Flexibility, diversity key to mobile content success: OIAF panel

Media | 10/03/2006 4:00 am EDT

Arguably, kids-and-family programmers and producers are leading the interactive media charge in Canada. But while content creation for these platforms is picking up steam, many are still wondering where the sustainable business model is. A multinational panel titled "Cartoons on the Go: Tomorrow’s media...

OMDC lubricates wheels of inter-media collaboration with $7.5 million fund

Media | 10/03/2006 4:00 am EDT

 A big infusion of cash for cross-platform content production announced in the Ontario government’s springtime budget was finally formally introduced two weeks ago.  The $7.5-million Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnership Fund was launched on September 21 by Caroline Di Cocco, Ontario’s Minister of...

CNM People

Media | 09/20/2006 4:00 am EDT

Alliance numériqc said goodbye to its GM of five years this month. Gilles Bertrand says he stepped down from the position on Sept. 15 after completing several of the goals he set out to accomplish in 2001, including a reorganization of the provincial digital media body and the launch of the Montreal International Game Summit in 2004.The search for a new GM is now underway, and Bertrand has reportedly presented his choice...

Independent producers should be compensated for each platform: CFTPA

Media | 09/20/2006 4:00 am EDT

In response to the CRTC’s Public Notice 2006-72, which called for comments on technological change and the future of broadcasting in Canada, the Canadian Film and Television Production Association noted a dearth of Canadian content on new digital platforms. Its submission, excerpts from which appear below, calls for more...

CNM Editorial

Media | 09/20/2006 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.What if you had a chance to undo all the embarrassing moments and miscues of your life and remake yourself as a new person, armed with the benefit of all the painful yet formative life lessons you’ve learned to date?  Second Life will seem familiar to those who were around for Jaron Lanier’s "virtual reality" manifesto and the advent of recent Vidfest keynote Mark Pesce’s VRML. It’s a three-dimensional, immersive "world" founded in 2003 that now spans several continents and a large archipelago. In it, you can change your appearance and gender, adopt a new profession – literally alter every facet of your existence and your role in society. It is a stunning achievement of interactive digital media. But while we often laud the immersiveness and the realism of computer-rendered environments, interactivity can have a dark side. In May, when Business Week magazine posted its story on...

Ringtones not the right starting point for an online music tariff, say CSI opponents

Media | 09/20/2006 4:00 am EDT

If you can’t find a frame of reference for online music services, you can’t set a tariff on them. That seemed to be the argument advanced by a coalition of digital music retailers, ISPs and others at the Copyright Board of Canada over the past two weeks.  This rationale is in stark opposition to a proposal by the...

Review exemption order, plan for future now: new media associations

Media | 09/20/2006 4:00 am EDT

Canada’s provincial new media associations presented a united front in calling for a timely, cross-departmental government analysis of the interactive media sector in the comments they filed with the CRTC as part of Public Notice 2006-72.  "There currently exists a window of opportunity, which may be narrow, for...

Quickplay sets sights on carriers in US with new VC funding

Media | 09/20/2006 4:00 am EDT

Every year, the world’s biggest mobile telecom players converge on CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment – the largest wireless data event in the US – and use it as a backdrop for making important announcements. This year, QuickPlay Media Inc. joined them, with two news items coming out of the conference.  The...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 09/20/2006 4:00 am EDT

Mad Catz makes first quarter a good oneVideogaming accessory maker Mad Catz Interactive Inc. released financial results for its first quarter of the 2007 fiscal year, which ended on June 30. The Toronto-based firm recorded more than $18 million worth of sales during the three-month period, up 22.6% on the total sales figure for the same quarter in the 2006 fiscal year. Gross profit, meanwhile, was up more than 60%, from...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 09/13/2006 4:00 am EDT

Corus makes changes to org chartOn Sept. 12, Toronto specialty TV programmer and radio broadcaster Corus Entertainment Inc. announced a realignment of its television and content divisions around two strategic "portfolios". The new Kids portfolio will see renowned childrens’ animation house Nelvana Studios move to the broadcaster’s television division, with a separate spinoff – Nelvana Enterprises – set...

CCR People

Media | 09/13/2006 4:00 am EDT

As mentioned earlier in this issue (see Short Takes), this week’s reorganization at Corus Entertainment Inc. also saw some new executive appointments. Scott Dyer, formerly executive VP of production and development at Nelvana Studios, becomes executive VP and GM of Corus’ kids portfolio, which Nelvana Studios has now been folded into. Also, Doug Murphy takes over the top seat at Nelvana Enterprises, the licensing and...

TV audiences up despite new media: CMRI

Media | 09/13/2006 4:00 am EDT

In a report commissioned by four leading telcos, Canadian Media Research Inc. president Barry Kiefl responds to June’s Order-in-Council mandating a review of technology’s impact on broadcasting (see first story). In the report, titled A Review of Research Data on the Canadian Television Industry, Kiefl draws on a variety of survey data to assert...

CCR Editorial

Media | 09/13/2006 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Industry comments on the future of broadcasting in a digital, interconnected, on-demand environment are in, and it appears the picture isn’t as dismal as one might have believed.  At nearly every broadcast industry event and policy hearing this year, we’ve heard about the 900-pound gorilla...

Technology not necessarily a threat to broadcasting: OIC comments

Media | 09/13/2006 4:00 am EDT

Fostering high-definition Canadian television production and regulating the Canadian broadcasting system in a more flexible manner – including requests for less regulation and more subsidies for broadcasters – were common refrains in comments filed with the CRTC as part of Public Notice 2006-72. On June 8, 2006 the Governor-in-Council issued an Order-in-Council (OIC) requesting the report from the commission. The OIC was delivered in conformity with section 15 of the Broadcasting Act, which allows the Governor-in-Council to request the CRTC to hold hearings or make reports on any matter within its influence under the act. The Governor in-Council noted in the OIC that new...

Showrunner credits often abused, directors and writers guilds say

Media | 09/13/2006 4:00 am EDT

While a recent public consultation on production tax credits has provided the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) with some ideas for improvement, creators’ groups still have concerns about the criteria used to gauge Canadian control of productions.  The genesis of Public Notice CAVCO 2006-02, issued...

New short film distributor Ouat Media makes its debut

Media | 09/13/2006 4:00 am EDT

Not satisfied with operating two specialty channels – and not dissuaded by an unsuccessful bid for a pay TV service earlier this year (CCR, May 19/06) – Toronto’s Channel Zero Inc. has launched a new company to distribute short films. "A lot of what we’re interested in doing is really proactively seeking out the emerging...

CMRRA online music tariff a warm-up for SOCAN’s Tariff 22: CAB

Media | 09/13/2006 4:00 am EDT

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) attended a tariff hearing last week not so much for what the current process means for its members, but for its bearing on future tariff hearings.  On April 28, the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA) and its Quebec counterpart, La Société du droit de...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 09/07/2006 4:00 am EDT

11 Cameras Stakes New TerritoryLong-distance friends and lovers have traded in pen and ink for the ones and zeros of email and the electronic hum of webcams. Computers are the new breeding ground for today’s relationships. Love, sex, loneliness, fear, money woes, longing, adultery and jealousy -- 11 Cameras is a voyeuristic look at human relationships and the new ways we connect in the digital age.  Dramatic...

CNM People

Media | 09/07/2006 4:00 am EDT

Transcontinental Media has appointed Zouhaire Sekkat as VP, digital media. Prior to joining Transcontinental, Sekkat worked for five years as VP of Internet and information systems at Trader Classified Media. Before that, he worked at IBM France and IBM Luxembourg from 1989 to 2001, finishing as executive project manager, strategic outsourcing, application management services. In his new role, Sekkat will be responsible for implementing an Internet strategy that leverages Transcontinental’s consumer and print brands and builds deeper relationships with advertisers and digital users. Since this past March, Montreal-based Transcontinental has announced a number of new developments in its digital strategy.  Fun Technologies Inc. has announced that Brian Welding will join its board of directors. Welding was VP and assistant controller of Englewood CO-based Liberty Media -- which acquired a majority interest in Fun in March -- since January 2006, and served in a number of capacities with the company since 1999. Prior to joining Liberty,...

Broadcasters getting new media message, Bell Fund’s Sheffer tells CRTC

Media | 09/07/2006 4:00 am EDT

Issued earlier this summer at the direction of Canadian Heritage minister Bev Oda, the CRTC’s Public Notice 2006-72 called for comments on technological change and the future of broadcasting in Canada. In her submission, excerpts from which appear below, Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund executive director Andra Sheffer...

Game developers team up with NMBA

Media | 09/07/2006 4:00 am EDT

The member companies of the Game Developers Association of Ontario are now card-carrying members of the province’s broader new media industry trade organization under an agreement announced last week.  "Basically all the members of that association have joined the New Media Business Alliance, and we’ve agreed that we will flow all of the...

CNM Editorial

Media | 09/07/2006 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.This week, a much-anticipated hearing got underway at the Copyright Board of Canada, one that could determine the future of online digital music sales in Canada as well as how the various parties in the music creation value chain respond to threats to their business model.  The Canadian Musical...

Ringtone ruling will extend to ringbacks as well: SOCAN

Media | 09/07/2006 4:00 am EDT

Considering six is almost halfway between zero and 10, it’s fair to say the Copyright Board of Canada took the middle ground in its Aug. 18 decision on Tariff 24, which gives the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) a royalty of 6% on revenue from ringtone downloads between 2003 and 2005....

Ad-based revenue model from Universal not included in current CSI tariff

Media | 09/07/2006 4:00 am EDT

Hearings got underway this week at the Copyright Board of Canada dealing with an Online Music Services Tariff (2005-2007) proposed by the Canadian Music Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd. (CMRRA) and La Société du droit de reproduction des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs au Canada (SODRAC), collectively known as CSI. But...

Half of kids have no rules governing ‘Net usage: survey

Media | 09/07/2006 4:00 am EDT

It’s back-to-school time for millions of Canadian children this week, but a recent survey from Toronto-based media literacy firm Mediacs shows their parents could likely use some remedial education on the dangers of the online world as well.  In this era of pervasive communications and affordable high-tech toys,...

User-generated content at the foundation of Zeeks Underground

Media | 09/07/2006 4:00 am EDT

Toronto-based kids and family website operator Kaboose Inc. is in the process of giving a facelift to some of its properties, including a planned foray into user-generated media.   The company has been working with a UK-based firm to revamp Zeeks, its website targeting nine- to 14-year-olds, and is now putting the...

Support for higher copying levies: CPCC

Media | 09/07/2006 4:00 am EDT

 A new survey conducted for the Canadian Private Copying Col-lective claims that music fans would pay more for blank CDs and MP3 players, if the money went to creators.   "Generally, the public feels that the levy is fair, at whatever price level we asked them about," says Anna Bucci, executive director of the CPCC, which collects...

BDUs downplay TiVo-EchoStar battle

Media | 08/29/2006 4:00 am EDT

The battle of the boxes between TiVo Inc. and EchoStar Communications Corp. rages on south of the border, but Canadian BDUs say they aren’t worried that Alviso CA-based TiVo will look for new targets here. "As a downstream consumer of the product, we don’t really have that level of detailed knowledge about what’s going on with respect to the intellectual property and patents," says Mike Lee, chief strategy officer at Rogers Communications Inc. "[However,] when you cut your [agreement] with your suppliers, you end up with…some level of indemnity." On Aug. 17, Judge David Folsom of the US District Court’s Eastern Texas Division ordered Englewood CO’s EchoStar to disable the digital video recorder (DVR) features of more than three million of its...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 08/29/2006 4:00 am EDT

Film, Video and Audio Post-Production in CanadaA snapshot of the industry from 2001-02 to 2004-05 2001-02 2004-05% change Number of firms 27432719.3Total employment7,2016,820-5.3Total revenue ($ millions)9201,018.7010.7Operating expenses ($ millions)848.5967.814.1Exports ($ millions) 401522.630.3Operating margin (% of operating revenue)7.34.3 SOURCE: Statistics Canada's The Daily, Aug. 22/06   Cogeco...

CCR People

Media | 08/29/2006 4:00 am EDT

CanWest MediaWorks has appointed Troy Reeb to the newly-created position of VP, news operations for Global News and CH News, effective September 1. Responsibilities in the new role will include coordinating all local and national news efforts, providing direction to the cross-Canada team of local news directors, and managing and developing resources across the network on a daily basis. Reeb brings almost 20 years of...

Mandate IPF contributions for new VOD service: CFTPA

Media | 08/29/2006 4:00 am EDT

Câblevision du Nord de Québec Inc. (CNQ) recently requested a licence to add a new VOD service to complement its Fleximo digital cable offering. However, the cableco also asked the CRTC for permission to divert the 5% of gross revenues it must pay to independent Canadian production funds to its community channel instead. Below is an edited version of...

Levin’s Ethnic Channels Group hampered by 2004 regulatory changes

Media | 08/29/2006 4:00 am EDT

It’s been less than two years since the CRTC scrapped the competitiveness test for allowing foreign-owned third-language television services into the country (CCR, Dec. 20/04). But while the new approach has been praised as a win for consumers because it has increased the amount of third-language content available,...

CCR Editorial

Media | 08/29/2006 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Members of the broadcast community are starting to feel the pain from the CRTC’s Dec. 16, 2004 decision on competitiveness between Canadian and non-Canadian general interest specialty services in languages other than English and French. Undoubtedly, in a society as multicultural as Canada more channels in more languages will mean more satisfied television watchers. However, are consumer interests really being best-served if Canadian providers of third-language content, such as Ethnic Channels Group, are being stymied in their efforts to produce homegrown content in a cost-effective manner and compete with foreign entities by bureaucratic red tape? Incredibly, Ethnic Channels Group is just now receiving approval for licence applications submitted before the 2004 decision. On the other side of the coin, channels coming into Canada from abroad often aren’t aware that a key source of revenue – advertising...

Discovery Health wins CPE, airtime concessions

Media | 08/29/2006 4:00 am EDT

Last week, the CRTC approved the Discovery Health Channel’s request to scale back its airtime and Canadian production spending (Broadcasting Decision 2006-384). On the face of it, it’s not good news for producers, but some lent their qualified support to the request. Both Calgary-based Joe Media Group and PTV Productions Inc. of Toronto told...

Streamlined approach should free up more resources: CRTC

Media | 08/29/2006 4:00 am EDT

With the release of Broadcasting Public Notice 2006-103 on August 18, the CRTC announced that it is streamlining its approach to assessing competitiveness between sponsored non-Canadian television services and Canadian pay and specialty services. Essentially, the change puts the onus on existing services to identify...

CFNY-FM gets another four years, despite Cancon shortfall

Media | 08/29/2006 4:00 am EDT

Despite falling short of its required Canadian vocal music levels, Corus Entertainment Inc.’s CFNY-FM has had its licence renewed for a four-year period.  In Broadcasting Decision 2006-394, the CRTC found that Category 2 Canadian vocal music accounted for 33.8% of the Brampton ON modern rock station’s daytime...

Our fibre network can do it cheaper: Rogers

Media | 08/15/2006 4:00 am EDT

Last month, Rogers Cable Inc. asked for permission to use its newly acquired fibre optic network to distribute both distant Canadian and US 4+1 signals to its regional cable systems.  "It’s the Seattles coming out of the US, and it’s…the Vancouver distant signals that we carry on our digital offering that we’re trying to bring back to...

Gaming on TV sets could come to Canada

Media | 08/15/2006 4:00 am EDT

Canadians aren’t likely to be gambling with real money anytime soon over their television sets, but that doesn’t mean the country’s broadcasters aren’t looking to get a piece of the high-roller stakes.  In contrast with the United Kingdom, gambling regulations here are likely to limit broadcasters and TV distributors to subscription-based,...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 08/15/2006 4:00 am EDT

Results for the Canadian Television Fund’s Broadcaster Performance Envelopes – 2006 to dateENGLISH BROADCASTER PERFORMANCE ENVELOPES (including CBC and affiliates, all figures rounded)Total CTF funds available through English-language Broadcaster Envelopes for 2006-2007$167.2 millionAmount requested from applications received to date$33.2 millionAmount remaining for 2006-2007$134 millionPercentage of funds that have...

CCR People

Media | 08/15/2006 4:00 am EDT

CTV television personality Ben Mulroney has been appointed as a National Ambassador for UNICEF Canada. Mulroney, perhaps best known as the host of the CTV shows Canadian Idol and eTalk, also holds degrees in law and history. One of his first responsibilities in his new role will be to serve as national spokesperson for this year’s revitalized Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign, in which Canadian kids will engage in...

Pattison deserves a chance: Ray del Val

Media | 08/15/2006 4:00 am EDT

On August 2, the CRTC released Public Notice 2006-97 announcing its decision to licence five new radio stations in the Calgary area, from a pool of 13 applicants. Commissioner Helen Ray del Val was at odds with her colleagues over how many stations the market could support. An excerpted version of her dissenting opinion appears below.  Assuming...

New pay TV licence will remain as is

Media | 08/15/2006 4:00 am EDT

The Department of Canadian Heritage last week denied a request to refer a May decision on a new pay TV service back to the CRTC based on its proposed levels of closed captioning and descriptive video. Earlier this summer, when the commission was weighing applications for a new pay TV service to rival two incumbent offerings, Astral Media Inc.’s The Movie Network and Corus Entertainment Inc.’s Movie Central (CCR, May 19/06), it cited several deficiencies in the application by Allarco Entertainment Inc. As a result, the broadcaster’s counsel, Mark Lewis of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Toronto, told the commission on June 8, 2005 that Allarco would provide closed captions for 90% of its programming in the first year of licence. As well, the pay TV applicant agreed to air two...

CCR Editorial

Media | 08/15/2006 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Recent conversations about accessibility of TV programming have me wondering if a concerted effort is required to get Canada’s broadcast community on the same page where viewers with disabilities are concerned. Section 3(1)(p) of Part I of the Broadcasting Act expressly states that...

Five new stations licensed for Calgary area

Media | 08/15/2006 4:00 am EDT

The race for new radio station licences in Canada’s most profitable and fastest-growing radio market is over, but not without some disagreement within the CRTC. Ten parties answered the call in CRTC Public Notice 2005-48 and filed applications for new radio licences to serve the Calgary Central Market Area, which encompasses not just the city but...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 08/09/2006 4:00 am EDT

Chill out at Falcon Beach Interactive!FalconBeach.ca is not simply your standard informative website, but an immersive world modelled on the hit TV show.  The Virtual Cottage Community is an isometric 3D environment boasting many progressive innovations requiring little more than a browser and Macromedia’s Flash player. The concept for the VCC is to invite fans and viewers to become members, and live inside the...

CNM People

Media | 08/09/2006 4:00 am EDT

Toronto-based family entertainment portal Kaboose Inc. recently announced the appointment of Daniel Ambrose to its board of directors. As managing director of Ambro.com, the Eugene OR-based media consulting shop he founded in 1994, Ambrose has provided strategic advice to such firms as about.com, iVillage Inc., Hearst Corp., and Primedia Inc. Before starting his own company, he worked in various advertising sales...

Publishers increasingly going casual: IGDA

Media | 08/09/2006 4:00 am EDT

The International Game Devel-opers Association recently released its annual white paper examining the state of casual gaming. In it, the IGDA examines the past year, as well as potential shifts ahead. Excerpts from the document appear below; the full paper is at http://www.igda.org/casual/.  The core and casual downloadable games sector grew over 100% from 2003-2004, reaching over $115 million in North America alone [according to a 2004 IDC report]. The industry caters primarily to a mass-market audience of consumers that have little overlap with traditional game buyers. Although numbers for core and casual downloads are not separated in the IDC forecast, most industry experts believe casual games comprise the majority of this revenue today. An explosion in the number of titles,...

More than 1,000 hate sites added last year, according to the Simon Wiesenthal Center

Media | 08/09/2006 4:00 am EDT

The number of hate and terrorism-related websites aimed at Canadians increased by 20%, or 1,000 sites, last year, according to the Canadian arm of US-based anti-hate watchdog Simon Wiesenthal Center.  "The Internet is without a doubt the way of communication in the world today," says Leo Adler, Canadian...

CNM Editorial

Media | 08/09/2006 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Interactive media is fantastic, the future of digital entertainment – this much we know already. But there is a downside to the industry: hate and terrorist groups are usurping online chat, immersive 3D shooters, casual games and other innovations for their own twisted purposes.  The problem is...

Online search advertising on the rise, predicts IAB Canada survey

Media | 08/09/2006 4:00 am EDT

Online advertising revenues have doubled over the past two years at Canada’s largest Internet publishers, according to an annual survey by the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB Canada).  Compared with other forms of media advertising, online ads are "starting from a smaller base, but it’s still...

Canada has a piracy problem – or not, depending who you ask

Media | 08/09/2006 4:00 am EDT

Canada was once again taken to task in the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)’s annual report on music piracy, released last month. The document, formally titled 2006 Piracy Report: Protecting Creativity in Music, cites numerous reasons why piracy is out of control in Canada, but as with most...

Toronto can be a model for creative cities

Media | 08/09/2006 4:00 am EDT

Toronto’s creative economy, including the interactive media industry, received recognition last month with the release of Imagine a Toronto…Strategies for a Creative City.   The report was presented by the Creative Cities Leadership Team, a group of 17 individuals including educators, businesspeople and public policy leaders, to the City...

BGM decision leaves CRTC divided

Media | 08/01/2006 4:00 am EDT

 Bell Globemedia will transition to its new shareholder structure without having to pay any benefits, but one CRTC commissioner is at odds with his colleagues over the decision. Stuart Langford issued a dissenting opinion as part of Broadcasting Decision 2006-309, in which the commission gives the green light to BCE Inc. to sell 8.5% of the...

CRTC to rule on CHOI-FM’s licence transfer this September

Media | 08/01/2006 4:00 am EDT

 A CRTC hearing in Quebec City this September will determine whether upstart Montreal FM station CHOI-FM gets its licence back or not. With a history of contravening numerous broadcast standards and codes of ethics – including its own – some are hoping the outcome will go against the station. "I was...

Upselling to add ARPU key to MTS TV’s future

Media | 08/01/2006 4:00 am EDT

Manitoba incumbent telco MTS Inc. is arguably the most advanced IPTV provider in Canada, but the firm seems to be approaching the limit of how much business TV over DSL lines can realistically win away from entrenched TV distributors.  Subscribers to MTS’ TV-over-DSL service hit 56,571 in the three months ending June 30, a 3.9% increase over the...

Hospitality tariff fixed for 2001-2006

Media | 08/01/2006 4:00 am EDT

On June 30th the Copyright Board of Canada approved an application by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) for a tariff on hotel and motel in-room audio-visual and music services for 2001 through 2006. First-run movies and CDs are often offered to hotel guests on a pay-per-view (PPV) basis through services such as On Command Canada (OCC), LodgeNet Entertainment and Instant Media Network – a subsidiary of OCC that offers music services. Until now, music publishers were not earning revenue from guests’ use of these services. Previous attempts to garner royalties from these entertainment features failed, but with fewer objectors and in light of similar practices in other nations, the Copyright Board was able to reach an agreement between SOCAN, the...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 08/01/2006 4:00 am EDT

Astral pay, specialty services announce lineupsAstral Media Inc.’s The Family Channel, The Movie Network, Mpix and Viewer’s Choice properties recently unveiled their 2006/2007 programming schedule. Dexter, a crime thriller series produced by the US’ Showtime service, will debut on the Montreal broadcaster’s The Movie Network (TMN) pay TV service this fall, while heavyweight Mafia series The Sopranos will return in...

CCR People

Media | 08/01/2006 4:00 am EDT

Alliance Atlantis’ Motion Picture Distribution Inc. (MPDI), which oversees the Movie Distribution Income Fund and Motion Picture Distribution LP, went through a serious shakeup recently with the resignations of president and CEO Patrice Theroux and chairman and director of the board Victor Loewy. By way of explanation, a media release issued by the fund simply reads: "The Motion Picture Distribution Board concluded...

Clarify language around BDUs: Telco TV

Media | 08/01/2006 4:00 am EDT

The Telco Television Association of Canada recently filed interventions supporting several BDUs’ requests to carry satellite radio services (see p.1). In its filing, the group contends DTH providers are unfairly constrained by wording in the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations when it comes to offering such services. An excerpt of the intervention...

CCR Editorial

Media | 08/01/2006 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Bell Globemedia’s recent end-run around ownership regulations exposes the importance of language in law-making. When BCE Inc. and Woodbridge Co. Ltd. announced their intention to bring Torstar Corp. and the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan onboard as partners in Bell Globemedia, the CRTC ruled...

Commission mulls second wave of comments on satellite radio over BDUs

Media | 08/01/2006 4:00 am EDT

 On July 25 the CRTC received a wide range of comments both supporting and opposing an application by Bell Canada to distribute one or both of Canada’s satellite subscription radio (SSR) services through its Ontario and Quebec BDUs. For the commission, the interventions must have triggered a sense of déjà vu: many of the arguments echoed those advanced when the CRTC was reviewing the two applications to distribute subscription satellite radio in Canada last year (CCR, June 24/05). The commission also received an earlier application from Rogers Cable Communications Inc., and another last week from Telus Communications Inc. "I think it shows there’s an interest in...

SilverBirch set to blast off for Ice Planet

Media | 07/25/2006 4:00 am EDT

When the sci-fi show Ice Planet lands on CHUM Ltd.’s Space: The Imagination Station, viewers will be able to do a little exploring of their own on their cell phones and other mobile devices.   An Ice Planet mobile game is scheduled to launch simultaneously with the show in Canada as part of a convergence project that will eventually also...

Is new copyright legislation on the horizon? Copyright collectives think so

Media | 07/25/2006 4:00 am EDT

On July 16 intellectual property rights took the global stage with the release of Combating IPR Piracy and Counterfeiting from the G8 Group at the G8 Summit 2006 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Two days later, the issue got a national focus when a collective of Canadian creators-rights coalitions congratulated the federal...

SOCAN symposium aims to show content creators the money

Media | 07/25/2006 4:00 am EDT

The themes of royalties, success and technology dominated the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada’s (SOCAN) July 13th symposium in Vancouver’s International Film Centre. The auditorium was filled with comments and queries on the state of the Canadian music industry, copyrights, and new ventures,...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 07/25/2006 4:00 am EDT

Transcontinental snaps up Francophone websitesMontreal-headquartered media conglomerate Transcontinental Inc. recently acquired Zoupla Communications Inc., another Montreal firm which operates two popular Francophone Web properties, recettes.qc.ca and trucsmaison.com. Zoupla is a six-year-old company founded by Marc Gauthier and Nicolas Bonneau, and its acquisition makes Transcontinental the largest publisher of online...

CNM People

Media | 07/25/2006 4:00 am EDT

Ontario Media Development Corp. CEO Michel Frappier announced his retirement on June 21. "Such decisions are never taken lightly, but I have never been more confident that the OMDC is in great shape, and is well-poised to continue its vital work with the cultural industries," 65-year-old Frappier said in a media release. He will remain in the position until mid-September to assure a smooth transition.Prior to...

Consent is essential for mobile TV: CFTPA

Media | 07/25/2006 4:00 am EDT

On June 22, the Canadian Film and Television Production Association responded to submissions from broadcasters and telcos on a new exemption order for mobile TV services. Excerpts from their letter to the CRTC appear below.  The CFTPA agrees with comments made in the first phase of this proceeding by CTV Television and the CAB with respect to the...

CNM Editorial

Media | 07/25/2006 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Recent events in the US should raise the ire of Canadians working in the online media world.  With the arrest of David Carruthers, the UK-born former CEO of Costa Rica-based Internet wagering site BetOnSports.com, citizens of countries around the world – including Canada – have been served...

Canadian online gaming providers travel to the US at their own peril

Media | 07/25/2006 4:00 am EDT

Canadians involved in producing software for use in online casinos and other interactive gaming applications may have to strike the United States off their travel plans, at least in the short-term.   The arrest of David Carruthers, CEO of Costa Rica-based BetOnSports PLC and a British citizen, has the online...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 07/20/2006 4:00 am EDT

XM, Suzuki announce partnershipSatellite radio provider XM Canada has signed a multi-year exclusive partnership with Suzuki Canada. Under the agreement XM satellite radios will be factory- or dealer-installed in thousands of Suzuki vehicles beginning with 2007 models. The Suzuki XL-7 JLX will come with XM satellite radio as a standard option, while the Grand Vitara and SX4 will be offered with XM as a dealer-installed option. "Suzuki drivers have always had a keen sense of exploration and discovery and a certain way of life, and now XM will take that desire to explore to a higher level," said Mike Kurnic, Suzuki’s national manager corporate communications, in a news release. XM Canada will offer Suzuki owners free activation and a three-month complimentary subscription, and the satellite radio will eventually be offered in the majority of Suzuki Canada’s vehicles.  Lionsgate buys Debmar-MercuryDebmar-Mercury LLC, an independent distributor of television programming and feature film packages, has been acquired by...

CCr People

Media | 07/20/2006 4:00 am EDT

TSN has hired Darren Dreger to become the network’s hockey insider alongside Bob McKenzie. Dreger is a 19-year veteran sportscaster whose hockey broadcast experience includes hosting Ottawa Senators, Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs games, hosting NHL pre-game shows, game analysis for the IIHF Men’s World Hockey Championship and working as an on-site hockey reporter at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. He will...

Don’t arm ILECs with deferral account money: CCSA

Media | 07/20/2006 4:00 am EDT

In the letter to the CRTC excerpted below, the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance Inc. (CCSA) voices concerns about use of telco deferral account money. The organization says a CRTC decision to allow incumbent telcos to use such funding to extend broadband to rural areas will harm cable operators already serving those regions.  CCSA member companies...

CCR Editorial

Media | 07/20/2006 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. I have the future of high-definition television in Canada laid out on my desk.  It’s in the form of documents: a call from Industry Canada to license Canadian satellite orbital positions; a regulatory framework for the migration of Canadian TV to high-definition standards; a CRTC decision...

Industry’s process should help ensure satellite licenses are actually used

Media | 07/20/2006 4:00 am EDT

On July 11, Industry Canada announced an initiative to assign as many as 29 satellite licences to Canadian commercial satellite operators. The capacity provided by these satellites will help carry new telecommunications services and should offer enough spectrum to handle the full implementation of high-definition television...

All forms of broadcast media to keep growing – at different rates – until 2010

Media | 07/20/2006 4:00 am EDT

The annual Global Entertainment and Media Outlook report from consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) predicts a mixed outlook, with moderate changes to growth rates for television broadcasters and distributors as well as radio broadcasters. But while two of the three will see slight declines in growth between now and 2010, one media format will grow considerably.  The main trend woven throughout the report is "steady as you go," says Jerry Brown, director of the Canadian entertainment and media advisory practice at the firm’s Toronto offices. Special irregularly occurring events – such as the NHL lockout, the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics – hold considerable sway...

CHUM-CTV merger will impact TV policy review

Media | 07/20/2006 4:00 am EDT

Last week’s surprise announcement that CTV Inc. parent Bell Globemedia is buying Toronto-based broadcaster CHUM Ltd. for $1.7 billion shocked many industry-watchers in Canada. But after the initial reaction wore off, most set to work analyzing the deal and the potential regulatory concessions that will inevitably result.  Of course, it seems...

HD stick-and-carrot presents opportunities for High Fidelity HDTV

Media | 07/20/2006 4:00 am EDT

Although the CRTC has recently underscored the importance of getting more Canadian-made high-definition programming on the air, the next two months will be pivotal for High Fidelity HDTV Inc., a Canadian specialty broadcaster somewhat unique in that it’s made high-definition programming its genre.  "We...

Being Ian deal could herald new thinking on convergence

Media | 07/11/2006 4:00 am EDT

Being Ian, an animated series about a film-crazy youngster produced by Vancouver independent producer Studio B Productions, has made such an impression on broadcast partner Corus Entertainment Inc. that it’s bought the entire online rights to the property.   "I think this is really a different model,"...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 07/11/2006 4:00 am EDT

Dance over to doodlebops.com!Kids get front-row seating at doodlebops.com as they experience the world of music with their favorite rockin’ band, The Doodlebops! The Doodlebops is a live-action preschool series which airs weekdays at 10 a.m. ET on CBC and on VRAK in Canada, as well as on the Disney Channel in the US and UK. The Doodlebops website is an immersive interactive destination for kids two to six. Here they...

CNM People

Media | 07/11/2006 4:00 am EDT

Tom Deyo has been appointed VP business development at Azcar Technologies Inc. Over the past 20 years, Deyo has held business development and management positions with Sony Broadcast and Production Division and Harris Broadcast Division in Minneapolis, DC, Los Angeles and Chicago. Markham ON-based Azcar provides high-definition digital media solutions for the broadcast, telecommunications, broadcast ministries, higher...

Cancon makes up 50% of Canadian web surfers’ reading: CRTC report

Media | 07/11/2006 4:00 am EDT

On June 30, the CRTC released its 2006 Broadcasting Policy Monitoring Report, which measures the effectiveness of the commission’s regulation. The report mentions the CRTC’s recent decision on mobile broadcasting services (CNM, April 17/06), then provides an overview of the state of technology adoption in Canada. The...

CNM Editorial

Media | 07/11/2006 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.At the recent Vidfest conference in Vancouver, attendees were lucky enough to hear some prognostications from two British Columbians who’ve made history themselves.  Don Mattrick and Terry McBride ruminated on the future of digital entertainment and offered predictions for what the years ahead...

Government requested formation of national new media body, say CI@IC members

Media | 07/11/2006 4:00 am EDT

A year after its formation, the Canadian Interactive Alliance (CI@IC) has further solidified itself by electing a board and executives. Going forward, the group will continue to focus on broad-sweeping issues in the Canadian new media sector and is confident it won’t suffer the same fate as the national interactive media...

Zinc Roe commits to twice the episodes for year two of Zimmer Twins

Media | 07/11/2006 4:00 am EDT

In convergent media, it’s all too common to find broadcast properties chopped and reformatted to serve multi-platform purposes. But zinc Roe design’s Zimmer Twins flips the script by allowing kids to make short movies online, the best of which get broadcast on television. It’s a formula that’s clearly working – the show has just launched its website for its second season on Teletoon.   "What the kids create in a way becomes the broadcast spot, which is kind of the unique part of it," says Anne-Sophie Brieger, Toronto-based producer of Zimmer Twins. "It’s very much what our company has always wanted to do, which is make sites where users can contribute...

Raven Tales Interactive takes top prize at iPitch

Media | 07/11/2006 4:00 am EDT

A game developer and self-confessed novice to the art of pitching to broadcasters won the $10,000 iPitch prize at last month’s Banff World Television Festival for an online game based on First Nations mythology.   Sand Box Games’ Michael Ockenden, who produces Raven Tales Interactive, says the money will "help keep the wheels turning...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 07/04/2006 4:00 am EDT

Bell BDUs ask for local avails relief as wellAs anticipated after the CRTC gave the green light to three BDUs applying to use a portion of local avails for cross-promoting non-broadcast services, more distributors have stepped forward asking for similar permission. Both Bell Canada and Bell ExpressVu have asked for their conditions of licence to be amended to allow for more liberal use of local avails – the...

CCR People

Media | 07/04/2006 4:00 am EDT

The Canadian Television Fund has made more staffing changes recently. Joining the fund’s administrative team in the role of VP of strategic policy planning and stakeholder relations is Stéphane Cardin, who will have responsibility for developing policy initiative stakeholder relations and strategic business plans. He comes from the Quebec government’s Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC)...

Pay and specialty on more stable footing than OTA: Dalfen

Media | 07/04/2006 4:00 am EDT

In introducing the CRTC’s review of over-the-air television broadcasting at the Banff World Television Festival on June 12 (CCR, June 20/06), commission chair Charles Dalfen provided a snapshot of the state of Canada’s TV broadcasters today. Below is an edited excerpt from his speech.  What is the situation of...

Editorial

Media | 07/04/2006 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. In all the talk about HD and its stakeholders, one group of constituents may have been overlooked.  Returning from the Banff World Television Festival, I whiled away the bus ride back to Calgary in conversation with a staffer at Vu Productions, Bell ExpressVu’s mobile for-hire HD production unit. He said business was booming: that production companies were lining up to use his firm’s hardware, staff and facilities to shoot high-definition content, and demand was growing. While many independent producers fret about the cost of upgrading to HD cameras and other equipment, Vu Productions was finding the return on investment quite satisfactory, thank you very much. But while the industry’s imminent move to HD couldn’t be better for Vu Productions, at Bell ExpressVu’s direct-to-home BDU operations it will likely be a different matter. The staffer noted that while the average satellite transponder can...

BBM-Nielsen TV ratings merger can proceed: Competition Board

Media | 07/04/2006 4:00 am EDT

After several years of negotiations – and more than 20 years after a similar yet ill-fated attempt – Canada’s two main broadcast audience measurement firms are ready to merge their television ratings services. "There are tremendous efficiencies for both the buyers and the sellers, because there’s now one...

Pay and specialty TV posts the most impressive numbers in CRTC report

Media | 07/04/2006 4:00 am EDT

The CRTC’s 2006 Broadcasting Policy Monitoring Report released on Friday June 30 will add more debate to the policy hearings for commercial radio and over-the-air television currently underway.  On the radio side, listenership had decreased across the board from 1999 to 2005, but most acutely in the teens (aged...

Transitional licensing, genre protection tools to speed HD uptake

Media | 07/04/2006 4:00 am EDT

Drawing heavily on earlier policy documents, the CRTC released a framework on June 15 for the migration of Canadian television to high-definition standards. In the document, the commission expresses a preference to let market forces dictate the pace of transition to HD, unlike the Jan. 1, 2012 transition date it fixed...

International TV success first requires a strong domestic market: AA’s Bolen

Media | 07/04/2006 4:00 am EDT

Digital distribution, the export of Canadian programming and progressive policy directions will intertwine to shape The Future of Television in Canada, according to a green paper of that name prepared by Nordicity Group Ltd. for the Banff World Television Festival. While a Town Hall discussion of the paper took place last...

Go places with a universal story – and marquee talent: co-pro panel

Media | 07/04/2006 4:00 am EDT

International co-productions can be a boon to producers looking for capital, but Canadians should pick their partners with care if funding is a top priority. That was the consensus among members of a panel at the Banff World Television Festival last month.  "Why would someone want to do a co-production? The short...

Godcasting helps churches reach Christians on the go

Media | 06/26/2006 4:00 am EDT

When religious broadcaster S-VOX launched its myGodPod Christian podcasting service last month, it claimed that spiritual podcasts are burgeoning. Given the often-tenuous relationship between religion and technology, it wouldn’t be surprising if some doubted this assertion – but the evidence supports it.   Late last year CNN reported that...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 06/26/2006 4:00 am EDT

CTV launches broadband news serviceToronto-based broadcaster CTV Inc. had launched what it calls "phase one" of a new TV-over-broadband service, the CTV Broadband Network. The offering currently consists of four dedicated channels: CTV Shows, which features full-length prime-time programming; CTV News and Docs, composed of current affairs and new programs updated hourly; eTalk on Broadband for entertainment news...

CNM People

Media | 06/26/2006 4:00 am EDT

The sad passing of ZeD, CBC’s cutting-edge participatory media experiment, earlier this year has had some happy consequences: namely, the creation of a new interactive shop in Vancouver. Elastic Entertainment’s founding partners are Jennifer Ouano and Rochelle Grayson, the former of whom was senior producer at ZeD. Ouano is also a 15-year veteran of the production game, having worked as a producer, director,...

New exemption order must consider current rebroadcast rules: CWTA

Media | 06/26/2006 4:00 am EDT

David Farnes, VP of industry and regulatory affairs at the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, recently responded to the CRTC’s call for a new proposed exemption order for mobile wireless television services. In his submission, excerpted below, he says that by exempting the MobiTV-based services of the major wireless carriers under the 1999 New Media Exemption Order, the CRTC opened the door for a number of challenges to how it regulates all wireless video services.  In Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2006-47, the commission noted…that [the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association] "expressed concern about potential use by mobile broadcasters of broadcast...