Debate surfaces over carriage of PrideVision

Media | 06/07/2001 4:00 am EDT

So how will the new gay and lesbian channel be packaged in the upcoming September launch? Anticipating negative reactions from some conservative communities in Western Canada, Shaw Communications Inc CEO Jim Shaw told delegates at the cable industry’s annual convention in Toronto last week that he would refuse to distribute the must-carry Category 1...

Use of licence exemptions will cut paperwork for small cablecos and CRTC

Media | 06/07/2001 4:00 am EDT

The head of Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) says the CRTC has made an important first step by effectively deregulating Class 3 cable systems, and should now turn its attention to easing the burden for mid-sized systems. On May 29, the commission announced that cable systems with fewer than 2,000 subscribers and...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 06/07/2001 4:00 am EDT

Colville says CRTC review of security provisions completedCRTC chair David Colville says proper document shredding and better security provisions at the commission have been implemented following an internal review sparked by the leak of a confidential list of digital specialty channels last year (CCR, Dec. 7/00). "We didn’t have an investigation in terms of trying to find out who had done it (the leak). We just...

CCR People

Media | 06/07/2001 4:00 am EDT

James McCoubrey, formerly executive VP and COO at the Canadian Broadcasting Corp, has been appointed chair of Young & Rubicam Canada. McCoubrey spent 20 years at Young & Rubicam, becoming president and CEO of its Canadian operations in 1977, before entering the broadcast field. After leaving Young & Rubicam and before joining the CBC, he was president and CEO of Télémedia from 1990 to 1997. Chris Taylor...

Canada has much to learn from the U.S. experience with DTV

Media | 06/07/2001 4:00 am EDT

This week, the CRTC issued its long-waited proposal to guide the transition to over-the-air digital television in Canada (see story in this issue). The government has been criticized by some for lagging behind the U.S. in releasing a policy. Others point out that the extra time has given Canada time to learn from the American experience.If the battles going on in the U.S. are any indication, Canada has a bumpy road ahead before full-fledged DTV becomes a reality. Must-carry rules and technical compatibility with cable set-top boxes are just a few of the issues that must be resolved on both sides of the border. The issue was highlighted at the recent annual conference of the National Association of Broadcasters. The U.S. may be further ahead of Canada in one respect, but as the NAB’s...

CCR Editorial

Media | 06/07/2001 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.There was much gloom and doom about the digital launch at the Canadian Cable Television Association’s annual convention last week in Toronto. Shaw Communications Inc CEO Jim Shaw predicted that as many as 50 per cent of the channels would fail. Rogers Communications Inc Phil Lind and Vidéotron...

Not all new digital channels will survive, cable executives tell CCTA delegates

Media | 06/07/2001 4:00 am EDT

The cable industry is projecting that 50 or so channels will launch this fall and attract at least four million Canadians to digital over the next three years – a number the industry warns will result in not all Category 1 and 2 channels surviving. Last week’s conference by the Canadian Cable Television Association in...

CRTC embraces free market approach, licenses more Category 2 digital channels

Media | 06/07/2001 4:00 am EDT

The CRTC held true to its word this month when it granted licences for more Category 2 digital channels, despite protests from several existing services (CCR, Feb. 28/01). The licensing of Persian Vision Inc, the Jewish Television Network, the High School Television Network, and numerous Chum Ltd offerings, comes as the...

CRTC takes first step in developing a new licensing regime for high-definition TV

Media | 06/07/2001 4:00 am EDT

One of the biggest broadcasting battles to hit the United States in recent memory will arrive in Canada this fall as the CRTC wades into the contentious and complex issue of deciding how over-the-air digital television should be licensed. Early this week, the commission released a proposed policy framework for the...

CRTC to consider ‘public interest’ in resolving disputes over digital launch

Media | 06/07/2001 4:00 am EDT

New digital TV services shouldn’t expect to always receive the wholesale rates noted in their licences, the CRTC warns. The Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) had argued that it was unreasonable for programmers to expect to receive the wholesale rates proposed in their applications, and at the same time, be...

Group to reconvene on digital conversion

Media | 06/07/2001 4:00 am EDT

The issue of whether large cablecos need the consent of programmers before duplicating their analog channel on digital will be at the forefront when an industry task force reconvenes later this year. The CRTC says it will ask the digital migration working group to meet again following this fall’s launch of the new digital channels to resolve...

CNM People

Media | 05/31/2001 4:00 am EDT

Jeffrey Peterson has been appointed senior VP of e-business at Quebecor World Inc. Peterson was formerly a VP in the same position at DuPont. He will be responsible for using electronic networks to create cost savings at Quebecor. He was also a founder of the Management Systems Laboratories at Virginia Tech, and has held a number of Internet-related positions over the past 20 years. Kenneth Goldstein has been asked...

Are media conglomerates ready for the real-world of convergence?

Media | 05/31/2001 4:00 am EDT

The CRTC may have abstained from regulating new media and the Internet – at least for now – but its policies continue to have an impact on how the online environment evolves in Canada. CRTC chair David Colville spoke to delegates at the annual Canadian Cable Television Association conference earlier this week in...

CNM Editorial

Media | 05/31/2001 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. To date, the voices publicly heard in the JumpTV debate have been few. A handful of journalists, some powerful lobby groups and Jump itself have been waging a guerilla war for the hearts and minds of legislators, regulators and the Canadian people. That will soon change as the federal government has agreed to conduct a full-scale review of the issue. It was inevitable, actually. Should JumpTV fail, the next iCrave won’t be far behind, pushing the envelope of Canadian broadcasting law. This time, the government seems serious about addressing broadcasting in the Internet age, and the story has already been lifted from these pages to a staple of mainstream coverage. What’s curious, however, is that the voices of the new media industry haven’t been heard. This newsletter has often been told about schisms between the new media sector and broadcasters as each fights for control of new content forms and...

Copyright Board Jump hearing status in air as feds launch review of section 31

Media | 05/31/2001 4:00 am EDT

Parties to the ongoing JumpTV debate are at odds over the role a joint Industry Canada/Canadian Heritage review of section 31 of the Copyright Act will play in the overall debate. While officials from the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) lauded...

Heritage tables $190-million wish list for new media in innovation funding round

Media | 05/31/2001 4:00 am EDT

New media technologies and digitization are promising to give Canadian Heritage a technological facelift as it joins other science-based departments and agencies (SBDAs) in putting forward recommendations for the upcoming Innovation White Paper. Canadian Heritage has tabled $400 million in proposals as part of a draft...

ITV faces years of development before regulatory code can be written

Media | 05/31/2001 4:00 am EDT

Canada’s broadcast and cable companies were unable to agree on any principles related to interactivity in a new digital code released late last week by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). But the industry doesn’t seemed concerned, with many noting that interactive television is too...

Producers go to Banff to find ways of extending MocDocs online exhibition

Media | 05/31/2001 4:00 am EDT

Primitive Entertainment partner Ian Kelso hopes the Banff Television Festival will give his company an opportunity to explore ways of extending a popular series of mock documentaries. The collection, six parodies produced for the Hot Docs festival last month in Toronto, were a one-off project, but Kelso hopes to make the...

Telesat intensifies satellite multimedia applications research and development

Media | 05/31/2001 4:00 am EDT

The terrestrial Internet is a sub-standard mechanism for delivering audio and video signals compared to space-based transmissions, according to an executive with Canada’s sole satellite company. Paul Bush, Telesat Canada’s VP of corporate development, told Canadian NEW MEDIA that the single-hop architecture of satellite relays makes it a superior system compared to land-based networks. To exploit that advantage, the company recently announced that it would spend $5.5 million on high-speed multimedia trials that will accelerate development of applications and content. The funding commitment is part of a larger R&D program worth over $15 million this year. Telesat says it has...

Archives learns valuable lessons about online content through digitization

Media | 05/31/2001 4:00 am EDT

The federal government is anxious to put Canada’s history online as quickly as possible, but issues like copyright and displaying material online could place serious limits on how quickly the job gets done, and the scope of the projects. The government’s Canadian Cultural Digital Content Initiative has put $2.5 million...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 05/31/2001 4:00 am EDT

Airborne launches wireless gaming in SKMontreal-based Airborne Entertainment has released a new wireless entertainment service dubbed the PocketBoxOffice. The launch was first announced with Saskatchewan telco Sasktel, though Airborne says every wireless carrier in the country can use it. The service consists of games, humour, and other short-form content. Canadian software piracy rate reducedThe Canadian Alliance...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 05/24/2001 4:00 am EDT

CRTC renews Télé-Québec network licence until 2007The CRTC has renewed the broadcasting licence of the French-language television network la Société de télédiffusion du Québec (Télé-Québec; the Société) from June 1, 2001 to Aug. 31, 2007 (2001-256). The television network, which focuses on cultural and educational programming, told the commission it intended "to enhance the diversity of its programming...

CCR People

Media | 05/24/2001 4:00 am EDT

Paul Robertson, president of television at Corus Entertainment Inc, has been named chair of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. He replaces Daniel Lamarre, who quit the position when he left TVA Group to join the Cirque du Soleil. A number of other new appointments has been made at the broadcast lobby group as a result of vacancies arising since the CAB’s annual meeting in Calgary last November, including CTV Inc...

It’s time for the radio and music industries to get on the same page of the songbook

Media | 05/24/2001 4:00 am EDT

Michael McCabe, outgoing president/CEO of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, kicked off Canadian Music Week earlier this spring with a call for greater collaboration between the music industry and the radio industry. For homegrown talent to succeed in the world stage, he said the two...

CCR Editorial

Media | 05/24/2001 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.The National Broadband Task Force’s pending call for an "urgent review" of the foreign ownership rules is threatening to overshadow its dozen or so other recommendations on the future of high-speed Internet in this country.  Linking broadband access to rural and remote communities to the...

Task force report could prompt change in foreign ownership limits for BDUs

Media | 05/24/2001 4:00 am EDT

Canadian cable operators and other facilities-based carriers could become owned, depending on how the federal government responds to a soon-to-be-released recommendation by the National Broadband Task Force. Insiders tell CCR that an article in the National Post earlier this week was inaccurate in reporting that the...

CRTC raps Rogers for using small town stations to target big city listeners

Media | 05/24/2001 4:00 am EDT

The CRTC has ordered Rogers Broadcasting Ltd to file bi-monthly reports to ensure that two of its radio stations aren’t cream-skimming listeners and advertising revenue from larger markets outside their licensed territories. The decision (2001-257) stems from two complaints filed by rival Standard Radio Inc, which accused...

House committee hearings on future of broadcasting to begin in September

Media | 05/24/2001 4:00 am EDT

Senior political forces within the federal government have decided to rely on MPs, rather than Senators or political appointees, to head a broad review that could lead to changes in how broadcasting is regulated in Canada. The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage unveiled plans May 10 for an 18-month study to assess whether the 1991 Broadcasting Act remains relevant in an era of increased media concentration and globalization. Earlier this year, the federal government considered appointing a panel of industry experts to carry out a related review which, among other things, would have looked at restructuring the CRTC, and possibly even the Copyright Board and the Competition Bureau...

Decima Poll: CTF-Telefilm Merger

Media | 05/24/2001 4:00 am EDT

Most Decima Publishing subscribers (55%) responding to an informal online poll this month indicated that they favored an amalgamation of Telefilm Canada and the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) into a single production fund for film, television and multimedia. In contrast, 16% responded no to a merger, while 29% remained undecided. Canadian Heritage...

CRTC suspends Toronto radio hearing, anticipates gov’t to find more frequencies

Media | 05/24/2001 4:00 am EDT

The CRTC has decided to hold off licensing any more radio stations in Toronto after receiving assurances from Industry Canada that it will issue a report soon on how to deal with frequency congestion in the country’s largest market. A May 9 letter from Industry’s deputy minister Peter Harder to CRTC chair David Colville...

CRTC approves Vidéotron cable asset transfer to Quebecor, TVA decision expected soon

Media | 05/24/2001 4:00 am EDT

One of Canada’s largest media companies is now Quebec’s largest cable operator, following a CRTC decision this week to approve Quebecor Media Inc’s purchase of the cable assets of Vidéotron Ltée – Decision 2001-282. The decision wasn’t unexpected, although a 45 per cent ownership by the...

Report: DTH could have competitive edge over cable when satellite Internet arrives

Media | 05/24/2001 4:00 am EDT

Two recent government rulings, combined with industry consolidation and advances in technology, will put satellite TV companies on a more equal footing with cable operators in urban markets, according to a report released this month. The cable industry could lose even more ground come 2004, when Star Choice Communications...

Rogers application for rate deregulation seen as test case for industry and CRTC

Media | 05/24/2001 4:00 am EDT

An application by Rogers Cable Inc to deregulate two small cable systems in southern Ontario is as much a test case for the cable industry as it is for the CRTC’s broadcast distribution rules – PN 2001-53. In a move that had been expected by the commission long before now, Rogers became the first company in Canada to apply under a 1998 regulation that allows a cable system to apply for basic rate deregulation if it can prove a 5 per cent drop in its subscriber base.  Rogers filed reports with the CRTC showing it had lost 16.3 per cent of its customers in Woodstock, and 17 per cent of its customers in St. Thomas between Sept. 5, 1997 (the same month ExpressVu hit the market) and Oct....

Wisdom drops U.S. partner, but sees Alliance Atlantis come on board

Media | 05/24/2001 4:00 am EDT

Alliance Atlantis Communications got its hands on part of another Category 1 digital service with a deal that will see it acquire 29.9 per cent of Vision TV’s Wisdom: The Body, Mind & Spirit Channel for an undisclosed cash amount. Alliance Atlantis also has an option to purchase an additional 3. 4 per cent stake in...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 05/17/2001 4:00 am EDT

Power Interactive opens kiosk plant in GAON-based Power Interactive Media, which makes photo kiosks, plans to spend US$7.5 million to open a new, 300-person plant in Macon GA. Groundbreaking is planned to take place within six-to -eight weeks to make digital photo kiosks. The booths are used to insert customer’s photos onto images from licensed entertainment groups such as the NFL, NHL, Mattel and Universal...

CNM People

Media | 05/17/2001 4:00 am EDT

Michael McCabe, who has led the Canadian Association of Broadcasters for 13 years, is stepping aside effective November 9. The executive committee of the association’s board of directors is in the process of establishing a selection committee that will hunt for a new president and CEO over the summer.  Blue Zone Entertainment Inc has made several executive appointments in the wake of Catherine Warren’s departure...

Canada’s broadband promise is opening a new door for cultural content

Media | 05/17/2001 4:00 am EDT

The National Broadband Task force is preparing its final report on what initiatives Canada must take to ensure all communities have broadband access by 2004. But as the presentation below highlights, the task force’s review hasn’t focused exclusively on infrastructure. In a recent report to the group, CANARIE Inc notes...

CNM Editorial

Media | 05/17/2001 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. No matter how relaxing the cottage life is, the fact remains that some days need a little kick-start to keep the juices flowing. So, in the interest of making your vacation as memorable as possible, I’d suggest the following: devote a day or two to thinking about how you’ll lobby to have new media...

CHUM officials mum on role for 500-channel-plus music streaming site

Media | 05/17/2001 4:00 am EDT

CHUM Radio Group Ltd has quietly launched a major new online initiative featuring over 500 channels of streaming, Windows Media format music. The company has registered a site, www.bonzaroo.com, through its Ottawa office, and has the site up and running, though it’s unknown when the project will be publicly launched other...

ISP market to grow

Media | 05/17/2001 4:00 am EDT

Consultants NBI/Michael Sone Associates have released a new report on the ISP market in Canada. Among other findings, ISP revenues are expected to grow by a compounded annual rate of 20% between now and 2004. It predicts that by the end of 2001, there will be more than 2.5 million high-speed Internet users in the country. In another prediction, Sone says the combined ISP/dial-up subscriber market will grow by more...

IMPAC takes breather as funding delays, staff changes force re-thinking of direction

Media | 05/17/2001 4:00 am EDT

Canada’s national multimedia lobby could have a very different look by this fall as it grapples with the departure of a key executive and too little funding. The Interactive Multimedia Producers Association of Canada (IMPAC) has lost general manager Claude Dugas to ZAQ Inc. As well, crucial project funding from the...

Watchfire, PwC to co-market privacy legislation monitoring tools

Media | 05/17/2001 4:00 am EDT

Executives at Ottawa-based Watchfire Corp say a new partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers has built new privacy-protection tools that will eventually help Internet users trust that their private information online stays that way. Watchfire Corp1 Hines Road Kanata, Ontario K2K 3C7 (613) 599-3888 The two companies announced a co-marketing agreement last week in which Watchfire will provide privacy monitoring tools as part of PwC’s larger privacy audit initiative. The software is aimed at large web sites that have thousands and even tens of thousands of pages which may have been designed before tough new privacy legislation was introduced in Canada and elsewhere. Watchfire president Michael Weider says good site design can’t necessarily catch all the points at which personal...

JAWZ, Emagebox to build secure network for entertainment, advertising transfer

Media | 05/17/2001 4:00 am EDT

A group of Toronto security consult has gotten onto the ground floor of the emerging digital content protection industry through a new partnership. JAWZ Inc has formed a partnership with Toronto-based Emagebox.com Inc to help build a new network for the distribution of entertainment and advertising material. The company...

NetVideoWorld 2001: New multimedia content key ingredient to future wireless services

Media | 05/17/2001 4:00 am EDT

Multimedia content will drive future in wireless technologies, an Internet video conference heard recently, as long as next-generation handsets are inexpensive, more powerful and easy on batteries. Participants at NetVideoWorld 2001 held in Ottawa April 29-May 1 heard from wireless industry...

BC group trumpets 130% yearly growth

Media | 05/17/2001 4:00 am EDT

A volatile technology market hasn’t slowed growth at British Columbia’s provincial new media association. New Media BC membership director Jessica Schaap says that despite cutbacks at some content companies to deal with tough economic times, the association has grown by 130 per cent in the last year. Association membership, she says, is being...

World TV counting on public pressure to help it win specialty TV licences

Media | 05/10/2001 4:00 am EDT

Dan Iannuzzi doesn’t give up easily.  The Toronto businessman is back before the CRTC asking for the right to launch a new specialty TV channel devoted to foreign programming, despite 12 years of delays and rejected licence applications (CCR, May 11/00). A public hearing (2001-5-1) will be held June 19 in Hull,...

GTA radio report expected by end of year

Media | 05/10/2001 4:00 am EDT

Industry Canada is expected to report by the end of the year on the technical feasibility of squeezing more radio stations into the congested Toronto market. Vassilios Mimis, director of broadcast planning at Industry Canada, says his department is still reviewing a January report by the CRTC outlining various options for freeing up more AM and FM frequencies for ethnic radio stations in the Greater Toronto Area (CCR, Feb. 14/00).  "We’re looking at this from a spectrum management point of view to see if we can accommodate this without interference," says Mimis. "Depending on the options that are available and what the solutions are, that will determine the speed at which we can implement new stations." An engineering study included with the CRTC report said...

Commercial broadcasters warn against turning community stations into rivals

Media | 05/10/2001 4:00 am EDT

Canada’s broadcasting establishment is worried that policy changes could transform community television and radio operators into new competitors for advertising and programming funds. While the cable industry would rather that more community channels not be licensed, groups like the Canadian Association of Broadcasters...

CPAC distribution in French and English comes under scrutiny following complaints

Media | 05/10/2001 4:00 am EDT

The CRTC is examining whether carriage of the Cable Public Affairs (CPAC) should be mandated in both official languages, following public complaints before a parliamentary committee and at recent commission hearings. The government’s Joint Committee on Official Languages received six complaints from anglophones and...

CBC unsure if extra $60 million will go toward fulfilling licence conditions

Media | 05/10/2001 4:00 am EDT

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp to invest its $60-million in top funding from the federal government into programming, although it stopped short of committing more money to regional productions. "It will all go toward programming," says CBC director of external communications Pierre Sauvé. "What kind of...

Radio revenues top $1 billion for first time, but industry still vulnerable, CAB warns

Media | 05/10/2001 4:00 am EDT

Increased copyright expenses and higher expenditures could easily offset increased revenues in Canada’s private radio industry, according to Richard Cavanagh, VP of radio at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB). He says radio stations could soon be paying for the right to music they...

McCabe bids adieu to Canada’s broadcast lobby association after 13 years at helm

Media | 05/10/2001 4:00 am EDT

Michael McCabe, CEO and president the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), is leaving the organization after 13 years to look for a part-time job in the public policy area. McCabe’s resignation takes effect Nov. 9, after the CAB’s annual convention, running Oct. 28 – 30 in Ottawa. He had three option years on...

Calgary landlord says it’s on schedule to rollout IP-based digital cable system to tenants

Media | 05/10/2001 4:00 am EDT

A new competitor in the cable TV market has wired its first 1,000 residential units, and has committed to have another 2,000 online by the end of the year. Suite Systems Inc, which last year won two regional Class 1 licences covering 17 communities, is using an IP-based technology to deliver digital...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 05/10/2001 4:00 am EDT

Broadcasters granted right to intervene in JumpTV processThe Copyright Board has granted both the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the National Association of Broadcasters the right to intervene "with full participatory rights" in copyright hearings regarding JumpTV’s request to retransmit local television signals over the Internet. JumpTV went live just over a week ago with eight television channels...

CCR People

Media | 05/10/2001 4:00 am EDT

Jim Cummins has been named VP of sales and Mike Kaumeyer has been appointed VP of marketing at Star Choice Communications. Cummins will be responsible for expanding the direct-to-home satellite services and subscriber base. He has worked for the past five years with Shaw Cablesystems GP. Kaumeyer has over 14 years of experience in sales and marketing.  Jacques Bensimon has been appointed the new National Film Board...

Federal policies should bring community TV and radio into the innovation age

Media | 05/10/2001 4:00 am EDT

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is calling on the CRTC to adopt a new policy framework for community radio and television, one that reflects the realities of the technological age. In its May 4 submission to the commission in response to PN 2001-19, PIAC notes that increasingly, citizens are relying on community-based online networks to get their messages out. As PIAC’s executive director Michael Janigan points out, it’s time for Canada’s policy and regulatory frameworks to "catch up to the people". An excerpt from his intervention appears below:  The days of communities relying solely on the technical, organizational and management expertise of...

CCR Editorial

Media | 05/10/2001 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.The CRTC is facing some difficult times ahead when it comes to deciding who should be on analog cable. There’s also pressure being put on the commission to force some analog services, such as The Shopping Channel or Speedvision, to give up their coveted spot on the analog dial.  The commission is...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 05/03/2001 4:00 am EDT

Toronto IT professionals don’t expect hiring to slow in short-term, says CIPSHiring levels in Canada’s IT sector are expected to remain constant despite the recent economic turbulence, according to the Toronto chapter of the Canadian Information Processing Society. CIPS members who employ IT workers stated overwhelmingly in an email poll that their companies will likely increase in size or stay the same during the...

CNM People

Media | 05/03/2001 4:00 am EDT

Catherine Warren, the much-fèted COO of Vancouver-based Blue Zone Inc, has decided to leave the company. Warren joined Blue Zone in that capacity in 1999 and helped guide the company through its IPO, as well as securing contracts with CTV. She remained with the company until this month, and will continue to work with it as an executive advisor. Warren is a veteran of the media establishment, and was chosen as one of the...

Parliament should resist temptation to outlaw Internet retransmissions

Media | 05/03/2001 4:00 am EDT

JumpTV is at the centre of a copyright battle that could change how broadcast signals are distributed in Canada, and which companies are allowed to retransmit them. In a recent letter to senior bureaucrats at Canadian Heritage’s Copyright Policy Branch and Industry Canada’s intellectual property branch, JumpTV’s...

CNM Editorial

Media | 05/03/2001 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Savvy Internet users have known for a decade that the World Wide Web is no place to find the content they really want. Whether it’s cracked applications (warez) or the serial numbers to open them, music, videos, porn passwords or now DVDs, it’s almost always another user who has the file, not a web site. Before the mainstream business world cottoned on to the concept of peer file sharing, hundreds of thousands of users have used Hotline or the IRC to find MP3s or warez and distribute them away from prying eyes. Today, dozens of IRC channels offer hundreds of feature-length films, tools to create even more distributable files, and thousands of users willing to share their know-how with newbies. Content producers are caught in a bind, knowing that proprietary technologies to protect their material can actually discourage traffic, compared to formats which are easily viewed by users. A music video, for...

Protection for file-shared content : File-based solutions to copyright infringement needed, says Jive Media

Media | 05/03/2001 4:00 am EDT

Toronto-based Jive Media Technologies Inc says it’s solved the dilemma of putting copyrighted material such as music videos online without relying on subscriber fees. While companies such as Napster struggle to find a way to encourage peer-to-peer file sharing without depriving content owners of...

Toronto IT professionals don’t expect hiring to slow in short-term, says CIPS

Media | 05/03/2001 4:00 am EDT

Hiring levels in Canada’s IT sector are expected to remain constant despite the recent economic turbulence, according to the Toronto chapter of the Canadian Information Processing Society. CIPS members who employ IT workers stated overwhelmingly in an email poll that their companies will likely increase in size or stay...

“Furniture Guys” lend celebrity names to Ottawa-based Internet video company

Media | 05/03/2001 4:00 am EDT

A start-up new media production company in Ottawa is hoping the addition of two celebrity how-to TV hosts to its board of advisors will help it crack the lucrative U.S. market for web videos. GetHow! Inc president and CEO Rob Woodbridge says the company has been flying under the radar until now,...

JumpTV launches as both sides agree on Copyright Board timetable for tariff

Media | 05/03/2001 4:00 am EDT

After months of legal wrangling, JumpTV.com Canada Inc went live this week with eight television channels from around the world, but none from Canada. The ongoing copyright dispute over whether JumpTV has the right to retransmit local TV signals over the Internet means the company is so far limited to carrying European,...

Filament hires new president amid staff turnover at web marketing, design shop

Media | 05/03/2001 4:00 am EDT

The recent exodus of several high-profile staff at Filament Communications Inc isn’t indicative of larger problems at the Ottawa-based web company, according to its founder Alfredo Coppola. Two partners at the web site design and marketing shop and several high-level creative staff including a senior designer have...

Protection for file-shared content : Calgary start-up promises security, speed and low cost with new file-sharing platform

Media | 05/03/2001 4:00 am EDT

Digital Artisans Guild Inc (DAG) has teamed up with another Calgary company to bring teen wrestling to the Internet, using a new network technology that protects content rights. Myfileshare.com, a small R&D start-up with seven employees, says its proprietary PeerGenius software succeeds where...

Delvinia hires content expert Kate Baggott to round out research capabilities

Media | 05/03/2001 4:00 am EDT

Toronto new media consultants Delvinia Inc have hired Kate Baggott– a well-known child content expert and producer – to help its clients create better web content for adults and kids. Baggott ran her own consulting firm until recently when the bottom fell out of the dot-com industry. Her specialty, web content for...

PlanetVu plans to bypass cable, satellite with Internet launch of ethnic TV channels

Media | 04/26/2001 4:00 am EDT

A broadcast industry veteran is finalizing plans to launch several new ethnic specialty channels into Canada, without CRTC approval and without cable or satellite TV carriage. Former Alliance Broadcasting president Juris Silkans believes his new company, PlanetVu Corp, will succeed where similar ventures have so far failed:...

Category 2 channels could prove to be the more popular draw on digital TV

Media | 04/26/2001 4:00 am EDT

Some of the Category 2 channels could end up being more successful than their Category 1 cousins in the upcoming digital launch, according to a panel of industry experts at the Canadian Film and Television Summit, held in Toronto last week.  Some Category 2s have what many consider to be a popular niche, such as sex or hockey. A growing number in industry believe digital channels like these will outsell the Category 1s, assuming they get carriage capacity on cable and satellite. Distributors have to carry the Category 1s, but there’s no guarantee people will subscribe. A national survey of 2,010 Canadians commissioned by Decima Publishing shows that only 22 per cent of...

CTV, Global urge CRTC to resist temptation to alter fledgling TV policy

Media | 04/26/2001 4:00 am EDT

CTV Inc and Global Television Network are urging the CRTC to stick by its new television policy and ignore requests by some interest groups to up the amount of Canadian content on the airwaves (PN 2001-3).  In her wrap up Wednesday on the last of a seven-day hearing into the licence renewal of both networks, CTV...

What the lobbyists want from Global, CTV

Media | 04/26/2001 4:00 am EDT

Canadian Conference of the Arts give short-term renewals as neither CTV nor Global have filed network applications. treat BCE Inc and CanWest Global as networks for the purposes of the Broadcasting Act and set expectations for these new networks, which are commensurate with their size. set spending and exhibition levels with respect to Canadian content...

Legal action against grey market dealers on hold pending Supreme Court decision

Media | 04/26/2001 4:00 am EDT

The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision last week to review the legality of grey market satellite TV has given dish dealers hope that the country’s highest court will strike down legislation that has been used to prosecute companies selling foreign DBS services. The lawyer representing Bell ExpressVu in grey market cases...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 04/26/2001 4:00 am EDT

Colville questions synergy at conference on public interestActing CRTC chair David Colville said he was left wondering about how the merger of broadcasters, Internet interests, publishers and telecommunications companies would benefit the public interest as well as the company’s own interests. "It is not yet evident to me that anyone has really figured out what these synergies really are from an operational point...

CCR People

Media | 04/26/2001 4:00 am EDT

Jane Logan, former CEO and president of the Specialty and Premium Television Association (SPTV) which merged with the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, is teaching courses on strategy formation and implementation that are part of the University of Ottawa’s MBA program. She has also been consulting associations on strategic planning.  Gary Toth has been named president and CEO of the $200-million Canadian Television Fund. Previously, he was executive director of the $100-million licence fee component of the CTF. Louise Baillargeon, who has been named VP of the Licence Fee Program, takes over Toth’s previous duties. Jean Perras has left his position as executive director of Cable in the Classroom. He was hired last September to lead the development of television- and Internet-based education materials for the program, a national non-profit education initiative by cable companies in partnership with Canadian and international television networks. Denis Cooper has been promoted to the new position of VP of business and...

CBC Television fights for the hearts and minds of western Canadians

Media | 04/26/2001 4:00 am EDT

CBC English Television is attempting to transform itself these days into what a Canadian public television network should look like. Speaking to business students at the University of Alberta March 29, VP Harold Redekopp described this transformation as "quite literally, a fight for (CBC’s) survival". He also...

CCR Editorial

Media | 04/26/2001 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Too much emphasis is being placed on codes of conduct to ensure the separation of CanWest Global and CTV’s broadcast and print newsrooms. The more pressing concern should be how much Canadian content ends up on the screens, and how representative is it of the Canadian way of life.  Having...

CNM People

Media | 04/19/2001 4:00 am EDT

The Song Corp has announced a reduction in size of its board of directors from 11 to five members. Ron Atkey, Bill Dawson, Jeff Rayman, Jake Gold, Al Mair, Judson Martin and Bill Ott have all resigned from the board. Ott and Mair will remain employed with the company, but will no longer occupy the senior officer positions of president/COO and vice-chair, respectively. Further, Dawson has resigned as acting CFO. The...

Software must be treated as a good, not service, in free trade talks, says CATA

Media | 04/19/2001 4:00 am EDT

The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance sent a letter last month to Foreign Trade minister Pierre Pettigrew explaining why, for trade purposes, software should be considered a good and covered by free trade treaties. Calling it a service could cost this country billions in lost exports, the lobby group claims. Its letter,...

CNM Editorial

Media | 04/19/2001 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Less government red tape, not more, is almost always a good thing. In past, we at Canadian NEW MEDIA have consistently advocated industry self-regulation where possible to ensure that worthwhile and safe content is posted to the Internet by producers and aggregators both large and small. Now,...

BC passes video game legislation, industry ESRB ratings likely to be adopted

Media | 04/19/2001 4:00 am EDT

British Columbia’s plan to introduce a ratings system for video games won’t necessarily result in more red tape or higher costs for game makers and retailers, suggests a key BC official with the attorney general’s office. Barry Salmon, planning and priorities manager with the ministry’s public safety branch, says he...

Partnerships to become key focus for Liberty Village centre in second year

Media | 04/19/2001 4:00 am EDT

The Liberty Village New Media Centre is boasting a slew of new partnership successes on the eve of its official launch late next week in Toronto. Since the centre’s "soft launch" last November (CNM, Nov. 15/00), the group has continued acting as a networking resource, even without a physical space. Now, the...

BellFund to issue expanded version of industry content producers’ guide

Media | 04/19/2001 4:00 am EDT

A group of industry experts have prepared a new handbook to help new media creators navigate the funding waters for converged content. Most digital media companies are novices when it comes to raising financing, and one of the handbook’s editors says this resource is designed to guide people through the entire production...

CAB makes new request for JumpTV status

Media | 04/19/2001 4:00 am EDT

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) has made a twelfth hour appeal to the Copyright Board of Canada to participate in a tariff proceeding for JumpTV. Many in industry had written off the CAB as a participant after a Dec. 21 letter from the board stating that it was "inclined to deny" the broadcasters’ application for leave to intervene.  At the time, the board felt the CAB’s participation would be redundant, making arguments identical to collectives such as the Canadian Broadcasters Rights Association (CBRA), which is already involved in the proceeding. Now, the CAB has come back to say that it has several concerns not normally discussed with respect to retransmission, and that it is once again seeking the board’s permission to participate in the hearings...

Motorcycles Galore.com hopes hybrid web/physical retail approach will pay off

Media | 04/19/2001 4:00 am EDT

A Vancouver company hopes to set a new standard for Internet retailing with an experiment that combines ecommerce and bricks-and-mortar showrooms across the United States. The first phase of Motorcycles Galore Inc’s strategy was launched last week with a web retailing site. It will be followed over the next year with the...

BEE Internet broadcast technology garners world attention quickly: president

Media | 04/19/2001 4:00 am EDT

A Montreal-based company has attracted international interest in a new technology that provides free television over the Internet, and at a fraction of the cost of streaming platforms. BEE Multimedia Inc says its Television player also enables networks to broadcast high-quality TV without overloading their servers. Current...

Cloakware receives Entrust investment

Media | 04/19/2001 4:00 am EDT

Entrust Technologies Ltd has taken a minority equity stake in an Ottawa-based company that could help protect digital content rights with new technology that fights software tampering. Under the agreement, Cloakware Corp and Entrust will work together to develop products that integrate the security giant’s PKI infrastructure products with...

BC gov’t offer to adopt ESRB ratings system isn’t enough, says video game industry

Media | 04/19/2001 4:00 am EDT

The British Columbia government may be extending an olive branch to the video game industry by leaning towards adoption of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) system of classification, but that isn’t placating the industry’s main lobby group in Canada (see story page 1). The Canadian...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 04/19/2001 4:00 am EDT

Bell GlobeMedia distributes $5M in fundingThree prominent arts groups are hoping to forge a common approach to new media funding in time for the Banff TV festival this June. L’Institut national de l’image et du son (INIS), the Canadian Film Centre and the Banff New Media Institute are receiving $5 million from Bell Globemedia to work collaboratively on projects that benefit Canada’s interactive content industry.The funding, dispersed equally over five years, was included in Bell’s $230-million public benefits package attached to its parent’s acquisition of CTV Inc last year (CNM, July 26/00).Caryl Brandt, acting artistic director of media and visual arts at the Banff Centre, says there are some significant details to hammer out before the trio can put out a request for proposals this summer. But she expects there will likely be three components to the funding. One could include money to help students from each institution travel and take part in the other partners’ events and workshops. Some could be earmarked for matchmaking...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 04/11/2001 4:00 am EDT

CBC developing ‘public service’ brand devoid of clutterThe Canadian Broadcasting Corp/Radio-Canada is working toward branding itself around a reinvigorated ‘public service’ identity, according to the CBC president and CEO. Speaking at the annual conference of the Canadian Media Director’s Council in Toronto on April 3, Robert Rabinovitch said the new CBC brand would focus on children’s television, news and...

CCR People

Media | 04/11/2001 4:00 am EDT

Niv Fichman, founding partner of Toronto-based Rhombus Media; Denise Robert, president of Montreal-based Cinémaginaire Inc, and Tom Rowe, executive VP of creative affairs at Sextant Entertainment Group, were appointed joint chairs of the new Feature Film Advisory Group. Members of the group will be chosen from Canada’s producers, exhibitors, exhibitors, broadcasters, screenwriters, directors and performers. The group...

Canadian producers reap benefit of mega mergers, but can it last?

Media | 04/11/2001 4:00 am EDT

Communications mergers can be a boon for Canadian producers. The recent mega-deals by CanWest Global Communications and BCE Inc produced hundreds of millions of dollars in new money for several new initiatives, including the production of independent Canadian programs. Such benefits are mandatory under CRTC rules, but...

CCR Editorial

Media | 04/11/2001 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.The molasses-paced rollout of digital has taken longer than most ever imagined. The cable industry was making grand pronouncements about their digital plans back in 1992.  Understandably, regulators were given an overly optimistic view of the not-so-distant future. Former CRTC chair Françoise Bertrand...

Canadian broadcasters argue there’s no room for foreign digital services

Media | 04/11/2001 4:00 am EDT

Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting Inc is one of several broadcasters hoping to stop new foreign channels from taking scarce capacity away from new digital TV services. The CRTC is currently reviewing requests to authorize 29 foreign television services for digital carriage, in response to its December call for proposals to...

Vision TV looks for packaging partner as Catholic channel bids again for carriage

Media | 04/11/2001 4:00 am EDT

Vision TV wants to create an all-religion digital tier, but first it needs the CRTC to change the rules that prohibit single-faith services from being packaged with multi-faith channels like itself. If approved, digital subscribers could purchase a package that includes Vision’s three newly licensed services (Wisdom,...

DTH subscribers help ignite continued growth of pay and specialty services

Media | 04/11/2001 4:00 am EDT

Direct-to-home satellite services are bringing new customers to Canada’s healthy pay and specialty channel sector, according to figures released last week by the CRTC.  The Pay and Specialty Statistical and Financial Summaries 1996-2000, compiled annually by the commission’s broadcast analysis branch, show that DTH...

Canadian, U.S. broadcasters want say in JumpTV copyright proceeding

Media | 04/11/2001 4:00 am EDT

North America’s largest broadcast are asking to participate in hearings regarding JumpTV’s request to re-transmit local tele-vision signals over the Internet. The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) want to wade into what is emerging as a test case in deciding...

CRTC on track for federal spending top-up

Media | 04/11/2001 4:00 am EDT

The CRTC has two years left to deal with a raft of regulatory issues before its budget drops back to about 1997 levels. Part III estimates released late last month for all federal departments show the CRTC’s budget will remain stable at $8.4 million for this current fiscal year, dropping slightly to $7.3 million next year, before falling to $4.6 million in 2003-04. The federal government wanted to reduce the CRTC’s budget starting last year, with spending originally slated to be cut from $7.6 million in 1998-99 to $5.9 million and $4.4 million the following fiscal years. Last year’s cuts, however, were making it impossible for the CRTC to do its job. Last year, the Treasury Board decided to grant the commission a temporary three-year budget increase — $3.385 million in...