.’s special committee investigating the best options for the sale of the cableco are Doug Kirk and Terry Lyons, independent directors of the company, and Thomas Pippy from Burns Fry. They will try to get the best price for the company. Kirk will serve as chair of the special committee.  Denis Carmel has been named permanently to the position of director general of communications at...

CHUM, Craig disagree over impact of new TV stations in Calgary, Edmonton

Media | 06/20/2003 4:00 am EDT

CRTC commissioners are left to separate fact from fiction in the current process to license a new over-the-air television broadcaster in Calgary and Edmonton, with a retransmitter in Red Deer (CCR, April 25/03). Commissioners must have felt a sense of déjà vu as CHUM Ltd. in its bid for the stations adopts many of the...

Communications at a Crossroads: Foreign Ownership and Sovereignty

Media | 06/20/2003 4:00 am EDT

The battle over foreign ownership has begun. In April 2003, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology released its report Opening Canadian Communications to the World and recommended that existing foreign ownership restrictions be lifted for telecommunications carriers and broadcasting distribution undertakings, such as cable companies. According to the Industry committee, the foreign ownership restrictions are an impediment to investment and serve no useful purpose. The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has now fired back. In its June 2003 report, Our Cultural Sovereignty: The Second Century of Canadian Broadcasting, the Heritage committee...

English Canada needs French Canada’s low-budget drama approach: report

Media | 06/20/2003 4:00 am EDT

Canada shouldn’t try to compete head-on with big-budget Hollywood shows, but should instead try low-budget dramas to solve its current production woes, author Guy Fournier suggests. During a panel discussion on the future of Canadian television drama at the Banff Television Festival last week, Fournier repeated comments...

CCR Editorial

Media | 06/20/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage’s much-awaited report on its two-year review of the Canadian broadcasting system is a disappointment because it’s so muddled.  First, it gives no indication which of the myriad of recommendations need the most immediate attention. For example, which...

Introduce tax credits for advertisers in order to boost Canadian drama, Switzer suggests

Media | 06/20/2003 4:00 am EDT

Ottawa should consider implementing tax credits for advertisers that buy time during Canadian programming to help the ailing television industry, says CHUM Ltd. president and CEO Jay Switzer, though he was short on specifics. "As to what the percentage might be or what the mechanism might...

Global consolidation will gobble up Canadian broadcasters, says author

Media | 06/20/2003 4:00 am EDT

An influential media analyst has harsh words for Canada’s broadcasters, which have recently cried poor over their inability to replace government funding with private resources to create domestic drama - despite spending billions on convergence gambles. Gordon Pitts, author of Kings of Convergence: The Fight for Control...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 06/20/2003 4:00 am EDT

Corus to drop Category 2 digital rock music channel Edge TVCorus Entertainment Inc. announced June 12 that it has given up on its Category 2 digital channel EdgeTV. The alternative rock channel will come off the air on July 12. The decision to drop EdgeTV follows an unsuccessful appeal to the CRTC for a change in the rule that requires distributors to carry five unrelated Category 2 channels for every affiliated Category...

Mixed reactions to wide-ranging recommendations in Heritage committee’s broadcasting report

Media | 06/20/2003 4:00 am EDT

The long-awaited House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage report on the Canadian broadcasting system has been described as being both daring and a dud. The 872-page report, Our Cultural Sovereignty: The Second Century of Canadian Broadcasting, makes numerous wide-ranging...

CNM Special Edition Update

Media | 06/17/2003 4:00 am EDT

Heritage committee sends Bill C-36 to third reading with only minor amendmentsOpponents of copyright term extensions were dealt a sudden blow today when the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage voted to accept Bill C-36 with only minor amendments, and including provisions to lengthen copyright protection for some deceased authors.In an extra-curricular meeting of the committee – Parliament is in...

Delvinia scores two in ARIM funding round

Media | 06/13/2003 4:00 am EDT

Delvinia Interactive Inc. has scored funding for two projects from CANARIE Inc.’s Applied Research in Multimedia (ARIM) fund to push the envelope in broadband research. It has received $200,000 toward a total project cost of $400,000 to study the role of broadband connectivity in connection with market research with partner Millward Brown Goldfarb. It...

“We’re not in the business of funding content,” says Telus Mobility executive

Media | 06/13/2003 4:00 am EDT

Wireless phone carriers, as demonstrated by Telus Mobility, are actively seeking more content to fill their pipes, but content producers in the new media space will need to show the promise of incremental revenues and be willing to pay for access to the network to take advantage of the opportunity. In an interview with Canadian NEW MEDIA, Telus Mobility’s VP of products and services Robert Blumenthal says it’s not his intention to begin funding the development of content, but his company is actively evaluating proposals from producers to fill the pipes with new entertainment and business applications. As far as Telus Mobility is concerned, the wireless web can be broken down...

ZeD fulfilling expectations of interactivity, sees renewal for second season on CBC

Media | 06/13/2003 4:00 am EDT

After almost 110 episodes in its inaugural season on CBC, ZeD TV is exceeding the expectations of its executive producer (CNM, Nov. 29/01). McLean Mashingaidze-Greaves gave attendees of a Canadian New Media Awards workshop June 2 in Toronto a snapshot of the cutting-edge show and related web site, surprising many with...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 06/13/2003 4:00 am EDT

Photogs hail surgical strike on rights issue in SenateThe Canadian Photographers Coalition has its hopes riding on a private senator bill, S-20, introduced by Liberal New Brunswick senator Joseph Day to address longstanding concerns over copyright ownership for shooters. The bill would repeal section 13(2) of the Copyright Act, which gives copyright ownership over pictures to a person who commissions the image, among...

CNM People

Media | 06/13/2003 4:00 am EDT

Andrew Reddick, formerly of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, has joined the National Research Council of Canada’s Institute of Information Technology. He has also been appointed adjunct professor in the Department of Social Sciences at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John NB. The federal government recently reappointed Ron Bremner, effective June 16, to be a member of the board of Telefilm Canada for...

CNM Editorial

Media | 06/13/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. New media producers will welcome a recommendation from David Ellis, author of a new report on the Telefilm Canada Canada New Media Fund (CNMF), to drop any requirement that winning projects have Canadian cultural content. If Telefilm adopts the suggestion, it will bring the fund in line with what...

Omnia recommends sweeping changes to mandate, guidelines of Telefilm fund

Media | 06/13/2003 4:00 am EDT

An as-yet unreleased report by consulting firm Omnia Communications Inc., obtained by Canadian NEW MEDIA, makes a sweeping series of recommendations to improve the Telefilm Canada Canada New Media Fund, including dropping controversial cultural requirements and diverting the distribution funding envelope to other purposes, while bolstering the pool with greater resources and a clear mandate to support commercial products. The report, Making New Media Work For Canadians, was completed in February 2003, and its findings were discussed at a closed-door meeting of the fund’s advisory committee on June 3 in Toronto. Initial reaction to the report has been positive, though at least one prominent...

Extensions to be scrapped from Bill C-36

Media | 06/13/2003 4:00 am EDT

A controversial proposal to extend the term of copyright on unpublished works by deceased authors appears likely to be scrapped from Bill C-36, now before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. At a meeting June 12 in Ottawa, the committee voted to delay clause-by-clause consideration of the bill until June 17, but Canadian...

Serrano pushing for new network of interactive art/technology research

Media | 06/13/2003 4:00 am EDT

The influential director of the Habit@t at the Canadian Film Centre is quickly putting together a funding coalition to launch a new research network examining interactive narrative art forms. While resources have yet to be finalized, Ana Serrano is pushing ahead with plans to encourage collaboration within a "SWAT...

CCR Update

Media | 06/11/2003 4:00 am EDT

June 11, 2003 Review of CRTC, creation of single department of communications among Heritage committee recommendationsThe House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has made dozens of broad-ranging recommendations to strengthen Canada’s broadcasting system which, if implemented, would result in greater and more stable funding provided to the industry, as well as a massive overhaul of the responsible...

CNM Special Edition Update

Media | 06/11/2003 4:00 am EDT

Heritage committee calls for creation of single department of communications The House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has made dozens of broad-ranging recommendations to strengthen Canada’s broadcasting system which, if implemented, would result in greater and more stable funding provided to the industry, as well as a massive overhaul of the responsible bureaucracy.The committee tabled a report in...

Creators blast McQueen’s drama report for failing to propose regulated obligations

Media | 06/05/2003 4:00 am EDT

Canada’s television creative community is blasting a recent report on Canadian television drama for not recommending any new regulatory obligations for broadcasters. Instead, broadcast veteran Trina McQueen’s much anticipated Dramatic Choices: A Report on Canadian English-language Drama suggests new, mostly government,...

Francophone producers criticize CTF’s new criteria before Parliamentary committee

Media | 06/05/2003 4:00 am EDT

The Canadian Television Fund (CTF) finds itself under the scrutiny of a Parliamentary committee after minority-language producers complained to politicians about the level of funding they received this year. CTF president and CEO Sandra MacDonald and Canadian Heritage ADM Michael Wernick faced pointed questioning from...

PVR expected to take hold as new models on horizon, more distributors offer device

Media | 06/05/2003 4:00 am EDT

With more broadcast distributors looking to roll out digital set-top boxes with personal video recorder (PVR) capability and new models on the way, Ian MacLean, VP of Montreal-based Media Experts iTV Lab, is predicting that 50% of Canadian TV households will have a PVR by 2007 or 2008. But MacLean says the broadcast...

CHUM counters Cogeco request for rate decreases, as several channels seek raises

Media | 06/05/2003 4:00 am EDT

CHUM Ltd. was left to defend itself against a suggested decrease in the wholesale rates of some of its specialty channels during a CRTC hearing that wrapped up this week on the licence renewal of the specialty services licensed in 1996 (Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing 2003-3). Several channels, including CTV Newsnet,...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 06/05/2003 4:00 am EDT

McQueen sides with CBC on airing of Hollywood moviesBroadcast veteran Trina McQueen says that the CRTC should reconsider its decision to forbid the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) from airing first-run Hollywood films to help enable the public broadcaster to maintain its spending on Canadian drama. In her report Dramatic Choices: A Report on Canadian English-language Drama that was released by the CRTC on May 23, she recommends that the CBC commit to maintaining its level of drama expenditures at $62 million per year. Part of that money, she theorizes, could be raised through advertising and large audiences garnered during the broadcast of Hollywood blockbusters. The CBC has applied to the CRTC for a licence amendment that would allow it to continue to broadcast those movies. Its current condition of licence requires it to cease broadcasting hit movies after Sept. 1, 2003 (CCR, May 23/03). McQueen also recommends that the CBC, along with other broadcasters, be allowed to air an extra minute of advertising during each original hour of 10...

CCR People

Media | 06/05/2003 4:00 am EDT

Erica Benson broadens her role in becoming VP of programming for Alliance Atlantis Communications’ Life Network and Discovery Health Channel. She was most recently VP of programming for Discovery Health. She joined Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting in September 2000 as director of original production for Showcase.   Berni Wood will soon be named as the executive producer of the International New Media Festival to...

Preserving Canadian programming: It’s time for some new solutions

Media | 06/05/2003 4:00 am EDT

“Complex, contradictory, labyrinthine.” A television critic’s take on the plot line of 24 or The West Wing? Nope. That’s a frustrated industry executive speaking in a recent newspaper article about the business of TV production in Canada - a system that many now believe is “broken.” The assessment isn’t...

CCR Editorial

Media | 06/05/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Perhaps we were expecting too much from Trina McQueen, but her recommendations in her report to the CRTC likely won’t solve this country’s television drama woes. McQueen shuns suggesting regulatory obligations for broadcasters in favour of broadcaster incentives and more money for drama (see article...

CNM Update

Media | 06/04/2003 4:00 am EDT

ARIM confirms winners of research fundingThe CANARIE Inc./Canadian Heritage Applied Research in Interactive Media (ARIM) Program announced nine funding winners at the Canadian New Media Awards on June 2. As reported by Canadian NEW MEDIA, Acadia University, APR Inc., Immersion Studios, Live Wires Inc., and Sonic Designs Inc. were each recipients of part of the $1.5 million disbursed from the fund in this round (CNM, May...

CBC promotes CanCon rock star camp

Media | 05/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

Auditions are set to begin soon for a new Collideascope Digital Productions television show, Rock Camp, that incorporates a multi-phase complementary web site unique for its behind-the-scenes pre-production and production glimpses into the show. Supported by the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund as well as the broadcaster that will air the show, CBC, the online component will attempt to build a community of users before the first frame of video has been shot. Collideascope executive producer Suzanne Chapman says the goal is to drive users to the television show by introducing audiences to the property well in advance of its broadcast and to keep viewers loyal by providing an enjoyable and complementary web experience. While Chapman is calling the series documentary in nature, since...

Veterans’ memories to be archived on ecentricarts-built Dominion Institute site

Media | 05/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

The Dominion Institute will launch a new web site designed by ecentricarts inc. on June 6 chronicling in multimedia the history of Canada's war veterans - timed to coincide with the anniversary of Canada's army and navy landing on Juno beach. Supported by a $200,000 grant from the Canadian...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 05/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

Trademark registrations filed Page One Productions Inc., 3108 Frances Stewart Road, has filed a trademark application for the term "Belly U". The company has also registered the domain name bellyu.com. The company is run by Ann Douglas, a noted author on parenting issues. She tells CNM that the site will serve as a portal to information on pregnancy. Groove Enterprises Inc., 430-11215 Jasper Avenue NW in...

CNM People

Media | 05/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

Elizabeth McDonald is leaving the Canadian Film and Television Production Association as of Aug. 31, 2003. She joined the trade association as president and CEO in 1995. She's considered a veteran in the communications industry, previously having worked at the Canadian Cable Television Association, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the CBC. She is also a member of the board of governors for the Banff...

Video Games: Culture or Good Business?

Media | 05/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

There is an argument to be made that console video games have Canadian cultural value but it is a weak one. Video games are about fantasy, role-playing, and doing things in cyber space that one couldn't do in the real world. Few video games tell much of a story and those that do involve fantastical characters in imaginary settings. A console video...

CNM Editoral

Media | 05/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Canadian Heritage is to be congratulated for millions in new funds either already announced or with an announcement imminent. As we report in this issue, the long-awaited Applied Research in Interactive Media program has funded at least five confirmed projects with several to come in the program it...

CNM Exclusive: ARIM fund winners

Media | 05/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

APR Inc. wins funding for second round Moveable Feast project Edmonton-based Acoustic Provisioning Research (APR) Inc. has confirmed that it has won an undisclosed amount of funding from the CANARIE Inc./Canadian Heritage Applied Research in Interactive Media (ARIM) Program to continue its Moveable Feast experiment. The funds will be follow-on...

CNM Exclusive: ARIM fund winners

Media | 05/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

Immersion Studios to develop interactive content guide with ARIM funding Toronto-based Immersion Studios Inc. has confirmed that it has won an undisclosed amount of funding from the CANARIE Inc./Canadian Heritage Applied Research in Interactive Media (ARIM) Program to create an Interactive Content Development Guide. CTO Rodney Hoinkes tells...

Doha cited as opportunity for creators to incorporate moral rights into TRIPS

Media | 05/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

The Doha round of negotiations on the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (the TRIPS Agreement) could be a critical chance for creators to re-open the controversial international treaty to include moral rights in the agreement, says one legal expert who urged them to begin formulating a strategy for...

Heritage networks fund announces first-round winners from across Canada

Media | 05/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

Canadian Heritage has announced the winners of well over half of its New Media Research Networks Fund, accounting for $5.64 million of the available $8 million in the envelope intended to encourage partnerships in new media R&D (CNM, Aug. 21/02). The winning projects will be funded for two years through the 2003-2004 fiscal year to study everything from teleconferencing to accessibility to 3D rendering. It's too soon, however, to say when another call for letters of intent might be made to disburse the remaining funds, says Canadian Culture Online Program (CCOP) director Ruth Bacon.  She says the department will let the current crop of winning projects play out for a while...

CCR Update

Media | 05/28/2003 4:00 am EDT

May 28, 2003 ACTRA denounces McQueen drama study; CRTC releases two other reportsThe Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) has denounced the study on Canadian television drama that broadcast veteran Trina McQueen conducted for the CRTC. "It's a lot to expect a former broadcast executive to fix the regulations of her own industry - and she hasn't," ACTRA national executive...

Legislative change needed to ‘fix’ jurisdictional question on pole access: CCTA

Media | 05/23/2003 4:00 am EDT

  The cable industry began lobbying for legislative changes even before the Supreme Court of Canada ruled last week that the CRTC did not have the authority to set the rate for cable access to utility poles, says the president and CEO of the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA). Janet Yale...

Rabinovitch: CBC needs more flexibility to meet its goals as public broadcaster

Media | 05/23/2003 4:00 am EDT

  On May 13 before the Heads of Agency, CBC president and CEO Robert Rabinovitch discussed the progress that he sees that the CBC has made in distinguishing itself as a public broadcaster. He also touched on the continuing challenges the public broadcaster faces, and expressed concern about the CBC's future and called...

CCR Editorial

Media | 05/23/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. The Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) has begun using the word "loophole" to describe a section in the Telecommunications Act that leaves public utility poles outside the regulatory purview of the federal government and its agencies. Loopholes, of course, are bad, and recent...

SaskTel asks CRTC to rule quickly on its VOD application so it can remain competitive

Media | 05/23/2003 4:00 am EDT

  SaskTel is urging the CRTC to expedite approval of its licence application for a regional video-on-demand (VOD) service so that its new television service can remain competitive with those of incumbents. The telco tells the regulator that the full benefits of its digital TV service, called Max Interactive Services, won't occur unless it is able to offer VOD.  "SaskTel is the fifth entrant in the Saskatchewan market place and must compete with established BDUs (broadcasting distribution undertakings) and DTH (direct-to-home) providers that already provide VOD and PPV (pay-per-view) services to their customers as part of their own operations. Any delay in allowing SaskTel to...

Cable industry uses survey data to reiterate call for more flexible packaging

Media | 05/23/2003 4:00 am EDT

  The cable industry is using data from a recent survey it commissioned to push for regulatory changes to the broadcast system that would give it more flexibility in what it can offer viewers. Citing consumer demand for more choice, Janet Yale, president and CEO of the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA), asked...

CNM Special Edition Update

Media | 05/23/2003 4:00 am EDT

Berni Wood to executive produce International New Media FestivalBerni Wood, formerly director of film and new media for the province of Prince Edward Island under TechPEI and a regional VP for the Canadian Television Fund (CTF), will soon be named as the executive producer of the International New Media Festival to be held in P.E.I. this fall. Wood was caught last summer when she left TechPEI to join the CTF, only to find...

CBC asks CRTC to allow it to continue to broadcast blockbuster movies

Media | 05/23/2003 4:00 am EDT

  The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is asking the CRTC to back peddle and amend a controversial condition of licence so that it can continue to broadcast blockbuster films. The licence amendment request made public May 15 asks the commission to remove a condition of licence that requires it to remove popular movies from its...

Manley meeting seen as one step toward long-term strategy for Canadian TV shows

Media | 05/23/2003 4:00 am EDT

  A scheduled May 23 meeting between Finance minister John Manley and broadcast industry representatives marks the first stage in what's expected to be a long-term campaign to reverse the sector's flagging fortunes with respect to Canadian television programming. In the wake of a $25-million cut to the Canadian...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 05/23/2003 4:00 am EDT

Look Communications continues to lose subscribersWireless cable and Internet provider Look Communications Inc. continued to lose subscribers in its fiscal 2003 first quarter ended March 31. The company lost 1,300 net digital TV subscribers and 5,300 net total subscribers (TV and Internet) in the quarter to end the period with 45,200 TV subscribers and 137,900 total subscribers. The loss of 1,300 TV subscribers in the...

CCR People

Media | 05/23/2003 4:00 am EDT

Don Shafer has been appointed VP and general manager of Standard Radio's B.C. Interior Group. He was most recently VP and general manager of the Torstar Media Group and Toronto Star TV in Toronto.  François de Gaspé Beaubien has resigned from the board of directors of Astral Media following an internal corporate reorganization at Telemedia Group. When Telemedia reorganized, it monetized just over 3.5 million...

CNM Update

Media | 05/21/2003 4:00 am EDT

OMDC review apparently underwayCanadian NEW MEDIA sources report having been contacted by representatives of Secor Consulting Inc. as that firm apparently undertakes a promised review of the Ontario Media Development Corp.’s (OMDC) long-term strategy. In an interview with CNM in April, CEO Michel Frappier said the agency was in the final stages of a request for proposal to develop a five-year plan two years in advance...

Supreme Court dismisses CCTA appeal on pole access

Media | 05/16/2003 4:00 am EDT

The Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) has lost its Supreme Court bid to overturn a lower court ruling that set aside a CRTC decision giving cable companies access to utility poles at a rate far less than that demanded by electric and other utility companies. In a ruling in the Barrie Public Utilities v. Canadian Cable Television Assn....

CNM People

Media | 05/15/2003 4:00 am EDT

The National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) Canada Inc. has retained Temple Scott Associates Inc.'s Steven Schumann as a federal lobbyist. Schumann will be working in the areas of the Privacy Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act to push for standards and processes in the destruction of paper documents. NAID's Canadian members are a collection of mostly shredding companies. CanWest Global Communications Corp. has appointed Gerry Noble as CEO of its subsidiary Fireworks Entertainment Inc. He replaces Jay Firestone, whose five-year contract expired earlier this month. Noble, formerly president/CEO of the Global Television Network, had announced his intention to leave the company last January. Maria Hale, previously managing director, interactive, at CHUM Ltd., has been promoted to VP, Citytv Toronto. She will now be responsible for day-to-day operations and strategic planning at the Toronto television station. Hale tells CNM that the company is in the "very preliminary...

CNM Editorial

Media | 05/15/2003 4:00 am EDT

Digital media investment tax credit would attract private export dollars  As a nation Canada continues to be a major exporter to the world markets. Nearly 80% of our GNP comes from exports, primarily to the United States. Digital media and knowledge-based products and services continue to transform the country from a resource-based exporter into one based on intellectual property. The digital media industry, while...

Exclusive

Media | 05/15/2003 4:00 am EDT

Changes to copyright regime must be made for labels to satisfy consumers  Copyright changes are critical if record labels are to begin selling tracks securely over the Internet, a group of industry executives has told Canadian NEW MEDIA. In an exclusive two-hour roundtable discussion organized for CNM by Hawkestone Communications, participants agreed that the music industry will have to change traditional models to...

Export proving key to surviving downturn, increasing revenues: Delvinia study

Media | 05/15/2003 4:00 am EDT

Export has apparently proven a mitgating factor in helping small- and medium-sized interactive media companies overcome an industry downturn, according to a soon-to-be-published report. The Interactive Media Producers Survey 2002 prepared by Delvinia Inc. shows a marked difference in the revenues of companies that export...

Law Society makes last ditch plea to highest court on fair dealing, originality

Media | 05/15/2003 4:00 am EDT

The Law Society of Upper Canada is making a last appeal to define its court decision fax service as an application of fair dealing under the Copyright Act. On May 3, the society filed its arguments in the case of CCH Canadian Ltd. et. al. vs. the Law Society of Upper Canada with the Supreme Court of Canada in preparation...

Copyright extensions side-by-side with innovations in new Archives/Library bill

Media | 05/15/2003 4:00 am EDT

A bill to merge the National Library of Canada and the National Archives of Canada into a single institution could wind up extending the term of copyright protection for some of Lucy Maud Montgomery's works (CNM, Oct. 16/02). Buried within Bill C-36's administrative housekeeping are several amendments to the Copyright Act, including one to extend until the end of 2017 the copyright on unpublished works for authors who died between Dec. 31, 1929 and Jan. 1, 1949.  Bill C-36, tabled in the House of Commons on May 8, is also notable for another change to the Copyright Act that would extend to the new institution the right to periodically take a "representative sample of the...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 05/15/2003 4:00 am EDT

Decima Reader Survey, April-May 2003Throughout April and early May, Decima Publishing polled its readers, asking:Should Internet service providers (ISPs) pay a revenue-based tariff to music copyright owners to remunerate them for revenues lost to peer-to-peer services?We gave readers three options:Yes, a flat revenue-based tariff is justified;No, ISPs are just a conduit and not responsible for the content passed...

JumpTV adds Al-Jazeera channel today, while cablecos still waiting on CRTC decision

Media | 05/12/2003 4:00 am EDT

Internet broadcaster JumpTV.com added the Al-Jazeera television channel to its lineup today at a price of US$9.95 a month for high-speed subscribers and US$5.95 a month for dial-up customers, beating Canada’s cablecos to the punch. When contacted by Canadian Communications Reports, JumpTV CEO Farrel Miller would not...

CNM Special Edition Update

Media | 05/12/2003 4:00 am EDT

JumpTV adds Al-Jazeera channel today, while cablecos still waiting on CRTC decision Internet broadcaster JumpTV.com added the Al-Jazeera television channel to its lineup today at a price of US$9.95 a month for high-speed subscribers and US$5.95 a month for dial-up customers, beating Canada’s cablecos to the punch. When contacted by Canadian NEW MEDIA, JumpTV CEO Farrel Miller would not reveal any financial details...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 05/08/2003 4:00 am EDT

CBC adds content to Rogers’ VOD service in TorontoThe Canadian Broadcasting Corp. will provide some of its programming on a video-on-demand (VOD) basis to Rogers Cable Inc.’s digital cable customers in the Toronto area, it was announced May 5. The Hockey Night Fever package consists of 3½ hours of documentaries on hockey, including a feature on Maruice Richard, while War and Consequences is a collection of news,...

CCR People

Media | 05/08/2003 4:00 am EDT

Richard Matthews joins the Canadian Association of Broadcasters as VP of copyright and legal affairs. He has worked in the federal public service, including as director of copyright and director of broadcasting policy at Canadian Heritage. He will report directly to Erica Redler, CAB general counsel and senior VP of policy and legal affairs. His focus will be on copyright.  After four years with the Canadian...

Cable hails Industry committee recommendations, but questions arise about weight of the report

Media | 05/08/2003 4:00 am EDT

The cable industry is giving a thumbs up to a Parliamentary committee report released late last month, but questions remain as to just how much weight it will have in the lead-up to a Liberal Party of Canada leadership campaign. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and...

Answered Prayers

Media | 05/08/2003 4:00 am EDT

The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology has released its report on foreign ownership, Opening Canadian Communications to the World, and it has given the cable industry everything it asked for. The committee expressed the view that "... telecommunications common carriers and broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) can no longer be separated on the basis of their underlying distribution networks...

Expanded licensing exemption increases regulatory burden for Part IIIs: CCTA

Media | 05/08/2003 4:00 am EDT

Part III cablecos are the big losers in a CRTC public notice proposing to expand licence exemptions to cable systems of up to 6,000 subscribers. Harris Boyd, senior VP of industry affairs and office of small systems at the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA), tells Canadian Communications Reports that the...

CCR Editorial

Media | 05/08/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.The snail-like pace of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage is negatively affecting its ability to put its mark on foreign ownership rules. Although the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology began its study well after that of the Heritage committee, it has managed to release its report and publicize its findings first. When the Industry committee unveiled its recommendations on April 28 calling for the complete liberalization of foreign ownership rules for telcos and cablecos, there were no countering proposals from the Heritage committee.   There were only rumours that the Heritage committee would be pushing for the status quo in its yet-to-be released report. Because of the delay, the Heritage committee report now risks being branded as reactionary rather than progressive, regardless of what it contains. Industry committee chair Walt Lastewka has already criticized the slowness of...