TAGGED AS TELEVISION
Supreme Court dismisses TekSavvy appeal of GoldTV site-blocking order
Media | 03/24/2022 1:28 pm EDT
Updated with TekSavvy reaction.
The Supreme Court of Canada Thursday morning dismissed a last effort by TekSavvy Solutions Inc. to challenge Canada's first-ever...
CRTC issues broadcasting licence fees
Media | 03/17/2022 3:23 pm EDT
Thursday the CRTC released its broadcasting licence fees for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
The net billing for Part I licence fees will be $34.021 million dollars. This represents a minor increase of 0.4 per cent from the current fiscal year’s level of $33.871 million. The...
CRTC removes RT from list of channels authorized for distribution, citing “abusive comment” provisions
Media | 03/16/2022 5:19 pm EDT
Russian state-owned media outlets RT and RT France...
Federal government spends $2.5m to battle disinformation
Internet and Governance | 03/16/2022 3:17 pm EDT
The Canadian government has allocated $2.5 million to help people identify...
Rogers, civil groups, say CRTC should remove Russian state-owned channels from airwaves
Media | 03/09/2022 4:27 pm EST
Rogers Communications Inc. and civil organizations...
Bill C-11 a new bill with no new ideas, and a ‘legal pretzel’ for censorship: CPC
Media | 03/01/2022 5:05 pm EST
For the second time in the span of a year, the...
Gov. to ask CRTC to stop RT broadcasts over Ukraine invasion
Media | 02/28/2022 6:11 pm EST
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday afternoon that the Government is asking the CRTC to "begin the process" of reviewing the presence of the Russian-state funded Russia Today channel on Canadian broadcaster airwaves following last week's invasion of Ukraine by...
Bell acquires Quebec-based provider Ebox
Media | 02/24/2022 4:23 pm EST
BCE Inc. has acquired Quebec-based internet, telephone and television provider Ebox Inc., the incumbent...
Videotron giving itself undue preference, but unnecessary to suspend BDU Vrai service: PIAC
Media | 02/15/2022 5:24 pm EST
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is...
Government, Telefilm, extend support for uninsured Canadian productions
Media | 02/11/2022 1:06 pm EST
The Government of Canada has extended its temporary emergency fund...
Paper billing for vulnerable customers, not universally: CRTC
telecom | 02/10/2022 5:42 pm EST
The CRTC has determined that all communications service providers (CSPs),...
Gov. reintroduces Broadcasting Act update, with social media exemption
Media | 02/02/2022 7:32 pm EST
OTTAWA -- Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodríguez called previous...
New Broadcast Act update appears on order paper as Tories oppose move
Internet and Governance | 02/01/2022 6:05 pm EST
The government placed legislation to change the Broadcasting Act on the...
Quebecor’s Vrai VOD service violates CRTC regs: Bell
Media | 02/01/2022 5:04 pm EST
The CRTC has opened a proceeding in response to a BCE Inc. November...
CRTC CPE deferral will mean revenue in 2023: Corus CEO
Media | 01/13/2022 5:07 pm EST
Corus Entertainment Inc. CEO Doug Murphy reiterated a long-standing call...
Lightbound takes over chair of Industry committee
telecom | 12/14/2021 6:28 pm EST
The House of Commons Industry committee selected Joël Lightbound as its chair by a unanimous vote Tuesday. It is the first chairmanship for the Liberal MP for Quebec’s Louis-Hébert riding.
Conservative Michael Kram and the Bloc’s Sébastien Lemire were elected as...
Hedy Fry new chair of Heritage committee
Media | 12/13/2021 5:43 pm EST
OTTAWA – Veteran Liberal MP Hedy Fry was elected chair of the House of Commons committee on Canadian...
MPs appointed to House Industry and Heritage committees
Media | 12/10/2021 12:17 pm EST
Parliament has established its committees for the new session, with the...
Broadcasting Accessibility Fund award $371k to four projects
Media | 12/03/2021 4:57 pm EST
The Broadcasting Accessibility Fund is awarding some $371,000 to four new...
Trudeau announces parliamentary secretaries
Media | 12/03/2021 4:32 pm EST
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the appointment of parliamentary secretaries Friday with Chris...
No evidence suggests foreign streamers will enter into exclusivity with Rogers, incumbent tells CRTC
Media | 11/26/2021 5:08 pm EST
Rogers Communications Inc. executives told the CRTC that there is no evidence to suggest that its merger with Shaw Communications Inc. would result in content exclusivity with...
OpenMedia denounces government plan to reintroduce C-10
Media | 11/24/2021 11:56 am EST
Lobby group OpenMedia is disappointed that Tuesday’s Speech from the...
Successor bill to C-10 “absolute priority”, Rodriguez says
Media | 11/23/2021 11:50 am EST
Canadian Heritage minister Pablo Rodriguez says revisions to the...
Cogeco expects to enter mobile rate negotiations by spring, summer 2022 earliest
telecom | 11/12/2021 5:02 pm EST
Cogeco Inc.’s CEO said it is a multi-step process it has to follow before...
CRTC lifts local expression conditions for Quebecor, Bragg on-demand services
Media | 11/04/2021 5:40 pm EDT
The CRTC approved applications by Quebecor Media Inc.’s Videotron and...
CanCon rules need to be updated for new media landscape, conference hears
Media | 11/03/2021 6:35 pm EDT
Canadian content should be better defined as we advance to a greater...
C-10 creates ‘false battle’ amongst broadcasters: former CRTC commissioner
Media | 11/03/2021 6:26 pm EDT
The Canadian government is “expanding the...
Dynamic site-blocking case gets Nov. 23 hearing date
Media | 11/03/2021 5:51 pm EDT
A test-case for Canada's first-ever "dynamic" site-blocking order is headed...
UPDATED – Rodriguez back as Heritage minister, Champagne remains in Innovation
Media | 10/26/2021 12:47 pm EDT
OTTAWA -- MP Pablo Rodriguez is back in familiar territory as he is once...
Rogers ordered to put employment and programming data on the public record for merger hearing
Media | 10/22/2021 6:21 pm EDT
The CRTC ordered Rogers Communications Inc. to submit a list of its original community programming, aggregate returns filed with the CRTC, and employment data on the public...
Telus regional broadcasting licences approved with CoL for independent programming committee
Media | 10/22/2021 6:09 pm EDT
The CRTC approved an application by Telus Corp. to...
Corus says COVID-delayed CPE requirements will significantly increase production spending
Media | 10/22/2021 4:47 pm EDT
Corus Entertainment Inc. expects to see a...
CRTC plans to monitor technical surveys for small BDUs, dismisses CCSA undue preference complaint against Bell
Media | 10/15/2021 5:42 pm EDT
The CRTC will be keeping an eye on technical...
Broadcasting regulation debate at electoral standstill as advocates, industry react
Media | 09/14/2021 7:16 pm EDT
According to an advocacy group opposing restrictions on the internet,...
CRTC to hold hearing on Rogers-Shaw merger, opens consultation
Media | 08/12/2021 1:00 pm EDT
The CRTC will hold hearings on whether Rogers Communications Inc. may purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares of Shaw Communications Inc. and its subsidiaries Nov. 22, and is looking for interventions and comments on the matter.
The commission, in a notice...
Motion Picture Association Canada agrees digital media survey should wait for C-10
Media | 08/10/2021 5:28 pm EDT
The CRTC’s efforts to implement a digital media survey are premature, according to the Canadian affiliate of the Motion Picture Association, who argued that the commission should wait until the...
Consensus on CRTC data collection for foreign outlets; disagreement on how
Media | 08/09/2021 5:32 pm EDT
Civil groups and Canadian telecoms companies agree that the CRTC should...
CRTC approves Asian Television Network authorization for Indian news channel
Media | 07/19/2021 4:49 pm EDT
The CRTC Monday approved an application from Asian Television Network International Limited, authorizing its “Mirror Now” channel for distribution as non-Canadian programming. The network,...
Senate begins C-10 analysis with broad debate
Media | 06/24/2021 10:41 am EDT
Senators are looking beyond the free speech issues raised by critics of the revised Broadcasting Act and...
Hockey broadcasters seek injunction against pirate streamers
Media | 06/17/2021 6:11 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc., and Quebecor Inc. are asking a...
Majority of Canadians support subjecting foreign broadcasters to Canadian laws: survey
Media | 06/17/2021 6:05 pm EDT
A survey by the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting,...
C-10 headed to HoC; Bloc adds 5 year review of act
Media | 06/11/2021 6:10 pm EDT
A debate which Canadian Heritage Committee chair Scott Simms has jokingly said was “so exciting we...
NDP says Libs are to blame for C-10 delays as HoC passes ‘gag order’
Media | 06/07/2021 6:26 pm EDT
The Liberals and the Bloc Québécois cooperated to pass a motion in the...
Heritage and Justice ministers to appear before CHPC to address charter concerns
Media | 05/10/2021 6:25 pm EDT
The House of Commons’ Heritage Committee is moving forward with a charter review on Bill C-10, the revision to the Broadcasting Act, and will get answers from Heritage...
Cochrane Telecom requests CRTC forbearance
telecom | 05/07/2021 5:44 pm EDT
Cochrane Telecom Services has submitted an application to the CRTC requesting that the commission refrain from regulating its residential services in Cochrane, Ontario. The company filed a Part 1 with the CRTC Tuesday,...
Alberta judge denies injunction in Super Channel piracy suit
Media | 05/03/2021 5:43 pm EDT
An Alberta judge shot down a request from Allarco Entertainment 2008 Inc. for an injunction against Best Buy Canada Ltd., Staples Canada ULC, Canada Computers Inc., and London Drugs Limited as part of...
Conservatives oppose C-10; watchdog Friends says criticism of exemption removal ‘overblown’
Media | 04/27/2021 2:56 pm EDT
The Conservatives “continue to oppose” Bill...
Heritage committee restores Canadian ownership to C-10
Media | 04/20/2021 2:32 pm EDT
The House of Commons Heritage committee has reinstated language protecting...
CBC seeks local content exemptions for Olympics
Media | 03/25/2021 5:09 pm EDT
CBC/Radio-Canada is once again asking the CRTC to temporarily relieve it of its local programming and described video obligations for the period of this year’s Tokyo Olympics. In its part 1 application to the CRTC, posted March 24, the broadcaster said it will be putting out “ongoing coverage of the Games, which will disrupt the scheduling” of its local and described video content from July 21 to August 8, 2021. Among CBC/Radio Canada’s obligations are requirements that it airs described video for at least four hours per broadcast week — two hours of which must be new...
ShavaTV piracy pair found in contempt of Ontario court
Media | 03/23/2021 5:57 pm EDT
Two people who had been allegedly selling subscriptions to pirated content...
Local news funding needed in C-10: Bell
Media | 03/22/2021 6:07 pm EDT
As the House of Commons Heritage committee hearings on the government's proposed update to the...
Heritage committee to ask Guilbeault for draft policy directive for CRTC, summon Zuckerberg
Media | 02/26/2021 5:39 pm EST
MPs on the House of Commons Heritage Committee...
Cogeco launches IPTV
Media | 01/18/2021 5:25 pm EST
Cogeco Inc. has officially launched its IPTV service, dubbed Epico. Epico, which runs on the MediaFirst platform, is now available to the “majority of Cogeco customers in the territories served by the company,” according to a press release Monday. “This new service will allow customers...
Numeris’ video audience management system to go national
Media | 01/18/2021 4:39 pm EST
Audience measurement company Numeris will fully roll-out its video audience...
Big changes at Bell Media as six execs depart their jobs
Media | 01/06/2021 5:46 pm EST
BCE Inc.’s Bell Media division is starting off the year with significant changes to its executive roster, including the departures of its vice-president of regulatory affairs Kevin Goldstein,...
CRTC study: virtual BDU services could slow decline of Canadian TV
Media | 12/17/2020 5:15 pm EST
A new CRTC study suggests that the decline of broadcast television could be slowed — but not stopped — if TV providers invest in virtual or online broadcast distribution undertakings (vBDUs). ...
CBC employees pen open letter, petition gov. seeking CRTC investigation of branded content
Media | 12/09/2020 5:38 pm EST
Impatient with the progress of a month-old Part 1...
Sales tax for foreign digital services coming July 1
Media | 11/30/2020 6:07 pm EST
The federal government plans to begin imposing sales taxes on foreign digital services on July 1, 2021 and to implement a corporate tax for digital companies by 2022, according to its fall economic update released Monday.
It said the July 1 timeline “will provide time...
Bell seeks to challenge CRTC community programming fine in court
Media | 11/25/2020 6:48 pm EST
BCE Inc. has filed an application for leave to appeal a $17.9-million penalty imposed by the CRTC last month for violations of its broadcasting license, arguing that the CRTC failed to give the...
Rogers cuts jobs in TV, radio
Media | 11/23/2020 5:31 pm EST
Rogers Communications Inc. has cut an unspecified number of jobs from its sports and media divisions, citing the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement emailed to The Wire Report, a Rogers Sports & Media...
Bell’s Bibic gives a ‘tip of the hat’ on Broadcast Act update
Media | 11/05/2020 6:26 pm EST
BCE Inc. CEO Mirko Bibic praised the updates to the Broadcasting Act...
Broadcast Act updates not comprehensive enough: NDP, Conservatives
Media | 11/03/2020 6:44 pm EST
The Liberal government’s proposed updates to the Broadcasting Act have...
CRTC to have ‘roughly nine months’ to act on Broadcasting Act update
Media | 11/03/2020 11:11 am EST
The Liberal government’s long-awaited update to the Broadcasting Act confirms that the CRTC is able to regulate online services such as streaming platforms and leaves it to...
CRTC says Bell ‘misallocated’ $35.9M of community TV funds
Media | 10/23/2020 5:43 pm EDT
BCE Inc. misclassified a number of self-promotional productions as community programming, and misallocated $35.9 million to its CTV networks, the CRTC said Thursday. In its decision renewing a...
TV advertising declines slow down for Corus in Q4
Media | 10/22/2020 5:32 pm EDT
Corus Entertainment Inc. continues to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the rate of decline...
Broadcasters shouldn’t use COVID to change CanCon obligations: WGC
Media | 10/21/2020 6:28 pm EDT
Whether or not there is a pandemic, large broadcasters want to do away with...
Back to Parliament: your (pandemic) preview
Media | 09/22/2020 12:43 pm EDT
Given the precarious situation around the now-escalating COVID-19 pandemic, what will actually be...
Bell says it is free to withhold new services in dispute with CCSA
telecom | 09/21/2020 5:29 pm EDT
BCE Inc. is not unduly preferring its own TV service and is simply...
$1B of production at risk due to lack of insurance: CMPA, AQPM
Media | 09/18/2020 4:34 pm EDT
Some 214 "camera-ready" film and television projects, employing 19,500...
CRTC consulting on broadcasters’ request for emergency relief
Media | 09/17/2020 4:58 pm EDT
The CRTC Thursday launched a consultation on a request submitted by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters in mid-July that asked for emergency regulatory relief to address the impacts of the...
COVID has accelerated media ‘crisis’: report
Media | 08/26/2020 5:17 pm EDT
Canadian traditional media sources are in "crisis" as COVID-19 has exacerbated existing downward trends in advertising revenues, with shortfalls for local private broadcasters in the next two years...
Broadcasting sector reacts to O’Toole victory
Media | 08/24/2020 6:19 pm EDT
The election of Erin O'Toole as federal opposition leader late Sunday night makes "the threat of CBC privatization more real," according to Friends of Canadian Broadcasting executive director Daniel Bernhard.
During his campaign for the Conservative party leadership,...
Broadcasters asked CRTC for emergency COVID-19 relief in July
Media | 08/21/2020 4:31 pm EDT
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters asked the CRTC not to enforce...
Bell rebranding V as Noovo
Media | 08/19/2020 1:36 pm EDT
The French-language conventional TV network BCE Inc. acquired this year will be rebranded as “Noovo,” to coordinate with an existing digital platform.
“Viewers will...
VMedia alleges bad faith by Bell in delaying app approval
telecom | 08/13/2020 5:39 pm EDT
VMedia Inc. has filed a complaint with the CRTC alleging that it is being unduly disadvantaged by BCE Inc.'s delay in approving the distribution of Bell programming over VMedia's streaming apps. ...
CRTC tells Bell it is still giving undue preference to RDS over TVA Sport
telecom | 08/07/2020 10:23 am EDT
The CRTC has sent a letter to BCE Inc. informing the company that its...
Telus gets green light to launch on-demand service
Media | 07/28/2020 3:54 pm EDT
Telus Corp. has gained CRTC approval to launch a national on-demand service, granting it a licence for the next two years. In a Tuesday decision, the regulator granted Telus its second broadcast licence for an on-demand offering, having previously done so in July 2014. Telus ultimately failed to launch it inside the required timeframe and was required to re-apply for authorization. In its application, Telus said the factors that had prevented it from launching the service in the past have since been mitigated and it intends to make the service available before the July 28, 2022 deadline,...
Updated: Telus asks CRTC to intervene in Italian-language programming dispute
Media | 07/27/2020 4:51 pm EDT
Telus Corp. has accused TLN Media Group (TMG) of undue preference, saying the company has stymied its efforts to carry an Italian-language program by insisting on “commercially unreasonable...
Broadcaster pushes for new multilingual channel as COVID lobbying continues
Media | 07/14/2020 3:33 pm EDT
An Ontario-based ethnic broadcaster lobbying the government for funding to...
Corus allowed to expand CanCon underspend, provided it’s paid off next year
Media | 07/10/2020 2:45 pm EDT
The CRTC has allowed Corus Entertainment Inc. to reduce its mandated Canadian programming expenditures (CPE) in a single year, but declared any shortfall must be made up in the following year. In a...
Super Channel breached codes by airing horror films, video game shows before 9 p.m.
Media | 07/08/2020 3:41 pm EDT
Allarco Entertainment 2008.’s Super Channel violated the Pay TV Violence and Programming codes by airing violence, coarse language and sexuality and nudity on its channels before the “Watershed”...
CRTC simultaneously renews and suspends Super Channel’s licence
Media | 06/29/2020 4:36 pm EDT
The CRTC has renewed the broadcasting licence of Allarco Entertainment 2008 Inc.’s Super Channel for four years, while simultaneously suspending it for a “very serious” failure to comply with...
Q3 ‘very tough’ for Corus as ad revenues plummet
Media | 06/26/2020 3:27 pm EDT
The financial impacts of COVID-19 induced lockdowns led to a “very tough quarter” for Corus...
Rights holders, advocacy groups can intervene in site-blocking case
Media | 06/24/2020 9:25 pm EDT
In a closely-watched appeal of Canada's first-ever site-blocking court...
QVC approved for distribution despite CRTC finding denial was justified
Media | 06/15/2020 2:40 pm EDT
The CRTC says its 2016 decision that U.S. shopping channel QVC could not be distributed in Canada was justified, but a clause in the soon to come into force Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement...
VMedia launches River TV streaming platform
Media | 06/04/2020 1:55 pm EDT
VMedia Inc. has launched a live and on-demand streaming platform, River TV, the company announced in a Thursday media release. River TV will feature over 30 bundled live tv channels, including Global TV, Adult Swim, History and Showcase, with more to be added in coming months, the Toronto-headquartered company said. A number of “a la carte” channels will also be able to be added to the $16.99 a month package, including Hollywood Suite and i24NEWS. Nick+ is coming soon and many others will be added in the near future. A VMedia internet connection is not required to use River TV...
Advertising market in ‘modest recovery’: Corus
Media | 05/27/2020 6:34 pm EDT
Canada’s television advertising market has moved to a stage of “modest recovery” after chapters of...
Guilbeault details $500M relief for arts and culture
telecom | 05/08/2020 5:02 pm EDT
Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault Friday released more details on how a previously-announced...
Telus withdraws guidance, records 19 per cent net income reduction
telecom | 05/07/2020 6:00 pm EDT
Telus Corp.’s net income for the first quarter of 2020 dropped 19 per...
Rogers revenue drops 5%, withdraws guidance due to COVID-19
Media | 04/22/2020 3:44 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. recorded a five per cent drop in revenue in the...
Lockdown extending to July could put $2.5B of production work at risk: report
Media | 04/21/2020 5:11 pm EDT
A COVID-19 induced lockdown of the country will put $2.5 billion of film and television production work at risk of disruption or permanent loss if it lasts until the end of June, a new report prepared for the Canadian Media Producers Association shows. The Nordicity report, released Tuesday, uses historical data from the CMPA’s annual report and a list of current and forthcoming productions to calculate both the dollar value of production volume and number of workers affected for each month...
Canadian wireless sub adds down slightly from 2018
telecom | 04/07/2020 4:39 pm EDT
Canada’s publicly-traded wireless service providers added just under 1.29 million wireless subscribers...
Calm before the COVID storm in Corus Q2
telecom | 04/01/2020 5:14 pm EDT
Corus Entertainment Inc. has deferred the declaration of its dividends in response to the uncertainty...
TVA worker tests positive for COVID-19
telecom | 03/31/2020 4:56 pm EDT
A second Canadian broadcaster has had an employee test positive to the COVID-19 virus, with a manager at Quebecor Inc.’s TVA news team in Sherbrooke, Que. reportedly contracting the virus. In a statement, the broadcaster...
Government waives licence fees for broadcasters
Media | 03/30/2020 6:04 pm EDT
Canadian radio and TV broadcasters won’t have to pay licence fees for 2020-21 in a bid to help them navigate declines in advertising revenue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault announced the...
Quebecor ‘not worried’ about COVID-19 impact on capacity
Media | 03/12/2020 5:09 pm EDT
Quebecor Inc. says COVID-19 is not expected to have a “material financial...
Government, non-VI companies defend standstill rule
Media | 03/03/2020 5:47 pm EST
Telus Corp., Cogeco Inc. and the attorney general have filed arguments defending the CRTC’s application of its standstill rule in the fight over carriage of TVA Sports. The attorney general, who represents the CRTC...
Super Channel takes piracy fight to Alberta court
Media | 03/03/2020 11:50 am EST
Allarco Entertainment 2008 Inc.’s Super Channel has dropped its Federal Court lawsuit against four major retailers, whose employees allegedly recommended pirating content from media boxes sold in the store, only to launch...
Bell backs Quebecor on standstill rule — but not for TVA Sports
Media | 02/10/2020 5:48 pm EST
In the case that sparked a year of conflict between rivals BCE Inc. and...
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...