GATINEAU, Que.—The CRTC heard a new proposal Monday during its review of the community television policy framework—from one its members. At the commission’s hearings, launched Monday to review the community television policy framework, commissioner Michel Morin raised the idea of cable companies and community groups sharing responsibility for funding community television. The Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) was the first to appear Monday, and said it wants to create a new community television fund called the Community Access Media Fund (CAMF). Under the existing system, cable providers with more than 20,000 customers...
The effectiveness of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) is under debate as groups prepare for the privacy commissioner’s upcoming 2010 Consumer Privacy Consultations. While companies and industry associations say PIPEDA protects consumer privacy effectively, public interest groups argue the act should be modernized to reflect new technologies. PIPEDA currently provides the framework that requires websites and marketers to protect personal information collected online. Part one of PIPEDA, which deals with data protection, must be reviewed by Parliament every five years. The last review was held in 2007. This summer the Office of the Privacy...
TORONTO—Marketers are struggling to track advertising reach in the brave new world of digital media, experts told a conference hosted by BBM Canada Friday. Researchers are looking for innovative ways to track digital media consumption as it becomes more important—but challenging—for companies to...
Lobbying is intensifying among community interest groups as they prepare for a heated debate next week at the CRTC’s hearings on community television. Community television supporters are celebrating a development at the Quebec National Assembly this week, which unanimously adopted a...
OTTAWA—Responding to criticism that the federal government’s national copyright consultations “failed” last year, the Industry Department says online consultation is an “excellent method that allows for broad engagement” and that the 2009 consultation process was...
OTTAWA--A levy on digital storage devices and music players such as iPods would help legitimize illegal music file sharing, the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) told the House Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Thursday. “Do we have an issue with levies that are targeted and focused on private...
Deep packet inspection (DPI) technology doesn’t threaten people’s privacy. People threaten people’s privacy. Or that’s what Canadian network policy control solutions company Sandvine Inc. suggests in a recent submission to the privacy commissioner. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada will be holding consultations on the privacy implications of emerging technologies, such as DPI, in April, May and June in Montreal, Toronto and Calgary. DPI is a networking technology currently used by Internet service providers (ISPs) to monitor and control data traffic. While DPI can be used to maintain the integrity and security of networks, it can also...
Provincial tax credits for the interactive digital media sector can be like manna from heaven for start-up firms and established companies, but some enterprises may be unaware of the subsidies. Ontario's refundable credit—up to 40 per cent of eligible labour costs—could mean thousands of dollars in the...
Online content providers should make it clearer when they track consumers’ online behaviour for marketing purposes, digital rights and marketing groups have told the privacy commissioner. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is holding consultations on online tracking, profiling and targeting...
The demise of television has been discussed at length. Video killed the radio star, remember? Well, of course, that didn't happen, and neither is television at much risk of being killed by new media, games or apps. However, I have looked into the flat, multi-touch screen crystal ball of the iPad, and seen the future. The future has no room for...
TORONTO—Technology companies looking for new products and services for next-generation consumers may want to turn their attention to the innovative student projects at Ryerson University. The university opened a new business incubator called Digital Media Zone (DMZ) this month that offers hard-nosed business...
Online content producers face an uphill battle to secure funding for projects and experimentation with innovative ideas, Jeff Anders, CEO and co-founder of The Mark News, told the Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Thursday. “Speaking as one member of a vibrant community of start-up companies across the...
Experts suggest that a failure to bring the World Cup in 3D to Canada could be a missed opportunity to give the technology the kick it needs. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) says it is providing 3D footage of soccer matches during June’s World Cup...
OTTAWA—The government should invest more heavily in next-generation satellite technology to provide broadband Internet access to remote areas, Ken Stein, senior vice-president of corporate and regulatory affairs with Shaw Communications Inc., told the House of Commons Standing Committee on...
OTTAWA—Although the Liberal Party voted in favour of a non-binding motion in the Commons Wednesday to create a levy on digital music devices, the party says the vote was not an expression of support for the policy. Liberal MP and party heritage critic Pablo Rodriguez said the party is still consulting on the issue...
Despite modest inroads in Canada, over-the-top (OTT) television has the potential to alter the way Canadians consume television, experts say. OTT, a form of Internet protocol television (IPTV), is the direct delivery of video over the Internet to any device, anywhere, at any time. “When I watch television and I don’t watch it through a phone company, and I don’t watch it through a cable company, but I go onto the Internet, and I go to a content-creator or a network site … I am bypassing the distributor and going over-the-top,” Duncan Stewart, director of research at Deloitte Canada for technology, media and telecom, said in an interview. Stewart said OTT...
Facing competition in the West, Telus Corp. is viewing its television services as a growth area as the company invests $1.7 billion across the country this year. Telus Corp. said Monday it is investing $250 million in Quebec, bringing the company’s announced investments across the country this year to more...
Facing questions about delays in the transition to digital television broadcasting Tuesday, Heritage Minister James Moore asked the Commons heritage committee, “How many people who are not prepared for the digital transition don’t want to [be]?” A significant percentage of people...
OTTAWA--Canada needs a single piece of legislation to cover telecom, broadcasting and radio communications in a converged technological world, Konrad von Finckenstein, chair of the CRTC, told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology Tuesday. “The legislative and regulatory structure...
A coalition of cultural groups is requesting to intervene in support of Public Mobile’s Federal Court challenge of the government’s decision on Globalive Communications Corp., arguing that the law must be applied fairly and "in a manner that is consistent with the [Telecommunications] Act." On...
OTTAWA—The question of whether Internet service providers (ISPs) should be regulated as distributors under the Broadcasting Act has reached a boiling point as cultural groups and ISPs have put their arguments on the table at the Federal Court of Appeal. The CRTC referred the legal question to the Federal Court of Appeal last summer. The Wire Report obtained the parties’ memorandums of fact from the court, which were filed April 1. On one side of the debate are Canada’s largest cultural groups: the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA), the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), the Directors Guild of Canada...
In response to the CBC’s internal memo that it will lose $12.6-million in digital production and television program funding this year, the Canada Media Fund (CMF) says it is trying to “level the playing field” between the CBC and private broadcasters. “The policy...
Industry insiders say they expect the federal government’s upcoming consultations on a national digital economy strategy to play out on a scale similar to last summer’s copyright consultations. “They are going to hear and experience a lot of emotion from Canadians,” Tom...
Telus Corp. and Bell Canada say the CRTC released misleading financial information that favoured the broadcasting industry just days before the commission’s seminal March 22 decision on value for signal. In a March 29 letter to CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein, Kevin Crull, Bell...
The pressures of vertical integration are increasingly pushing Canadian telecom operators into offering Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services, say experts. Pacôme Revillon, CEO of satellite applications, communications, and digital broadcasting research and analyst firm Euroconsult, told The Wire Report that...
Television providers CTVGlobemedia and Score Media are challenging new television licence applications from Jay Switzer and Canyon TV, arguing that they would compete directly with existing television services. Jay Switzer, former CEO and president of Chum Ltd., has applied for a Category 2 specialty service,...
TORONTO—Google Canada officials predicted the trends that will shape the future of the mobile Web at a “Mobile Monday” presentation at the Mars Centre in Toronto on Monday. About 400 people turned up for the event Easter Monday, eager to hear about the search giant’s direction. Some major...
On most days, the CRTC is not top-of-mind for the average Canadian, but on March 22 the commission issued a key decision on value for signal, and the public took notice. The lament that it’s “time the CRTC start thinking about consumers”—as one newspaper expressed...
The rising popularity of location-based services and applications has been described as potential gold mine for advertisers and a potential minefield for privacy advocates. Applications like FourSquare, Yelp, Google Latitude, AroundMe and Poynt use the GPS capabilities on mobile devices to track users’...
OTTAWA—What started as an ideological debate about foreign ownership turned emotional Thursday as groups representing Canada’s broadcasting artists went head-to-head with Tory members of the Commons industry committee. “You’re not listening to what we’re telling you,” an apparently frustrated Alain Pineau, national director of the Canadian Conference of the Arts, told Mike Lake, Conservative MP and parliamentary secretary to Industry Minister Tony Clement. But throughout the meeting, Lake maintained that, “We can protect culture in broadcasting using the laws that we have.” Pineau and other witnesses, who appeared before...
Anyone following the fallout from the CRTC’s recent decision on value for signal is sure to have noted CBC/Radio-Canada’s forceful reaction. Some have called it exaggerated. Others have gone further than that: “Rattling cuff links. Umbrage. Outrage.” Had I been wearing cuff links, that would indeed...
At a time when technology is becoming an integral part of the way people communicate and get information and entertainment, the CRTC’s job as a regulator is harder than ever. That’s because regulatory systems are being undermined by the relentless spread of new kinds of communication and a borderless...
OTTAWA—Liberal Party MPs are pushing for a special legislative committee of the House of Commons to review the government’s new copyright reform bill once it is tabled in Parliament. The move would be a way to handle potential conflicts over copyright policy within parties and for the MPs responsible for...
Broadcast distributors Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc. say they are pleased with the CRTC’s decision to allow advertising on video-on-demand (VOD) services—and that the move should encourage broadcasters to put forward more content for VOD. The CRTC decision, issued Monday, means a company like...
OTTAWA--The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting warned the Commons industry committee Tuesday that loosening the foreign ownership restrictions in a vertically integrated telecommunications sector would have adverse ripple effects on the Canadian broadcasting sector. “In this integrated communication business, changing the foreign ownership requirement for one sector—telecom—can be expected to impact the other sectors,” Ian Morrison, a spokesman for Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, a watchdog group for Canadian programming, told the House Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. Morrison said all of Canada’s major telecommunications...
Canada should recreate a federal department of culture and communications, Glenn O’Farrell, former president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), said Saturday during a panel at the Liberal Party’s Canada at 150 conference in Montreal. O’Farrell, now CEO and principal at...
Despite a $350 million budget, the new Canada Media Fund (CMF) will meet the demands of only 50 to 60 per cent of the market, CMF chief executive Valerie Creighton says. The CMF released its guidelines at a launch in Toronto last week, and Creighton spoke to The Wire Report by telephone Monday about the new...
Satellite and cable distributors are quietly regrouping and planning their next course of action following the CRTC’s decision this week on a negotiation regime for value for signal. Although the private broadcasters declared victory following the CRTC decision—which if approved by the Federal Court of...
It’s said the next big thing for tech-hipsters is augmented reality, and carriers stand to profit from a coming wave of these cool and groovy applications for smart phones. Augmented reality (AR) is a catch-all term for a wide range of smart phone applications that operate with image-capturing functions. “It’s...
Representatives of the Ontario Technology Corridor (OTC) have returned from a mission to San Francisco to convince digital media companies to set up shop in the province, but the province appears to have significant work ahead of it to put itself on the map. Representing the five regions across the...
Where you end up depends on where you start. That’s the most important thing to remember as you parse the decisions released this week by the CRTC. The decision on consumer impact is a hoot too. We're going to have a lot of angry Canadians, quietly seething in their quiet,...
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) says it supports CRTC commissioner Michel Morin’s argument that the proposal for a new framework for conventional television does more good for industry players than consumers. “There’s a lack of competition in the provision of TV services, and consumers...
OTTAWA--Dean Del Mastro, parliamentary secretary to the minister of Canadian Heritage, says the government is taking the interests of consumers into consideration as it reviews the CRTC's recommendations to the government, issued Tuesday. The CRTC’s report to cabinet Tuesday issued three recommendations to...
Monday’s highly anticipated CRTC decision on value-for signal is turning attention to the United States’ “retransmission consent” system. The CRTC has recommended a Canadian version of the system, guarding approval from the Federal Court of Appeal. By this time next year, Canada could have a system similar to that of the United States, where backroom deals determine the value of broadcasters’ assets. The American system offers ideas as to what a retransmission consent regime could mean for Canada could be if the Federal Court gives the go-ahead, and Canadian private broadcasters can open negotiations on the value for their signals with cable and satellite providers. The United States’ retransmission consent regime is its own version of a...
GATINEAU, Que.—CTV celebrated a key CRTC decision Monday that will allow private broadcasters to force open negotiations with the cable and satellite distributors by having the power to pull their programming—including popular American shows—from the distributors. The...
The Conservative government will be introducing a digital economy discussion paper “very shortly,” Industry Minister Tony Clement told the House industry committee Thursday. “We’ll be launching a discussion paper very shortly that will go to the country, and the fact...
Online television viewing has reached a tipping point, and carriers need to move faster to catch up with the trend, industry experts say. More Canadians now catch their favourite TV shows online than via personal video recorders (PVRs) and video-on-demand (VOD) combined, according to a recent survey of 1,000 people by...
OTTAWA--The Conservative government intends to introduce a copyright reform bill before Parliament’s summer recess, Industry Minister Tony Clement told The Wire Report. The government held national public consultations last summer on copyright reform. Over the past several months the industry and heritage...
Canadian conventional broadcasters spent 59 per cent of their programming expenses, or $846.3-million, on foreign programming in 2009, a 9.2 per cent increase over the previous year, say CRTC financial results released Thursday. Total revenues for the private conventional broadcasters, which include CTV, Global, TVA and V, declined $17 million from $2.14 billion in 2008 to $1.97 billion in 2009. The decline was attributed to a 10.1 per cent drop in local advertising revenues from $387.2 million to $348 million over the same period. There was also a 10.3 per cent decline in national advertising revenues, from $1.47 billion in 2008 to $1.32 billion in 2009. John Douglas, a...
The House Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology is giving top priority to its review of the foreign ownership rules in the telecom and broadcasting sectors, committee chair and Conservative MP Michael Chong says. The committee will give the telecom review first priority...
OTTAWA—NDP MP Charlie Angus proposed two key copyright measures in Parliament Tuesday that are expected to force the governing and opposition parties to stake out positions on divisive copyright reform issues. One measure is in Angus’ private members’ Bill C-499, tabled Tuesday,...
Canada’s conventional television players are expected to fend for themselves after the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) closes this June, say experts and insiders. Last month, the CAB announced that it is closing in June due to an impasse between members. In its current form, the...
The Conservative government’s plan to remove foreign ownership restrictions for the Canadian satellite sector will help Canadian companies compete internationally, but the policy change isn’t likely to impact consumers, telecom experts say. The federal government announced in its 2010 budget last week...
Canada’s most powerful lobby group for the information and communications technology (ICT) sector reported 21 meetings between January and November 2009 with top federal officials and cabinet ministers who were laying the groundwork for a national digital strategy. The...
Although industry observers are calling Jay Switzer’s application for gender-specific specialty channels a “shrewd proposal,” they don’t expect his broadcasting pedigree to give him an upper hand in the search for a distributor. Switzer, former CEO and president of Chum...
Bloc Québécois private member’s Bill C-444, which would create a regional CRTC office in Quebec, met strong opposition from Conservative, Liberal and NDP MPs during a House debate Monday. The bill, introduced by Bloc MP Nicolas Dufour on Sept. 28, 2009, was debated at second reading in the House of Commons. Dufour proposes...
Rogers Communications is in talks with potential partners to bring a new 3D television channel to Canada, David Purdy, vice-president of video products at Rogers, said in an interview. Consumer demand for 3D television will be tested in the United Sates as ESPN, Discovery and Imax partner to launch a shared 3D television channel in the next few...
Regionalizing telecommunications and broadcast regulations in Quebec could hamper Canadian innovation policy, experts say. Experts are weighing in on the issue as Members of Parliament are scheduled to debate private member’s Bill C-444 Monday. The bill, introduced by Bloc Québécois MP Nicolas Dufour, would allow provinces to regulate telecommunications and broadcasting policies. The Wire Report reported last week that the Province of Quebec is also calling for the regionalization of certain CRTC activities and the establishment of a provincial consultation mechanism when federal telecom and broadcasting laws are reviewed or when the federal Cabinet...
TVA Sports is expected to struggle in a market dominated by RDS, but industry observers say the station has opportunities to carve out niche sports programming, or better yet, prepare the groundwork to potentially air NHL games in Quebec City. Last month the CRTC approved an application...
MPs from all four federal political parties agree the House Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage should study new media when it reconvenes. The heritage committee launched a study on new media in October 2009, but the discussions were sidetracked by Bill C-302, the Italian-Canadian Recognition and...
Critics are questioning Corus Entertainment’s move to operate a local specialty television service aimed at 64 markets in Western Canada, saying the battle for local audiences and advertising would be a tough one. The service, tentatively known as Local1, plans to provide “hyper-local” news and information to communities in...
Canada shouldn’t necessarily view the ongoing negotiations surrounding the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) as a threat. The country should instead view the process as a way to leverage some of its Intellectual property (IP) interests onto the agenda, Jeremy...
Calgary company Canyon TV Inc. has posed the question of whether broadcast carriers should have to air channels that have received CRTC licences. Canyon TV has filed a lawsuit with the Alberta provincial court against Telus Corp., seeking damages for a failure to carry its channel. The company argues that broadcast carriers also fall under the Telecommunications Act, and has filed a related complaint with the CRTC, alleging that the incumbent broadcast carriers are engaging in anti-competitive behaviour. “The CRTC publication on convergence issued in January 2010 clearly defines the nature of convergence and the effected licensing ‘In a converged environment, a BDU...
OTTAWA—The Province of Quebec is lobbying the federal government to regionalize some CRTC responsibilities, a spokeswoman for the Quebec minister of culture told The Wire Report. “[We are asking for] the establishment of a consultation mechanism when federal laws are revised involving telecommunications and...
Google appears to be heating up the competition for local advertising—one of the last bastions for traditional media players. Until recently, consumers looking for pizzas or dentists would get global results when they searched those terms online. But not anymore. Last year, Google made changes that identify a...
Shaw’s bid to take over CanWest’s broadcast assets will face close scrutiny from regulators including the Competition Bureau, which will examine Shaw’s potential power in the Canadian advertising market, says a former competition bureau commissioner. On Feb. 19, Shaw Communications Inc....
Following the announcement that the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) will cease operations in June, a small group of independent specialty channels will be discussing over the next few weeks the possibility of creating a new lobby group, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) CEO Jean LaRose told The...
CRTC commissioners met Monday to consider 14 broadcasting licence applications for Category 2 specialty television channels. Parties did not appear before the commission Monday. At the non-appearance hearing, commissioners discussed the licences on the basis of the parties’ written applications. Astral...
Canadian telecommunications and new media companies will showcase their information and communications technology (ICT) services this week during a trade mission in Mexico. The Canadian trade mission, sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), will be held from Feb. 22 to 26 in Monterrey and Guadalajara,...
OTTAWA—CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein says the commission has arrived at a decision on the controversial value-for-signal debate, but he’s holding his tongue on whether it will include a negotiations regime to determine the “value” of local broadcasts. At the...
OTTAWA—The role of the CRTC could change significantly in the coming years as converging technologies change how Canadians use and access media, CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said at the Prime Time Ottawa conference Friday. “The Broadcasting Act is based on the principle of limited access,...
OTTAWA—3D television is on its way in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, but Canadian broadcasters are waiting for a critical mass before 3D content shows up in Canadian homes, Kevin Wright, senior vice president of programming with Astral Television Networks said at a conference Friday. Wright took part in a panel titled, “To 3D or not to 3D—That is the question!” at the Canadian Film and Television Production Association’s Prime Time conference in Ottawa. “I don’t see it happening in the next several months,” Wright said about the prospect of 3D television in Canada. In the United Kingdom, Sky Television has already aired some soccer matches in 3D. In these early stages, however, the 3D broadcasts were mostly available in...
OTTAWA—The release date of the new Canada Media Fund (CMF) guidelines has been tentatively pushed back from March 1 to the third week of the month, Canadian Television Fund (CTF) president and CEO Valerie Creighton said Thursday. Creighton noted the change during a speech at the Canadian Film and Television...
OTTAWA—Canada’s digital strategy efforts should be spearheaded by players in the communications industry, not a slower-moving federal government, experts agreed at a panel discussion Thursday. Entitled “Looking at a National Digital Strategy with a Creative Eye,” the panel was part of the...
OTTAWA—The Canadian film and television industry received an earful of advice from young video producers Thursday. At a discussion panel, titled “Meet the kids of the brave new world,” held at the Canadian Film and Television Production Association’s Prime Time Ottawa conference, young, successful...
OTTAWA—A panel of experts on the mobile industry said Thursday there is significant potential for mobile entertainment sales as more Canadians engage in “impulse commerce” and use their wireless devices for more than communication. The panel, called “Mobile Entertainment—Understanding the Value Chain,” was...
Canada’s three big wireless operators are joining forces on an application-distribution initiative that could change the online app-store landscape—a move that industry analysts say is designed to win a piece of the Apple Inc. App Store market. “They obviously and understandably want to find a way to get back into the action,” said Iain Grant, head of communications industry consultancy SeaBoard Group. Bell Canada Enterprises Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. have partnered with the Global System for Mobile Association (GSMA)—the global wireless association—to launch a commercial pilot in Canada called the OneAPI initiative. The...
Rogers Communications Inc. sold 400,000 smart phones in the fourth quarter of 2009 that helped drive wireless data revenues to 24 per cent of the company’s total wireless earnings, the company reported Wednesday. About 40 per cent of the smart phones were sold to new Rogers customers, the company said. The company carries more than 20...
Shaw Communications Inc.’s plans to acquire a controlling stake in Canwest Global Communications Corp. may be held up by the CRTC’s approval over concerns about foreign ownership and media convergence, says a BMO Capital Markets report released Tuesday. Shaw announced Friday its intentions to acquire a...
The federal Conservative government is taking stock of whether to announce this spring the liberalization of foreign ownership rules in Canada’s communications industry, insiders say. An announcement could be made in the government’s Throne Speech, to be delivered March 3, but it’s not clear how far the...
The Canadian wireless industry says it is concerned that the language contained in a new CRTC report suggests wireless providers could face the same regulation as broadcasters. A 90-page CRTC report released this week, titled “Navigating Convergence: Charting Canadian...
The new Canada Media Fund (CMF) should allocate at least $30 million to interactive projects if the fund’s managers want to support the digital industry, Ian Kelso, president of the Canadian Interactive Alliance (CIAIC), said in an interview. Set for its official launch on April 1,...
Strapped for the necessary revenues to help develop a national digital strategy, the Conservative government should pursue less-costly regulatory reforms, experts said at a roundtable Thursday. The Liberal Party hosted the roundtable on Parliament Hill to discuss Canada’s digital economy, where panelists...
Rogers called for reform of Canada’s approach to fair dealing in its copyright law Monday at a digital economy roundtable on Parliament Hill. Ken Engelhart, vice-president of regulatory at Rogers Communications Inc., told a room of parliamentarians, lobbyists, media and the public that Canada’s approach to fair dealing should allow...
Telus announced Wednesday that it is the first cellphone carrier in Canada to offer wireless music free of digital rights management (DRM)—but the company will charge customers 30 cents per track to replace their DRM music. DRM limits what a users can do with songs or other media after they download them. Often, the technology will...
National broadcasters CBC and CTV say a CRTC decision that removed all limits on over-the-air television advertising has had little-to-no impact on their advertising models. In a broadcasting public notice delivered on May 17, 2007, the CRTC determined that it would eliminate the limit on advertising for over-the-air television, effective Sept. 1, 2009. Half a year later, both broadcasters have not changed their advertising levels. For the CBC’s part, over-the-air advertising remains at about 12 minutes per hour. “I'd say we always seek an appropriate balance between our revenue and our programming needs, and of course those of our audiences,” Jeff Keay, a...
A CRTC decision Monday granted satellite company FreeHD Canada Inc. a licence to operate a national direct-to-home (DTH) satellite service, a move that the Canadian Media Guild warns could lead to charges for local broadcast signals via satellite. In July 2009, FreeHD Canada, a new...
Canadian lobby groups have filed objections with the US court considering the proposed Google Books agreement, arguing that it violates international law such as NAFTA and the Berne Convention on copyright. “The big concern is that Google is going to end up with a monopoly on digitized literary works,”...
Public organizations like the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and Radio Canada seem to be on the leading edge of digital media, providing free access to films and TV shows online. One industry analyst says the future of content delivery could look an awful lot like the past. “Free is the way of the...
Corus Entertainment Inc.’s new Sundance Channel will air on the company’s existing CRTC licence for the Drive In Classics channel, whose schedule covers “the entire drive-in genre,” including horror, thriller, beach party, and car chase movies as well as “social...
The major cable players in the community television debate are telling the CRTC they support the status quo, and that hyper-local, community-generated content can be produced and distributed more cheaply on the Internet. The deadline for submissions to the CRTC’s April 26 hearings to review the community television sector ended Monday. Although many submissions are yet to be posted on the CRTC webwite, The Wire Report obtained CRTC filings from Rogers Cable Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc., and Cogeco Cable Inc. Under the current model, broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), or the cable companies, are required to pay a broadcast levy that amounts to two...
The CBC has introduced a pilot feature to its website allowing it to track how many users copy and paste from news stories and what material is lifted. The tracking technology is provided by Calgary company Tynt Multimedia Inc. Tynt Insight, formerly known as Tynt Tracker, is a program that allows website and blog...
The closure of two AM stations in Montreal last week represents a bleak future for the AM band in Canada, but industry experts say AM stations can survive by increasing their online content and refocusing on local news. On Jan. 29, Corus Entertainment shut down two of its AM radio stations, AM Info690...
TORONTO—The battered newspaper industry’s salvation will be to plunge whole-heartedly into new media technology. That was the key message at Innovate News, a conference held Saturday by the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) at the Mars Centre in Toronto. In a panel session, speakers...
The CBC’s licensing option on its online news articles may be misleading users into thinking American copyright laws apply to its website, say critics. The CBC’s licensing option on its website links to Seattle-based copyright licensing company iCopyright. When users click on a news story, the word...
Vancouver’s VanEdge Capital is in talks with gaming giant Electronic Arts and other partners to close a $100 million deal to invest in digital media start-ups, say sources close to the deal. Analysts tell The Wire Report that Electronic Arts is probably interested in VanEdge to move toward...
A recent policy proposal to replace Canadian content quotas with direct subsidies risks “ghettoizing” Canadian content on select channels like the CBC, says Norm Bolen, president and CEO of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA). Bolen’s comments came in response to a...
New media and the Internet have made it easier than ever for organizations to share information and capture new audiences—but for the moment community radio stations don’t appear to be maximizing its potential. During the CRTC’s hearings on the review the campus and...
A lobby campaign spearheaded by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) has resulted in 800 letters to the CRTC in support of community television—but the commission hasn’t yet posted them on its website, says Catherine Edwards, a spokeswoman for CACTUS. Many of the...
The Government of Canada will not accede to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) unless it is “fully satisfied that it reflects the best interests of Canadians,” International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan says. In response to a questions about a letter received this week from NDP MP Charlie Angus, which demanded answers from the government about secret trade negotiations affecting Canada’s intellectual property regime, Van Loan released a statement to The Wire Report through his press secretary, Monika Bujalska. “The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement would comply with Canadian law,” Van Loan said in the brief statement. ...
