Voltage reverse class action motion moving ahead

Media | 11/12/2018 3:47 pm EST

A reverse class action case that has been stalled for nearly two years over the issue of costs will now move forward, after plaintiff Voltage Pictures LLC put up $75,000 in security for defence costs. Voltage paid the amount...

Accurate audience measurements for radio lacking, conference hears

Media | 11/09/2018 6:15 pm EST

TORONTO —  The radio industry has a “big problem” with a lack of...

CRTC rejects Bell’s ask to simsub Canadian Super Bowl ads in 2019

Media | 11/09/2018 12:16 pm EST

The CRTC has rejected a request by BCE Inc. to bring back simultaneous commercial substitution in time for next year’s Super Bowl, pending a ruling by Canada’s top court and implementation of the...

Broadcasters ‘perfectly positioned’ to leverage podcast boom

Media | 11/08/2018 6:43 pm EST

TORONTO — Broadcasters should think about renting out their own studios...

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 many open arms on the final day of the ISP Summit on Wednesday, as former CRTC commissioners spoke in favour of maintaining the line between the role of broadcasting and telecommunications. “If...

Liberal government fills last two vacancies on Copyright Board

Media | 11/07/2018 4:00 pm EST

The federal government has named two new members to the Copyright Board of Canada, a move that fills the last vacancies on the board and comes alongside Ottawa introducing new board reform measures....

Zuckerberg declines joint Canada-UK committee appearance

Media | 11/07/2018 1:50 pm EST

Facebook Inc.’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has declined a joint-request by...

Consumer groups warn MPs against site-blocking pitches

Media | 11/06/2018 1:55 pm EST

OTTAWA — Consumer advocacy groups are cautioning MPs against proposals that would make site-blocking in Canada easier, after a push for those anti-piracy policies failed at the CRTC failed last...

Heather Conway leaving CBC

Media | 11/05/2018 1:18 pm EST

CBC/Radio-Canada’s executive vice-president of English-language services, Heather Conway, is leaving the public broadcaster next month, the Crown corporation announced...

Comms law review panel extends comment period

Media | 11/05/2018 1:13 pm EST

The comment period for the government-appointed, blue-ribbon panel that’s reviewing Canada’s communications laws is being extended into next year. It is being lengthened to January 11, 2019, the panel has confirmed to The...

CBC names new ombudsman

Media | 11/02/2018 5:22 pm EDT

CBC/Radio-Canada has named Jack Nagler its new English services ombudsman. Nagler, who is currently CBC’s senior director of journalism, replaces Esther Enkin in the...

Cogeco’s transition to new customer system drags down Q4

Media | 11/02/2018 4:52 pm EDT

Cogeco Inc.’s implementation of a new customer management system, which...

OPC tweaks breach notification over ‘notice fatigue’ fears

Media | 11/02/2018 3:53 pm EDT

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) has made a change to its breach notification guidance to address wording that some lawyers warned could lead to multiple organizations sending out notices...

Artificial intelligence tests yielding promising results: Corus CEO

Media | 11/02/2018 12:09 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Corus Entertainment Inc. CEO Doug Murphy told an industry conference Thursday the company has been experimenting with artificial intelligence, including for...

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...

MPs call on Zuckerberg to testify to international committee on ‘fake news’

Media | 10/31/2018 7:45 pm EDT

MPs in Canada and the United Kingdom have stepped up their efforts to get the chance to grill Facebook Inc.’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg at a parliamentary committee hearing. The chairs of two...

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...

Most Canadians concerned with ‘fake news’ in next election: MTM

Media | 10/30/2018 5:55 pm EDT

A year away from the next federal election, a majority of Canadians are concerned about the effect of ‘fake news’ on the electoral process, according to a new report by...

CRTC needs clarity over who can resolve 5G rollout disputes: Scott

Media | 10/30/2018 4:34 pm EDT

OTTAWA — The head of Canada’s telecom regulator says clarity on where...

VMedia looking to go public through reverse takeover

Media | 10/24/2018 5:06 pm EDT

VMedia Inc. has come to an agreement Tuesday to buy a small company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange in a move that will allow it to become publicly traded without having to go through an initial public offering (IPO). The...

Former Telus employee can continue working at Rogers: B.C. court

Media | 10/24/2018 3:58 pm EDT

The Supreme Court of British Columbia has ruled that Telus Corp. can’t stop a former employee from immediately joining Rogers Communications Inc. despite signing a contract that forbids him from...

Barbara Williams retiring from Corus

Media | 10/24/2018 3:32 pm EDT

Corus Entertainment Inc.’s chief operating officer, Barbara Williams, will retire at the end of this...

Consumer, seniors groups ask for telecom sales code of conduct

Media | 10/23/2018 6:24 pm EDT

GATINEAU — Consumer protection and seniors advocacy groups told the CRTC...

Google Canada on the defense over Google+, Sidewalk Labs

Media | 10/23/2018 5:57 pm EDT

Colin McKay, head of public policy and government relations for Alphabet...

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...

CRTC says Stingray can buy Newcap; deal to close this week

Media | 10/23/2018 1:43 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc.’s move to enter the Canadian radio market has...

Alleged sales practices wouldn’t be ‘tolerated’ elsewhere: CRTC chairman

Media | 10/22/2018 6:23 pm EDT

GATINEAU— CRTC Chairman Ian Scott opened public hearings on aggressive and misleading telecom sales practices by saying the commission is "concerned" by the information...

Corus expecting TV ad revenue to stabilize in a ‘handful’ of years

Media | 10/19/2018 5:57 pm EDT

Corus Entertainment Inc.’s wild ride through the unpredictable TV ad...

Cost of TV service driving cord-cutting: Angus Reid

Media | 10/18/2018 6:18 pm EDT

A new report from the Angus Reid Institute indicates that the cost of services is the main driver behind...

Bell, Rogers re-raise site-blocking request to MPs

Media | 10/16/2018 3:43 pm EDT

OTTAWA -- BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. are asking the House heritage committee to amend parts of the copyright and telecommunications acts to compel a number of intermediaries to take down websites that make available...

Steve Ladurantaye leaving CBC for Scottish broadcaster STV

Media | 10/15/2018 12:52 pm EDT

Steve Ladurantaye is leaving CBC/Radio-Canada after two and a half years at...

Canada waiting on other countries for new digital tax rules: Morneau

Media | 10/12/2018 5:23 pm EDT

Canada has been “pushing hard” to speed up development of a plan for the G20 to “make sure that digital companies pay their fair share of tax,” Canada’s Finance...

Stingray’s business division expands in Europe

Media | 10/12/2018 3:19 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc.’s Stingray Business division, which provides background music and digital signage to businesses, is expanding in Europe. It said Friday it has purchased Belgian company DJ-Matic, which also...

Only 3% of anglophones subscribe to sports streaming: MTM

Media | 10/11/2018 5:42 pm EDT

While services like Perform Group’s Dazn and Rogers Communications Inc.’s Sportsnet Now have been emerging in recent years, they “haven’t yet caught on in the Anglophone market,”  Media...

Ad sales up 6%, but CBC still wants out of ‘softening’ ad market

Media | 10/11/2018 4:14 pm EDT

CBC/Radio-Canada saw a nearly six per cent boost in its total ad revenue...

Blue Ant buying Saloon Media

Media | 10/11/2018 3:45 pm EDT

Blue Ant Media Inc. is acquiring Saloon Media, a Toronto production company “specializing in globally relevant factual television,” it said in a press release Thursday. Saloon Media’s shows include Mummies Alive and...

Cogeco gets CRTC go-ahead for acquisition of RNC stations

Media | 10/11/2018 1:54 pm EDT

The CRTC has approved Cogeco Inc. to purchase 10 radio stations from RNC Media Inc., it said in a decision Thursday. “The Commission considers that the RNC stations integrated into Cogeco could...

OPC inquiring about Google+ leak

Media | 10/10/2018 2:34 pm EDT

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) said it is gathering more information about whether the personal information of Canadians was implicated in a leak involving an Alphabet Inc. social network. “Google has contacted...

Blue Ant names new VP, says it will focus on Canadian, U.S. market

Media | 10/10/2018 1:58 pm EDT

Blue Ant Media Inc. has named Julie Chang its new vice-president of...

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 focused on convergence with new radio offering: Desjardins

Media | 10/09/2018 3:50 pm EDT

A new online radio service from Quebecor Inc. indicates the company is “putting convergence back at the forefront of its strategy,” Desjardins analyst Maher Yaghi said in...

EU, Canada move closer on telecom regulation, further apart on OTT

Media | 10/05/2018 4:05 pm EDT

Streaming video platforms in the European Union will have to ensure 30 per...

Google Canada asks MPs for Copyright Board reform

Media | 10/04/2018 3:29 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Alphabet Inc.’s Google wants to see the Copyright Board of Canada tariff setting process...

Senators criticize makeup of comms acts review expert panel

Media | 10/04/2018 12:55 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Two senators on the Senate transport and communications...

Federal Court orders ban on ‘Mr. Blamo’ Kodi add-on software

Media | 10/03/2018 6:04 pm EDT

Nearly a dozen content producers have obtained a court order banning set-top box software developed by an individual in Canada that allows users to watch their content for free, according to court...

More than half of internet traffic is encrypted: Sandvine

Media | 10/02/2018 6:49 pm EDT

Internet traffic is “more encrypted than ever,” with a “conservative estimate” suggesting more than half of all internet traffic is encrypted, according to Sandvine Corp.’s 2018 Global Internet Phenomena Report “For network operators, this trend creates a huge challenge,” the report said. “Network operators – fixed, mobile, WiFi, and even satellite – need to understand the composition of traffic (not the content) so that they can build out a network capable of meeting a consumer’s quality expectations. With a higher percentage of traffic encrypted every day,...

Court reversal of Wholesale Code to have little effect: CCSA

Media | 10/02/2018 5:09 pm EDT

The Federal Court of Appeal said in a Monday decision that the CRTC lacks the jurisdiction to implement its Wholesale Code -- governing the business relationships between TV service providers and...

‘Narrow window’ to make new comms laws with USMCA: Nordicity

Media | 10/02/2018 3:28 pm EDT

OTTAWA -- There is an “urgent need” for Canadian lawmakers to set out a new communications framework now that Canada has hammered out a new trilateral agreement on trade to replace the North...

As CRTC rejects FairPlay, proposal could move to legislative reviews

Media | 10/02/2018 11:20 am EDT

The CRTC has no jurisdiction to implement a system to block websites...

Allow ISPs to apply notice-forwarding costs to deter abuse: Telus

Media | 10/02/2018 8:21 am EDT

OTTAWA -- Fraudulent copyright infringement claims made through Canada’s...

New NAFTA allows Super Bowl simsub ahead of SCC review

Media | 10/01/2018 7:18 pm EDT

The new trade pact forged by Canada, the U.S. and Mexico to replace the...

CRTC consulting on new radio stations in Northern Ontario

Media | 09/28/2018 5:02 pm EDT

The CRTC has opened up a comment period after it received applications from Vista Radio Ltd. for two new commercial radio stations in North Bay and Timmins, Ont. Vista radio currently operates 41...

Netflix expects to ‘exceed’ planned investment in Canadian content

Media | 09/28/2018 3:24 pm EDT

Netflix Inc. says it’s “on track to exceed” its $500 million pledge...

Big telecoms ask MPs for beefed up anti-piracy measures

Media | 09/27/2018 12:37 pm EDT

Some of the battles taking place before the CRTC related to site-blocking...

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 Wednesday. Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau said in the release that Quebecor has been making its case to Quebec’s Liberal government for “more than a year” that it needs “fiscal predictability” so it can invest $40 million into building new studios. “Without such guarantees, studios such as MELS are at the mercy of shifting government policies, such as the cuts in...

Competition Bureau warns streaming services to review marketing practices

Media | 09/25/2018 5:35 pm EDT

The Competition Bureau is calling for online video streaming services to review their marketing practices, terms and conditions after it found they’re sometimes unclear and hard to understand....

Broadcasters slam music industry copyright proposal

Media | 09/25/2018 1:46 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Canada’s private broadcasters are defending Canada’s existing copyright laws and tariff...

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...

Rogers setting up 5G hub with UBC

Media | 09/20/2018 4:19 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. and the University of British Columbia are joining forces on a multi-million dollar venture to build out a 5G hub on the university’s campus over the next three years. The telecom said in a...

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 communications since being sworn into the Liberal cabinet three months ago and taking over an often-contentious portfolio. The communications were with the Fédération nationale...

Stingray names new SVP of advertising sales

Media | 09/19/2018 3:36 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. has appointed Ryan Fuss its new senior vice-president of advertising sales,...

Senators asked to champion net neutrality in comms laws review

Media | 09/18/2018 6:38 pm EDT

OTTAWA -- Lawmakers need to make net neutrality a major priority and...

Facebook launches political campaign security pilot

Media | 09/18/2018 3:52 pm EDT

Facebook Inc. will introduce a pilot project aimed at securing election campaigns for the United States midterm elections this fall. The company said in a blog post that past elections have shown that candidates, politicians...

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...

Canadian privacy watchdogs urge privacy laws for political parties

Media | 09/17/2018 2:01 pm EDT

Canada's federal, provincial and territorial privacy watchdogs collectively...

Class action filed against Facebook over Android metadata collection

Media | 09/17/2018 12:35 pm EDT

Facebook Inc. is facing another class action suit in Ontario over how it...

Facebook to fact-check photos, videos

Media | 09/17/2018 11:11 am EDT

Facebook Inc. is adding verification of photos and videos to its fact-checking of content on its social...

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...

Rogers can recover some costs to disclose customer info, SCC rules

Media | 09/14/2018 10:37 am EDT

OTTAWA --- In a decision that could serve as a deterrent to copyright infringement lawsuits against Canadians, the Supreme Court of Canada said Friday that internet service...

EU copyright directive passes

Media | 09/12/2018 2:24 pm EDT

The European Parliament passed its copyright directive Wednesday, with some amendments to the...

Content exec Vanessa Case to head Vice Canada studios

Media | 09/12/2018 2:09 pm EDT

Former Blue Ant Media Inc. content executive Vanessa Case has joined the ranks of Vice Media Inc.'s...

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...

Ottawa conducting security tests on Huawei equipment: report

Media | 09/07/2018 4:04 pm EDT

The federal government has quietly been testing the security of communications equipment used by Chinese-owned telecommunications company Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., The Globe and Mail reported...

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...

Tim Barber registers to lobby for Rogers

Media | 09/05/2018 3:02 pm EDT

Long-time Liberal insider and Bluesky Strategy Group principal Tim Barber has registered formally to...

Don’t penalize industry over bad actors’ sales practices, CRTC hears

Media | 09/04/2018 6:18 pm EDT

The CRTC should focus its efforts on taking action against telecoms that have been directly accused of unethical sales practices instead of applying blanket rules on the entire industry, smaller...

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...

Facebook makes Watch video service available world-wide

Media | 08/30/2018 4:33 pm EDT

In a blog post on Wednesday, Facebook Inc. announced the global launch of...

Social media threats challenge gov’t, platforms ahead of election

Media | 08/30/2018 3:12 pm EDT

In the three years since the last Canadian federal election, emerging...

Canadians spent $8B on digital products last year: StatCan

Media | 08/29/2018 6:00 pm EDT

According to the latest numbers from Statistics Canada, 67 per cent of adult Canadians purchased a digital product, such as a subscription to a streaming service, ebooks or online newspapers, between July 2017 and June 2018. That number grew to 79 per cent of all adults when including free versions, according to StatCan’s inaugural digital economy survey, released on Wednesday. Overall, Canadians spent upwards of $8.1 billion on electronic items over the course of the year, according to the report. StatCan found that computer software, apps and games commanded spending to the tune 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...

CRTC seeks public opinion in telecom sales practises

Media | 08/27/2018 3:23 pm EDT

The CRTC outlined Monday the details of an online public opinion survey concerning the regulator’s efforts to look into the allegedly unethical sales practises of the country’s telecoms.  The information the Commission...

CBC appoints new OTT content director

Media | 08/24/2018 4:08 pm EDT

CBC/Radio-Canada has appointed Gave Lindo to lead the public broadcaster’s over-the-top (OTT) content...

Broadcasters’ association, Corus, add new lobby registrations

Media | 08/24/2018 11:33 am EDT

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters registered to lobby the federal government on its review of the Copyright Act in July, which was otherwise a sleepy month in telecom and media government relations. Graham McLaughlin and Mark Resnick of McMillan Vantage registered to communicate with “public office holders with respect to the potential impact on the broadcasting sector as a result of changes of the framework for copyright in Canada.” The Copyright Act review kicked off in December, with the House industry committee holding meetings to hear from various groups this spring....

Libertarian telecom analyst joining Bernier’s new party effort

Media | 08/23/2018 7:47 pm EDT

Conservative MP Maxime Bernier announced Thursday that Montreal Economic...

Heritage seeking Que. CRTC commish for next year

Media | 08/23/2018 4:39 pm EDT

Canadian Heritage has posted the job application for the CRTC’s regional commissioner for Quebec, a year before the incumbent’s term is up. Yves Dupras, a Quebec lawyer, began a five-year term as the current commissioner...

Quebecor sues provincial press council

Media | 08/23/2018 3:44 pm EDT

Media organizations owned by Quebecor Inc. have gone to court to push back against judgements made by a press oversight group in Quebec, according to a release on Wednesday. Le Journal de Montréal, Le Journal de Québec, 24...

SaskTel now offers IPTV service

Media | 08/22/2018 5:58 pm EDT

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. (SaskTel) announced the launch of a new TV service using Ericsson AB’s MediaFirst-powered IPTV platform in a press release on Wednesday. Dubbed the maxTV Stream, according to the...

Canadians agreed to pay at least $200K to settle copyright suits in 2018

Media | 08/22/2018 5:08 pm EDT

More than a dozen movie studios have sued Canadians in recent months in a...

David Purdy joins Stingray

Media | 08/22/2018 12:11 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. has named its first chief revenue officer, appointing David Purdy — who previously worked at Rogers Communications Inc. and Vice Media Inc. — to the role. “David’s experience in driving growth and revenue generation within the television and media industries...

A quarter of English-speaking Canadians listen to podcasts

Media | 08/21/2018 4:35 pm EDT

The latest report from CBC/Radio-Canada’s Media Technology Monitor (MTM) project outlined 24 per cent of anglophone Canadians said they have listened to a podcast in the last month. Interest in...

Senate committee calls for study of online ad tax deductibility

Media | 08/21/2018 4:10 pm EDT

The Senate transport and communications committee said Tuesday the...

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 projects able to qualify for up to $40,000 each, according to the  release. Projects looking to participate need to submit a company profile through the CMF’s website. The release also outlined that documentary, children or drama television program projects are eligible for contributions under this effort. The submission deadline is Oct. 10....