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...

Sweeping changes to Bell fund see new focus away from innovation, more cash

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

Technological or other innovations will no longer be the key requirement to trigger Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund assistance under a series of sweeping changes undertaken by the fund’s executive. New guidelines will see "excellence" replace innovation while successful projects will receive more cash with...

SAT set to spend Heritage money in Montreal electronic playground

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

Not-for-profit new media playground Société des Arts et Technologiques (SAT) has acquired new facilities in Montreal’s red-light district, officially opened early last month. The group was recently announced as the winner of $792,082 in funding from Canadian Heritage’s New Media Research Networks Fund to explore how...

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 initiative would: "provide cost-effective and timely enhancement of industry-specific skills essential in today’s fast paced media environment; "increase the number of highly qualified, skilled workers in one of Ontario’s fastest growing and most labour intensive industries; "connect and strengthen the diverse and fragmented geographical and organizational aspects of the industries; and "facilitate strategic alliances between businesses, organizations and individuals in order to build Ontario’s business competitiveness in the world arena." Wireless short codes now for sale on commercial...

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...

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...

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...

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 proceeding to determine whether it should remove TNN/SpikeTV from the lists of eligible satellite services." The CAB is concerned that a format change to TNN: The National Network (formerly The Nashville Network) would make it competitive with a number of existing Canadian specialty and pay services against CRTC policy. Viacom wants to rename the channel Spike TV,...

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...

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 all new Category 2 licence applications at specific time periods, regardless of when they were submitted, as a means of lessening its workload.  Responding to the CRTC process on possible amendments for dealing with the processing of Category 2 applications (Broadcasting Public Notice 2003-14), the CAB isn't opposed to holding Category 2 diginet licensing hearings...

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...

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...

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...

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 year. Serving will be Mario Robert, president; Ronald LaBrie, VP; Romain Gagnon, VP; Robert Roy, secretary; and André Lefebvre, treasurer. David Dembroski has joined the law firm Stohn Hay, LLP, becoming its third partner. Prior to joining the entertainment law shop, Dembroski was a partner at Aird & Berlis where he worked for nine years after articling and summering at Blake, Cassels & Graydon. Besides all areas of entertainment law, his practice also focuses on technology law and sports law. He is a member of the executive committee of the media, sports and entertainment section of the Canadian Bar...

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...

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 recommendations aimed at strengthening Canada’s broadcasting system, including an overhaul of the responsible bureaucracy. Following a two-year study of the broadcast system, the Clifford Lincoln-chaired committee called for more initiatives to boost local and not-for-profit broadcasters, a review of the CRTC’s mandate, the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) and Telefilm Canada. As well, the report...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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 Heritage parliamentary secretary Carole-Marie Allard gave indication during the session that the contentious sections 21 and 22 would be on the chopping block when committee members are given a chance to propose amendments. The sections in question would extend copyright protection for unpublished works for authors who died between Dec. 31, 1929 and Jan. 1, 1949, which include papers by famed wordsmith Lucy Maud Montgomery. At the meeting,...

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...

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...

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 other measures. John Harquail, of the Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators in Communications, credits the work of hired-gun lobbyists Temple Scott for moving the item into the Parliamentary process ahead of the full section 92 review of the Act now scheduled to begin possibly as late as next year (CNM, Dec. 13/01). Private senator bills are often a formality, and will usually receive Royal Assent following an abbreviated run through the House of Commons. “[The bill] certainly addresses the two main concerns we had, and, quite frankly, we were concerned that the review of the s.92 report seemed not to be...

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...

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...

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...

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 in this issue).  She calls for a new $30-million production fund aimed at audience building for drama. Her conclusion as to what to do if the new fund doesn’t produce results is certainly problematic. “If there is no progress, these groups (the government and CRTC) can decide to end the audience building fund; and return to the usual panoply of regulatory dictates,” she writes in her report. That’s a political hot potato in the making. After all, the Canadian Television Fund was established as a temporary top-up fund. But the industry went berserk when the government this year cut $25 million of its...

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...

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...

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 funding to Advanced Network Applications, Services and Technologies Program funding, also from CANARIE, for the project's first phase, the final report for which was submitted last August. The Moveable Feast is an experiment in creating networked virtual environments in which participants can interact with physically controlled audio and video, both in their own physical space and with another user at a remote location. While the initial project was hailed as a success by APR in its final reporting to CANARIE, president Will Bauer says the latest funding will allow the company to make several improvements that he hopes will help accelerate commercialization of the technology. The...

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...

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,...

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 has co-funded with CANARIE Inc. Heritage's New Media Research Networks Fund will put $5.64 million into another five projects announced earlier this month.  These two funds are, perhaps more than Telefilm's Canada New Media Fund, critical for the future growth of the interactive digital media industry in this country. A glance at the winning projects reveals important work that would likely not proceed without public monies. But, the results these projects will hopefully produce will constitute the baseline technology on which to build successful commercial ventures. Advanced Positioning Research's...

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...

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...

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 tells Canadian Communications Reports that the cable industry initiated an early push for legislative changes to the Telecommunications Act as a backup in case it was not successful with its appeal, and says Industry Canada officials are receptive to the request. "Absolutely, we were in touch with Industry Canada before the (court) decision. We've been working with officials for some...

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...

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...

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....

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 for an eventual hearing of the case (CNM, Dec. 20/02, May 31/02). In its appeal, the Law Society requests an order to set aside the Federal Court of Appeal's judgement, to dismiss publisher CCH Canadian Ltd.'s copyright actions against it, and to declare that making single copies or copying limited amounts of text from legal material published by CCH for the purpose...

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...

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...

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...

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 combat digital piracy and underscored that significant developments along that path have taken place since the rise of peer-to-peer music services such as Napster. But they also said that changes would have to take place at the legislative level before online music services that meet consumers' expectations can be launched. Participants hinted at a forthcoming deal that could open the floodgates. Participating in the roundtable were Graham Henderson, Universal Music Group Canada's senior VP of business affairs and ecommerce; Norman Miller, BMG Canada's VP of IS&T, new media and marketing services; Tara...

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...

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...

Distributors oppose requests for wholesale rate increases by specialty channels

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

Cable and satellite TV distributors are opposing requests for wholesale rate increases by specialty channels, despite upping their subscription fees by as much as a few dollars over the past year or so. Direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV distributor Bell ExpressVu LP tells the CRTC that any rate increase must be fair to the...

SaskTel reduces stake in Craig Wireless

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

Saskatchewan telephone company SaskTel appears to have less confidence in the wireless cable business than it did a few years ago, according to information in its 2002 annual report, which was tabled in the provincial legislature and released late last month. The Crown corporation cut its ownership stake in wireless cable operator Craig Wireless Inc....

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 or the services they provide. The committee believes that carriage and content are distinct entities, and that distribution can be separated from programming undertakings. Cultural policy objectives can thus be achieved by treating content and carriage separately."  On the basis of this reasoning, the committee recommended that BDUs be viewed as comparable to telecom carriers and that foreign ownership restrictions be lifted for both. The cable industry is delighted. But what would it really mean if the committee’s recommendations were accepted and fully implemented? The starting point would have to be the...