TAGGED AS MEDIA

CRTC proposes new class of licence for community-based television

Media | 01/18/2002 5:00 am EST

The CRTC is proposing a new class of licence for advertising-supported community-based television stations following its lengthy review of community-based media – Public Notice 2001-129. The community-based television programming undertakings would be composed of two sub-categories: community-based low-power television undertakings and community-based digital television services. The commission notes that due to spectrum congestion, there will probably be "only limited possibilities for the future growth of low-power community stations in urban areas." Therefore, the CRTC determined that an alternative means of providing community-based television services would be on a...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 01/18/2002 5:00 am EST

Rogers, CAB agree on out-of-market signal compensationRogers Cable Inc. and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters have reached an interim agreement on compensation for the carriage of a second set of U.S. 4+1 signals and distant Canadian signals as part of the cableco’s digital offering. The CRTC has agreed to suspend deletion requirements in lieu of the agreed upon compensation – Decision 2001-777. An agreement submitted to the commission on Dec. 12, 2001 indicates that Rogers will pay the CAB, 30 days in arrears, an interim monthly fee of $1 for each Rogers subscriber who receives distant Canadian signals as part of the Rogers digital service during the previous month. Rogers also agreed to pay 87 cents for each Rogers subscriber who received the second set of U.S. 4+1 signals. In both cases, the number of Rogers subscribers who received these signals will be calculated by taking the number or digital customers receiving the signals at the beginning of the month and adding it to those getting the services at the end of the month....

CCR People

Media | 01/18/2002 5:00 am EST

Communications law specialist Phil Rogers has joined Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP as a partner. He was previously a law partner at Gowlings. He has also served as assistant general counsel at Bell Canada, and has extensive experience in telecommunications, broadcasting, Internet, privacy and regulatory law. Consolidation at Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc.has resulted in some personnel shuffling. Peter...

CFTPA argues DTH carriage rules need to be changed to protect program rights

Media | 01/18/2002 5:00 am EST

The CRTC’s process to examine the carriage of out-of-market signals by direct-to-home satellite TV distributors is shaping up to be a contentious issue (see story in this issue). Star Choice and Bell ExpressVu want no changes to the existing regime. In contrast, the Canadian Film and Television Production Association...

CCR Editorial

Media | 01/18/2002 5:00 am EST

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.The Chrétien government may have taken the first step toward some much-needed reform at the CRTC with the appointment of Charles Dalfen as chair. Dalfen, who assumed his post this month, is widely respected within both the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors, and there is hope among industry...

CNM Update

Media | 01/16/2002 5:00 am EST

IBDG Category 2 digital TV licence application now publicIBDG Inc.’s application for a Category 2 digital speciality TV channel licence has now been made public by Canada’s broadcast regulator, the CRTC. The application indicates that the company intends to operate an interactive, market-driven research channel to test consumer satisfaction with innovative programming and services. The application reads: "It...

CCR Update

Media | 01/09/2002 5:00 am EST

Digital cable growth slides at RogersRogers Cable Inc. added about 28,000 net new digital cable set-top boxes in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2001. That figure is significantly lower than the 48,400 digital boxes added in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, but higher than the 15,200 digital boxes added in the second quarter. More details. Consumers want bundled services: Yankee Group reportAbout 39% of survey respondents indicated an interest in buying cable, Internet, and telephone services from a single provider, according to a Yankee Group report released Jan. 8. Although many consumers were motivated by price discounts, the primary reason expressed for bundled services was a desire for a single bill. The report also gives an overview of current bundled offerings available, and notes that a bundle combining all services is not yet available in Canada. The data on bundling was derived from the company’s third annual Canadian Technologically Advanced Family (CTAF) Survey, which is used to measure demand for a broad assortment...

MyLegalAnswers receives $1.25 million in CANARIE ebusiness fund financing

Media | 12/21/2001 5:00 am EST

Executives at MyLegalAnswers.com, which recently announced $1.25 million in funding from CANARIE Inc., recognize that their plan to offer legal information online might be controversial in the legal community, but say the company hopes to work alongside Canada’s lawyers as a one-stop-shop for basic legal questions on the...

Television revenue model proves winner for Decode’s digital program extensions

Media | 12/21/2001 5:00 am EST

Toronto’s Decode Entertainment Inc. is bringing a proven revenue model for television to an ambitious new web project that could push the envelope of co-branded content. Building on the popularity of its show The Zack Files, broadcast on YTV in Canada, Decode is building a unique interactive component for the show,...

CBC youth music upload site proves more popular than producers expected

Media | 12/21/2001 5:00 am EST

CBC Radio Three, the public broadcaster’s Internet initiative for youth, is contemplating expanding its unexpectedly successful newmusicanada.com channel beyond its current youth-market genres. The site accepts MP3 format music from Canadian bands, and with over 1,000 groups having uploaded tracks as of last week, the...

Web sites becoming attractive proposition for non-profit groups, Ottawa study finds

Media | 12/21/2001 5:00 am EST

Non-profit associations are eager to embrace the Internet as a tool to further their goals, but money and technology can slow down deployment. A new survey on associations and the Internet is generally positive about the progress of migration to online services. Ottawa web design company Leverus released a report this...

Wireless gaming and entertainment content providers key to wireless revenues

Media | 12/21/2001 5:00 am EST

One of North America’s leading wireless gaming and entertainment content providers says that these types of services and applications will have a huge impact on how wireless carriers gain revenue from emerging data services. Industry watchers have projected that wireless data will begin to make up a larger portion of...

ITAC puts art and technology online

Media | 12/21/2001 5:00 am EST

The Information Technology Association of Canada’s (ITAC) VP of communications and research says a new online gallery showcasing the intersection of art and technology should be an important part of stimulating innovation in the sector. The site, at www.itac.ca/itandart, is being touted by Lynda Leonard as a Canadian counterpart to the work being...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 12/21/2001 5:00 am EST

Internet banking on rise in Canada: NFO CFgroupNew research by the NFO CFgroup indicates that 24% of the adult population of Canada has signed up for online banking, an increase of 4% from the one-fifth of Canadians enrolled last year. The study, How Canadians Bank, also shows that 61% of users access their account online at least once a week. The vast majority, 82%, say they usually bank online at least once a month, up...

The Boss, et al, versus the labels

Media | 12/21/2001 5:00 am EST

A coalition of recording artists including Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel have been engaged in a nine-month battle with the recording industry in the U.S. to have their rights to copyright fees recognized by the labels. In November, the group filed the following to reiterate that artists, not labels, are the legitimate authors of sound...

CNM Editorial

Media | 12/21/2001 5:00 am EST

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. As this issue goes to press, CANARIE Inc. has announced a $6-million new media project that will have the dual purpose of stimulating the multimedia industry in this country while also filling CANARIE’s pipes with innovative content. At first glance, the organization has given the fund a broad and flexible mandate. Eligible projects will include architecture and design, film and video, 3D graphics, net and web art, digital music and photography, and game design. As those projects begin to be announced, we expect the scope of projects to be far more experimental than the content that might be funded under new Telefilm guidelines, for example, as one would expect of a research organization such as CANARIE. Expect to see projects that are cutting-edge artistically, that push technological boundaries, and that redefine our sometimes mundane definitions of content. It’s no coincidence that this issue of...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 12/19/2001 5:00 am EST

CRTC at long last licenses WTMThe CRTC has finally licensed World Television Network/Le Réseau Télémonde Inc. (WTM), granting it a Category 2 digital licence but denying it an analog licence and guaranteed access on cable – Decision 2001-757. The applicant proposed a model that would have guaranteed the service carriage in a high penetration tier or package in analog on all but the smallest systems (CCR, May 10/01)....

CCR People

Media | 12/19/2001 5:00 am EST

Richard Stursberg has been appointed executive director of Telefilm Canada. The appointment, announced Dec. 6, comes about a year and a half after he gave a controversial speech at the Banff TV Festival calling for the privatization of the government film, television and new media funding agency. In the past few years, Stursberg has served as president and CEO of Canadian Satellite Communications, Star Choice, Vision.com...

Vision TV needs rate increase to continue to produce quality programming

Media | 12/19/2001 5:00 am EST

Memo to myself: Never take a cell phone call from a reporter when you’re in the middle of a busy shopping centre. When Canadian Communications Reports called to get my reaction to Vision TV’s recent licence renewal, I should have asked them to call back. I had much more to say (CCR, Nov. 22/01). The...

Manitoba telco plans to bundle digital TV offering with telecom services

Media | 12/19/2001 5:00 am EST

MTS Communications Inc. is banking that its advanced digital set-top box will help lure customers to the digital television service it expects to offer commercially by 2003. The subsidiary of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc., the province’s incumbent full-service telecommunications provider, also hopes that offering a...

CCR Editorial

Media | 12/19/2001 5:00 am EST

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Give the cable industry credit for orchestrating a masterful lobbying campaign over the last few years to open up the market for sourcing U.S. 4+1 network signals. But small cable operators won a battle they have been waging for years even before the CRTC’s Dec. 7 decision confirming that they could source U.S. network signals from non-Canadian sources. A sustained campaign to unlock Canadian Satellite Communications’ (Cancom) monopoly in the satellite relay distribution (SRDU) market resulted in the licensing of competitive providers, and ultimately, lower rates and improved service. Star Choice Communications and later Bell ExpressVu were granted SRDU licences (CCR, July 15/98), and Star Choice later merged with Cancom, leaving small cablecos with two choices for sourcing U.S. network signals. But those two choices were also in the satellite TV business and were taking customers away from small...

Digital cable subscribers to top 1 million at year-end; satellite to continue to dominate

Media | 12/19/2001 5:00 am EST

The number of cable subscribers receiving digital service will top 1 million by the end of 2001, but satellite TV will continue to hold the lion’s share of digital TV subscribers in Canada, according to a new report by Decima Publishing Inc. Cable’s share of the digital TV market is expected to...

CRTC confirms small cablecos can source U.S. 4+1 signals from foreign sources

Media | 12/19/2001 5:00 am EST

The CRTC’s confirmation that small cable systems can source U.S. 4+1 signals from non-Canadian sources will have little impact in today’s market for distant signals via satellite. The launch of competitive satellite relay distribution undertakings (SRDUs) and the threat of competition from foreign signal providers in...

Federal Budget-Producers thank gov’t for CTF support, despite lack of long-term commitment

Media | 12/19/2001 5:00 am EST

Independent television producers and those charged with running the Canadian Television Fund are putting a positive spin on the short-term renewal of the fund, despite the fact they had lobbied aggressively for a long-term commitment from the government. Finance minister Paul Martin’s December 10...

Government introduces murky amendment to retransmission regime

Media | 12/19/2001 5:00 am EST

The federal government introduced an amendment to the Copyright Act on December 12 that would mean Internet players would have to meet certain unspecified conditions before they could qualify as a retransmitter under Section 31. The legislation, Bill C-48, establishes a new regulation-making power that would give Cabinet...

Alliance Atlantis gets go-ahead to buy film channel, but it must stay in Atlantic region

Media | 12/19/2001 5:00 am EST

The CRTC is requiring Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. to maintain the headquarters of The Independent Film Channel Canada (IFCC) in Halifax as part of its approval of the broadcaster’s acquisition of the digital specialty channel. The move signals a possible new tough stand by the commission...

CNM Editorial

Media | 12/13/2001 5:00 am EST

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Question: how many Rogers subscribers does it take to administer a million email addresses? Answer: one. Somehow, we don’t think that’s quite what John Manley had in mind when he foresaw the most connected nation on Earth. News last weekend of a gaping security hole at Rogers Cable’s...

Door open to Internet retransmitters in section 31 legislation tabled Dec. 12

Media | 12/13/2001 5:00 am EST

New legislation amending Canada’s retransmission laws tabled on December 12 has opened the door for JumpTV.com Canada Inc. and other Internet companies to become licensed counterparts to satellite TV and cable operators. The legislation, Bill C-48, entrenches the right of cable and satellite companies to re-transmit...

Producers applaud new, re-worked Telefilm multimedia fund guidelines

Media | 12/13/2001 5:00 am EST

Long-awaited changes to Telefilm Canada’s multimedia fund, now dubbed the Canada New Media Fund, were finally unveiled December 10, giving new media producers a much-needed and more appropriate instrument with which to kickstart the industry. The document provided few surprises, but twelfth-hour lobbying by the Canadian...

OMDC tax credit gaining steam: Ostry

Media | 12/13/2001 5:00 am EST

The future of the Ontario Digital Media Tax Credit continues to hang in the air a year-and-a-half after its launch as a greater number of companies apply for the help. While the credit was seen as a failure a little over a year ago, much-maligned and with only a handful of applications, today 35 companies have applied for $1.5 million in total labour credits under the program. Adam Ostry, president of the Ontario Media Development Corp. (OMDC), which is responsible for administering the credit, says the number of companies which have applied for the credit represents a huge improvement over the course of the year, but the agency will have to continue monitoring its progress since it’s no longer either an unqualified success or disaster. Ostry tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that...

Napster alternative won’t be available in Canada without copyright changes: CRIA

Media | 12/13/2001 5:00 am EST

The recording industry in the United States released an alternative to the popular Napster file-sharing service last week, but the new service has been neither well-received in the popular press nor is it available to Canadians. MusicNet, which allows subscribers to access music (up to 100 new songs each month) as long as...

Government tells photographers digital issues to take priority in reforms

Media | 12/13/2001 5:00 am EST

Comments made by the federal government to the Canadian Photographers Coalition (CPC) indicate government officials are keeping a tight lid on the current copyright reform process. The CPC is seeking changes to the way photography is regulated under copyright law, trying to redress longstanding issues that have been held...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 12/13/2001 5:00 am EST

ZAQ tapped to provide games for Liberate ITV systemMontreal-based ZAQ Inc. has signed a licensing and distribution agreement with Liberate Technologies covering the distribution of interactive TV games. The three-year agreement, with an automatic renewal provision, allows Liberate to use and sub-license the rights to ZAQ’s Cannonball, Memory, Blackjack and Quiz games. "We are extremely pleased that our company was...

CNM People

Media | 12/13/2001 5:00 am EST

Interactive Multimedia Arts and Technologies (IMAT) has added two new members to its board of directors. Brian Ferstman and Shell Ravas joined the board. Ferstman is a senior associate lawyer in the Toronto office of Davis & Co. As a contract lawyer, he negotiates and drafts a wide range of contracts for clients in three areas: entertainment law with a focus on the film, television and new media industries;...

No change recommended to U.S. digital first sale provisions by DMCA review

Media | 12/13/2001 5:00 am EST

This fall, apects of the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act were reviewed by the Copyright Office. One line of inquiry examined the applicability of the "first sale" doctrine contained in section 109 of the Act to works transmitted digitally. Here’s what the Copyright Office found: The first sale doctrine is primarily a limitation on the copyright owner’s exclusive right of distribution. It does not limit the exclusive right of reproduction. While disposition of a work downloaded to a floppy disk would only implicate the distribution right, the transmission of a work from one person to another over the Internet results in a reproduction on the recipient’s computer,...

CCR Update

Media | 12/11/2001 5:00 am EST

Federal budget: CTF gets funding extended by a yearThe Canadian Television Fund (CTF) made it into Finance minister Paul Martin’s Dec. 10 federal budget, but not for long-term funding that the industry was hoping for. The federal government earmarked $100 million for the CTF for next year. "The industry was hoping for (longer funding), but certainly given current circumstances, we’re just thrilled to be in there...

CNM Update

Media | 12/07/2001 5:00 am EST

Telefilm announcement significantly changed new media funding guidelinesTelefilm Canada finally announced details about its new Canada New Media Fund late Dec. 6 to replace the default-ridden loans-based assistance program that preceded it. While little in the new fund will come as a surprise – Telefilm officials have been touting the new fund at conferences since this summer, and draft guidelines produced this fall...

Bell ExpressVu reaches 1 million subscribers, continues to lead DTH market

Media | 12/06/2001 5:00 am EST

A record September for subscriber additions and continued growth in urban areas has propelled Bell ExpressVu LP to the 1-million subscriber level, a month ahead of company forecasts. The direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV distributor was targeting the end of the year to reach that milestone. But it attained it at the end of...

Rogers evaluating further basic cable rate deregulation; Shaw rejects the approach

Media | 12/06/2001 5:00 am EST

Following recent applications to the CRTC for deregulation of basic cable in its Ottawa and London cable systems, Rogers Cable Inc. will soon decide whether it will be beneficial to proceed with further applications. But as Rogers considers applying for rate deregulation in more markets, Canada’s second-largest cable...

Specialty news channels don’t need to be regulated, say dissenting commissioners

Media | 12/06/2001 5:00 am EST

Dissenting opinions filed by four CRTC commissioners in the CTV Newsnet proceeding signal the beginning of a movement within the CRTC toward a more open and competitive licensing regime for specialty television services. While the commissioners advocate doing away with the longstanding policy of licensing only one specialty...

CAB, SOCAN oppose CCTA’s move for consolidated copyright hearing for TV tariffs

Media | 12/06/2001 5:00 am EST

Both the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) and the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) are opposing a motion by the cable industry to consolidate copyright hearings for two television tariffs. The groups warn that such a move would create a logistical and procedural nightmare.The...

Look aiming to re-launch sales, marketing activities with revamped TV lineup

Media | 12/06/2001 5:00 am EST

Cash-strapped Look Communications Inc. has proposed a new business plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection that includes a re-launch early in 2002 of its wireless cable television service. Perhaps the biggest change will see Look repackage its channel offering in an attempt to increase average revenue per household, which...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 12/06/2001 5:00 am EST

CRTC renews licences of eight specialty, pay channelsThe CRTC has renewed the licences of eight specialty channels for a full term until August 2008. In renewing the licence of French-language specialty channel MusiquePlus, the commission rejected a request by the Association québécoise de l’industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo (ADISQ) to require the channel to increase the amount of broadcast time it...

CCR People

Media | 12/06/2001 5:00 am EST

Communications lawyer Charles Dalfen has been appointed as chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. The appointment is effective January 1. He served as vice chair of the commission from 1976 until 1980. Acting chair David Colville will return to his position as vice chair of telecommunications (CCR Update, Oct. 31/01). Colville temporarily replaced former CRTC chair Françoise Bertrand, who left for a private-sector job in February, about six months before her term was to expire. Currently, Dalfen is a senior partner in the Torys law firm, where he chairs the Communications Law Group and advises clients on Canadian and international telecommunications and broadcasting law. Trina McQueen announced Nov. 27 that she would be retiring as president and COO of CTV Inc., effective January 7, 2002. She has agreed to stay on for at least six months in the new role of deputy chair of CTV. Next year will mark McQueen’s 35th year in television. McQueen’s existing job will be split into two: NetStar and CTV....

The Spirit of the Law

Media | 12/06/2001 5:00 am EST

It is a basic premise that the law should be clear so that people can know what is prohibited and what isn’t. This is as true of broadcasting regulation as any other area of the law. And yet, two recent examples suggest that the CRTC continues to struggle with this elementary principle. On November 17, 2001 the CRTC approved an application by Corus Entertainment Inc. to acquire control of Lifestyle Television, the...

CCR Editorial

Media | 12/06/2001 5:00 am EST

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Rogers Cable and other cable operators need to do more than just apply for basic cable deregulation if they want to maintain their dominant share of the broadcast distribution market (see story in this issue). If the CRTC deregulates Rogers’ Ottawa and London cable systems – and there’s no reason...

CNM Update

Media | 12/05/2001 5:00 am EST

MusicNet launches in U.S. onlyThree major U.S. record labels, Warner Music Group, BMG Entertainment and EMI Recorded Music, have launched their much-anticipated music service, MusicNet, in partnership with Real Entertainment. Canadian consumers will likely hear a great deal of griping about certain aspects of the service from U.S. news outlets, but won’t have a chance to assess the system for themselves. It’s...

B.C. retailers applaud self-regulatory approach to video game classification

Media | 11/29/2001 5:00 am EST

British Columbia retailers are lauding a new self-regulatory approach to classifying video games that adopts the international Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) system, much to the relief of those who were worried about the government adopting a B.C.-only guide. Since the introduction of legislation mandating a...

Iceberg, Bonzaroo merge to create near-dominant Canadian Internet radio force

Media | 11/29/2001 5:00 am EST

Two of Canada’s largest Internet radio organizations have merged in a move that could create a dominant player on the country’s virtual airwaves. On November 19, Iceberg Media.com Inc., Toronto, announced that it had bought the assets of CHUM Ltd.’s Bonzaroo.com in an all-share deal that puts that initiative’s significant resources and technology under the same corporate umbrella as Iceberg and its investors Standard Broadcasting Corp. and Newfoundland Capital Corp. (NewCap). While some observers have noted that the deal seems particularly advantageous to Iceberg, that company’s president says analysts should look beyond the terms of the deal itself and concentrate on the real...

CBC touts new Internet and television show as “open-source” programming

Media | 11/29/2001 5:00 am EST

CBC Television executives are hailing a proposed new web/TV series as "open-source" programming for an audience of tech-savvy Canadians that will not only watch, but shape, the show. Executives for the as-yet unnamed program say they’ll pilot a new series this winter that airs digital content solicited from the...

U8TV counting on new revenue streams as second season kicks off on Life Network

Media | 11/29/2001 5:00 am EST

Popular Internet/television show U8TV: The Lofters is heading into its second season having exceeded the producers’ expectations for audience numbers in the first, and with new revenue streams secured to balance hard times in the advertising market. Lili Shalev, one of three partners in TVForReal, the production...

NewMIC incubator expands beyond first-year expectations, launches new fund

Media | 11/29/2001 5:00 am EST

The Vancouver-based New Media Innovation Centre (NewMIC) has launched its second phase of initiatives to accelerate the development of research projects with commercial potential by funding a company under its new product development fund. The $400,000 kitty for startups in ventures related to the centre’s seven research...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 11/29/2001 5:00 am EST

New Calgary news site launched by CTV affiliate CFCNA new information portal for Calgarians has been launched by Bell Globemedia featuring news and community information at www.cfcnplus.ca. The site is the result of a content partnership between CTV affiliate CFCN and calgaryplus.ca. A media release by Globemedia indicates that demand for online content is high in the city given a 65% penetration rate for Internet...

CNM People

Media | 11/29/2001 5:00 am EST

Charles Dalfen has been appointed chairperson of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission effective January 1, 2002. Dalfen’s no stranger to the organization, having served as its vice-chair from 1976 until 1980. The Canadian Association of Broadcasters was quick to applaud the appointment, though some telecommunications firms will likely look askance at the announcement, having been quietly...

Defining New Media: An Industry Association Perspective

Media | 11/29/2001 5:00 am EST

In an industry marked by change, speed, and rapid growth, many have been challenged to define new media. So frequently has the question of meaning come up that the very project to define it has become something of a cliché. Does new media mean multimedia, the Internet, software, high technology? For most, the absence of...

CNM Editorial

Media | 11/29/2001 5:00 am EST

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Reviewing the articles in this issue on Iceberg, U8TV, and the new CBC web initiative on the same day that it’s reported Industry minister Brian Tobin’s broadband lobbying may have come to naught, one might be struck by the almost total absence in November 2001 of any debates on technology in the...

CCR Update

Media | 11/28/2001 5:00 am EST

Charles Dalfen to head CRTCPrime Minister Jean Chrétien announced today the appointment of Charles Dalfen as chair of the CRTC, effective Jan. 1, 2002. The Canadian Association of Broadcasters was quick to applaud the appointment in a statement. Dalfen, a former vice chair of the CRTC in the late 1970s, is currently a senior partner with the Torys law firm in Toronto, and is chair of the firm’s Communications Law...

Canadian Heritage, cable industry disagree over whether CTF requires more changes

Media | 11/22/2001 5:00 am EST

With the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) having undergone a fine-tuning, all that Canadian Heritage is waiting for is its renewal. While the department says that it has completed changes reflecting an evaluation of the fund and a consultative process (CCR, Oct. 13/00), the cable industry says an extensive revamping has been put on hold until future financing has been secured. Canadian Heritage ADM Michael Wernick tells CCR that the overhaul is "all done," adding that "there were much more radical restructuring options, but we rejected that. The conclusion was that the fund was working pretty well." But the cable industry contends that the fund needs more...

Lincoln confident committee will have positive effect on broadcasting system

Media | 11/22/2001 5:00 am EST

The chair of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage remains convinced that his group’s review of the Canadian broadcasting industry will result in improvements to the system, despite an extensive mandate and a lengthy process (CCR, Nov. 9/01). "There are two alternatives. Either you rush through something and...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 11/22/2001 5:00 am EST

CCTA wants broadband rollout included in next budgetThe cable industry is among the players who have responded to an appeal by Industry Canada for support for its broadband initiative. The Canadian Cable Television Association issued a news release on Nov. 14 urging the government to include the development of high-speed broadband infrastructure to remote communities in the next federal budget. "The cable industry...

CCR People

Media | 11/22/2001 5:00 am EST

James Macdonald, past chair of the board of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, has been appointed to eNblast’s board of directors. The appointment is effective Jan. 1. Currently an executive consultant to CTV and Bell Globemedia, he was formally senior VP and chief media services officer of BCE Media Ltd. He was also president and CEO of WIC Television Ltd., prior to its acquisition by CanWest Global...

Now not the time for new TV stations in Ontario, CTV tells the regulator

Media | 11/22/2001 5:00 am EST

On Nov. 14, CTV Inc. pulled the plug on its applications for local conventional television stations in Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo, citing a "dramatically changing economic environment," among other things. At the eleventh hour, the broadcaster made a 180-degree turn and is now opposing the other licence bids...

CCR Editorial

Media | 11/22/2001 5:00 am EST

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Just because CTV Inc. has dropped out of the running for licences for more conventional TV stations in Ontario, doesn’t mean the CRTC should not take seriously those willing to move forward. Incumbents often cry the blues when their bottom lines might be affected. It’s no surprise that CTV has gotten cold feet, given that many viewed the filings as mostly pre-emptive attempts at trying to clinch the licences to prevent others from also getting into the market. Much the same is being said of CanWest Global’s applications for all-Canadian content stations. Both CTV and Global already have significant market share in the lucrative Toronto market. CTV is also in the Kitchener market, while CanWest has a station in Hamilton. Chum Ltd., another existing player in Toronto and nearby Barrie and London, is also fighting the licensing of more over-the-air stations in southern Ontario, arguing that doing so would...

Satellite TV grey marketing to get its day before the Supreme Court of Canada

Media | 11/22/2001 5:00 am EST

A landmark Supreme Court of Canada case into the legality of grey market satellite TV is being cast as a battle between the defenders of free speech and those purporting to uphold Canadian culture and broadcasting. On Dec. 4, Canada’s highest court will hear arguments from the Crown and Bell ExpressVu LP arguing why the...

Legislative changes possible in grey market fight: Wernick, Helm

Media | 11/22/2001 5:00 am EST

Legislative changes may be necessary to clarify that grey market satellite TV activity is indeed illegal in Canada, Canadian Heritage ADM Michael Wernick told the House of Commons standing committee studying Canada’s broadcasting industry on Nov. 20. If the Supreme Court of Canada backs a December 1999 B.C. Court of...

Ontario power companies file opposing view on CCTA leave to appeal bid on pole access

Media | 11/22/2001 5:00 am EST

A group of Ontario power companies argue that there is no crisis in the cable television business concerning access to electrical utility poles and thus a leave to appeal application to Canada’s highest court by the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) should be denied. The power companies...

Roberts looking for way to get wholesale rate increase following CRTC denial

Media | 11/22/2001 5:00 am EST

The viability of Canada’s not-for-profit multifaith specialty TV channel is at stake following the CRTC’s denial of a basic wholesale rate increase, according to the channel’s president and CEO. Vision TV’s Bill Roberts says he’s left with no choice but to contest the decision, which was part of the specialty...

CNM Update

Media | 11/21/2001 5:00 am EST

Industry Canada rep named to U.N. ICT task forceIndustry Canada deputy minister Peter Harder has been appointed to a newly formed United Nations task force on information and communications technologies. The body will search out ways to help build universal interconnectivity to help bridge the global digital divide. The task force will work with partners such as regional development banks, international donors, and...

Consultation process debated in wake of changes to Telefilm multimedia fund

Media | 11/15/2001 5:00 am EST

Telefilm Canada’s multimedia fund will undergo wholesale changes, according to a confidential discussion paper obtained by Canadian NEW MEDIA, but many industry leaders are still displeased with what they perceive as a lack of consultation on the issue. In draft guidelines distributed September 26 to a select group of...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 11/15/2001 5:00 am EST

CDIS offers students Apple Titanium laptop computersIn an effort to attract students to its hybrid on/off campus learning programs, the Center for Digital Imaging and Sound, BC, is offering students the use of Apple’s coveted G4 Titanium laptop computers. Use of the portable machines, bundled with Alias Wavefront’s Maya animation package, is available for a slightly higher tuition fee, though school officials are...

Departments had adequate time to study section 31: Canadian Heritage official

Media | 11/15/2001 5:00 am EST

Canadian Heritage’s point-man on copyright reform is defending the department’s timeframe to amend section 31 of the Copyright Act, saying it has had enough time to properly evaluate public submissions and draft legislation for introduction this year. In an interview with Canadian NEW MEDIA, Bruce Stockfish, director...

IBDG quiet on plans for new Category 2 digital specialty TV licence

Media | 11/15/2001 5:00 am EST

New media and digital broadcast incubator IBDG Inc. has applied for a Category 2 digital specialty television licence as it prepares to spin out of Ryerson University this winter. On December 31, funding for the organization through Ontario’s Ministry of Energy, Science and Technology runs out, and president/CEO Beverly Milligan says the digital TV licence will play a key role in a new business model – though she’s being mum for the time being on full details of that plan. The date also marks the end of Milligan’s employment with the university as head of its Interactive Business Development Group since the organization will no longer be run by the school. The news may be a...

CNM People

Media | 11/15/2001 5:00 am EST

Steven Pasternak has joined Fireworks Entertainment in the newly created position of general counsel and will be charged with running the various legal divisions of the company. He joins the company from the law firm Hall Pasternak where he provided outside counsel to Fireworks. John Robinson has decided to step down from his position of senior VP of business and legal affairs, a posting he held since joining the company...

Business portal market a key opportunity for multimedia industry: Delphi Group

Media | 11/15/2001 5:00 am EST

A key analyst on business information systems for the Delphi Group says a new trend toward internal business portals is good news for the multimedia design community. While telling an audience at an SAP-sponsored seminar in Ottawa November 8 that the business portal market will be dominated by such platform providers as...

The Privacy Debate and iTV

Media | 11/15/2001 5:00 am EST

Against a backdrop of the launch of forty-seven new digital channels onto electronic programming guides across Canada, multiple system operators (MSOs) are unveiling a suite of new iTV applications ranging from PVR-enabled set-top boxes and video on demand, to instant messaging on your TV, and couponing through enhanced TV ads. These new offerings are designed to transform your television viewing into a more involving,...

CNM Editorial

Media | 11/15/2001 5:00 am EST

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Pending changes to Telefilm Canada’s multimedia fund have been anything but a result of open consultation – despite officials’ protests to the contrary. Getting information about proposed amendments has been a frustrating experience for not just the media but also the industry’s most important...

Broadcast regulator seeks facts on ITV

Media | 11/15/2001 5:00 am EST

Canada’s broadcast regulator has launched a fact-finding proceeding on interactive television (ITV) to better understand current and planned rollouts of the emerging technology. The CRTC’s move came as it denied a request by Pelmorex Communications Inc. to entrench interactivity as an integral part of its specialty TV channels, The Weather Network and Météomédia. Pelmorex had sought to add an interactive component to its weather channels providing digital subscribers with on-demand access to weather information, including text and graphics, on screen using only their remotes (CNM, July 12/01). An amendment to its licence conditions wasn’t necessary, but the company was keen to eliminate uncertainty surrounding interactivity through regulatory oversight and new rules to...

CCR Update

Media | 11/14/2001 5:00 am EST

Vision TV to contest CRTC decision denying rate increaseVision TV president and CEO Bill Roberts says he plans to contest a recent CRTC decision that denied the specialty TV channel a wholesale rate increase. "Vision TV would clearly have been in line for a rate increase based both on reality and the evidence on the file (showing economic need)," Roberts tells CCR. "Either Vision has enough money or it...

CBC head calls for a review of Canadian content rules for private broadcasters

Media | 11/09/2001 5:00 am EST

Michael McCabe, the president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, in an Oct. 24 speech pumped the role private broadcasters were playing in contributing to the goverment’s cultural objectives of bringing more Canadian programming to television. But on the same day, Robert Rabinovitch, president and CEO of...

CCR Editorial

Media | 11/09/2001 5:00 am EST

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Just what can come out of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage’s review of Canadian broadcasting? The hearings got underway this week, with the first witness being Canadian Heritage minister Sheila Copps. She told the committee that she opted for an open process rather than a closed blue ribbon...

Broadcasters call for more coordinated promotional campaign for diginets

Media | 11/09/2001 5:00 am EST

The public’s failure to embrace the new digital specialty television networks has led some in the industry to call for a more coordinated marketing campaign – one that would cut across ownership groups and see more cooperation between cable and satellite TV distributors. The launch of more than 50 new diginets this fall...

Diginet news

Media | 11/09/2001 5:00 am EST

Fusca blasts Star ChoiceStornoway Communications president Martha Fusca blasted Shaw Communications Inc.-owned Star Choice and Shaw cable for their refusal to pick up more Category 2 diginets. "Rogers has said it would pick up the channels of anyone who is willing to take the risk (of moving ahead). Bell ExpressVu and Cogeco are also offering a lot of Category 2s. If the others can do it, why can’t Star...

Lack of focus, length of process could hinder committee’s broadcast review

Media | 11/09/2001 5:00 am EST

Hearings by a House of Commons committee reviewing the broadcasting system have just begun, but already the process is coming under fire for its lack of a firm agenda and the lengthy review period. Some industry leaders are expressing concerns that the broadcast landscape could radically change by the time the committee...

CRTC denies Pelmorex iTV proposal; launches fact-finding proceeding instead

Media | 11/09/2001 5:00 am EST

The CRTC’s fact-finding proceeding on interactive television is expected to turn into yet another battle between broadcasters and distributors as the two sides wrangle over what role the broadcast regulator should play in the emerging iTV market. On Nov. 2, the commission denied a proposal by Pelmorex Communications Inc....

Cable and broadcasting industries disagree on rules for DTV/HDTV rollout

Media | 11/09/2001 5:00 am EST

Both the cable and broadcasting industries agree that widespread acceptance of over-the-air digital television (DTV) and high-definition television (HDTV) is a long way off, but they can’t agree on how best to phase in the new technology. Anticipating a slow rollout of DTV/HDTV, broadcasters are calling on the CRTC to...

Broadcasters, cable operators praise Copps’ support of lower CRTC licence fees

Media | 11/09/2001 5:00 am EST

Broadcasters and cable operators are applauding Canadian Heritage minister Sheila Copps’ support of a quest for relief from paying the government more than it costs to regulate them. Speaking Oct. 29 at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) convention in Ottawa, Copps said she would lobby her government to lower the broadcast industry’s CRTC licence fees. "Why do we have one system for the telephone (companies) and another for broadcasters?" Copps asked. "I think the current economic climate argues in favour of your case and I will be writing to my colleague, the Treasury Board minister, to have the fee structure reduced."Broadcasters and distributors...

O’Farrell embraces McCabe’s priorities, but plans to canvass membership on issues

Media | 11/09/2001 5:00 am EST

The incoming president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) says copyright will continue to be a major focus of the lobby group after he takes the helm early in the new year. In an interview with CCR at the CAB convention in Ottawa, Glenn O’Farrell spoke about the challenges...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 11/09/2001 5:00 am EST

Regional gets approval for AGI Cablevision acquisitionRegional Cablesystems Inc. received regulatory approval on Nov. 5 to acquire control of AGI Cablevision Inc. – Decision 2001-674. AGI is the licensee of cable distribution undertakings serving Alvinston, plus 16 other Ontario locations. AGI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Amtelecom Group Inc. In August, Regional announced that it had reached a $64.4-million agreement...

CCR People

Media | 11/09/2001 5:00 am EST

Steve Wyatt has been appointed manager of Global Television’s B.C. operations, effective Dec. 1. He replaces Jack Tomik, who was appointed president of CanWest Media Sales Ltd. in early October. Craig Merritt has been named senior VP of business operations of television production at Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. He joined the company in 1995 as controller, but was most recently VP of business operations...

CNM Update

Media | 11/07/2001 5:00 am EST

No major changes to eligibility: TelefilmBruno Légaré, a senior multimedia analyst with Telefilm Canada, has told Canadian NEW MEDIA that there has been no major change to the Multimedia Fund’s guidelines that would prompt opposition to greater broadcaster participation. In an interview this morning, Légaré said that while there is a new emphasis in the fund’s guidelines on partnerships, actual eligibility...

New Smirnoff site raises eyebrows over advertising alcohol to underage drinkers

Media | 11/02/2001 5:00 am EST

Public interest groups are crying foul over a new Canadian web site promoting Smirnoff-brand vodka beverages because of its apparent appeal to kids too young to drink. The Media Awareness Network tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that the site typifies a longstanding complaint against the alcohol industry – that it can use cyberspace to promote alcohol to kids without the burden of regulation. The CRTC has forborne from regulating the Internet for the time being, and advertising of alcohol, tobacco and other adult material is currently running in a vacuum. For its part, Excite.ca, the web host for the site, says the site doesn’t deliberately target underage drinkers, but whenever lifestyle...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 11/02/2001 5:00 am EST

ClarificationAlliance NumériQC spokesperson Daniel Boismenu has expressed concern that the lead article in the last issue of Canadian NEW MEDIA (CNM, October 18/01) might lead to a perception the association has $30 million in core funding, and that it has plans to ressurect IMPAC. While president Claude Dagenais told CNM that "if all goes well, $30 million will be transited through the association over three...

CNM People

Media | 11/02/2001 5:00 am EST

Glenn O’Farrell, formerly senior VP of specialty services with the Global Television Network, has been tapped to replace Michael McCabe as new president/CEO of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. O’Farrell joined Global in 1990 as general counsel, and was appointed in 1993 to VP, legal and regulatory affairs for the company’s Canadian operations. In 1997, he was named president of Global Quebec. Kate...

Broadcasters and Producers Interact

Media | 11/02/2001 5:00 am EST

As the world of new media ceases to be so "new", broadcasters and producers are settling into a world of business that includes the Internet and other interactive platforms. As time goes on audiences will demand that they receive their "stories" on multiple platforms and we will see more and more "enhanced TV" properties...

CNM editorial

Media | 11/02/2001 5:00 am EST

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Since day one, Canadian NEW MEDIA has supported Farrel Miller’s fight to be recognized as an Internet retransmitter on par with the cablecos and DTH companies. We’ve done so because it will require many innovators and many experiments to find a business case for Internet television, and the greater...

Telefilm fund may yet be delayed as parties dispute broadcaster eligibility rules

Media | 11/02/2001 5:00 am EST

Industry leaders are quietly warning of further delays to the release of the reworked Telefilm Canada multimedia fund as new eligibility requirements are disputed. While they are generally praising radical changes in the fund to reflect industry demands and the points raised by a third-party auditor’s report on the...

Toronto’s ICE files for protection from creditors

Media | 11/02/2001 5:00 am EST

Canadian new media company ICE Integrated Creative Experiences Inc. has filed for creditor protection, Canadian NEW MEDIA has learned. The company, widely recognized for its groundbreaking work in Internet video campaigns – including one for BMW of North America – filed on October 30 and company spokesperson Jon...

GlobalMedia.com to sue Real Networks in US$5-million suit over advertising servers

Media | 11/02/2001 5:00 am EST

The head of Vancouver’s GlobalMedia.com Inc., now just a trading shell (CNM, May 31/01), is preparing to sue Seattle-based giant Real Networks, Inc. for US$5 million over a consulting and services contract he says wasn’t honoured. President and CEO Michael Metcalfe tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that an undisclosed...

New right proposed by government could upset competitive access to content

Media | 11/02/2001 5:00 am EST

A controversial proposal to give performers and record companies new powers to authorize the use of their music online has stirred up a debate over who will control Internet distribution. In their current copyright reform process (CNM, June 28/01), the departments of Canadian Heritage and Industry Canada have proposed a new...

Private online chat and divulging personal information identified as risks for kids

Media | 11/02/2001 5:00 am EST

The Media Awareness Network is warning that many youth are putting themselves at risk online by chatting alone, divulging personal information, and arranging face-to-face meetings with Internet acquaintances. While its findings should be a "wake-up call", Jan D’Arcy, co-director of the network, says "the silver lining to this story, and there is one, is that where families have rules and limits about Internet use, young people are less vulnerable to these kinds of risks." At a news conference October 24, the Network unveiled the second half of findings from its Young Canadians in a Wired World survey conducted last March and first released this summer (CNM, July...