CCR Update

Vidéotron launches personal video recorderQuebec cable operator Vidéotron ltée has become the first cableco in Canada to introduce a personal video recorder (PVR) for digital cable subscribers. The PVR-capable digital box is being sold for $509 before programming credits. Satellite TV rival Bell ExpressVu LP currently sells its PVR for $574.95 before any credits. Vidéotron’s PVR can store up to 50 hours of recorded programming, compared to ExpressVu’s 30 hours. Other cablecos are planning to launch PVRs in the coming months. Aliant nearly done shutting down VibeVisionAliant Telecom Inc. has nearly completed shutting down its VibeVision digital TV service. A company spokesperson tells Canadian Communications Reports that only a handful of customers in one building remain to be turned off, and that should happen within days or weeks. The spokesperson notes that 63 per cent of the 3,300 total VibeVision customers have opted to switch to Bell ExpressVu LP’s satellite TV service, which Aliant is now selling to customers. Another 14 per cent have chosen not to go with ExpressVu or an alternative TV provider. The 63 per cent take-up for ExpressVu may seem low, but some customers living in buildings are not permitted by landlords to install a satellite dish outside their apartments. Aliant announced in June that it was winding down its VibeVision service and would begin offering the ExpressVu service as the TV option for its customers (CCR, Sept. 12/02, June 21/02). Telus’ BDU application withdrawn from public hearingTelus Communications Inc.’s application for two regional licences to operate cable systems to serve communities in Alberta and British Columbia will no longer be heard at a November 18 public hearing – Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing 2002-10-1. For more details about the postponement, see the upcoming issue of Canadian Communications Reports. MTS moving ahead with digital TV offeringManitoba Telecom Services (MTS) has decided to proceed with the commercial launch of a digital TV service, following a trial of 200 employees and others (CCR, Aug. 15/02, May 23/02). "We are proceeding to the next step with a soft launch of the service," MTS president and CEO Bill Fraser said in the telco’s third-quarter financial report. MTS will initially offer the digital TV service in an area covering nine per cent of the company’s Winnipeg customer base with expansion planned for 2003. TechTV revamp to have little impact on Canadian cousinOnly minor changes are expected at digital specialty TV channel TechTV Canada as a result of changes at its U.S. counterpart TechTV. The 24-hour cable channel in the United States devoted to showcasing technology news, events, products and people, has cut 19 staff members, shut down three of its bureaus, and is changing its focus. The channel is attempting to reinvent itself as a technology lifestyle channel as opposed to its original concept of focusing on news about tech gadgets. The channel closed its New York, Seattle, and Silicon Valley bureaus, which produced content for Tech Live. It still has offices in San Francisco and Washington DC. TechTV is a partner with Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. and Shaw Communications Inc. in TechTV Canada, a Category 1 diginet that launched in September 2001. Andrea Gagliardi, marketing manager for TechTV Canada, says that TechTV is a partner and programming supplier to the Canadian digital channel but that only minor changes are expected as a result of the U.S. moves. "We began the change to a broader focus on lifestyles last September, so it doesn’t really change a lot at TechTV Canada," she tells Canadian Communications Reports. TechTV Canada will continue to air the technology news show Tech Live but only in the evenings, rather than throughout the day as was previously done. But she notes that TechTV Canada’s move away from technology stock news and other live news programming began months ago. More details. iMagicTV cuts workforce by 25 per centDigital TV software provider iMagicTV has laid off 25 per cent of its workforce and is initiating other cost-cutting measures. The New Brunswick-based company announced earlier this month that it was reducing its staff to 97 from 128. It anticipates savings of about $4.2 million a year as a result of the measures. Last month, iMagicTV announced that is had engaged CIBC World Markets as a financial adviser to "seek strategic alternatives." IMagicTV is providing the software to SaskTel for the television service it’s offering over telephone wires (CCR, Sept. 26.02). It also provided the software for Aliant Telecom Inc.’s Vibe Vision TV service, which has been shuttered (CCR, Sept. 12/02, June 21/02). Canadian Television Fund oversubscribed, guideline changes coming in 2003-04There is a high level of oversubscription to both the Equity Investment Program (EIP) and the Licence Fee Program (LFP) of the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) for productions that applied in October 2002. CTF management said November 12 that there were 221 applications requesting $33.3 million in contributions under the LFP, and 155 applications requesting $14.5 million under the EIP. The LFP’s total fall envelope is $21.1 million, while the EIP’s fall envelope is $3.5 million. The fall ranking results of the LFP application process are expected in late November, and the EIP results in mid-December.The CTF is introducing changes to its guidelines for the 2003-04 fiscal year to deal with the growing demand for funding, as well as to respond to industry feedback. The primary changes involve changes to the LFP’s ranking system. The "Canadian Elements" ranking criteria will be replaced with "Broadcaster Priorities," which award ranking points based on a production’s importance to the broadcaster’s schedule. As well, the LFP bonus awarded to small- and medium-sized companies will return to two per cent from the three per cent offered in 2002-03 due to the potential for reduced resources next year. The CTF has also indicated that non-fiction programs will not automatically be considered a documentary and thus be eligible under the documentary envelope. EIP and LFP staff will meet with producers in January 2003 to discuss the new guidelines. Telefilm announces deadlines for main component of the Canada Feature Film Fund in 2003-04English-language film projects requesting more than $1 million in funding must be submitted to the Vancouver, Toronto or Halifax offices of Telefilm Canada by January 20. The same deadline applies to Quebec film projects, in either French or English, looking for more than $1 million. Bigger budget English-language films will be evaluated regionally in advance of a national comparative process, while all films requesting less than $1 million will be evaluated on an on-going basis by the respective regional offices. For a complete list of deadlines and decision dates, go to http://www.telefilm.gc.ca/data/Communiques/rel_272.asp Astral Media pulls Family Channel from Vidéotron systemsAstral Media Inc. announced on November 8 that it was suspending its Family Channel service to Vidéotron ltée, effective immediately, after the cableco unilaterally cut in half the rates it was paying for the channel. Astral said in a media release that the rates were cut by the cableco in April 2002. Vidéotron also unilaterally cut by 62 per cent the rates it was paying Bell Globemedia for Le Réseau des sports. The CRTC ruled that Vidéotron had violated section 9 of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations (CCR, Oct. 10/02, Sept. 26/02), and ordered the cableco to reimburse Bell Globemedia. Quebecor responded that it would not comply. At a public hearing on December 2, the CRTC will determine if it should issue a mandatory order to force Vidéotron to comply – Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing 2002-12. Disputes over access between Bell, Quebecor continueDisputes over access between BCE Inc. and Quebecor Media Inc. subsidiaries continue to surface – this time on the telecom side. The CRTC has given a list of eight questions to Bell Canada regarding the provision of fibre optic private networks. Quebecor subsidiary Vidéotron Télécom ltée has filed a submission against Bell Canada and Bell Nexxia on access to the networks. The commission wants to see copies of the agreement between the two BCE subsidiaries and has follow-up questions. BCE-owned Bell ExpressVu filed a complaint against Quebecor over the use of wiring owned by its subsidiary in multi-unit dwellings in Quebec. The CRTC issued an mandatory order against Vidéotron ltée saying it couldn’t use the wire unless it agreed to lease it to competitors for no more than 52 cents per subscriber per month (CCR Update, Oct. 17/02; CCR, Oct. 10/02). Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau said during a Scotia Capital conference in Toronto on November 6 that his company would be appealing the mandatory order to the Federal Court of Appeal in the near future. Anti-piracy coalition launches web siteThe Coalition Against Satellite Signal Theft (CASST), composed of broadcasters, distributors, producers and rights holders, recently launched a web site in conjunction with the launch of a public awareness campaign it unveiled at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters convention last month (CCR, Oct. 24/02). The site contains government-related correspondence on satellite theft, legal decisions, media reports, speeches and presentations, and a list of coalition members. PrideVision urges viewers to help it "Get It Up"In a unique advertising ploy, the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered digital specialty TV channel is urging viewers to subscribe and "Help PrideVision TV Get It Up!" PrideVision TV is hoping the promotional campaign will help the channel increase its subscriber base from the current 20,000 to 50,000. "With only 20,000 subscribers we are impotent!…Subscribe now online so we can keep it up," says the channel’s web site. Like many of the digital channels that launched last year, PrideVision, owned by Headline Media Group, is struggling. The must-carry channel has already cut programming and staff (CCR, Sept. 26/02). Radio-Canada on defensive over sale of propertyExecutives from the Canadian Broadcasting Corp./Radio-Canada in Montreal met November 11 with Gilles Duceppe, leader of the Bloc Québécois, and concerned community groups over the sale of a section of its property in Montreal. CBC has sold a portion of La Maison de Radio-Canada to Groupe Le Versant, a residential developer. "While we appreciate the (community) coalition’s concerns and respect their position, it is important to point out that CBC/Radio-Canada’s mandate is to provide radio and television programming. The decision to sell a portion of our land was driven by our ongoing efforts to leverage our assets to generate revenues that can be invested in programming," the CBC stated in a media release. More details. Deadline extended for comments on basic cable in digital systemsThe deadline for commenting on the establishment of rules to govern the distribution of specialty services on basic in fully digital undertakings has been extended by a surprising three months to February 15, 2003 at the request of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters – Broadcasting Public Notice 2002-48-1. Reply comments are now due on March 15. The CRTC announced this summer a process to examine which channels, if any, should be carried in basic packages in digital (CCR, Aug. 29/02). TSN web site attracts more than 1 million visitors after redesignThe redesigned web sites TSN.ca and RDS.ca attracted more than 1 million unique visitors during the month of September, Bell Globemedia Interactive announced November 12. TSN.ca also logged more than 100,000 registered users since September to its features section. "We redesigned TSN.ca to heighten the user experience by integrating fantasy sports, trivia games, wireless content and more interactive applications," said Steve Hulford, VP of sports products at Bell Globemedia Interactive. More details. Cabletel posts gross profit on lower sales in third quarter, inks supply deal with CCSAMarkham ON-based Cabletel Communications Corp. has announced a gross profit of $3.2 million on lower revenues for the third quarter ended September 30, up $1.4 million over the same period last year. "The slowdown in the cable industry has definitely affected our business, however, through strong management of our resources and the continued success of our manufacturing segment, Cabletel is showing leadership in challenging economic times. We believe our efforts of 2002 have built a strong foundation as our customers’ capital expenditures return to normal," said president/CEO Greg Walling in a November 12 media release. Cabletel is a distributor of broadband equipment to the Canadian television and telecommunications industries. In other news, Cabletel inked a $1.3-million contract with the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) to supply its 92 member cable television companies with cable modems. INTERNATIONAL NEWS SeaChange invests in on demand to bring VOD to EuropeVideo-on-demand (VOD) equipment provider SeaChange International has invested 1.5 million British pounds in The ON Demand Group in hopes of cracking into the nascent European VOD market. SeaChange has also committed to investing an additional 8.5 million pounds if required. In exchange, ON Demand will exclusively promote and use SeaChange’s VOD systems and software to cable operators throughout Europe. SeaChange also serves the VOD needs of Rogers Cable Inc. in Canada (CCR Update, Oct. 17/02; CCR, March 1/02). Concurrent announces new deployments of VOD in U.S. Time Warner Cable has rolled out video-on-demand services in its Western Ohio, Columbus OH, and Wilmington NC cable systems using Concurrent Computer Corp.’s video server equipment. Time Warner’s Western Ohio system has 133,000 digital subscribers, its Columbus operation has 108,000 digital subscribers and its Wilmington system has 38,000 digital subscribers. Concurrent is also the VOD equipment supplier for Cogeco Cable Inc., which quietly rolled out its VOD service in Hamilton ON on October 10 (CCR, Oct. 24/02). Under a multiyear deal, Cogeco will use Concurrent’s MediaHawk Broadband VOD System to rollout VOD in its cable systems in Ontario and Quebec. FCC establishes new equal employment opportunity rules for broadcastersThe Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States released on November 7 new equal employment opportunity (EEO) rules and polices for broadcasters and revised its EEO rules for multichannel video programming distributors, such as cable and satellite TV operators. The rules prohibit discrimination in hiring, and require broadcasters and others to provide notice of job vacancies and to undertake additional outreach measures. More details: Powell statement Abernathy statement Copps statement Martin statement NUE-TV closes its doorsThe entertainment and lifestyle cable channel NUE-TV has been shuttered after three years attempting to compete against Black Entertainment Television for African-American viewers. More details. Court strikes down FCC video description rulesThe United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has axed rules set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that require video programming distributors to verbally describe 50 hours of prime-time children’s programming per quarter. The rules applied to the top commercial television broadcast stations in the United States. The court held that the FCC did not have authority under the Communications Act to impose the rules. More details. SonicBlue and TiVo settle patent disputeSonicBlue and TiVo have agreed to dismiss the patent infringement claims over digital video recorder (DVR) technology that they filed against each other. Both cases were pending. SonicBlue’s ReplayTV devices allow viewers to remove commercials during recording and to transmit copies of recorded shows to other Replay TV recorders. More details.

CCR Update

Broadcast | November 13, 2002

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