TAGGED AS CANCON
CanCon producers praise BTLR terms of trade recommendation
Media | 01/31/2020 5:01 pm EST
OTTAWA — The reintroduction of an agreement governing contracts involving independent producers would be vital to curbing market power of large foreign streaming giants, as well as be a boon to independent Canadian content producers, according to a panelist speaking on the...
BTLR reaction mixed, no clarity on gov’t implementation
Media | 01/29/2020 5:32 pm EST
OTTAWA — A broadcasting and telecommunications legislative review report recommendation that would task a renamed CRTC with regulating online news sites is the “ok, boomer” approach to the internet, according to Conservative industry critic Michelle Rempel Garner. ...
‘Clock ticking’ on new content rules for web giants, Guilbeault says
Media | 01/13/2020 2:30 pm EST
The Liberal government's minority mandate means it will have to move fast...
Blair says ‘no timeline’ on Huawei ban; Bains promises ‘more’ on prices
Media | 11/20/2019 1:51 pm EST
OTTAWA — New Public Safety Minister Bill Blair indicated Wednesday he is...
If Corus gets to defer CanCon obligations, we should too: Rogers, Bell, Quebecor
Media | 11/06/2019 4:47 pm EST
Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc., and Quebecor Inc. have all told the CRTC that if the regulator allows Corus Entertainment Inc. to shift some of its CanCon requirements from one broadcast year...
Allarco’s Super Channel asked to justify its license renewal before the CRTC
Media | 11/06/2019 11:28 am EST
GATINEAU — Either Allarco Entertainment 2008 Inc. is an essential part of...
CPC plans for Netflix, rural broadband still unclear days ahead of vote
Media | 10/17/2019 12:54 pm EDT
Despite Conservative leader Andrew Scheer indicating throughout this fall’s election campaign that he would make sure Netflix Inc. pays its “fair share,” his party is...
French music group suing CRTC over 2012 funding decision
Media | 10/03/2019 5:26 pm EDT
In 2012, the CRTC released a broadcasting decision that required Sirius XM Holdings Inc. to allocate, as a condition of licence, 20 per cent of some of its revenues to an English-language music fund...
Corus asks CRTC to defer CanCon obligations, citing volatility
Media | 10/03/2019 4:57 pm EDT
Corus Entertainment Inc. is asking the CRTC if the broadcaster can spend...
DHX rebranding as WildBrain
Media | 09/23/2019 4:22 pm EDT
Three weeks after announcing a new CEO with a background in developing family-based entertainment products, DHX Media Ltd. announced Monday -- alongside its 2019 fourth quarter results -- that it would rebrand as WildBrain and reorganize itself around family-entertainment. On August 30, the...
Election 2019: watch for price caps, Netflix regs, Huawei ban
Media | 09/10/2019 12:03 pm EDT
Even before the federal election campaign officially kicked off, telecom...
Federal Court of Appeal will review Bell’s CanCon concert spend case
Media | 09/04/2019 4:03 pm EDT
BCE Inc. has formally filed its appeal arguments challenging a CRTC decision that said a quarter of its Canadian content contributions toward two concerts were not eligible. In July, Bell filed...
Creative groups lobbying for tax credits on content development
Media | 09/03/2019 5:44 pm EDT
Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal is lobbying both the Alberta and Ontario...
Kelly Wilhelm joins CMF
Media | 08/07/2019 2:31 pm EDT
The Canadian Media Fund has announced it is hiring former Heritage Canada strategist Kelly Wilhelm to a newly created role of chief strategy officer. According to a release, Wilhelm will be “tasked with contributing to setting the future trajectory of the CMF, with a specific focus on...
Heritage working groups examining regulation of online content
Media | 07/30/2019 3:17 pm EDT
Heritage Canada has commissioned seven working groups that are looking at...
Bell asking court to review CRTC decision on CanCon concert spend
Media | 07/11/2019 5:00 pm EDT
BCE Inc.’s media division is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to look at a CRTC decision last month that made concert tickets the broadcaster distributed for promotional...
Broadcasters’ digital revenue growth slowing, new CRTC data shows
Media | 06/28/2019 4:22 pm EDT
The CRTC has released digital media revenue and expense information compiled from the twenty private broadcasters. Digital media services collectively amassed more than $412 million in revenue for...
Rodriguez promises CanCon rules for ‘web giants’
Media | 06/26/2019 5:53 pm EDT
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said in a social media post Wednesday that the Liberal government plans...
Few surprises in BTLR ‘what we heard’ report
Media | 06/26/2019 10:30 am EDT
The blue ribbon panel in charge of reviewing Canada’s communications legislation has released its...
Labour lawyer Marie Kelly new ACTRA exec director
Media | 04/08/2019 6:45 pm EDT
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) said it has a new national executive director in Marie Kelly, effective on Monday. Kelly, a labour lawyer by trade, will replace the retiring Stephen...
NDP MP says gov’t must clarify if Netflix deal had any French-language funds
telecom | 04/03/2019 3:48 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Quebec NDP MP François Choquette has filed a judicial review application with the Federal Court to contest the alleged premature closing of an investigation by the...
CRTC asks whether streaming spending should count toward CPE
Media | 03/28/2019 5:16 pm EDT
The CRTC wants to update both its Canadian Programming Expenditure policy and its annual broadcasting survey to reflect the growth of streaming and other digital options and is asking for input on how...
Content exporters ask consulting panel for CMF envelope they can access, match
Media | 03/12/2019 7:07 pm EDT
A trade association for Canadian-based television and content distribution...
CRTC approves Corus sale of TNI stake
Media | 03/07/2019 5:49 pm EST
The CRTC has approved the sale of Corus Entertainment Inc.’s stake in Telelatino Network Inc.,...
Online discoverability a challenge for books, magazines, BTLR hears
Media | 02/25/2019 2:31 pm EST
Organizations representing Canadian publishers are flagging the difficulty...
Public music should feature Canadian content, Stingray says
Media | 02/01/2019 1:18 pm EST
Music in public establishments such as malls, bars and restaurants should...
Bell’s panel submission calls for CMF to get 20% of foreign OTT revenues
Media | 01/29/2019 3:25 pm EST
BCE Inc. wants to inject the Canada Media Fund (CMF) with a potentially...
Gaming companies bristle after review panel suggests they’re broadcasters
Media | 01/28/2019 4:05 pm EST
A meeting with individuals leading the federal government’s review of...
New Broadcast Act should ‘unambiguously exclude’ OTT: Netflix
Media | 01/25/2019 4:51 pm EST
Netflix Inc. is defending against calls to rope foreign over-the-top...
Shaw calls for removal of 5% BDU content contribution
Media | 01/22/2019 6:17 pm EST
Shaw Communications Inc. is asking the government to drop the five per cent revenue contribution TV service providers make to Canadian content, but says if CanCon needs a subsidy then it should be a direct one from government coffers. Shaw’s submission to the panel reviewing Canada’s communications laws says the current annual contributions broadcast distribution undertakings make should be nixed and if anything, replaced with tax revenue from citizens, so that Canadian content isn’t funded at the “continued expense of BDUs who are facing significant market challenges.” Shaw...
FRPC wants CanCon visibility on search engines
Media | 01/21/2019 12:50 pm EST
As a rule, when Canadians search keywords on the internet, they should be presented with Canadian content...
Fast-track OTT review, clock ticking on CMF ‘top-up’: CMPA
Media | 01/18/2019 10:41 am EST
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) wants the government to...
CBC calls for site-blocking provisions for ‘manipulated content’
Media | 01/11/2019 4:09 pm EST
CBC/Radio-Canada wants the federal government to grant the CRTC the ability...
Bell must pay $433k in ‘ineligible’ tangible benefits
Media | 12/18/2018 3:20 pm EST
The CRTC has dismissed an appeal by BCE Inc. and ordered it to pay...
Don’t give Corus tangible benefits exemption: CanCon groups
telecom | 12/11/2018 5:09 pm EST
A proposal by Corus Entertainment Inc. to shut down 44 television rebroadcasting transmitters in small rural markets hasn’t found support among intervenors, though content-production industry groups were opposed to the requested exemption to the CRTC’s tangible benefits...
Corus lost $2.3M in unspent CMF money from failed French channels deal
Media | 12/10/2018 10:14 am EST
Corus Entertainment Inc. had $2.3 million in Canada Media Fund (CMF) money...
Former CRTC commissioners criticize Harnessing Change report
Media | 11/07/2018 7:15 pm EST
TORONTO — The idea of cross-subsidization of industries did not find...
Comms acts review panel urges ‘practical’ submissions
Media | 11/01/2018 7:11 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Members of the panel tasked with providing recommendations to...
Yale responds to criticism about review panel consumer reps
Media | 11/01/2018 2:29 pm EDT
OTTAWA – Conservative senators doubled-down on a previously-raised...
Rogers’ network ‘our contribution’ to content ecosystem: VP
Media | 10/31/2018 7:24 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The billions of dollars Rogers Communications Inc. says it’s...
Ensure ISPs don’t have to contribute money to CanCon: CCSA
Media | 10/23/2018 4:33 pm EDT
The Canadian Communications Systems Alliance (CCSA) is asking the Senate...
Ontario class action filed over reality show production staff wages
Media | 10/09/2018 4:27 pm EDT
A multi-million dollar class action claim has been filed in Ontario Superior Court against television content producer Cineflix Media Inc. and its affiliates, claiming workers were denied minimum...
Quebecor calls on provincial parties to support film tax credit
Media | 09/26/2018 5:00 pm EDT
Quebecor Inc. is urging Quebec political parties to pledge that they’ll keep a provincial film and TV tax credit and support the province’s film industry, the company said in a press release...
Canadian Heritage gets new deputy minister
Media | 09/21/2018 4:00 pm EDT
Hélène Laurendeau will be the new deputy minister at Canadian Heritage, the Prime Minister’s Office announced Friday afternoon. Laurendeau is currently deputy minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, a role she’s held since April 2016. Laurendeau has worked across a wide swath of departments, including the Public Service Commission, Treasury Board, Privy Council Office (PCO) and Justice Canada, although this will be her first time at Heritage. She will replace Heritage’s current deputy minister Graham Flack, who is moving over to become deputy minister of...
Cultural sector reaches out to Rodriguez
Media | 09/19/2018 6:12 pm EDT
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has met with creative groups in his first registered lobby...
Bryan Adams asked Trudeau, Harper to change Copyright Act
Media | 09/18/2018 2:32 pm EDT
OTTAWA -- Canadian rock legend Bryan Adams is asking Canadian lawmakers to...
New party, fresh faces on Heritage could shake up Parliament
Media | 09/14/2018 5:16 pm EDT
As politicians file back into Parliament Hill’s Centre Block for the...
Andrew Scheer shuffles Heritage, Industry critics
Media | 09/07/2018 4:36 pm EDT
Opposition Conservative leader Andrew Scheer has shuffled his caucus's shadow cabinet in the lead up to...
Big concessions on NAFTA cultural exemption unlikely, experts say
Media | 09/07/2018 2:40 pm EDT
As cultural protection emerges as a last-stretch NAFTA sticking point, Canadian media unions say they’re concerned but hopeful because Canada’s negotiators have indicated...
CRTC outlines potential moves on Harnessing Change suggestions
Media | 09/06/2018 5:41 pm EDT
The CRTC said Thursday it is considering taking action on potential changes it outlined in a May report looking at programming distribution models. The Harnessing Change report recommended a number...
MPs Fillmore and Anandasangaree named Heritage parl secs
Media | 08/31/2018 11:43 am EDT
After this summer’s cabinet shuffle, the Heritage minister will gain two...
CRTC walks back on licence renewals, ups PNI spending
Media | 08/30/2018 5:59 pm EDT
The CRTC published its reassessed baseline spending requirements for programs of national interest (PNI)...
Netflix Canada’s first employee plucked from the CMF
Media | 08/30/2018 4:40 pm EDT
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has confirmed that its vice-president of...
CMF-funded kids content tops export sales for first time
Media | 08/28/2018 7:01 pm EDT
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) released its 2017-2018 annual report on Monday,...
ACTRA appoints Lisa Blanchette as public policy and comms director
Media | 08/28/2018 4:40 pm EDT
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) has...
CMF to fund Canada/South Africa co-productions
Media | 08/21/2018 2:25 pm EDT
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) announced a new financing program to encourage television co-developments by Canadian and South African producers on Tuesday. The total amount of funds being allocated is $120,000, with individual...
CMF to consult on changing regulations this fall
telecom | 08/20/2018 4:37 pm EDT
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) will hold focus group meetings with Canadian production industry stakeholders...
CPC Heritage critic Van Loan leaving politics
Media | 07/30/2018 2:25 pm EDT
Heritage shadow minister Peter Van Loan will no longer be an MP as of Sept. 30, according to a statement posted on social media Sunday.
Since 2004, Van Loan has represented the riding of York-Simcoe. He was a cabinet minister from 2006 until the 2015 ouster of the...
CMPA to tour country ahead of broadcast, telecom acts review
Media | 07/30/2018 1:40 pm EDT
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) has launched a Canada-wide...
Broadcast revenue bleeding got worse in 2017: CRTC
Media | 07/09/2018 8:30 pm EDT
According to the latest data from the CRTC, the Canadian broadcasting and broadcast distribution...
Christa Dickenson to helm Telefilm Canada
telecom | 06/26/2018 7:01 pm EDT
Christa Dickenson will be the next executive director of Telefilm Canada, the office of Heritage Minister...
Gov’t announces new $35M fund for cultural content exports
Media | 06/26/2018 6:49 pm EDT
MONTREAL — Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly outlined Tuesday the...
Nantel accuses Joly of holding cultural sector ‘hostage’
Media | 06/07/2018 1:23 pm EDT
NDP Heritage critic Pierre Nantel took Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly to task for launching another consultation Tuesday instead of proposing legislative change, during Joly’s appearance at the House heritage committee Thursday morning.
“I think it is absolutely...
Media sector, senator back change to ad tax exemption
Media | 06/06/2018 3:47 pm EDT
OTTAWA — A proposal to eliminate a tax exemption for advertising on foreign digital media received...
Experts to ‘find solutions’ in broadcast, telecom review: Joly
Media | 06/05/2018 8:10 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The expert panel appointed by the federal government to...
Change Bell Fund rules, media companies ask
Media | 05/15/2018 7:08 pm EDT
On Monday, the CRTC published a complaint from a group of media production companies including...
Trade committee recommends sales tax for foreign ‘intangible products’
telecom | 04/27/2018 4:54 pm EDT
The House standing committee on international trade is calling on the government to implement sales taxes on “intangible products” sold by foreign companies, improve rural internet access and...
CRTC rejects CUPE ask to pull digital media exemption
Media | 04/25/2018 4:45 pm EDT
The CRTC will not do anything about a Part 1 application filed by CUPE’s Provincial Council for Communications (CPSC) asking it to drop its regulatory exemptions for digital services because the arguments made in its Part 1 are...
CRTC says no hearing in license renewal consults
Media | 04/20/2018 5:38 pm EDT
The CRTC has opted out of an in-person hearing as it reconsiders its May 2017 licence renewal decision, instead launching a second phase of written consultations. The regulator was told to revisit the decisions made in previous...
Corus plans TV ad tech test next month
Media | 04/05/2018 6:29 pm EDT
Corus Entertainment Inc. is “accelerating” its transformation into a more data-centric company, its...
New CEO’s content background indicates shift at CBC: experts
Media | 04/03/2018 5:19 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Catherine Tait’s appointment as head of CBC/Radio-Canada is...
Bell adds Toronto production studio to its portfolio
Media | 03/29/2018 4:03 pm EDT
BCE Inc. 's media division has purchased a majority stake in a Toronto production studio, according to a release on Thursday.
Pinewood Toronto Studios is a 33.5 acre facility located near the Port Lands, and has one of the largest sound stages in North America,...
Money for CanCon in budget stopgap measure: CMPA
Media | 03/01/2018 1:33 pm EST
The 2018 federal budget, released Tuesday, confirmed the Canadian Media Fund (CMF) will receive top ups...
Bell asking employees to support FairPlay at CRTC: report
Media | 02/21/2018 12:53 pm EST
BCE Inc. is allegedly encouraging its employees to submit comments to the...
Bell’s Snackable TV officially on the menu
Media | 02/05/2018 5:58 pm EST
BCE Inc.’s Bell Media has officially launched a free, ad-supported mobile app featuring video content...
Ad-supported VOD rising as OTT grips TV market
Media | 02/02/2018 6:54 pm EST
OTTAWA — More competition in the over-the-top (OTT) space is driving a trend of more ad-supported...
Joly cites confidentiality for redactions in Netflix ATIP request
Media | 02/02/2018 2:32 pm EST
Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly faced questions this week about why a 700-page access to information request containing emails between the federal government and Netflix Inc....
Canadian media industry still behind on data, conference hears
Media | 02/01/2018 7:57 pm EST
OTTAWA — The Canadian television industry is behind the curve when it...
1% increase for PNI not enough, creative groups say
Media | 01/30/2018 5:33 pm EST
Creative groups are standing their ground on spending for programs of national interest (PNI), suggesting that a marginal increase in funding for those programs proposed by the large English-language broadcasters last month is not...
Jamie Schouela to helm Blue Ant’s Canadian media operations
Media | 01/08/2018 12:28 pm EST
In a press release on Monday, Blue Ant Media Inc. announced the promotion...
CRTC digs into reasons behind Canadians’ content consumption choices
Media | 01/04/2018 2:17 pm EST
The CRTC launched a survey Thursday to find out why Canadians consume content the way they do, including why many still turn to traditional TV and radio while others go exclusively online. The...
Music channel denied Canadian distribution
Media | 12/21/2017 10:36 am EST
The CRTC has denied an application by Ethnic Channels Group Ltd. (ECGL) to bring a Polish music channel to Canada after Blue Ant Media Inc. and Stingray Digital Group Inc. said it would interfere with their own services. The...
Court denies Bell Super Bowl SimSub appeal
Media | 12/19/2017 7:01 pm EST
The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed a case brought forward by BCE Inc. challenging the CRTC’s rule...
BPF registers to lobby amidst consumer group funding concerns
Media | 12/14/2017 2:25 pm EST
A few months after the emergence of a proposal asking the CRTC to shift...
CRTC revokes Bloomberg TV Canada licence
Media | 12/11/2017 1:44 pm EST
The CRTC granted a request by Bloomberg TV Canada to revoke its broadcasting licence Friday. The channel eliminated its in-house programming this August, according to a report in the Globe and Mail this summer. Its broadcasting...
CMF launches export program for CanCon
Media | 12/01/2017 3:40 pm EST
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has announced a new export project to help Canadian content reach global markets.
The pilot program will focus on “acquiring pre-sale financing from foreign broadcasters, online streaming services, distributors and sales agents” for...
Media, telecom issues not controversial in NAFTA: experts
Media | 11/15/2017 4:53 pm EST
OTTAWA — Questions around telecom, intellectual property and media...
Creative Canada ‘cultural policy, not tax policy’: Joly
Media | 11/02/2017 9:39 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Opposition MPs continued their criticism of Heritage Minister...
CRTC extends deadline in Creative Canada consultation
Media | 10/26/2017 4:03 pm EDT
Interested parties now have an extra week to submit comments in the CRTC’s consultation on content distribution models. The regulator said in a notice Thursday it is extending the deadline for comments from Nov. 24 to Dec. 1....
Broadcast lobbying jumped ahead of Creative Canada release
Media | 10/24/2017 6:20 pm EDT
Creative organizations stepped up and added to a surge in lobbying activity...
Gary Finnegan joins DHX Media
Media | 10/24/2017 3:56 pm EDT
DHX Media Ltd. has appointed Gary Finnegan as vice-president of programming strategy, it said in a press release Monday.
Finnegan, who will work out of the Toronto office, will “provide direction and guidance on DHX Television’s core business of creating and acquiring content that will be universally popular and drive viewer engagement for DHX Television,” the release said.
He moves to the company from Time Warner Inc.’s Turner International, where he most recently “oversaw content strategy for Turner...
Narrow the ‘value gap,’ Music Canada tells gov’t
Media | 10/18/2017 7:50 pm EDT
Music Canada is asking the government to address the disparity between the value of creative content and the revenues that are generated from it. “The Value Gap challenges the livelihood and...
Government repeats no ISP tax in Heritage report review
Media | 10/18/2017 7:35 pm EDT
The federal government reiterated a previously held position that it will not implement taxes on internet service providers (ISP) in favour of Canadian content in a review of an earlier Heritage...
Corus, Discovery launching new kids’ content venture
Media | 10/17/2017 7:54 pm EDT
Corus Entertainment Inc.’s Nelvana and Discovery Communications Inc. have...
New CEO in at TVA Group after management shuffle
Media | 10/16/2017 12:19 pm EDT
TVA vice-president of programming, France Lauzière, has replaced Julie Tremblay as the president and CEO...
CRTC launches consultations for Heritage-commissioned report
Media | 10/12/2017 5:03 pm EDT
The CRTC is asking for comment as it puts together a report requested by Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly on future content distribution models. Last month, the federal government issued an...
Netflix responds to post-Creative Canada criticism
Media | 10/10/2017 2:53 pm EDT
Netflix Inc. has published a blog post in support of a deal it reached with the government to invest $500...
Joly heading cultural trade mission to China in 2018
Media | 10/05/2017 6:36 pm EDT
Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly has announced plans to lead her first “creative industries trade mission” to Shanghai, China in April 2018. The mission will focus on film, gaming, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR),...
Quebec legislature votes to tax Netflix
Media | 10/04/2017 2:46 pm EDT
The Quebec national assembly voted Tuesday to impose provincial sales tax on foreign digital services,...
Analyst reaction largely positive to DHX review
Media | 10/02/2017 5:42 pm EDT
An announcement by DHX Media Ltd. Monday that it is launching a strategic review that could see its board potentially sell off the company or its assets is an unexpected move, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Drew McReynolds.
“The initiation of a strategic...