Cable gaining on satellite TV in share of digital marketCable companies are in a stronger position than recently released Statistics Canada data would indicate, according to a report by Decima Publishing Inc. While 2001 figures released by StatsCan accurately reveal that satellite TV distributors are taking customers away from cable, Decima’s more recent research shows that cable is gaining on satellite’s lead in the digital TV environment, which is the future (CCR Update, Sept. 18/02). The Decima report reveals that in the second quarter of the year Bell ExpressVu and Star Choice accounted for 62 per cent of the 3.1 million digital subscribers (down from 63 per cent in the first quarter), versus cable’s 36 per cent (up from 35 per cent). An indepth analysis of the Canadian digital TV distribution market is provided in Decima’s The Digital Domain: Tracking the Growth and Development of the Canadian Digital TV Market, Vol. 2, Report 1. For more information, contact Ryan O’Neill at (613) 230-1984. Ten broadcast veterans to be...
Carole Swan has been appointed associate deputy minister at Industry Canada. She served as associate secretary of the Treasury Board for three years prior to joining Industry Canada. Rick Brace, currently president of CTV Specialty Television Inc., has been promoted to president of CTV Inc. His responsibilities will expand to include CTV’s 27 conventional television stations across the country while continuing to oversee its specialty channels. He replaces Trina McQueen, who announced her retirement late last year (CCR, Dec. 6/01). As well, Kevin Shea leaves CTV parent company Bell Globemedia as it has decided to withdraw from new business ventures such as place-based media, which was led by Shea. Shea joined Bell Globemedia as the new executive VP of convergence just a little over a year ago (CCR, June 7/01). "Kevin was given a difficult assignment to expand our lines of business, but times change and we need to concentrate on value creation closer to our core business," said Bell Globemedia president and CEO Ivan Fecan...
John Tory, president and CEO of Rogers Cable Inc., recently spoke about the challenges the cable industry faces in the current environment. Appearing at the Conference Board of Canada 2002 Business Outlook conference this month, he reiterated some key cable concerns, including television signal piracy, over regulation,...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Quebecor Media can’t win with the regulator. It obviously needs a new approach. Since getting CRTC approval for the acquisition of TVA Group and its cable subsidiary Vidéotron, Quebecor has been shooting itself in the foot because it has been unwilling to play by commission rules. A defiant...
The CRTC has once again come out against Quebecor Media Inc., issuing a mandatory order against the Quebec media giant’s cable subsidiary Vidéotron ltée on the use of inside wiring – Broadcasting Decision 2002-299. Also this week, the commission rejected a Quebecor Media complaint against Bell ExpressVu LP in ruling...
Small cable companies across the country were asked to join in the fight against the grey and black satellite television market at their annual meeting in Toronto late last month. During a panel on piracy, an invitation was extended to the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) to join other industry players, government and...
Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund attracts applicantsAndra Sheffer, executive director of the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that between 30 and 35 applications for funding were received on October 1. Historical Microreproductions wins fundingThe Canadian Institute of Historical Microreproductions (CIHM) has been granted $312,500 from the Canadian Culture Online Program’s Partnership Fund. The funding will allow CIHM to compile its database of pre-1900 public documents provided by various lending libraries and the National Library of Canada. The ultimate goal, according to a media release, is to digitize and make available 1,250 documents with about 250,000 pages of content. Documents range from those of the first colonial governments, through Confederation and up to 1920. The public can view the documents at http://www.canadiana.org. This is the second year of the ongoing project. More details. Heritage supports new media and cinema festivalCanadian Heritage has announced $131,250 in funding for...
Bell Canada’s chief regulatory officer, Sheridan Scott, says it should come as no surprise that the company has come out strongly in favour of allowing some form of Internet retransmission in a recent submission to the CRTC on the issue (CNM, Sept. 18/02). While many observers were taken aback that the giant telco was in...
Quebec’s multimedia lobby is asking the province for several new measures to focus programs intended to help the industry. Invited by the provincial government to present a report on the industry to a panel examining proposed changes to the audio/visual funding regime, the Alliance NumériQC’s Michel Chioini,...
JumpTV.com Inc. will launch 15-20 specialty television stations streamed online next month on a subscription basis, says its president and CEO. Farrel Miller tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that the stations will be offered securely for between US$7.95 and US$9.95 per month and that he has deals with the broadcasters to proceed....
Personalization will be key to the success of a new music streaming service offered by Bell Canada, setting it apart from a raft of existing music services already on the market and some offered for free. On September 25, Bell Canada launched a nationwide streaming service from U.S. company MUSICMATCH Inc., available to...
The web can be used to drive viewers to a television show and vice-versa, says the producer of the new technology show Web Watch, but content geared toward the Internet niche could be the deciding role in making the model work. WestWind Pictures’ Web Watch, which launched on the Saskatchewan public broadcaster SCN on...
The participation of the American Express Foundation was almost entirely responsible for a $1-million overhaul to the National Gallery of Canada’s Cybermuse web site. Without funding from the Canadian Culture Online Program, the gallery has built a rich new educational site using cutting-edge technology to put its...
Quebec multimedia producers are pursuing "cordial" talks with the Union des Artistes (UDA) in the province toward an overarching production agreement between the parties, likely to be hammered out in one year. Both sides confirm that initial meetings toward an agreement between producers and artists in multimedia productions have taken place,...
Throne Speech mystery won’t be revealed for days: HeritageCanadian Heritage officials are staying mum on a statement in the Sept. 30 Speech from the Throne indicating some kind of merger between two of Canada’s chief cultural agencies. The speech reads: "The government will ensure that as Canadians take charge of their future, they will have access to their history by creating a new institution that brings...
Michael Geist, a recognized expert on Internet law and frequent media commentator, has moved law firms. Geist is now with Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, serving the firm on a national basis as a technology counsel. He will continue to be based in Ottawa, and will continue to teach at the University of Ottawa’s faculty of law. Geist was formerly with Goodmans LLP. Telefilm Canada has appointed Earl Hong Tai to the position of western regional director, effective immediately. In addition to the directorship, he will also be the new media sector head. For the last nine months, he has been director of the television unit in the western office, and previously worked for Telefilm betwen 1997 and 2001 as an investment analyst. Wendy Muller has been tapped as Google Inc.’s new head of Canadian advertising and sales. Most recently, Muller was chair of DoubleClick Canada, and she brings more than 20 years of experience to her new position. Corel Corp. has named former Harlequin Enterprises executive W. Martin Catto as its...
Following are some of the comments of University of Waterloo PhD student Matthew Skala to the ongoing CRTC process examining Internet retransmission (PN 2002-38). Skala came to international attention when he and a colleague reverse-engineered the censorware program Cyber Patrol in 1999. 20. The CRTC has very little...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Not a month after Canadian Heritage posted a report by Wall Communications, entitled A Study of Business Models Sustaining the Development of Digital Cultural Content, an announcement is made that the National Gallery of Canada has overhauled its children’s education site Cybermuse in partnership...
Rogers renews agreement to carry Astral Television’s The Movie Network, Super ÉcranAstral Television Networks and Rogers Cable Inc. have signed a long-term affiliation agreement for the continued carriage of Astral’s The Movie Network and Super Écran on all Rogers systems in eastern Canada. As is usually the case, terms of the agreement were not revealed. More details. Bell ExpressVu adds channels to digital...
An overly complex regulatory environment and restrictions on its ability to raise foreign capital leave the Canadian cable industry seriously undervalued compared to its U.S. counterpart, says the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA). As a result, the cable industry is impaired in its ability to offer...
A group of small cable operators in southwestern Ontario has pooled resources to share a digital headend, rejecting more economical but more restrictive digital solutions offered by Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (Cancom). The move will allow the cablecos to source digital signals from any provider rather than exclusively from Cancom. The digital headend, located in Dublin ON, is connected to each of the independently owned- and operated-systems by fibre. Three of the four cable operators have already launched digital cable, while the fourth hopes to roll out service soon. "We’ve got a full blown digital headend. We’re doing nothing different than what Rogers, Shaw...
Bell ExpressVu subscribers get Leafs exhibition games freeTo promote the digital channel LeafsTV, Bell ExpressVu LP subscribers can watch the Toronto Maple Leafs’ nine pre-season games this year for free. The free games are being offered through Bell ExpressVu’s pay-per-view service on a complimentary basis to subscribers in the Leafs TV broadcast area, and as part of the NHL Centre Ice package to viewers outside...
Colette Loumède takes up the position of executive producer at the National Film Board’s Studio A (formerly known as the Society and Science Documentary Studio) on October 15. She takes over from Eric Michel, who has been at the helm of the studio since 1984, but was promoted in January to head of the NFB’s international coproduction unit. From 2000, Loumède worked for the government agency SODEC as a project...
Telus Corp. is the latest Canadian telephone company vying to go head-to-head with existing broadcast distributors in a bid to realize increased revenues from its broadband network. Subsidiary Telus Communications Inc. has applied to the CRTC for broadcast distribution licences to provide digital television service in...
Le Réseau des sports (RDS), owned by Bell Globemedia, is asking the CRTC to issue a mandatory order to ensure that Quebecor complies with a commission ruling. In a September 10 letter to the regulator, RDS president and general manager Gerry Frappier notes that the situation "goes to the very core of the...
Bell Canada’s and Rogers Communications Inc.’s plan to combine their 2300 MHz and 3500 MHz spectrum holdings under the banner of broadband wireless operator Inukshuk Internet Inc. is on hold for the time being, Report on Wireless has learned. The news comes after Industry Canada informed both parties that Inukshuk had...
The president and CEO of the Canadian Cable Television Association is calling on the federal government to stand up for its own television and cultural policies by cracking down on the illegal black and grey satellite television markets. Despite proposing in a speech last week that if government inaction continues then...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Janet Yale has given the federal government a very strongly worded ultimatum on the subject of grey and black market satellite TV enforcement: help us or get out of the way. But even if the government was to begin coast-to-coast raids on illegal dish dealers and virtually close down the grey and...
Yahoo top of mind with Canadians: surveyYahoo! has been recognized as the most well known brand in Canada, ranking ahead of MSN, Sympatico-Lycos and AOL in a recent online survey. The survey, conducted by ComQUEST Research and commissioned by Yahoo!, finds that the Yahoo! brand has the most recognizable, unaided top-of-mind awareness among Canadians at 15.5% – an increase of 2.5% from last year. MSN scored 6.2% in the...
SaskTel launches digital interactive TV serviceAfter testing its digital television distribution service with 200 employees, SaskTel launched the service in Regina on September 12. The service, called Max Interactive Services, uses the same technology as Aliant Telecom Inc.’s VibeVision, which is in the process of being shutdown (CCR, Sept. 12/02). SaskTel officials say they are not worried about meeting the same fate as VibeVision. For more details, see the upcoming issue of Canadian Communications Reports. More details. Telus looking at delivering TV service on broadbandTelus Communications Inc. has applied for two regional Class 1 broadcast distribution licences to deliver television service over broadband in Alberta and British Columbia. The telco plans to initially serve seven communities in Alberta and nine in B.C. Telus is proposing to offer its service alone and in packages with high-speed Internet access or with other Telus enhanced or long-distance services. "Telus’ proposed offering will provide consumers with a...
Years of industry demand for accurate human resource tracking in the new media sector could shortly be answered by an ambitious new Software Human Resource Council (SHRC)/Statistics Canada partnership to enumerate the IT industry. A massive new survey was announced at Softworld 2002 in Prince Edward Island by the non-profit...
Commercial web sites in Quebec are less interactive than their counterparts in Ontario, according to a newly released study by the international CMA chair at the École des Haute Études Commerciales in Montreal. According to report author Hugues Boisvert, Quebec sites lag behind those in Upper Canada in all but six...
Industry Canada minister Allan Rock is apparently working to increase his slight profile in the new media community with a series of meetings and announcements in the past weeks. The minister, who has played second fiddle to date to Canadian Heritage minister Sheila Copps in the interactive digital media community, has been...
September 11/2001 and the webA newly released study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds significant differences in the way Americans use and think about the Internet today than before the September 11 terrorist attacks. It finds that Americans favour more restricted disclosure of government information, a large group of people who believe the government should be able to monitor email and online...
Executive VP and CFO W. Judson Martin is leaving Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. to become president/CEO of a trans-border real estate income trust. He will be replaced by Rita Middleton, senior VP, corporate finance, until a search for a permanent replacement is completed. CTV Inc. has appointed Elaine Ali as senior VP, CTV Stations Group, effective immediately. She will have overall responsibility for all of CTV’s 27 owned-and-operated local stations, with all of the company’s station general managers reporting to her. She was previously VP and GM at CKY Winnipeg, a position she held since 1998. From 1996 until January 2002, she was president of WTN, a position she held concurrently with her GM duties at CKY. Ali joined the broadcast industry in 1975. MSN.CA has given Gerri Sinclair the nod as its new general manager. Sinclair was previously the president of the B.C. Premier’s Technology Council, and founder and CEO of NCompass Labs, since acquired by Microsoft Canada. She has also served on Canada’s National...
Unedited (except for space) comments to PN 2002-38, Sept. 13/02, submitted by iCraveTV.com Inc. founder William Craig.I was the founder, principal executive and part owner of ICraveTV.com. This is my personal reply to your request for comments on Internet retransmission and not those of anyone else. ICraveTV from...
A lame duck CRTC process on Internet retransmission (PN 2002-38) has become significantly more interesting in the wake of a submission by telecom titan Bell Canada that advocates removing companies such as JumpTV.com Canada Inc. from the ambit of Bill C-48 and putting them under the "light-handed" regulation of...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. The Software Human Resource Council (SHRC) is a small but active group involved in boosting the information and communications technology sector in Canada, but its sometimes low profile belies the important work it does. Its most recent initiative, a comprehensive survey that will measure the number of...
Bell ExpressVu pay-per-view offers new view of NASCAR racesBell ExpressVu LP has inked a deal with the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) for a pay-per-view (PPV) service that provides viewers with in-car camera coverage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series events. The PPV offering, called NASCAR in Car on Vu!, complements the live coverage of Winston Cup events currently broadcast on SportsNet and TSN. NASCAR...
Elaine Ali has been named as senior VP of CTV Stations Group. She will have overall responsibility for all of CTV’s 27 owned-and-operated local stations. She will be based in Winnipeg. Previously, she was VP and general manager at CKY Winnipeg, a position she held since 1998. From 1996 to January 2002, she was president of WTN, a position she held concurrently with her role at CKY. Del Sexsmith has been appointed...
Aliant Telecom Inc. has launched its second attempt at broadband television with the rollout of its subscription-based TV on my PC service earlier this month. Company officials pledge that the new product, which in the initial stages consists of 10 channels for $9.95 a month, will not be shuttered...
CTV Inc.’s decision to switch the satellite transponder from which its talktv specialty channel is distributed means that the channel may no longer be offered by some small cable systems. The move will likely result in lower distribution for the specialty channel, which is still in the early stages of development. At...
Much like its Canadian counterpart, the cable industry in the United States argues that cable’s share of multi-channel video subscribers doesn’t amount to "dominance" in the marketplace and that no further program access rules are necessary. The National Cable & Telecommunications...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Aliant is excitedly touting its new TV on my PC service as a complement to cable and satellite TV, but it’s a sure bet the company is well aware of the significant advantages of TV-over-DSL in the area of interactivity. As current generations of digital set-top boxes for cable or satellite are limited in power to something akin to a Commodore64, pushing TV to the desktop could prove a key difference in the iTV battle. Aliant’s service pushes TV signals through high-speed Internet lines to desktop PCs, which have several obvious advantages over current set-top boxes. With far greater RAM, processor speeds, memory and storage, the chance that viewers will be ordering the dress Jennifer Aniston is wearing on Friends through a service like TV on my PC rather than through their digital cable or satellite set-top boxes is huge. In at least the area of interactivity, Aliant’s TV on my PC should be seen as a...
In two separate filings, both the television board and the specialty and pay television board of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) agree that the current definition and certification systems for Canadian content should not be changed, with the exception of their application to animation. Filed August 30 as part...
In stark contrast to the private broadcasters, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. says the CRTC’s television policy is not delivering greater audiences to Canadian programming, and thus must be reviewed. In its reply submission to Canadian Heritage’s review of Canadian content in the 21st century, the public broadcaster...
The Supreme Court of Canada has denied the Saskatchewan government’s leave to appeal a court decision denying the province the right to tax satellite transponders. The decision, released Sept-ember 5, is good news for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., which has been locked in a six-year battle over whether the province has...
Tariff 22 leave to appeal gets crowdedA leave to appeal application filed with the Supreme Court of Canada over the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision on Tariff 22 – royalties on music distributed over the Internet – has heated up as further parties join the fray. The Canadian Recording Industry Association has filed a motion to intervene in the matter, and is now listed among the respondents in motions filed by the...
A new report on federal cultural agencies online suggests organizations such as the National Archives of Canada and National Library of Canada must pay closer attention to user demand in future digitization efforts. That, and other key recommendations for creating online cultural content, is in the recently released A Study of Business Models Sustaining the Development of Digital Cultural Content prepared by Wall Communications Inc. for the Department of Canadian Heritage. Heritage officials say the point is well-taken, though other recommendations such as potentially implementing user-pay models likely aren’t on the table. The report examines the performance of the National Library...
The second season of Degrassi: The Next Generation will be a make-or-break one for proving the value of its online corollary, says a senior executive with Snap Media Corp. VP Roma Khanna tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that the Degrassi online site continues to grow and that it will be up to the show’s...
Internet service providers are guarded in their comments regarding a recently released federal paper on access by law officials to online communications. Both the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) and Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP), which represent the majority of Internet providers in Canada,...
Prince Edward Island’s digital and broadcast development agency has confirmed that it will fund the International New Media Festival to the tune of $100,000 this year, with the option of first refusal to do the same in the next five years. TechPEI says that, in return, the province expects greater...
Both Canadian Heritage and Amazon.com intend to oppose a leave for judicial review in the matter of Amazon.ca’s entry to Canada, according to documents filed with the Federal Court of Canada. On August 2, the Canadian Booksellers Association (CBA) and Indigo Books & Music Inc. jointly filed an application with the...
Visitors to MuchMusic’s newly redesigned web site will notice crisper new graphics and improved navigability, but parent company CHUM Television officials say the upgrade has greater benefits on the back end. On August 28, Much unveiled its new site with updated features such as on-demand downloads. The key to providing several new features is...
Copyright Board extends date for private copying hearingsResponding to a request by the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) for delayed hearings into the private copying tariff (CNM Update, Aug. 28/02), the Copyright Board of Canada has advanced the hearing date to January 21. Dates for the various stages stand as follows: Filing of CPCC’s case, Oct. 4/02; Filing of objectors’ cases, Nov. 22/02; Filing of...
Rogers Cable Inc. senior VP of sales, marketing and product development Alex Krstajic has joined the board of directors of ViXS Systems Inc., Toronto. Also at ViXS, Tim Zahavich has been appointed as CFO. Zahavich was most recently CFO of ComDev International, and brings more than 20 years of financial experience in the technology industry to the company. Industry observers guess that Krstajic’s appointment signals a...
Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2002-38, Call for comments concerning Internet Retransmission (Order in Council P.C. 2002-1043) is, arguably, a proceeding that no one ever wanted – least of all the CRTC. The proceeding, which the CRTC is required to conduct in response to Cabinet’s request, seeks comment regarding the broadcasting regulatory...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Wall Communications has hit the nail on the head with its recommendations for creating sustainable cultural content online. If it’s the federal government’s intention to wean its cultural agencies from the taxpayers’ teat, it has as an option to adopt a user-driven approach, possibly creating content mostly on an on-demand and for-pay basis. While workable, it’s clearly unpalatable both to users and to Canadian Heritage officials. A viable alternative to user fees, though, is public/private partnerships – another potential way to create a sustainable online cultural initiative identified by the report. There are areas where private operation of public undertakings makes sense. In some cases, contracting the operation of agencies such as libraries, recreational facilities, or digital libraries of cultural content to the private sector can exert free-market discipline on undertakings and make the most...
CRTC sets rate of 52 cents per subscriber per month for use of inside wiringThe CRTC has set a rate of 52 cents per subscriber per month for the use of wiring by broadcast distributors in multiple-unit dwellings (MUD) – Broadcasting Public Notice 2002-51. The commission notes that it "sought to establish an inside wire fee for MUDs that would ensure consumers enjoy the full benefits of competition in distribution,...
The CRTC has rejected an application by Saskatchewan Telecommunications (SaskTel) to replace its current condition of licence on the distribution of U.S. 4+1 signals with a more general condition - Broadcasting Decision 2002-248. The decision reaffirms the regulatory practice of authorizing the carriage of specific U.S. 4+1 television network signals by...
A Toronto-based startup will soon unveil technology that will allow broadcast-quality digital video to be streamed wirelessly to multiple televisions and other consumer electronics devices without the need for duplicate set-top boxes. ViXS Systems Inc. has developed a chip set that turns the digital cable box into a home...
In May 2001, the Canadian government announced it would invest an additional $500 million in Canadian arts and culture over three years (CCR, May 10/01). More than a year after the announcement, the non-profit arts advocacy group the Canadian Conference of the Arts has examined the effect of the new...
CHUM Ltd. converts five all-sports stations to musicCHUM Ltd. will convert its Toronto all-sports radio station 1050 CHUM back to oldies radio, the company announced August 27. As well, the music format will be reintroduced at its all-sports stations in Winnipeg, Kitchener/Waterloo, Kingston, and Halifax. Its sports stations in Vancouver, Ottawa and Montreal will remain. "After over a year in the sports radio business, it became clear that the amount of investment in time and money we dedicated to the Team Radio Network, did not show signs of audience growth in the Toronto area," says CHUM Radio president Jim Waters. "In Vancouver, Ottawa and Montreal, our sports radio stations with their local focus and first-in-the-format advantage are performing well." CHUM announced plans for a national sports radio station 15 months ago (CCR, Feb. 1/01). Regulator grants numerous administrative licence renewals Knowledge Network, the educational broadcaster in British Columbia, has received a one-year administrative licence...
Sandra Macdonald has been named president and CEO of the Canadian Television Fund (CTF). She replaces former president and CEO Garry Toth, who is on leave of absence for medical reasons (CCR, June 21/02). Macdonald was government film commissioner and chair of the National Film Board from 1995-2001, and president of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association from 1992-95. She has also worked for the CRTC and...
Members of the broadcast community were generous in donating to Canada's major political parties, particularly the ruling Liberals, in 2001. Figures released this month by Elections Canada reveal that Craig Broadcast Systems Inc. has recently become a major donor to the Liberal Party of Canada, with Craig Broadcast...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. CRTC chair Charles Dalfen was rightly praised this past winter when the commission took quick action on several key industry issues, but that initial quick burst of energy appears to have disappeared as quickly as a two-year-old's sugar rush. Since moving quickly on a re-examination of World...
Broadcasters and cablecos are reacting very differently to the CRTC's process to establish rules governing the distribution of specialty services by cablecos in an all-digital environment - Broadcasting Public Notice 2002-48. Even as broadcasters are not surprisingly seeking continued protection for specialty channels...
The incumbent cable operator in Whistler BC is arguing that allowing another Class 2 cable operator into the resort town would fragment the market and result in reduced cable service. Whistler Cable Television Ltd. is urging the CRTC to deny a broadcast distribution licence to David Reid and Richard Hazell, two...
Baddeck move confirmed by P.E.I.Prince Edward Island's government, through TechPEI, has confirmed that the Baddeck International New Media Festival will be held in the island province this year. The festival, the new media industry's pre-eminent event, will be held October 17-19 at Rodd's Brudenell River Resort in Roseneath. Telefilm Canada and the CBC have confirmed their participation as sponsors. The event...
A disappointing decision by Cape Breton’s economic development agency to stop funding the Baddeck International New Media Festival has reportedly led the event to relocate to Prince Edward Island. Following notification by key sponsor Enterprise Cape Breton Corp. (ECBC) that it wouldn’t continue to put money into the...
Several of the largest consumer product manufacturers, retailers and technology companies in North America are in the final stages of creating a new body to fight the federal government’s private copying levy. While many of the members of the newly formed Canadian Coalition for Fair Digital Access (CCFDA) are also members of the Canadian Storage Media...
Industry Canada has taken a strong stand in favour of users in its latest consultation document on reforming the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) – the international agency responsible for governing the domain name system. This month, the department released its consultation paper with several proposed positions for a meeting of ICANN’s Government Advisory Committee (GAC) to be held in Shanghai in late October. Submissions to the consultation process are due by September 10. Among other proposed positions, the feds have put forward the controversial suggestion that ICANN be governed by a 12-member board of directors, five of whom would be elected by domain name holders in online elections. As it stands, current recommendations for reforming ICANN don’t...
B.C. organizations win new federal fundingA recent influx of funds and tenants bodes well for the rapidly filling New Media Innovation Centre (NewMIC) in Vancouver BC. Late last month, the new media incubator and research facility announced hundreds of thousands of dollars in new funds from the federal government – partly to open even more research facilities – as well as a new co-location agreement with the prominent...
Laurie Haines has been named group VP, information technology, at Bell Globemedia. Previously, Haines was VP, information technology at CTV Inc., a position he held since March 2001. There, he was responsible for the integration of CTV and NetStar Communications Inc. (now known as CTV Specialty Television Inc.). He was with the CBC for 17 years, then became VP of information technology and chief information officer of...
Canada’s Innovation Strategy acknowledges that, "To succeed in the global, knowledge-based economy, where highly skilled people are more mobile than ever before, a country must produce, attract and retain a critical mass of well-educated and well-trained people." At the New Media Innovation Centre (NewMIC) we...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. The Baddeck International New Media Festival’s impending move to Prince Edward Island should be cause for celebration by the industry as a whole. P.E.I. boasts better accessibility, more facilities, and apparently a government funding agency that understands the import of such events. By the...
A newly announced Canadian Heritage funding program to assist in the creation of new media research clusters shouldn’t be confused with a similar fund already implemented by the department last December (CNM, Jan. 23/02), says an official with the department. Ruth Bacon, manager of the new media content policy division at Heritage’s Canadian Culture Online Program, says that while the description of both the new fund and the previously announced Advanced Research in Multimedia (ARIM) fund appear similar, the New Media Research Networks Fund announced this month is less project-oriented than its CANARIE Inc.-managed counterpart.Over two years, the $8-million fund will award...
Look focuses on reducing customer churn Look Communications Inc. experienced a further decline in its digital television subscriber base in its 2002 fiscal second quarter ended June 30, ending the period with 51,000 subscribers, down from the 55,000 at the end of March. According to financials released August 16, Look managed a stronger EBITDA in its second quarter despite the decline in subscribers by migrating both...
No one’s betting on the likelihood of the Supreme Court of Canada hearing an appeal of a lower court’s decision on the controversial Tariff 22 online music decision, but a cross-appeal by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), as well as an anticipated leave to intervene by the...
Tucows Inc., the domain name registry being sued over alleged defamatory statements it made about the Domain Registry of Canada Inc. (DROC) and the Domain Registry of America Inc. (DROA), has fired back with a counter suit of its own (CNM, July 25/02). Late last month, Tucows asked the Supreme Court of Ontario to hear its own case that the business...
Huge investments in the new digital specialty channels with low returns to date, coupled with dismal ratings, likely mean that major changes are not far on the horizon. Even the large broadcasters have begun slashing staff and budgets, and many industry observers are now predicting that mergers and the shuttering of some of...
Having lost an attempt to get the federal government to exempt it from the CRTC’s new contribution regime, Telesat Canada is now faced with an undisclosed customer that won’t pay the levy that the satellite provider has passed onto its customers. In its second-quarter financials released last month, Telesat noted...
Sheila de La Varende heads international development and promotion at Telefilm Canada, which replaces the International Relations divison. Stéphane Odesse has been appointed general counsel and access to information coordinator. Louise Deslauriers has been promoted to director of feature films business unit, Quebec. Michèle Fortin will be leaving her position as executive VP of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s...
Struggling wireless cable and high-speed Internet provider Look Communications Inc. has received a cash infusion of $5 million that it will use to expand its customer base and better serve existing customers. Concord ON-based Unique Broadband Systems Inc. (UBS) has chipped in the money through a private placement worth...
The CRTC has extended the deadline for the rollout of Craig Wireless International Inc.’s wireless cable service in British Columbia until December 31 – Broadcasting Decision 2002-218. The commission states in its decision that the service must be operational by that date, unless another request for extension is requested at least 60 days before...
Canadian Heritage minister Sheila Copps spoke about the importance of preserving cultural diversity last month at the annual meeting of the Réseau français de coopération et d’action culturelle dans le monde. Her plans for cultural diversity includes the adoption of a legal instrument on cultural diversity. Below is an excerpt from her July 18 speech given in Paris. The full text is located here. …Accordingly it is in the interest of governments to help culture flourish and to protect it – just as they do biodiversity, for example. Ten years ago in Rio, the international community recognized the importance of preserving biological diversity. Isn’t it time to promote what is the essence of humankind – our creativity and imagination – and by doing so to stimulate the...
Star Choice Inc. has applied to the CRTC for a licence amendment that would allow it to bulk bill customers in multiple-unit dwellings (MUDs). The application is likely to be successful as the commission has already indicated that the inability of direct-to-home (DTH) satellite distributors to bulk bill without restrictions...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.A major shakeup with the digital specialty channels appears inevitable as the new ventures put financial drains on their parent companies. Some channels may merge and others may be taken off the air. From the start, broadcasters acknowledged that the digital channels would not make money for years. But...
The co-CEO of Canada’s only cableco offering telephony, Internet access and television programming to residential subscribers says service bundling is helping retain cable TV customers in the face of intense competition from direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV distributors. "Offering the three products under one...
The CRTC has rapped Rogers Cable Inc. on the knuckles for breaching conditions of licence and broadcast distribution rules by advertising its Internet service in local availabilities and on its community channels. As a result, the commission is requiring Rogers to file quarterly compliance reports for the next three years,...
Manitoba telco gets limited broadcast distribution licenceThe CRTC has approved in part an application by MTS Communications Inc., a subsidiary of telephone company Manitoba Telecom Services Inc., for a broadcast distribution licence (CCR, May 23/02). The telco has been licensed to serve only the communities that it proposed to serve initially, namely Winnipeg and surrounding areas, which is in line with past commission decisions – Broadcasting Decision 2002-235. It had applied for a regional licence covering Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. In response to concerns expressed by cable operators regarding the potential for cross-subsidization between MTS’ telecom services and new broadcast distribution service, the CRTC said it was satisfied that sufficient safeguards and procedures already exist to address the concerns (CCR, Jan. 31/02). Quebecor Média granted regional bilingual VOD licenceThe CRTC has granted a licence to Quebecor Média-owned Groupe Archambault to operate a bilingual regional video-on-demand (VOD) service to...
ISPs seek leave to appeal Tariff 22 ruling A coalition made up of the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA), Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) and Bell Canada is seeking the leave of the Supreme Court of Canada to argue for the overturn of last May’s Federal Court of Appeal decision on Tariff 22 (CNM Special Update, May 2/02). The leave to appeal is expected to be filed today. Last...
As asked to by the federal government, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has issued a call for comments in a new public process to examine Internet retransmission. It has set a deadline of September 6 for comments on how Canada’s broadcasting laws, and the 1998 new media exemption...
The newest addition to the Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC) is being touted as a rich multimedia learning experience that may serve as a model for future exhibits. Not every site on the VMC is as interactive, says a spokesperson, but the Living Traditions: Museums Honour the North American Indigenous Games exhibit may be held...
The Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund (CIFVF) has allocated ten per cent of its funds during a 19th evaluation round to new media projects. Nine of the 68 successful applicants to the fund were classified as new media. In total, the fund approved $1,440,000 in grants for the round, and successful new media projects...
Education-related activites ever doneA recent Ipsos-Reid survey indicates high interest in education matters online. A survey of 1,000 online Canadians polled in mid-March 2002 finds that 26% of them have at least searched for education information online. It’s estimated that 59% of Canadian Internet users are likely to take an online course in future. Types of health-related web sites usedA recent survey by NFO...
Lawyer Mark Hayes, a partner in Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP’s technology, e-commerce & communications group, is leaving the firm to join Ogilvy Renault. Hayes is one of Canada’s leading media and technology lawyers, and has represented such groups as the Canadian Association of Internet Providers, the Canadian Cable Television Association, and Bell Canada before the Copyright Board of...
An edited excerpt of a speech by Canadian Film and Television Production Association president/CEO Elizabeth McDonald in the U.K., July 19. There is a very famous Canadian philosopher, Wayne Gretzky. Actually, he is a very famous hockey player and the coach (sic) of this year’s Olympic gold medal winning Canadian...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Since its inception, Canadian NEW MEDIA has rarely focused on public stock exchanges as an editorial avenue worth much ink. That’s partly because the mainstream media do a superb job of reporting market activity, and we would find little appetite for yet more coverage. More than that, though,...
Adopting a best-defence-is-a-strong-offence approach to a bitter domain name registry dispute, a prominent web registry is suing Tucows Inc. for more than $20 million over statements it claims are false and defamatory. The case stems from a longstanding debate over a practice some have claimed is tantamount to "slamming" – the switching of customers from one provider of services, especially telephony, to another by dubious means – and warnings issued by Tucows that Domain Registry of Canada is engaged in the practice. In recent weeks, Tucows and a number of other domain name registries have stepped up warnings to consumers that a company called Domain Registry of Canada or...
