CCR Editorial

Media | 10/03/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Despite the CRTC’s recent licence amendments to the country’s two direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV distributors approving conditions for out-of-market signals, the matter is far from closed. This summer, the commission approved a modified version of an agreement between Bell ExpressVu and the...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 10/03/2003 4:00 am EDT

Green Channel expected to be back on air this weekThe independent Category 2 digital service Green Channel is expected to return to the airwaves this week. The channel has been unavailable "due to technical difficulties" for three weeks, according to a message that appears on the screen as management sought new investors. "We’re refinancing and we’ll probably be back on air this week," says Linda...

Whistler Cable uses cable network to set up wireless Internet access in resort town

Media | 10/03/2003 4:00 am EDT

Whistler Cable in British Columbia is using its cable network to bring wireless Internet access to the resort town, and ward off threats to its TV distribution business from competitors, according to the cableco. Whistler Cable found itself having to defend its territory against competitors wanting to bring Internet access...

VoIP is billed as telephony solution for small cablecos at CCSA convention

Media | 10/03/2003 4:00 am EDT

Technologies have evolved sufficiently for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to represent a cost effective way for small- and medium-sized cablecos to offer telephony services to their customers, members of the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) were told last week. At the CCSA annual meeting in Toronto, Peter...

CCR People

Media | 10/03/2003 4:00 am EDT

Janet Yale has resigned as president and CEO of the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) to take the job of executive VP of government and regulatory affairs at Telus Corp. Effective Oct. 14, she will lead a 60-member team responsible for Telus’ interaction with all levels of government, regulatory and public bodies. Jim Peters, Telus’ executive VP and chief general counsel, has been overseeing the government and regulatory functions since 1999. He will remain in Ottawa to assist Yale with the transition into her new role before moving back to Vancouver to continue his work as Telus’ chief general counsel and corporate secretary. At the CCTA, Michael Hennessy, currently senior VP of regulatory and external affairs, will assume the responsibilities of president of the cable association on an acting basis during the search for a new head. The search committee to find a replacement consists of CCTA chair Dean MacDonald, Rogers Communications Inc. chair and CEO Ted Rogers, Shaw Communications Inc. CEO Jim Shaw, and Cogeco Inc....

Broadcasters chide Star Choice, urge CRTC to be strict in licence renewal

Media | 10/03/2003 4:00 am EDT

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) is asking the CRTC to renew Star Choice’s licence for fewer than the normal seven years, and to provide "explicit direction" to the distributor with regard to its obligations to distribute local signals within its market area. The demands come during the...

CNM Special Edition Update

Media | 10/02/2003 4:00 am EDT

Copyright term extensions headed for rubber-stamp vote in CommonsProposed legislation that would merge the National Archives of Canada and the National Library of Canada – a bill that would also increase copyright terms for some dead authors – has passed second reading in the same form recommended by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, with the extensions intact, despite a last-ditch effort by the Canadian...

CNM Update

Media | 10/01/2003 4:00 am EDT

Bell Fund eyes formula change in Bell ExpressVu applicationThe Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund has used the occasion of Bell ExpressVu LP’s application for a licence renewal (Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing 2003-8) to ask the CRTC to revisit a recent 40% cut in funding to the fund (CNM, July 24/03). As a result of the decision in Broadcasting Public Notice 2003-37, Bell ExpressVu is now required to put 0.4% of...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 09/26/2003 4:00 am EDT

Ad blocking software on the InternetDecima Research Inc. recently surveyed 2,000 Canadians using its monthly omnibus TeleVox asking about their use of ad blocking software on the Internet. Not surprisingly, use of software that blocks pop-ups and other ads was highest among younger Canadians. Note that in each category, some taking the survey either said they didn’t know whether they used ad blocking software, or...

CNM People

Media | 09/26/2003 4:00 am EDT

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has named four new members to its ranks. All previous members remain, and will be joined by John Efford, a Liberal representing Bonavista-Trinity-Conception, James Lunney of the Alliance representing Nanaimo-Alberni, Gary Schellenberger, a Tory from Perth-Middlesex, and Caroline St-Hilaire, representing Longeuil for the Bloc Québécois. Janet Yale suddenly...

CNM Newsmakers

Media | 09/26/2003 4:00 am EDT

Following is an excerpt of a letter sent by CTV Television Inc. president of CTV programming and chair of the media group Susanne Boyce to the CRTC in the wake of a July 11/03 story in Canadian NEW MEDIA relating to the Groundbreaker Fund. Canadian NEW MEDIA was not contacted by CTV prior to it sending the letter. An article in the July 11, 2003 issue of Canadian NEW MEDIA has been brought to my attention which...

CNM Editorial

Media | 09/26/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Formation of the Balanced Copyright Coalition is good news for average Canadians, even if they’ll never likely know it. The issues with which it hopes to deal must be important if one can bring the broadcasters, the cablecos, the telcos and retailers together under the same roof and put aside their...

CTV defends decision to fund Canadian Idol from Groundbreaker Fund in CRTC letter

Media | 09/26/2003 4:00 am EDT

CTV Inc. has fired back against a story in Canadian NEW MEDIA in which producers decried use of the Groundbreaker Fund to pay for the broadcaster’s massively popular Canadian Idol television series (CNM, July 11/03). In a four-page letter to the CRTC written by Susanne Boyce, president of CTV programming and chair of the...

Global can continue with “ITV” trademark, but Vancouver company owes no damages

Media | 09/26/2003 4:00 am EDT

WIC Television Ltd., now a subsidiary of CanWest Global Communications Corp., will continue to own the trademark "ITV" in Canada. But a veteran Vancouver webcasting company hasn’t violated that trademark by using the initials in its corporate name, ITV Technologies Inc., or its web site domain name ITV.net, the Federal Court of Canada ruled on September 10. The decision, rendered by Justice Danièle Tremblay-Lamer in Ottawa, upholds the status quo for both companies, though ITV Technologies’ lawyer says he’ll continue the case to pursue damages for losses suffered when WIC successfully won an injunction shutting ITV Technologies’ web site down for three weeks in...

Status quo on copyright infringement notices unsure as CRIA hints at change

Media | 09/26/2003 4:00 am EDT

There are hints that legislation may be on the table to codify ISP liability in copyright matters, though Ottawa is mum for the moment on whether Parliament will be asked to deal with it any time soon. Speculation that the federal government may be set to act on ISP liability comes after a story appeared in the Financial...

Broad-based coalition of oft-times sparring partners warns collectively against DMCA

Media | 09/26/2003 4:00 am EDT

Canada’s largest Internet service providers, broadcasters, retailers and public interest advocates have come together in a new coalition that sees sometime foes bed down with their sparring partners to advance their view of potential copyright reforms. On September 15, the Balanced Copyright Coalition (BCC) was announced...

CCR Update

Media | 09/24/2003 4:00 am EDT

September 24, 2003  Shaw asks CRTC to ensure “fair and sustainable” competition in Internet marketShaw Cablesystems has filed a Part VII complaint with the CRTC against Telus Corp. alleging that it has an anti-competitive pricing policy for DSL Internet services. “Over the past five months, Telus has offered at least 18 different promotions for Internet access service to customers in Alberta and British...

More channels turn subscribers to digital TV, price hampers growth: Decima survey

Media | 09/18/2003 4:00 am EDT

Agreater variety and choice in programming appears to be the overwhelming rationale for opting for digital television, while cost is the number one reason keeping analog TV subscribers from upgrading, according to a soon-to-be-released comprehensive consumer research report entitled THE DIGITAL DOMAIN: Consumer Attitudes on...

Vidéotron still faces challenges despite inroads trumpeted at investors’ conference

Media | 09/18/2003 4:00 am EDT

Despite the positive news communicated by recently installed Vidéotron ltée president and CEO Robert Dépatie last week at Quebecor Inc.’s first-ever investors’ presentation, the Quebec cable operator still faces major challenges, including a significant expense to convert remaining customers of its antiquated Vidéoway interactive TV service to its digital cable service. "We’re phasing it out, because it’s an old technology," Dépatie told Canadian Communications Reports following the investors’ presentation in Montreal on September 8. "It doesn’t give us the freedom of what the digital TV does…we’re limited to 60 channels. We’re converting slowly but...

Citizens group recommends major changes to policy on broadcast towers

Media | 09/18/2003 4:00 am EDT

A citizens group in British Columbia is recommending major changes to Industry Canada’s policy for radio antennae and TV transmitters that would have drastic effects on broadcasters. The Colwood B.C. Tower Committee recommends that Industry Canada differentiate between transmitters for cellular phones and those for AM/FM...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 09/18/2003 4:00 am EDT

Manufacturer attempting to overcome DSR 471 shortageThe Motorola DSR 471 digital box used by small cablecos in HITS-QT systems is still in production although there has recently been a supply shortage, according to Cliff Fox, product manager at Blonder Tongue Laboratories in Old Bridge NJ. Blonder Tongue manufactures the transcoders that are compatible with and are used with the HITS-QT service in Canada and the United...

CCR People

Media | 09/18/2003 4:00 am EDT

Charles Boyer has taken an unpaid leave of absence from his job as VP of external and government relations at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) amid media reports that he spent over $30,000 of taxpayers’ money dining at many of Ottawa’s finest restaurants while he was at Canadian Heritage. "I took this action (requesting an unpaid leave of absence) so that I may be free to deal with the matter of...

It’s time to hit satellite television pirates where it hurts: attack their customers

Media | 09/18/2003 4:00 am EDT

The Battles Past and Future  Over the last 15 years, the broadcasting industry, in concert with government authorities, have developed the tools needed to win the DTH anti-piracy war. Our legal victories right up to the Supreme Court of Canada have left no doubt that grey and black...

CCR Editorial

Media | 09/18/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.It’s time for the CRTC to come out with a framework for interactive television and finalize the process it has undertaken to determine which iTV content is program-related and should be subject to mandatory carriage rules.   The distributors continue to argue for a moratorium on iTV...

CRTC to undertake broad study of Canadian TV drama, says Charles Dalfen

Media | 09/18/2003 4:00 am EDT

The CRTC will release details of a comprehensive review of Canadian television drama by month’s end, according to commission chair Charles Dalfen, who has made increasing the amount of domestic drama that is shown and watched on TV one of his main personal goals. "We’re planning to issue a public notice on the...

Pelmorex files undue preference complaint against Bell ExpressVu over i Weather service

Media | 09/18/2003 4:00 am EDT

Pelmorex Communications Inc. is asking the CRTC to order Bell ExpressVu LP to cease and desist providing its weather information service unless it provides The Weather Network and MétéoMédia with the ability to deliver local weather reports. In an undue preference complaint filed with the CRTC...

CNM Update

Media | 09/17/2003 4:00 am EDT

Canadian NEW MEDIA assertions “serious, damaging and irresponsible”: CTV VP to CRTCCTV Inc. says it’s unable to find any producers upset that the Groundbreaker Fund was used to fund the massively popular Canadian Idol television series, and says the show introduced several uniquely Canadian elements and new interactive features that fulfill the fund’s mandate. In a letter written to the CRTC on July 18, CTV...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 09/12/2003 4:00 am EDT

New CNMF guidelines releasedTelefilm Canada has released new guidelines for the Canada New Media Fund that include the much-anticipated change to a two-stage application process. The new application process is expected to reduce some of the cash producers must lay on the table just to apply to the program (CNM, Jan. 23/03). Further details are available at http://www.telefilm.gc.ca/03/311.asp?lang=en&fond_id=3. CTV defends decision to fund Idol from GroundbreakerCanadian NEW MEDIA is trying to track down a letter written by Susanne Boyce, CTV president of programming and chair of the media group, to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). The letter, now in the hands of CRTC staff, defends CTV's decision to use the Groundbreaker Fund to fund its massive hit, Canadian Idol (CNM, July 11/03). It's uncertain what motivated CTV officials to send the missive to the commission. Early indications are that an article in CNM prompted a proactive approach by the broadcaster on the issue, rather than...

CNM People

Media | 09/12/2003 4:00 am EDT

Lisa Lyons, previously a founder of chokolat, has been appointed VP/GM of Max Trax and content distribution at Corus Television. Prior to helping launch Chokolat, Lyons spent two years as VP, distribution and affiliate integration, for Zilo Networks, after serving Alliance Atlantis as VP, distribution and affiliate relations, broadcasting, from 1997-2000. Iron Leaf Communications, Calgary, has added Jason Halfyard to...

CNM Editorial

Media | 09/12/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. One new media analyst we spoke with in the course of assessing the Canadian Culture Online Program's new vision plan was blunt - and right - in describing a proposed cultural gateway as the product of outmoded thinking. Distribution funding in Telefilm's Canada New Media Fund has gone...

OnTarget set to expand programs, national coverage on eve of annual conference

Media | 09/12/2003 4:00 am EDT

OnTarget will launch two new programs at its annual conference this fall and is set to announce the export of some of its existing programs to other parts of Canada. The expansion comes despite a summer of disease, blackout, general economic malaise and the sudden closing of its office when Smart Toronto Technology Alliance...

Controversial web portal recommended by CCOP advisory board in vision report

Media | 09/12/2003 4:00 am EDT

The advisory board formed a year and a half ago to help craft Canada's online cultural strategy has quietly issued its first report outlining its vision for future priorities and initiatives (CNM Update, April 10/02). The document, which is slowly snaking its way through to industry stakeholders in the absence of any...

Heritage won’t replace Bell Fund money: CCOP chief to Canadian new media sector

Media | 09/12/2003 4:00 am EDT

Canadian Heritage won't be able to step in to fill the industry funding gap left by a recent cut to the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, says the official in charge of the Canadian Culture Online Program (CCOP). In an exclusive interview with Canadian NEW MEDIA, Ted Bairstow, director general for the CCOP, says the department is still in negotiations to renew money announced in the May 2001 Speech from the Throne, and that it is uncertain whether the one-time funding boost for digital media can be continued as Ottawa works in an uncertain political environment. Bairstow tells CNM that he recognizes the difficulties currently being faced by the new media industry as it continues to...

Tariff 22 heats up as international groups seek leave to weigh in with court

Media | 09/12/2003 4:00 am EDT

Parties both for and against a blanket fee on Internet caches to compensate the music industry for downloaded tunes have asked the Supreme Court of Canada for leave to intervene in the Tariff 22 case. Tariff 22, a proposed tariff on Internet music, faces an uncertain future as the Supreme Court will decide whether to...

Q&A with Ted Bairstow, director general, Canadian Culture Online, Canadian Heritage

Media | 09/12/2003 4:00 am EDT

I guess the first thing I'd like to ask you is, in light of any number of crises that are taking place in the new media industry right now, especially for the Toronto...

CCR Update

Media | 09/10/2003 4:00 am EDT

September 10, 2003  Public review of drama coming, says CRTC chairCRTC chair Charles Dalfen tells Canadian Communications Reports that the commission will undertake a public review of Canadian television drama. He says a public notice calling for comments on TV drama is due out in the next few weeks. He adds that it has not yet been decided whether there will be a public hearing following the written comment phase....

Two CRTC decisions boost chances of introduction of PPV on telco TV services

Media | 09/04/2003 4:00 am EDT

Two recent CRTC decisions are turning the tide on the tough haul that the western-based telcos were having getting pay per view (PPV) for their digital TV services. Earlier this year, it looked as though the telcos had no feasible way of offering PPV as negotiations turned sour with Shaw Communications Inc. and Bell...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 09/04/2003 4:00 am EDT

ACTRA members ratify new production agreementCanadian actors belonging to the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) voted 96% to ratify a new independent production agreement (IPA) with the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) and the Association of Producteurs de Film et de Télévision de Québec (APFTQ). The IPA covers all terms and conditions of employment on...

CCR People

Media | 09/04/2003 4:00 am EDT

Lisa Lyons has been appointed as VP and general manager of Max Trax and content distribution at Corus Television. She will lead the affiliate relations team and be responsible for all aspects of the company’s business associated with affiliate revenues as well as managing the Max Trax digital music business. She has 16 years experience launching and building successful brands and partnerships within the entertainment...

Preserve broadcasters’ right to use hidden cameras in collection of news: CAB

Media | 09/04/2003 4:00 am EDT

  The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) expresses concern that Bill C-20, an act to amend the Criminal Code (protection of children and other vulnerable persons), could be applied to broadcasters. If it is, the CAB argues that the legitimate use of hidden cameras by broadcasters during investigative journalism...

CCR Editorial

Media | 09/04/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.The demise of WTSN is proof that mandated carriage won’t guarantee success. Just because a channel is available on all distributors’ systems doesn’t mean digital subscribers will tune in. There was perhaps a problem with the WTSN licence right from the beginning. The rumour around the time of...

Low-priced Motorola set-top box expected to boost digital cable penetration

Media | 09/04/2003 4:00 am EDT

A new low-cost digital cable set-top box that Motorola Inc. expects to begin marketing this fall has cable operators expecting a quicker rollout of digital offerings. The Motorola DCT700 interactive set-top box will be priced at under US$100, while current digital set-top boxes can run as high as US$300 or US$400. Most cablecos end up subsidizing the cost of digital boxes to secure customers. The Motorola DCT700, which is about the size of a cable modem, includes a MIPS processor capable of supporting interactive services, an MPEG-2 digital video processor, and a real-time return path for services such as video-on-demand (VOD). It is compatible with the Motorola MediaCipher conditional...

Wireless cablecos ask CRTC for licence exemption in wake of intense competition

Media | 09/04/2003 4:00 am EDT

Canada’s three wireless cable operators are seeking major regulatory concessions for their TV services in their licence renewals as they struggle with the technology and larger, more successful competitors. Noting that it lost $38 million during its first licence term and saw its subscriber base in Manitoba fall from a...

CBC looking to expand VOD offerings with greater programming, more distributors

Media | 09/04/2003 4:00 am EDT

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) is pressing ahead with an expansion of its pilot video-on-demand (VOD) project, which currently consists of a few theme packages of programming offered to Rogers Cable Inc. digital subscribers. Growth plans include adding the VOD content to the services of other distributors, such as...

CTV axes struggling WTSN, making it the first Category 1 diginet to fall

Media | 09/04/2003 4:00 am EDT

CTV Inc.’s Women’s Sports Television Network (WTSN) will go off the air at the end of the month, making it the first must-carry Category 1 digital specialty service to close. The shutdown of the world’s first channel dedicated to women’s sports and athletes will result in the loss of 11 full-time jobs at CTV. Five...

CNM Update

Media | 09/03/2003 4:00 am EDT

International ISPs seek leave to intervene in Tariff 22 caseA group of powerful Internet service providers has asked the Supreme Court of Canada for the right to intervene in the Tariff 22 case now before the highest court (CNM, April 3/03). The consortium making the application, dated August 22, includes associations counting AT&T, BellSouth Corp., SBC Communications Inc., as well as companies belonging to the...

Move to Quebec for EA no reason to give up on government assistance: Alliance

Media | 08/28/2003 4:00 am EDT

Even as the new media industry struggles across Canada, Quebec has solidified its place as a multimedia hotspot by scoring giant Electronic Arts (EA) as Montreal’s newest developer. The global video games developer and publisher announced on August 14 that it would build a new studio in the city by the end of this year under the direction of games veteran Alain Tascan.  Tascan tells Canadian NEW MEDIA the facility will likely hire between 50 and 80 project staff every 12 months for the next four years as it undertakes development of four titles over that span. He forecasts a complement of 300 to 500 people within the next five to six years if plans work out as predicted. He says...

Young NMBA elected to fight funding cuts for Toronto new media producers

Media | 08/28/2003 4:00 am EDT

Toronto’s New Media Business Alliance (NMBA) has found itself in the spotlight after being elected late last month to represent the sector on funding matters at a hastily organized meeting of new media producers. Reacting to the crisis of cuts to the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund (CNM, July 24/03), about 20...

Third-party content aggregators key to SMS campaigns, says carrier

Media | 08/28/2003 4:00 am EDT

Companies not already using wireless SMS messaging to market their brands are missing a huge opportunity, say marketing experts, though small content players are cautioned not to expect any great help from wireless carriers. Production houses that want to exploit text messaging as a marketing tool should consider...

nextMEDIA festival to serve as glimpse into Fourth Wall, King kiosk partnership

Media | 08/28/2003 4:00 am EDT

New media observers will likely get their first look at the results of a new partnership between Toronto’s Fourth Wall Media and kiosk manufacturers KING Products and Solutions Inc. at this year’s nextMEDIA conference in October. Fourth Wall, an interactive marketing agency, will make extensive use of kiosk technology...

Kokopelli offering P2P developers “legitimacy”

Media | 08/28/2003 4:00 am EDT

An Ottawa-based start-up is attracting global attention for its new file-recognition software that it says could help peer-to-peer application developers legitimately operate. Kokopelli Networks Inc., which is still operating in "boot strap" mode without permanent offices, has released a product dubbed BluFilter:...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 08/28/2003 4:00 am EDT

Suite101 wins Indian gov’t consent for takeoverSuite101.com Inc. has received the necessary consent from the government of India to proceed with its acquisition of GeoGlobal (CNM Update, Jan. 29/03). GeoGlobal is an oil and gas exploration company. Suite101 is the company that originally gambled on an online writers community, as detailed in past issues of CNM. Organic Inc. builds new Benny Moore web...

CNM People

Media | 08/28/2003 4:00 am EDT

Aurel Langlois, longtime executive with Interactive Multimedia Arts & Technologies (IMAT), is leaving the organization to take a business development position with Toronto-based ideé inc. He will begin his new position at the end of August. A soon-to-be released media notice of his departure from IMAT reads, "The departure of Mr. Langlois had been planned for some time, with the knowledge and cooperation of the...

Turning the Tide on New Media Funding

Media | 08/28/2003 4:00 am EDT

The following is a letter sent by David Ellis, who recently released a commissioned report on the Telefilm Canada New Media Fund, to new media industry stakeholders and obtained by Canadian NEW MEDIA. Over the last couple of weeks, a storm of controversy has developed around the July 16 CRTC decision on DTH and its damaging impact on new media...

CNM Editorial

Media | 08/28/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Ontario government officials were understandably reluctant to return calls we made to inquire about the closure of SMART Toronto’s innovation lab. It seems the Ministry of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation hasn’t been able to catch a break in years when it comes to new media. At the end of the...

STTA under fire for rapid closure of Innovation Lab, merger with CATAAlliance

Media | 08/28/2003 4:00 am EDT

A bailiff’s notice remains affixed to the front door of the Smart Toronto Technology Alliance’s (STTA) Innovation Centre as the landlord seizes assets as compensation for the organization’s broken lease. The STTA hurriedly vacated the premises late last month after deciding the lab was no longer viable, leaving sub-tenants of the building scrambling for space and the organization’s president, its sole remaining staffer, relocated to Toronto’s Rogers Communications Centre in advance of dissolution of the association.  The move to shut down the Innovation Lab coincides with the acquisition of the STTA by the CATAAlliance, and it now becomes a division of the well-recognized...

CCR Update

Media | 08/27/2003 4:00 am EDT

August 27, 2003  Advertising revenues up at Alliance Atlantis, developing channels still in the redAdvertising sales increased 45% in the fiscal first quarter ended June 30, 2003 at Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc.’s broadcast properties over the same period a year earlier, Alliance Atlantis reported in financials released August 25. Revenue from the company’s developing digital specialty TV channels...

CCR People

Media | 08/22/2003 4:00 am EDT

Philippe Tousignant has been named as manager of media and parliamentary relations at the CRTC. Most recently, he was working as manager of consumer policy on the telecom side of the commission. Before joining the CRTC in September 2000, he was an analyst and spokesperson on regulation and policy at Action Réseau Consommateur, a consumer protection group.  Michael Kaumeyer, who used to be VP of marketing at Star...

Broadcast Standards Council says CHUM needs to air advisories for Blind Date

Media | 08/22/2003 4:00 am EDT

  The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) ruled late last month that CHUM Ltd. did not breach any code standards in airing Blind Date at 5:30 p.m on Citytv before the watershed hour of 9 p.m. However, it concluded that the sexual themes in the episodes necessitated viewer advisories since the show was aired in a...

Craig Wireless, UBS in battle for control of Look, which sees Internet business on rise

Media | 08/22/2003 4:00 am EDT

A lawsuit filed by Craig Wireless International Inc. could throw a wrench in restructuring plans at wireless cable and Internet operator Look Communications Inc. UBS Wireless Services Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Unique Broadband Systems Inc., appears to be eyeing Look, particularly for its...

CCR Editorial

Media | 08/22/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.The CRTC must begin an immediate review of its TV policy. Faced with a shortage of quality Canadian content, the commission should evaluate the effects its own policies have on drama, and undertake a broad review of indigenous production in the country.   One hurdle to such a review, though, comes from broadcasters and Trina McQueen who argue that the CRTC shouldn’t touch the TV policy in the middle of a licence term. It would cause too much regulatory uncertainty, they say. But the broadcasters themselves often apply for and usually receive licence amendments in the middle of a licence term when it suits them. For example, this week the CRTC reversed a condition of licence it imposed on the CBC in 2000 that would have banned blockbuster movies from the public broadcaster’s schedule (see article in this issue). That decision came in mid-licence and just less than a month before the actual enforcement...

ExpressVu announces new measures to reduce signal theft before CRTC meeting

Media | 08/22/2003 4:00 am EDT

The CRTC’s approach to dealing with squabbling over who’s to blame for TV signal theft appears to be working, with Bell ExpressVu LP recently announcing several measures aimed at securing its system. News of three major anti-piracy measures undertaken by the direct-to-home satellite TV distributor came days before a...

CRTC-mandated local programming fund strikes another blow to CIFVF financing

Media | 08/22/2003 4:00 am EDT

The only fund in Canada to support non-theatrical educational and informational programming is at risk as a result of the recent CRTC decision to require satellite TV distributors to pay into a new local programming fund. The money for the new fund can be diverted from the 1% of revenues that Star Choice Communications Inc....

Expanding small cableco in B.C. says it’s unaffected by DTH competition, piracy

Media | 08/22/2003 4:00 am EDT

Asmall cable operator based in Salmon Arm BC is going against the grain and expanding in the face of continued pressure from direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV competitors. While many other small cablecos are lobbying for increased regulatory help as they face expensive plant upgrades and the challenge of bringing new...

CRTC allows CBC to continue to broadcast blockbuster films during peak hours

Media | 08/22/2003 4:00 am EDT

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. has won a licence amendment from the CRTC that will allow it to continue to broadcast non-Canadian blockbuster films during peak viewing hours, relatively quietly reversing a controversial condition of licence that was imposed during the public broadcaster’s most recent licence renewal in...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 08/22/2003 4:00 am EDT

CorrectionThe article entitled "Craig files amendment for pop channel; also asks for leave to appeal CRTC decision" in CCR, July 31/03 should have stated that the extension of time was to allow more time for the respondents (CHUM, Directors Guild of Canada, et al) to file their memoranda of fact and law. Craig has already filed its memorandum of fact and law.   As well, Craig’s VP of corporate and...

Subscribers to MTS’ digital TV service coming from analog cable, telco reports

Media | 07/31/2003 4:00 am EDT

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. (MTS) is on track to acquire its target of 6,000 customers to its digital TV service by year-end, according to the company. During a July 24 quarterly conference call for financial analysts, president and CEO of subsidiary company MTS Communications Inc. Cheryl Barker noted that the vast...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 07/31/2003 4:00 am EDT

Decima Reader PollA plurality of respondents - 26% - to an informal online Decima Publishing poll of readers say that Canadian Heritage should be combined with Industry Canada to return to the days of one Department of Communications because competing ministers have led to foot dragging on important reforms. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has recommended that one mega-department be formed to...

CCR People

Media | 07/31/2003 4:00 am EDT

Brian Gromoff has been elected president of the Calgary branch of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA). He replaces Randy Birch, who chose not to stand for re-election. ACTRA Calgary’s new branch council is comprised of Gromoff, VP Mary McGuire, secretary Fif Fernandez, treasurer James Dugan, national councillor Linda Kupecek, past president Birch, and four members at large, T. J. Bews,...

Craig files amendment for pop channel; also asks for leave to appeal CRTC decision

Media | 07/31/2003 4:00 am EDT

Craig Broadcast Systems Inc. is seeking leave to appeal a CRTC decision that aims to put restrictions on its Category 2 digital TV pop channel, just in case a counter proposal that it has made to the commission doesn’t get approval. The moves stem from a complaint filed by CHUM Ltd., which argued that Craig’s pop channel, branded MTV2, was programmed in a manner that made it competitive with the Toronto-based broadcaster’s MuchMusic. The CRTC agreed, and asked Craig to apply for a licence amendment for MTV2 stating that pop videos would make up no fewer than 95% of the music video clips aired, and that the amendment include a definition of pop (CCR, Feb. 28/03).   But Craig...

The sound of silence: Why so little debate about the Heritage Committee Report?

Media | 07/31/2003 4:00 am EDT

Listen! Do you hear the silence? That’s the response so far prompted by Our Cultural Sovereignty, the mammoth report on this country’s broadcasting system tabled in June by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. Aside from the flurry of news coverage that greeted its publication, discussion...

CCR Editorial

Media | 07/31/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.The already longstanding dispute over third-party access to the inside wiring in multiple-unit dwellings (MUDs) appears set for further decades of regulatory and legal wrangling. This week, Bell ExpressVu filed a complaint against Rogers Cable over what it says are anti-competitive practices in the...

Bell ExpressVu complains that Rogers is using anti-competitive means to retain hold on Toronto MUD market

Media | 07/31/2003 4:00 am EDT

Bell ExpressVu LP is accusing Rogers Cable Inc. of a litany of anti-competitive practices in protecting its hold on delivering TV services to multiple-unit dwellings (MUDs) in Toronto. It wants help from both the CRTC and the Competition Bureau to level the playing field as it shifts its focus from...

Producers, broadcasters upset with CRTC fund related to DTH licence amendments

Media | 07/31/2003 4:00 am EDT

Both producers and broadcasters have condemned a recent CRTC decision to allow direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV distributors to divert 0.4% of revenues currently going to independent production funds to a new local programming fund. The $3.6-million local programming fund is part of a deal that was modified by the CRTC in...

Copps promises action on broadcasting report; calls for cultural instrument

Media | 07/31/2003 4:00 am EDT

Canadian Heritage minister Sheila Copps staunchly defended the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage’s report on the broadcasting sector in a brief conversation with Canadian Communications Reports, after she unveiled her Liberal Party of Canada leadership campaign platform on July 28. She told CCR that if she wins the party’s top post this November, she’ll institute measures including fixed budgets to enhance the role of parliamentary committees.   "If you look at the work that we’ve done with Canadian Heritage with the broadcasting report, I think that it’s very important that parliamentary committees be given the freedom to modify legislation in...

CNM Update

Media | 07/30/2003 4:00 am EDT

Producers cement Bell Fund and Telefilm strategiesA group of Ontario’s largest independent new media producers have settled on a multi-prong strategy targeting senior government officials and the CRTC to rally against a 40% cut to the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, while using the loss of that assistance to argue for a stronger Telefilm Canada Canada New Media Fund (CNM, July 24/03). The producers, who met last...

Industry advocate Khanna shifts gears with move to CHUM as VP interactive

Media | 07/24/2003 4:00 am EDT

Roma Khanna, a key advocate for interactivity in the Canadian television industry and on behalf of the independent new media production sector, has been named VP of interactive at CHUM Television, the latest in a series of appointments at the conventional and specialty TV/radio broadcaster in the wake of Jay Switzer’s...

Consider high-end web sites carefully for value, warns new media report

Media | 07/24/2003 4:00 am EDT

Independent producers should be careful about building too-rich web sites for broadcasters, according to the author of a new report commissioned by the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund (Bell Fund). Industry veteran Catherine Warren tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that producers, broadcasters, advertisers and others have been...

More announcements possible in September for TELUS learning fund

Media | 07/24/2003 4:00 am EDT

A list of 29 projects that have won $4.4 million in loans from the Canada-TELUS New Media Learning Fund may not be the final word, says the fund’s head. Ray Moschuk tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that several projects have been held in reserve for consideration to win $250,000-$500,000 in further funding when the TELUS...

Groundbreaker support for Canadian Idol “disappointing,” says CFTPA chair

Media | 07/24/2003 4:00 am EDT

News that the hit TV series Canadian Idol has been funded in large part from the BCE Inc./CTV Inc. Groundbreaker Fund is "disappointing," says the new chair of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA). In conversation with Canadian NEW MEDIA, CFTPA chair Laszlo...

CNM Short Takes

Media | 07/24/2003 4:00 am EDT

Decima Reader PollDecima Publishing recently asked its readership to answer online the following qustion: The debate over cuts to Canadian television funding, lifting foreign ownership limits on telcos, cablecos and broadcasters, as well as rifts over Copyright Act changes has many ICT industry leaders and even MPs discussing a return to the days of the Department of Communications (DoC). Should the government combine the...

CNM People

Media | 07/24/2003 4:00 am EDT

Claude Galipeau has been promoted from managing director of CBC.ca to executive director of CBC New Media - English. Four business owners have been nominated for a Grand Prix de l’Entrepreneur du Québec sponsored by Ernst & Young in the media and entertainment category. The nominees are Rémi Racine of Artificial Mind & Movement Inc., Mel Hoppenhiem of Mel’s Cité du cinéma, Scéno Plus Inc.’s Patrick...

Put money back in Bell Fund

Media | 07/24/2003 4:00 am EDT

On July 16th, 2003 the CRTC released a new policy directive that will result in a cut to the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund of 40% and a major cut to the Shaw Fund for children’s programming starting immediately. This is as a result of a decision that will allow DTH contributions to be diverted away from supporting independent producers projects financed through programs like the Bell Fund and the Shaw Fund, and...

CNM Editorial

Media | 07/24/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Sources of new media funding in Canada are drying up faster than teenagers in bikinis disappear at the haunted summer camp. The buzz surrounding Telefilm Canada announcements, expected any day, is discouraging; the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund has ceased funding interactivity; the Canada-TELUS New Media Learning Fund has failed to secure a renewal; the Groundbreaker Fund is supporting lowest common denominator American rip-offs; and, most damaging of all, the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund has now been bludgeoned by the CRTC with a 40% cut. Last week’s CRTC decision to not make cuts to the Canadian Television Fund, but to still forge ahead with a local programming fund, leaves new media fighting over the few scraps left (see story in this issue). There’s little hope of government relief. Instead of reacting to the consequences of the CRTC’s decision on local programming, Sheila Copps was...

Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund faces 40% cut as a result of CRTC decision

Media | 07/24/2003 4:00 am EDT

Reaction has been swift and condemning to news that the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund (Bell Fund) faces a 40% cut to its budget for assisting new media production in Canada - the result of a recent CRTC decision (CNM Update, July 17/03). Just days after announcing it would begin putting more money into projects, the...

CCR Update

Media | 07/23/2003 4:00 am EDT

July 23, 2003  GlobalTV letting viewers influence direction of TV show via text messagingGlobalTV launched on July 21 what it is calling “North America’s first mobile service which allows viewers to impact television’s dramatic content” in conjunction with its Train 48 program (CCR, June 20/03). The mobile service for the show is accessed by text messaging “Global” (456225) with the word “Train.”...

Shaw, Star Choice come to terms with CHUM on CourtTV Canada carriage

Media | 07/17/2003 4:00 am EDT

Shaw Communications Inc. and its affiliate direct-to-home satellite TV distributor Star Choice Communications will pick up CourtTV Canada this month, ending a longstanding dispute with CHUM Ltd. It also means that the channel will be available on Shaw-owned Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (Cancom), so independent...

CCR People

Media | 07/17/2003 4:00 am EDT

John Shannon has been promoted to VP of programming and executive producer at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSEL). He has been with MLSEL for almost three years. He will oversee all MLSEL broadcasting initiatives, including Leafs TV, Raptors NBA TV and Raptors telecasts, as well as take on more responsibility in the business development of Toronto Maple Leafs Network Ltd. Charles Boyer, an executive...

Montreal company commercially launches fan companion TV service in Canada

Media | 07/17/2003 4:00 am EDT

Just a day after the CRTC issued an exemption order permitting it to do so, a Montreal-based company offered spectators at the Molson Indy in Toronto an on-site broadcast service via wireless devices. A new exemption order for low-powered broadcasts of special events issued July 10 means that World Audio-Visual Entertainment Systems Inc. (W.A.V.E.S.) now only has to send a form to Industry Canada’s spectrum management section to get a frequency before each event for which it wishes to offer its wireless TV service. "We almost sold out for the event, and we brought over 1,000 units there," Alain Charette, VP of corporate development at W.A.V.E.S., tells Canadian...

Craig Wireless eyeing August launch of new non-line-of-sight technology in B.C.

Media | 07/17/2003 4:00 am EDT

Craig Wireless BC Inc. will begin deploying new wireless technology next month in Vancouver that will eliminate line-of-sight problems in the delivery of TV and broadband services to customers. Boyd Craig, president of parent company Craig Wireless International Inc., says the non-line-of-sight gear will complement the...

Langford one dissenter on CRTC decision about signal deletion for DTH operators

Media | 07/17/2003 4:00 am EDT

  The CRTC has granted direct-to-home satellite TV distributors Star Choice and Bell ExpressVu licence amendments that will not require them to do signal deletion on out-of-market television signals provided they fulfill other conditions (Broadcasting Decision 2003-257 and Broadcasting Decision 2003-258). The CRTC has...

ExpressVu wants winback rules retained due to dominance of major cablecos

Media | 07/17/2003 4:00 am EDT

Local markets continue to be dominated by Canada’s five biggest cablecos, says Bell ExpressVu LP - reason enough, it tells the CRTC, to maintain winback restrictions. The direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV distributor says national subscriber figures touted by the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) provide a...

CCR Editorial

Media | 07/17/2003 4:00 am EDT

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.The CRTC’s new local programming fund isn’t any better than the proposal it rejected because two existing funds will be devastated in the process. Under the commission’s policy released July 16, the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund and the Shaw Children’s Fund - not the Canadian Television Fund...

Fund whose criteria confused new media producers supporting Canadian Idol

Media | 07/17/2003 4:00 am EDT

The fund that had new media producers last year griping about its seemingly conflicting criteria is being used to fund CTV Inc.’s Canadian Idol. As much as $5.6 million of the $8-million program could be coming from the Groundbreaker Fund, much to the dismay of new media producers who say that financing a rip-off of an...

Digital TV subscriber growth lower in Q1 2003 compared to same period last year

Media | 07/17/2003 4:00 am EDT

Canada’s broadcast distributors added fewer digital television subscribers in the first quarter of 2003 than in the same period a year earlier, according to the latest research on the digital TV distribution market compiled by Decima Publishing Inc. The lower subscriber growth is largely attributed to a sharp drop in the...

CNM Special Edition Update

Media | 07/17/2003 4:00 am EDT

Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund faces 40% cutAndra Sheffer, executive director of the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund (Bell Fund), confirms that the fund is facing a 40% reduction in contributions from satellite TV operator Bell ExpressVu LP as a result of a CRTC decision yesterday to create a new local programming fund. The new fund is to be a carrot for allowing Bell ExpressVu to distribute more local television...

CCR Short Takes

Media | 07/17/2003 4:00 am EDT

Digital subs fall at Persona; Saugeen Telecable purchasedPersona Communications Inc.’s digital TV subscriber base dropped by 675 to 18,083 in the third quarter ended May 31, 2003, parent company Persona Inc. announced in its July 10 financials. "Although digital subscriber additions in the quarter were disappointing in all regions, the majority of the digital subscriber decline in the period is attributable to the...

CNM Update

Media | 07/16/2003 4:00 am EDT

Copyright Board publishes proposed tariffsThe Copyright Board of Canada last week published two new proposed tariffs. Tariff 1.A would set the royalties to be collected by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) for the public performance by telecommunication of music for 2005-2007. The board has also published a proposed royalty for the retransmission of distant radio and television signals in Canada for 2004-2008.Marketing Magazine taps 24/7 Canada for ad salesMarketing Magazine has signed an exclusive agreement with 24/7 Canada Inc. to represent the magazine’s web site for advertising. Marketingmag.ca offers banner, column and tower ads, skyscrapers, pop-ups and pop-unders in several different sections of the site, as well as The Marketing Daily e-newsletter with a distribution of 6,000.Avril Lavigne to offer tunes through AppleNapanee ON’s Avril Lavigne is offering a five-track live album through Apple’s online music store. Individual tracks are available for sale at US$0.99 each, or the full EP...