Cable sees slowdown in revenues and sub growth; DTH and wireless cable climb

Media | 06/08/2000 4:00 am EDT

Cable company revenues from base services showed a sharp slowdown in growth last year, and the number of basic and premium subscribers actually shrank in some regions, the CRTC's 1999 Broadcast Distribution Undertaking (BDU) Financial Summary shows. Cable's slower growth, however, wasn't shared by its...

CRTC sets tight timetable to process hundreds of digital television applications

Media | 06/08/2000 4:00 am EDT

Digital TV applicants will have little time to convince the CRTC of the merits of their applications when Canada's largest broadcasting hearing begins August 14. The commission is struggling with the regulatory logistics of creating a 500-channel universe within the span of only a few months, and for most applicants,...

Digital TV applicant sees opportunity to sell advertisers on environmental TV

Media | 06/08/2000 4:00 am EDT

Among the hundreds of applications for new digital specialty licences is a proposal from the founder of Vision TV for new network that promises to attract both subscribers and advertisers interested in the environment and sustainable development. David Nostbakken is now president and CEO of WETV International Inc, a...

Behaviour shareholders approve debt and restructuring plan, new name for company

Media | 06/08/2000 4:00 am EDT

After four straight quarters of losses and a painful foray into digital media production, Behaviour Communications Inc has a new name, a new owner and a new business plan that shareholders hope will put the Montreal-based company back in the black.  At its annual meeting on May 26, shareholders approved a debt and...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 06/08/2000 4:00 am EDT

New GSO plan adopted at WRCCanada has helped broker a deal for a new broadcasting satellite plan for Europe, Africa and the Asia Pacific region. The agreement was adopted at the World Radiocommunication Conference in Istanbul. The new plan assigns one orbital position per country throughout both Europe and Africa from which the equivalent of 10 analog channels can be delivered. For Asia and Australia, 12 analog channels are available per country's orbital position. The decisions of WRC-2000 enable countries to take possession of the orbital positions once they're in an economic position to do so, without fear of losing the spectrum bands.  Gore voices made-in-Canada concerns over runawaysWhile Canada's ambassador to Washington, Raymond Chretien, says U.S. vice president Al Gore may be Canada's best hope for president, the contender isn't much of a buddy to Hollywood North. In early June, Gore launched an investigation into why so many American film and television productions are migrating to shoot in Canada. Gore,...

CCR People

Media | 06/08/2000 4:00 am EDT

Liberal Senator Michael Kirby has taken a temporary leave from the Senate subcommittee on communications, which is examining issues associated with media convergence and e-commerce. He is expected to re-join the committee in the fall.  Jeffrey Elliott has been appointed senior VP Alliance Atlantis Communications. Elliott joins Alliance Atlantis from Netstar Interactive, where he was responsible for creating and...

CCR Editorial

Media | 06/08/2000 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Stock values have risen, people talk of boom times in a convergent world, but the fact is that Canada's cable companies are experiencing flat subscriber and profit growth, according to the latest statistics issued by the CRTC on cablecos and other broadcast distributors.  In fact, traditional...

Corporate shakeups continue at Salter Street Films’ new media subsidiary

Media | 05/31/2000 4:00 am EDT

Salter Street Films Ltd appears to have shelved plans to publicly trade its new media division - at least for the time being. Following several quarters of disappointing financial results and last November's collapse of a reverse takeover deal (CNM, December 23/99), the Halifax-based production house has decided to up...

New content provider mum on plans to offer short documentaries on web

Media | 05/31/2000 4:00 am EDT

Blackholetv.com has been cruising the streets of downtown Ottawa advertising its Internet start-up, but company executives are reluctant to say more until they launch an even newer website. CEO Jay Litkey wouldn't divulge details of his newest venture, but the page currently on line at www.blackholetv.com suggests the...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 05/31/2000 4:00 am EDT

Trade office urges U.S. Congress to start legislating privacyThe U.S. Federal Trade Commission has moved from several years of recommending industry self-regulation on privacy to calling for federal legislation on the issue. The commission has asked Congress to enact privacy legislation similar to that recently passed by the Canadian federal government.Hardware handed out to New Media award winnersA different kind of...

CNM People

Media | 05/31/2000 4:00 am EDT

Tina Van Dusen, EVP and COO of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters has won the Robertson-Surette Vision Award for her outstanding leadership in human resources initiatives at the CAB. She was tapped for the prize for her measures at the CAB resulting in increased employee morale and workplace performance, and which allowed employees to participate in decisions affecting their work lives. Indigo Books Music &...

Television viewers haven’t abandoned the tube for the ‘Net – at least not yet

Media | 05/31/2000 4:00 am EDT

Broadcasters thought audiences would disappear from in front of their TV sets to spend more time on computers. But that's not happening. Consider three recent deals. Viacom Inc received regulatory approval for its $46-billion U.S. purchase of CBS Corp. By combining two traditional...

CNM Editorial

Media | 05/31/2000 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Salter Street Films has taken an unusual step in consolidating its control of Salter New Media and transforming it into a business-to-business ecom shop. While other companies are shedding non-core properties, the Halifax film and television producer has re-committed itself to treading into the crowded...

IMPAC rep refutes claim that its national new media association is “in limbo”

Media | 05/31/2000 4:00 am EDT

The general manager of the Interactive Multimedia Producers Association of Canada (IMPAC) is dismissing suggestions that the fledgling association is losing momentum just nine months after its formation. Responding to recent comments made by a former executive of the group, Claude Dugas says IMPAC's low public profile should not be construed as an association in limbo (CNM, May 18/00). Rather he explains that the group's executive committee is working behind the scenes with both government and industry to develop a national agenda for digital media. Building a national association is part of that exercise, he adds.  "There are few provincial government programs that can...

New Media Business Alliance promises targeted voice for private sector

Media | 05/31/2000 4:00 am EDT

A group of Ontario entrepreneurs is creating a new lobby group to work with the provincial government on funding and incentive programs for digital media. To be officially announced in about a month, the New Media Business Alliance (NMBA) has been overseen by a steering committee chaired by Oberon Interactive Productions...

News and sports programming to drive high-speed Internet in short term

Media | 05/31/2000 4:00 am EDT

AOL Canada has taken an important first step in its bid to offer high-speed Internet access, but its president cautions that more market studies and investments are required before companies should expect to make money from broadband web services. On May 16, AOL Canada became the first Internet service provider to secure...

CAB set to invite pure play new media companies into association ranks this fall

Media | 05/31/2000 4:00 am EDT

Canada's largest lobby group for private broadcasters may begin inviting new media companies to join their organization, including those with no formal affiliation with conventional television. The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) passed a resolution May 12 to create a new membership class and a new outreach...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 05/25/2000 4:00 am EDT

CBC and Power sell TRIO and Newsworld InternationalThe Canadian Broadcasting Corp and Power Broadcasting Inc (PBI) have sold their two U.S.-based cable television channels, TRIO and Newsworld International (NI), to USA Cable, a division of USA Networks, Inc. The sale will generate about $155 million for the CBC. Launched in 1994, both services were equally owned and managed by PBI and CBC. TRIO and NWI collectively reach...

CCR People

Media | 05/25/2000 4:00 am EDT

Alberta's most senior CBC television executive quit May 18, partly because of management's plan to eliminate local supper-hour television newscasts. The resignation of Joe Novak, regional director of television for the province, is a blow to the corporation, and comes on the heels of a controversial restructuring blueprint detailed earlier in the week by CBC president Robert Rabinovitch.  Richard Cavanaugh has been appointed VP radio, of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. Most recently, Cavanaugh was VP regulatory affairs and research, for the Canadian Trucking Alliance. From 1993-99, he was national director, external relations, with Stentor Telecom Policy Inc. Before joining Stentor, he was senior policy analyst with the Canadian Conference of the Arts.  Ted Boyle has been named president and CEO at Inetcable.com of Ottawa. A veteran of the cable and satellite television industries, Boyle brings a wealth of broadcasting experience to the emerging Internet broadcaster. Boyle played a significant role in the launch...

Why the CBC should think twice about selling off its terrestrial distribution system

Media | 05/25/2000 4:00 am EDT

As has been widely reported, CBC management is considering changes to the dissemination of CBC television signals to the Canadian public. This would involve replacing many, perhaps most of CBC television's terrestrial transmitters and relying upon other technologies to distribute CBC television's signals to...

CCR Editorial

Media | 05/25/2000 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.You don't have to stay up very late these days to come across warnings that TV programs contain naughty scenes or nasty words that may offend some people.  For most people, the f-word-laden rants of Dennis Miller have become a fixture of today's TV. And they're much funnier than the...

Joint committee grills CRTC on bilingual policy; townhall meetings to begin in fall

Media | 05/25/2000 4:00 am EDT

A member of the federal government's official languages committee suggests the CRTC is overstepping its authority with a proposal to force cable operators to carry francophone services in more Canadian markets.  Appearing before the Standing Joint Committee on Official Languages on May 9, CRTC chair Françoise...

Cable trails satellite in digital subs race

Media | 05/25/2000 4:00 am EDT

Statistics on digital TV subscribers in Canada show that, for all of the expectations surrounding the launch of new digital TV channels, cable operators have yet to convert more than eight per cent, or 323,688, of their subscribers to digital. Direct-to-home satellite TV continues to lead the digital TV race with 875,000 subscribers, although the gap is...

CBC entertaining buyers for transmission system; decision could be made by the fall

Media | 05/25/2000 4:00 am EDT

Canadian Broadcasting Corp president Robert Rabinovitch revealed to a Parliamentary committee that six suitors are interesting in bidding for the public broadcaster's massive transmission infrastructure. Appearing May 16 before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, he said money raised from...

Industry leaders guide Senate committee through maze of communications issues

Media | 05/25/2000 4:00 am EDT

The inaugural meeting of a Senate review into the future of Canada's communications industry appears to have attracted far more interest from industry than from the committee itself. Only two members of the five-member Senate Subcommittee on Communications - chair Marie-P Poulin (Lib) and Sheila Finestone (Lib) - stayed...

Senate subcommittee review could be catalyst government needs to reform CRTC

Media | 05/25/2000 4:00 am EDT

Canada's major industry associations continue to lobby both the CRTC and Canadian Heritage for reforms, but their strongest allies may be in the Prime Minister's Office and the Senate. The senior communications advisor to Heritage Minister Sheila Copps, Jacques Lefebvre, says the minister has an open file when...

Broadcasters want cablecos to insert their commercials on U.S. superstations

Media | 05/25/2000 4:00 am EDT

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) wants the CRTC to force Class 1 broadcast distributors to insert their commercials on U.S. superstations. Signal - or simultaneous -substitution is common practice on other U.S. channels when a Canadian broadcaster carries the same program at the same time as the American...

Pelmorex joins forces with Red Cross to bring weather emergency info viewers

Media | 05/25/2000 4:00 am EDT

The Weather Network and its French- language affiliate MétéoMédia have made a deal with the Canadian Red Cross to bring viewers up-to-the-minute public service information during environmental disasters. The two Pelmorex Inc-owned channels, which reach about eight million homes, have also given the Red Cross airtime for educational spots on disaster preparedness. "It seems like a natural fit," says Paul Temple, the networks' senior VP of corporate development. "When there are disasters like floods, tornadoes and ice storms, the Red Cross gets involved in disaster relief, and our ratings spike because people want to know what's going on." During...

Federal government announces winners in national Smart Communities contest

Media | 05/18/2000 4:00 am EDT

Interactive and multimedia projects make up the lion's share of the federal government's Smart Communities award winners announced May 11. Industry Canada will distribute $60 million to a dozen projects across Canada to integrate information and communication technologies into community life, and the development of...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 05/18/2000 4:00 am EDT

Blue Zone attains affiliate rank in North American associationBlue Zone Entertainment, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vancouver's Blue Zone Inc has become the North American Broadcasters Association's newest affiliate member. NABA executives say Blue Zone is helping push traditional broadcasting out to new audiences on the Internet. Mitel debuts trio of multi-network set top boxesOttawa's Mitel...

CNM People

Media | 05/18/2000 4:00 am EDT

Vancouver-based PhotoChannel Networks Inc has appointed Owen Matthews, president of NewHeights Software Corp, to its board of directors. Bridges.com, Kelowna BC, has established a new corporate communications team. Norm Thomson will head up the team as VP, corporate communications. He will assume responsibility for establishing and maintaining communications with the public, financial, community and media in both the...

Is creating a sense of community a challenge for new media companies?

Media | 05/18/2000 4:00 am EDT

Jim Tobin, president/CEO of itemus Inc, recently sat down with Canadian NEW MEDIA to discuss how content should be developed for web-based applications.  Earlier this year he turned a gold mining company into itemus, an Internet start-up that is part venture capitalist and part business service provider. Tobin believes...

CNM Editorial

Media | 05/18/2000 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 apparent failure of the Interactive Multimedia Producers Association of Canada to accomplish some minimal goals in the face of federal foot-dragging should come as no surprise. It serves as an important wake up call to those who believe government involvement in fostering Canadian content on the web will be significant in the short-term. The fledgling new media community can't hope to attract the same attention as the telecommunications industry and the thousands of politically attractive jobs it creates in Canada. Legislators in this country have demonstrated a willingness to put government weight behind the building of physical infrastructure and facilities. It has demonstrated less of a willingness to fund original digital content. It's little wonder that private-sector companies, working to satisfy the immediate demands of their audiences, throw up their hands when changes at the federal level...

Future uncertain for national multimedia association; executive VP resigns

Media | 05/18/2000 4:00 am EDT

The federal government's lack of initiative or speed to support projects is being blamed by the former executive of the Interactive Multimedia Producers Association of Canada (IMPAC) for its own languishing progress. While the organization continues to operate, and has a single staff member and office space in Montreal,...

Ontario budget provides some new money and tax perks to digital media

Media | 05/18/2000 4:00 am EDT

New media entrepreneurs didn't receive any significant spending increases in the recently released Ontario budget, but there are a few more incentives to help stimulate the sector. While several initiatives - including $2 million in new funding to train women in technology and $45 million for expanding tele-health...

Former Telefilm executive on prowl for web investments for venture capital fund

Media | 05/18/2000 4:00 am EDT

Former Telefilm Canada executive Brian Katz says his new position at Toronto-based Infopreneur Inc will put him in charge of a significant new capital pool earmarked for in-house and external new media projects. Katz says the Toronto-based firm is finalizing the details of a new venture fund that could invest up to $500,000...

New guidelines designed to discourage anti-competitive behaviour in IP

Media | 05/18/2000 4:00 am EDT

The Competition Bureau has issued new guidelines on how it would use federal legislation to enforce intellectual property (IP) rights. The 53-page document, entitled Intellectual Property Enforcement Guidelines (http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/pics/ct/ipegs-e.pdf) is the second draft of the guidelines, and the result of a...

Toronto needs stronger ties to strengthen new media cluster, says SMART Toronto chief

Media | 05/18/2000 4:00 am EDT

SMART Toronto president Mark Deacon is leaving the organization after 18 months in the job, saying he's pleased with Toronto's progress in becoming a new media cluster - despite ongoing problems to unite the city's new economy companies. In an interview with Canadian NEW MEDIA,...

Portals need higher speeds & content to compete against BCE, says new report

Media | 05/18/2000 4:00 am EDT

An expected explosion in high-speed access will force Canadian portal companies to re-think their strategies, says the Yankee Group in Canada. In its recent report, All Aboard!: Last Call for Portal Partners, Yankee predicts BCE Inc will enjoy an edge over rivals CANOE.ca, Canada.com and the other Internet service providers...

Foreign control of media “won’t happen” while Chrétien is PM, insider says

Media | 05/11/2000 4:00 am EDT

Bureaucrats at Canadian Heritage are finalizing a review of the rules affecting foreign ownership of media, but efforts to water down the rules may be blocked at the highest levels of the government, Canadian Communications Reports has learned. Heritage Minister Sheila Copps revealed the...

CRTC likely to forbear small cable operators from filing Internet access tariffs

Media | 05/11/2000 4:00 am EDT

The CRTC is about to decide what regulatory approaches it should take for smaller cable operators who offer high speed Internet access services.  In Order CRTC 2000-317, released April 18, the commission found that carriers other than Cogeco, Rogers, Shaw and Videotron are not required to cost-justify proposed rates...

Delays in rolling out DTV in Canada looking wiser as U.S. stumbles on standards

Media | 05/11/2000 4:00 am EDT

Canada's decision to stay 18-24 months behind the U.S. in rolling out digital television (DTV) is beginning to look like a masterstroke of wisdom. While the American television industry ruthlessly second-guesses its 8VSB DTV transmission standard - which is already being used by 126 U.S. DTV stations covering 62.74 per cent of that country - the most Canadian broadcasters are on the hook for is a single 8VSB transmitter borrowed from Larcan.  Rollout update of U.S. digital TV Shipments of digital television sets in the U.S. are projected to increase to more than a half million units this year. By 2004, as DTV set prices decrease and the government-mandated cessation of analog...

Private broadcasters call on federal gov’t to develop new strategy for Canadian content

Media | 05/11/2000 4:00 am EDT

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) took its newest lobby campaign to the backroom of Canada's press corps last week in an attempt to build widespread support for a new and less intrusive regulatory regime. CAB president/CEO Michael McCabe delivered his industry's vision of how...

World Television Network finally gets day before CRTC in bid for analog TV channel

Media | 05/11/2000 4:00 am EDT

A Toronto newspaper publisher is waiting for the CRTC to decide whether he will get what could be the country's last analog TV channel. A hearing held earlier this week in Kingston ON will decide whether Corierre Canadese publisher Dan Iannuzzi should receive dual carriage status on cable, following a 10-year struggle...

Profits in FM drive radio market close to $1-billion in revenues, CRTC report finds

Media | 05/11/2000 4:00 am EDT

Having a radio station may still be a licence to print money, but it had better be on the FM band. A new CRTC report, Statistical and Financial Summaries for Private Radio, shows broadcasters are migrating from the AM band to FM and getting a return on their investment. The 487 AM and FM stations across the country had...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 05/11/2000 4:00 am EDT

CAIP ends talks with cablecos over third-party accessThe Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) has walked away from mediation talks with cablecos over the thorny issue of third-party access, and is calling on the CRTC to settle the three-year-old dispute once and for all.CAIP president Jay Thomson says he will be sending a letter to the commission within the next few days after ongoing mediation between the...

How Canadian broadcast regulation ranks against the U.K. and Europe

Media | 05/11/2000 4:00 am EDT

Canadian Communications Reports recently sat down with Michael Ryan, a lawyer with Coudert Brothers' global telecom practice in London England who, up until 1994, had been VP law at Unitel Communications Inc (now AT&T Canada). His years working in England and experience in dealing with the European communications market have given him a fresh perspective on what Canada's broadcast regulator is doing right, and what it might do better. An edited transcript of that conversation follows: CCR: How is communications policy in the U.K. and Europe different than in Canada? MR: Europe is behind in the sense that they haven't been able to confront the dominance of...

CCR Editorial

Media | 05/11/2000 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Two Canadian companies are hoping the CRTC will make an exception to its digital-only rule for new services and grant them what could be the last two analog channels on Canadian cable.  World Television Network (WTM) and Food Network Canada have very different reasons for wanting to jump ahead of...

Federal tribunal still reviewing impact of CRTC ruling on new media workers

Media | 05/04/2000 4:00 am EDT

Last year's ruling by the CRTC to classify most new media as broadcasting has prompted another federal tribunal to determine what impact this decision has on the collective bargaining rights of new media workers. At issue is a piece of federal legislation called The Status of the Artist Act, which protects independent...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 05/04/2000 4:00 am EDT

Mosaic Group bolsters digital marketing armToronto-based Mosaic Group Inc, an outsourced marketing services agency, has bought a majority equity stake in fellow Toronto group Medium One Productions Inc. Mosaic execs say the 52 per cent buy-in to the company, with 45 Toronto- and Montreal-based staffers, will allow Mosaic to expand its electronic marketing efforts for its clients. Medium One builds interactive marketing...

Cnm People

Media | 05/04/2000 4:00 am EDT

In concert with the acquisition of Wenfin.com Inc, Netgraphe Inc has announced that Gilles Lajoie will become its editor. Former managing editor of the French-language magazine L'Actualité, Lajoie possesses a long and distinguished career in the media industry. He was also director of the news section for the Les Affaires and managing editor for Commerce, two of Quebec's major business publications. Ted...

Looking at the real reasons for the digital divide

Media | 05/04/2000 4:00 am EDT

(Please note that an abridged version of this column appears in the print version of Canadian NEW MEDIA)If you follow the public policy circuit these days, you will notice that there is a new issue beginning to attract attention; universality of access to advanced services or the digital divide. Bill Clinton took time out to meet with opinion leaders to...

Behaviour’s foray into new media ends with sale of digital studio to Montreal firm

Media | 05/04/2000 4:00 am EDT

Behaviour Communications Inc has finalized the $850,000 sale of its digital studio in Montreal, signaling the final chapter in the independent film company's move into new media. In a series of deals announced over the past two months, Behaviour has seen the resignation of Richard Szalwinski and...

CNM Editorial

Media | 05/04/2000 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Michael Hennessy argues this week in our Newsmakers column that it is not up to government to subsidize connectivity for low-income Canadians. During his tenure at Bell Mobility, he rallied against government-mandated subsidies that require long distance companies to subsidize the cost of local phone...

New music portal promises to create a secure revenue stream for rights holders

Media | 05/04/2000 4:00 am EDT

A veteran in the Canadian music industry has teamed with a dot com incubator to bring the record label model online, without creating a new haven for copyright pirates. Montreal-based Donald K Donald (DKD), a high-profile Canadian concert promoter and label owner, and QR Canada Capital Inc, also of Montreal, are tying...

New media projects to get money twice a year from CITO funding mechanism

Media | 05/04/2000 4:00 am EDT

An Ontario research fund is changing its grant structure to ensure new media projects receive grants sooner. Communications and Information Technology Ontario (CITO) says it will now fund projects in two rounds per year as opposed to the single flurry of grant activity it has held in past. The switch is intended to help companies with immediate research needs get access to grant cash more quickly to fund university- and college-level projects. Vic DiCiccio, CITO's VP of research, says more frequent funding rounds, which normally have a one-quarter new media component, will help build contacts between industry and the academic community. "It allows us to capitalize on an...

Senate hearing to review online privacy, e-commerce, competition and content

Media | 05/04/2000 4:00 am EDT

The head of the Interactive Multimedia Producers Association of Canada (IMPAC) says he doubts that another federal inquiry into the Internet and new media will spur Ottawa to free up more money for the new media industry. On April 19, Senator Marie-P Poulin announced that the Senate Sub-committee on Communications will...

SaskTel and Craig Wireless join forces to develop regional multimedia content

Media | 05/04/2000 4:00 am EDT

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Inc (SaskTel) is making plans to become a regional developer of multimedia content, in the wake of two recent deals that will see the Crown-owned corporation move into broadband wireless cable. Details are sketchy at this point, and Sasktel executives will only say that they are evaluating...

Univ of Calgary and JAWS to produce next generation of Internet security specialists

Media | 05/04/2000 4:00 am EDT

A new million-dollar facility will open this fall in Calgary which promises a new option for companies seeking security products, interoperability testing and training. The eSecurity Innovation Centre is opening in a new University of Calgary facility, jointly funded by the university and Toronto-based JAWS Technology Inc....

Senate to tackle everything from foreign ownership to Canadian content rules

Media | 04/27/2000 4:00 am EDT

The Senate Subcommittee on Communications is beginning a year-long probe into regulatory, cultural and consumer issues raised by new communications technology. The committee, chaired by Marie-P. Poulin, a former senior executive of the CBC and founder of the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal,...

CRTC urged to speed up approval process for communications mergers

Media | 04/27/2000 4:00 am EDT

While the U.S. Federal Communication Commission has revamped its approval process to try to deal with applications within six months, the CRTC's review process continues to be so lengthy that businesses involved in mergers can be hurt, according to one prominent communications lawyer.  The CRTC will be dealing with several major mergers in the next year: BCE Inc and CTV Inc; and Groupe Vidéotron ltée (if Rogers Communications Inc, Quebecor Inc or the Caisse de Depot et Placement are able to make a deal). At the same time, the commission is a facing an almost unmanageable workload over the next year, with plans to review 452 applications for digital specialty services, revamp its...

Industry Canada plans makeover to 17-year-old microwave radio policy

Media | 04/27/2000 4:00 am EDT

Canada's non-profit and shared-use microwave radio facilities could soon become commercial operations if Industry Canada follows through with a proposal to revamp its 17-year-old microwave policy. The department is seeking comments on a proposed new policy more suited for existing users of microwave systems who operate...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 04/27/2000 4:00 am EDT

Regional Cable brings Gigabit speeds to schoolsRegional Cablesystems Inc announced April 24 that it has built a Gigabit wide area networks for two Sudbury-area schools boards and their seven high schools. The network will support high-speed Internet, on-demand learning systems, and broadcast quality video conferencing. The network represents an increase of at least 125 times over the school's current level of...

CCR People

Media | 04/27/2000 4:00 am EDT

Effective May 1, Gerry Noble will become president/CEO of Global Communications Limited, with responsibility for all of CanWest's Canadian media operations. Jim Sward, president/CEO of Global Communications, is leaving the company when his contract expires August 31. Sward has held the position since 1993. Kevin Shea becomes president of the Global Television Network. Shea joined Global Television in September 1995 as...

Canada champions a new international approach to bring culture under trade agreements

Media | 04/27/2000 4:00 am EDT

In the past, countries have tried to maintain their cultural policies by securing a "cultural exemption" from certain trade agreements, or by declining to make trade commitments in specific cultural sectors. But these approaches are increasingly fraught with problems. They do not achieve...

CCR Editorial

Media | 04/27/2000 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 U.S. Federal Communications Commission has strict rules on the issue of socializing between regulators and industry: people who have filed applications cannot meet with commissioners or staff.  Informal meetings between industry people and the FCC are allowed, but the subjects of discussion must...

Remove Telefilm from management of CTF board, new report recommends

Media | 04/27/2000 4:00 am EDT

The authors of a new report on the operation of the Canadian Television Fund are calling for a clear separation between the CTF and Telefilm Canada and a radical shake-up in how the CTF is managed. It's also recommending a $50-million increase in federal funding for the CTF. The strongly-worded report, written by...

AOL Canada tests high-speed Internet access using Regional’s cable network

Media | 04/27/2000 4:00 am EDT

A pilot project underway in the small Ontario town of Sturgeon Falls could force other cable operators to begin sharing their high-speed networks with Internet service providers (ISPs) and other competitors. Regional Cablesystems Inc is breaking ranks with its cable brethren through a deal that sees AOL Canada delivering...

Data revenues may drive re-examination of digital TV standard by U.S. broadcasters

Media | 04/27/2000 4:00 am EDT

After years of struggling to find a business case for digital TV, broadcasters may have found the answer in ancillary data services. Unfortunately, broadcasters in the United States have doggedly supported a technical standard that isn't ideally suited for data transmissions.  This year's National Association...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 04/20/2000 4:00 am EDT

Netgraphe acquires Editions Ma CarrièreNetgraphe Inc, Montreal, has completed its acquisition of Editions Ma Carrière, a publisher of reference books on employment, training and career management. In addition, Netgraphe, which already owned 75%, has also acquired full ownership of Jobboom Inc, operator of Jobboom.com. Company executives say its new ownership of both companies will allow it to become the uncontested leader in the job-exchange field on the Internet. Since the launch of Jobboom.com last December, e-commerce sales have grown 425% from December 1999 to March this year. Microforum bolsters content delivery abilitiesToronto-based Microforum Inc is buying a technology to make web content available to multiple types of devices. The company has entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire certain assets of flashCast Communications Corp, including its proprietary XML-based CEPort mobile content technology. As part of the transaction, Microforum will hire key personnel of flashCast, including its president, Paul...

CNM People

Media | 04/20/2000 4:00 am EDT

Webhelp.com, Toronto, has made several changes to its management team. Chris Harrs, who's been named VP strategic marketing, will be responsible for developing strategic alliances. He worked previously at Universal Studios Canada as VP business and legal affairs for its film, music and home video divisions. John Burton has left his position as an associate at Torys in New York to become Webhelp.com's general...

Blaming government not always the solution to industry’s financing woes

Media | 04/20/2000 4:00 am EDT

From a risk management perspective, Canadians would never mount a number like Robin Williams' Oscar night, high kicking, cheeky rendition of "Blame Canada". It would be too risky, not to mention impolite to point the finger at another country. It is more our style no matter what the problem to build...

CNM Editorial

Media | 04/20/2000 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima ReportsWorkdayTV.com's foray into web broadcasting deserves to be watched closely. For the moment, the company is capitalizing on the general trend towards fractured audiences seeking niche content - and the web is a natural extension of that market.Without government regulation to hinder the company's...

New media meets TV as CRTC considers applications for new digital channels

Media | 04/20/2000 4:00 am EDT

Dozens of new media companies have teamed up with broadcasters, production companies and other traditional television players to compete for a new generation of TV services that promise more functionality than the web, and as much uncertainty when it comes to making money. Digital TV ServicesInteractive program...

Toronto company launches news channel on web using wireless technology

Media | 04/20/2000 4:00 am EDT

Even as hundreds of applications flood the CRTC's Hull QC headquarters for licences to broadcast new digital specialty stations, Internet upstart Workday-TV.com Corp is bypassing regulatory channels by going direct-to-web. From a mobile broadcasting van/station roaming Toronto's financial district, the company has commercialized a news service station during market hours delivered solely via its website. It began its broadcasts April 12. The service offers live news reporting, stock quotes, analysis and live interviews as the financial markets develop. With an impressively-seasoned crew of on-air personalities, and even more importantly, a bottom line in the black from the word...

Federal court considers wading into complex issue of copyright and the Internet

Media | 04/20/2000 4:00 am EDT

Canadian rights holders are appealing to the Federal Court of Appeal to decide once and for all whether Internet service providers (ISPs) should pay a royalty for music transmitted over the Internet. The question was to have been decided last October, when the Copyright Board of Canada released its decision on Tariff 22 - a...

Government signs multimedia services agreement with Telesat and its partners

Media | 04/20/2000 4:00 am EDT

Telesat Canada will provide the Canadian government with nearly $30 million in new broadband multimedia services over 10 years as part of a deal that also sees the Canadian Space Agency subsidizing part of the company's new Anik F2 satellite. As part of its Connecting Canadians strategy, the government will use the new...

T-commerce and streaming dominate convergence discussions at NAB 2000

Media | 04/20/2000 4:00 am EDT

The National Association of Broadcasters devoted this year's massive convention in Las Vegas to the theme, "The Convergence Marketplace", but despite the hype, there was little evidence that the gap between broadcasting and new media was narrowing at anything near Internet speed. Both the sessions and the...

Vancouver and Edmonton court cases could shut down Canadian C-band market

Media | 04/13/2000 4:00 am EDT

What remains of Canada's grey market in satellite TV could come to an abrupt end this year depending on the outcome of two separate court cases scheduled to begin in late May. The lawyer representing Bell ExpressVu LP and other rights holders says the cases are significant because they will bring an end to any...

Ontario V-chip maker wants faster roll out of gatekeeper technology in Canada

Media | 04/13/2000 4:00 am EDT

Executives of a Scarborough ON company are anxious to begin selling their V-chip systems in Canada, but first they need broadcasters to develop an encoded rating system for the technology. V.gis Technologies Ltd president Najmul Siddiqui, whose company markets external V-chip systems, met with CRTC officials at the...

Pending digital TV bonanza promises to create a new competitor to the web

Media | 04/13/2000 4:00 am EDT

Digital television will combine the interactivity of the web with the simplicity of conventional TV to create a new medium that can compete with the Internet for a large share of online revenues, a senior broadcast executive said. Trina McQueen, executive VP of BCE Inc-owned CTV Inc, said she believes digital TV will...

CCTA lobbies for less regulation, more new media funding in latest campaign

Media | 04/13/2000 4:00 am EDT

The recent spate of media mergers across North America, combined with the growing proliferation of the Internet, has given the cable industry the ammunition it needs to lobby for substantive changes in how broadcast distributors are regulated in Canada. The first phase of its multi-stage campaign was unveiled April 3...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 04/13/2000 4:00 am EDT

CHUM begins PC broadcasting on iMagic's SoftTV platformChumCity Interactive has authorized the trial airing of broadcast television programming over iMagicTV's SoftTV platform to enable service providers to offer interactive television on subscribers' desktop PCs. iMagicTV plans to expand the trial of its SoftTV product with one of its North American customers. The trial project enables content providers to...

CCR People

Media | 04/13/2000 4:00 am EDT

Deborah Andrews has been named national director, Mentorship Program, of the Canadian Film and Television Producers Association. Andrews has worked with youth organizations for more than 20 years, including Children's Aid Societies, community resource centers and The Door/La Porte. The CFTPA National Mentorship Program offers both the International Intern Program for Canadian Youth and the Production Internship Program for Canadian Youth.  Bruce Cowie, special advisor to CTV network president Ivan Fecan, has been elected president of the board of the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA). He replaces Robert Ottenhoff, former COO of the Public Broadcasting Service. Cowie joined Baton Broadcasting Inc in January 1997 as executive VP and COO. He helped Fecan negotiate the strategic alliance of Electrohome Limited and then Baton Broadcasting Inc. Jay Switzer has been promoted to senior VP and GM of ChumCity, which oversees CHUM's television and specialty TV operations. Switzer will continue in his role as senior VP...

CCR Newsmakers

Media | 04/13/2000 4:00 am EDT

The first stage of the CRTC's digital specialty service licencing process is now complete. Approximately 450 applications were filed for new services, more than any previous licensing call. The current licensing process represents another shift in the commission's evolving regulatory approach. First off, there are two categories of license. Category 1 licences will receive guaranteed access to the digital...

CCR Editorial

Media | 04/13/2000 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 Radiocommunications Act is a poor substitute for effective intellectual property legislation.  The Act was first used in 1997 as the most efficient means to shut down companies that sell DBS satellite equipment, and arrange U.S. mailing addresses for Canadians that want to receive unauthorized...

Tech stock mania highlights commercial and social importance of Internet

Media | 04/06/2000 4:00 am EDT

One thing the stock markets have gotten right is the unlimited commercial potential of the Internet. The brash upstart has demonstrated its ability to leap frog conventional ways of delivering goods and services. More fundamentally, it has created an opportunity to leap frog conventional notions of how we...

CNM Editorial

Media | 04/06/2000 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Seven years ago, the Canadian Cable Television Association pitched the CRTC on an idea that was too tempting to turn down. Allow us to keep a planned rollback in basic cable rates to finance our migration to digital, and we will contribute a portion of our revenues to a Canadian TV production...

Internet advertising to fall under Elections Canada rules; new law expected by May

Media | 04/06/2000 4:00 am EDT

A bill to be passed in Parliament shortly will usher Canada's federal election laws into cyberspace while regulators south of the border still struggle with the changes technology has wrought. The new rules will result in Internet service providers being subject to the same guidelines for election advertising as broadcasters and print media. Government house leader Don Boudria told Canadian NEW MEDIA the changes were necessary to reflect the altered landscape of the technological world. Previous versions of the Elections Act did not even permit a candidate for federal office to file via a fax machine. The bill has passed through the House of Commons and is approaching a vote in the...

New media companies look for more government involvement, survey finds

Media | 04/06/2000 4:00 am EDT

The emergence of online marketing and distribution is one of the more dramatic changes the multimedia industry has experienced over the past fours years, according to a recently released report by AC Nielsen DJC Research. The study, Profile of the Multimedia Industry, goes on to say that despite the existence of several...

Cable industry launches campaign to bolster federal support for new media

Media | 04/06/2000 4:00 am EDT

The Canadian cable industry is taking advantage of a digital policy vacuum in the federal government to lobby for a radical change in Ottawa's communications framework, one that stimulates development of digital content and lightens the regulatory load for cable operators. The industry's proposed policy...

U.S. concerned about lax Canadian piracy laws

Media | 04/06/2000 4:00 am EDT

The United States Trade Office (USTR) has released its annual report identifying barriers to foreign trade, and despite its status as America's largest trading partner, Canada still ranks poorly when it comes to culture and other protected industry sectors. Still smarting from the split-run magazine spat, the USTR says it will continue to...

Private broadcasters peg survival on blending of old and new media

Media | 04/06/2000 4:00 am EDT

Canadian broadcasters say they're prepared to migrate to digital content and transmissions, but say they need the federal government to help facilitate their access to foreign markets and offer better copyright protection for their content. The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) has detailed its strategic plan...

Feds give Heritage more money for digitizing new and archival cultural content

Media | 04/06/2000 4:00 am EDT

Canadian Heritage is spending $20 million over the next year to digitize Canada's cultural history and to develop new online content. The first details of the program were released last week as part of the federal department's budget estimates for the current fiscal year (Part III - Report on Plans and...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 04/06/2000 4:00 am EDT

Canada pushes for global e-com standardCanada is among the countries pushing for an international standard for e-commerce, in hopes that it will encourage more Canadians to embrace online shopping.On March 29, Industry Minister John Manley released the Canadian Standards Strategy, an eight-page document that outlines, in general terms, the direction Canada should take in developing standards for protecting health, safety...

CNM People

Media | 04/06/2000 4:00 am EDT

Paul Braconnier, president of Vicom Multimedia Inc, has been appointed to the company's board of directors. The board also accepted the resignation of Barry Chugg from the board, although he will continue as VP of the Edmonton-based company. Willy Wong has been promoted from VP to president/CEO of iFuture Inc, the Toronto company that owns and operates the AstroAdvice web site. Wong is a computer programmer and...

CCSA dumps Cancom for Bell ExpressVu

Media | 03/30/2000 5:00 am EST

Canadian Satellite Communications Inc was dealt a major blow to its satellite-to-cable headend business on March 28 when the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance Inc (CCSA) announced that it was switching to a telco-owned service. Bell ExpressVu Inc won the contract to provide Canadian and U.S. signals, along with specialty programming, to the 90 cable...

Quebec nationalism becomes issue in Quebecor’s bid for Vidéotron

Media | 03/30/2000 5:00 am EST

Quebecor Inc's hostile takeover bid of Groupe Vidéotron ltée reinforces a belief within Quebec's nationalist government that control of communications infrastructure should be kept inside the province, a prominent member of Quebec's independence movement says. The elected official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Pequist government is concerned that non-Quebec ownership of the cable market would hamper the province's goal of becoming a major French-language new media player. "The Quebec government has invested a lot of money into the high-tech industries of Montreal to maintain French in the new economy," the Bloc MP states. "It has...