TAGGED AS OTT
Heritage and Justice ministers to appear before CHPC to address charter concerns
Media | 05/10/2021 6:25 pm EDT
The House of Commons’ Heritage Committee is moving forward with a charter review on Bill C-10, the revision to the Broadcasting Act, and will get answers from Heritage...
Local news funding needed in C-10: Bell
Media | 03/22/2021 6:07 pm EDT
As the House of Commons Heritage committee hearings on the government's proposed update to the Broadcasting Act carries on, BCE Inc. told the committee in a Monday meeting that while it supports the bill, it needs a carve-out of funding for local news broadcasters.
Even...
Cogeco accuses Wildbrain of “glaring abuse” of CRTC process over Part 1
Media | 03/03/2021 5:26 pm EST
Cogeco Inc. has responded to a Part 1 from television company Wildbrain,...
Helped by Fizz, Quebecor reports strong Q4 earnings
Media | 02/25/2021 5:42 pm EST
Quebecor Inc. has continued to grow its revenues in spite of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, according to...
Bill C-10 only a ‘temporary approach’ to regulating online services: Friends
Media | 02/05/2021 5:39 pm EST
In a preliminary study on the government's overhaul of the Broadcasting Act...
CBC defends its digital switch, terms of trade reluctance
Media | 01/28/2021 6:01 pm EST
On the final day of three weeks of CRTC hearings into CBC/Radio-Canada's...
Cogeco launches IPTV
Media | 01/18/2021 5:25 pm EST
Cogeco Inc. has officially launched its IPTV service, dubbed Epico. Epico, which runs on the MediaFirst platform, is now available to the “majority of Cogeco customers in the territories served by the company,” according to a press release Monday. “This new service will allow customers to take advantage of the latest technological developments in television, a cloud-computing infrastructure and a scalable platform,” Cogeco said in the release. The company said a year ago it had begun beta-testing the service, which it initially planned to launch across its footprint by the end of 2019....
Numeris’ video audience management system to go national
Media | 01/18/2021 4:39 pm EST
Audience measurement company Numeris will fully roll-out its video audience...
CRTC study: virtual BDU services could slow decline of Canadian TV
Media | 12/17/2020 5:15 pm EST
A new CRTC study suggests that the decline of broadcast television could be slowed — but not stopped — if TV providers invest in virtual or online broadcast distribution undertakings (vBDUs). ...
CRTC to release report on impact on online services on TV soon
Media | 11/17/2020 6:27 pm EST
The CRTC will release a report detailing the impact of online services on the state of video and television and video distribution in Canada and some nine other countries before the end of the year,...
Digital platforms won’t fight or flee new regulations, Guilbeault says
Media | 11/04/2020 5:46 pm EST
Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault isn’t concerned about potential...
CRTC to have ‘roughly nine months’ to act on Broadcasting Act update
Media | 11/03/2020 11:11 am EST
The Liberal government’s long-awaited update to the Broadcasting Act...
Production sector to receive $50M in gov’t insurance support
Media | 09/25/2020 4:52 pm EDT
Independent producers will be able to access a $50 million insurance...
Working from home binge: OTT viewing up during the pandemic
Media | 07/28/2020 6:08 pm EDT
A quarter of anglophone Canadian over-the-top (OTT) service subscribers...
Gov’t to introduce web giant, CanCon, news legislation in fall: Guilbeault
Media | 06/16/2020 3:00 pm EDT
Legislation modernizing Canada’s Broadcasting Act is “pretty much...
Netflix lowers Canadian bit rate for next 30 days
telecom | 03/27/2020 12:44 pm EDT
Netflix Inc. has announced it will lower its bit rate in Canada by 25 per cent for the next 30 days, just days after three telecommunications associations publicly urged the streaming giant to lower rates to lessen network congestion during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, Netflix’s vice-president of content delivery, Ken Florance, said the company had developed a way to reduce Netflix’s traffic on telecommunications networks while maintaining the quality of its service, stating customers should continue to get the video quality of their individual plan, whether ultra-high, high...
Networks coping, but future traffic impossible to predict
Media | 03/25/2020 5:48 pm EDT
Experts say Canada’s telecommunications networks are currently handling a...
Bell partners with on-the-go streaming service
Media | 03/05/2020 4:23 pm EST
BCE Inc. has joined forces with yet-to-launch mobile streaming service Quibi SA, signing a deal to be its exclusive Canadian news and sport provider. Quibi -- the name is an amalgam of "quick bites" -- will launch on April 6....
BTLR recs could see U.S. tariff levies under USMCA: Geist
Media | 02/20/2020 11:36 am EST
OTTAWA — Any content levy on internet giants, as the telecom and...
BTLR on telecom: a Q&A with Janet Yale
Media | 02/14/2020 5:31 pm EST
In a phone interview with Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review panel chair Janet Yale,...
Confusion over Guilbeault remarks on BTLR online news recs
Media | 02/03/2020 1:27 pm EST
OTTAWA — On Monday Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault, with some help from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, walked back comments he made over the weekend to CTV News regarding licensing of online news, following the recommendations of an expert panel that news websites be...
CanCon producers praise BTLR terms of trade recommendation
Media | 01/31/2020 5:01 pm EST
OTTAWA — The reintroduction of an agreement governing contracts involving...
CRTC should regulate foreign digital services, news sites: BTLR
Media | 01/29/2020 12:00 pm EST
The blue-ribbon panel tasked with modernizing Canada’s communications...
Bell to add French-language content to Crave
Media | 01/21/2020 4:49 pm EST
Starting on Jan. 28, BCE Inc.’s Crave streaming service will launch some 6,000 hours of French-language...
‘Clock ticking’ on new content rules for web giants, Guilbeault says
Media | 01/13/2020 2:30 pm EST
The Liberal government's minority mandate means it will have to move fast...
Amos, Dabrusin, van Koesverden in as new parlsecs
Media | 12/12/2019 3:23 pm EST
As the new Parliament gets up and running following the election of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals to a minority government, there are also some changes to the ranks of parliamentary secretaries as well. The Prime Minister’s...
Bell to focus on declining mobile service prices in MVNO review
Media | 10/31/2019 5:40 pm EDT
Ahead of the CRTC’s wireless review early next year, and on the heels of...
Corus putting more focus on AVOD strategy
Media | 10/18/2019 5:46 pm EDT
High demand among advertisers for premium content to be siloed in ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD)...
CPC plans for Netflix, rural broadband still unclear days ahead of vote
Media | 10/17/2019 12:54 pm EDT
Despite Conservative leader Andrew Scheer indicating throughout this...
Consensus on ‘digital giants,’ data breaches in French debate
Media | 10/10/2019 11:57 pm EDT
Federal party leaders agreed Thursday evening in the last debate of the election campaign on the need for big online companies to pay more in taxes, for the government to...
CanCon producers silent on CBC-Netflix rift
Media | 10/09/2019 7:14 pm EDT
Organizations that represent important stakeholders in the field of Canadian content are staying...
Leaders talk Netflix taxes, privacy in TVA election debate
Media | 10/02/2019 10:51 pm EDT
During the first French-language debate of the federal election campaign,...
Election 2019: watch for price caps, Netflix regs, Huawei ban
Media | 09/10/2019 12:03 pm EDT
Even before the federal election campaign officially kicked off, telecom...
Helix will keep cord-cutters in Videotron ‘ecosystem,’ CEO says
Media | 08/27/2019 5:52 pm EDT
MONTREAL — Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron unveiled its new Helix platform...
Disney’s streaming service coming in November
Media | 08/19/2019 4:58 pm EDT
Walt Disney Co. announced Monday that it would be launching its Disney+ streaming service in Canada on November 12, entering what is an increasingly crowded marketplace for consumers.
The long-awaited service will be priced at $8.99 per month, or $89.99 per year,...
CRTC commissioning report about market impact of online BDUs
Media | 08/09/2019 6:40 pm EDT
The CRTC wants to know more about the potential for the Canadian...
Heritage working groups examining regulation of online content
Media | 07/30/2019 3:17 pm EDT
Heritage Canada has commissioned seven working groups that are looking at...
Rodriguez promises CanCon rules for ‘web giants’
Media | 06/26/2019 5:53 pm EDT
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said in a social media post Wednesday that the Liberal government plans...
Quebecor says Bell devalues its own offering
telecom | 06/26/2019 10:54 am EDT
Quebecor Inc. has responded to BCE Inc.’s claim that Quebecor’s Videotron unfairly disadvantaged Bell’s Super Écran by placing the channel in its “Other Specialties” package with a claim of its own: by putting Super...
Bell hardware malfunction causes Raptors fans to miss out
Media | 06/11/2019 3:28 pm EDT
BCE Inc. confirmed today that several thousand of its Fibe TV and Alt TV...
Heritage committee calls for end of ISP safe harbour copyright rules
Media | 05/16/2019 1:10 pm EDT
The House heritage committee says the government should do more to fight...
Canadians want more money for CBC, don’t trust OTTs to support CanCon: Poll
Media | 05/13/2019 5:18 pm EDT
Almost 60 per cent of Canadians have “low trust and confidence” in Netflix Inc. to “protect Canadian culture and identity on television”; half of Canadians don't trust cable companies to do...
NDP calls for OTT sales tax, end of ad tax exemption
Media | 05/13/2019 2:25 pm EDT
MONTREAL — The NDP’s platform for this year’s federal election will include requiring foreign...
GoT glitches show challenge in streaming high-viewership events
Media | 05/10/2019 6:23 pm EDT
When the Game of Thrones series premiere aired in 2011, streaming services were still in their infancy. Now, as the HBO ratings juggernaut wraps up its final few episodes, it draws the kind of massive live audiences that are becoming increasingly rare in an over-the-top...
Bell-branded wireless hits sub-1% churn, continuing industry trend
Media | 05/02/2019 5:46 pm EDT
The expected focus by the country’s largest wireless service providers...
OTT subs set to overtake traditional TV by 2020: report
Media | 04/23/2019 4:53 pm EDT
The number of Canadians who opt for over-the-top services is set to surpass the number of Canadians who subscribe to traditional television providers next year, according to a report released...
Péladeau willing to pull TVA Sports signal in fight with Bell
Media | 04/08/2019 6:03 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Quebecor Inc. president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau said...
NDP MP says gov’t must clarify if Netflix deal had any French-language funds
telecom | 04/03/2019 3:48 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Quebec NDP MP François Choquette has filed a judicial review...
Few internet giants weighed in to BTLR, submission list shows
telecom | 03/08/2019 4:13 pm EST
The panel in charge of reviewing the broadcasting and telecom acts received comments from a number of non-industry parties, such as provincial governments and police services, while some of the biggest online companies in the world, including Amazon.com Inc., did not submit...
Distributors ask for Canadian film exhibition quotas on broadcast, OTT
Media | 03/01/2019 12:11 pm EST
Both over-the-top services and broadcasters should be required to show a certain amount of Canadian feature films, the Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters is asking the panel...
Netflix setting up production hub in Toronto
Media | 02/19/2019 1:09 pm EST
Netflix Inc. will expand its production presence in Canada by leasing space at two Toronto production...
YouTube top source of mobile traffic: Sandvine
Media | 02/18/2019 10:12 am EST
Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube makes up just over 35 per cent of worldwide mobile data traffic, making it the...
CBC president likens Netflix to colonialism
Media | 01/31/2019 4:27 pm EST
OTTAWA — CBC/Radio-Canada’s president Catherine Tait compared Netflix Inc.’s worldwide presence to...
Bell’s panel submission calls for CMF to get 20% of foreign OTT revenues
Media | 01/29/2019 3:25 pm EST
BCE Inc. wants to inject the Canada Media Fund (CMF) with a potentially...
YouTube limiting promotion of conspiracy videos and ‘borderline content’
Media | 01/28/2019 4:47 pm EST
Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube says it plans to tamp down on the spread of misleading, fake or conspiratorial video content that gets recommended for its users to watch by limiting the promotion of...
New Broadcast Act should ‘unambiguously exclude’ OTT: Netflix
Media | 01/25/2019 4:51 pm EST
Netflix Inc. is defending against calls to rope foreign over-the-top...
Bell asked gov’t to ban some VPNs: documents
Media | 01/23/2019 4:40 pm EST
BCE Inc. urged the federal government to make virtual private networks (VPNs) used to circumvent...
Preventing LGBTQ content discrimination raised in BTLR consults
Media | 01/21/2019 4:15 pm EST
The CEO of an independent specialty TV channel is raising concerns that a lack of regulation could let foreign-based digital companies operating in Canada de-monetize or discriminate against types of Canadian content based on cultural values, such as works made by the LGBTQ community. Brad Danks, the CEO of OUTtv Network Inc., a Canadian-based LGBTQ television network, raised the point in his company’s consultation submission to the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review panel -- the expert group studying how to modernize Canada’s communications legal and regulatory...
FRPC wants CanCon visibility on search engines
Media | 01/21/2019 12:50 pm EST
As a rule, when Canadians search keywords on the internet, they should be presented with Canadian content...
Canadians split between traditional, online viewing: MTM
Media | 01/18/2019 2:16 pm EST
The number of Canadians who consume their video content mostly through...
Fast-track OTT review, clock ticking on CMF ‘top-up’: CMPA
Media | 01/18/2019 10:41 am EST
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) wants the government to...
Platforms could pull out of Canadian market if regulated: Google
Media | 01/16/2019 2:17 pm EST
Alphabet Inc.’s Google already contributes to the Canadian creative...
One-in-8 ‘cord jumping’ video services: MTM
Media | 01/11/2019 5:28 pm EST
One-in-8 Canadians have suspended their TV or paid video streaming service while planning to re-subscribe to it later, according to survey information released to media this week by CBC/Radio-Canada‘s Media Technology Monitor (MTM). MTM calls the phenomenon ‘cord jumping’, where consumers leave services only to return later. It said main reasons for ‘jumping’ off of a service for a time are: to save money, their favourite programs aren’t on right now, they don’t currently have time to watch the content, travelling and summertime. MTM points out that content service...
Top telecom and media stories to watch for in 2019
Media | 12/21/2018 5:46 pm EST
As the new year begins, the months ahead promise a new spectrum auction, new CRTC announcements on...
Telus, Corus jockeying over PVR cloud storage rules
telecom | 12/19/2018 10:48 am EST
Corus Entertainment Inc. is taking issue with a request by Telus Corp. to have Parliament change the...
Bell ends infringement suit against Videotron
telecom | 12/14/2018 5:01 pm EST
BCE Inc. has dropped a $100-million lawsuit leveled against Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron for allegedly broadcasting CraveTV content without a licence. Bell Media vice-president of communications Scott Henderson said in an email...
English Canadian subs to OTT jumps to 65%: MTM
Media | 12/06/2018 1:17 pm EST
The number of English-speaking adults in Canada subscribing to over-the-top streaming services continues...
Bell posts subscriber gains, but wireless ARPU dips
telecom | 11/01/2018 5:42 pm EDT
BCE Inc. reported its wireless average revenue per user (ARPU) dipped in its third quarter results...
Yale responds to criticism about review panel consumer reps
Media | 11/01/2018 2:29 pm EDT
OTTAWA – Conservative senators doubled-down on a previously-raised...
Rogers’ network ‘our contribution’ to content ecosystem: VP
Media | 10/31/2018 7:24 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The billions of dollars Rogers Communications Inc. says it’s...
VMedia looking to go public through reverse takeover
Media | 10/24/2018 5:06 pm EDT
VMedia Inc. has come to an agreement Tuesday to buy a small company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange in a move that will allow it to become publicly traded without having to go through an initial public offering (IPO). The...
Cost of TV service driving cord-cutting: Angus Reid
Media | 10/18/2018 6:18 pm EDT
A new report from the Angus Reid Institute indicates that the cost of services is the main driver behind the choice of Canadians who have gotten rid of their traditional TV service subscriptions.
The Angus Reid polling analysis released Thursday said despite the current...
Canada waiting on other countries for new digital tax rules: Morneau
Media | 10/12/2018 5:23 pm EDT
Canada has been “pushing hard” to speed up development of a plan for...
Only 3% of anglophones subscribe to sports streaming: MTM
Media | 10/11/2018 5:42 pm EDT
While services like Perform Group’s Dazn and Rogers Communications Inc.’s Sportsnet Now have been emerging in recent years, they “haven’t yet caught on in the Anglophone market,” Media...
EU, Canada move closer on telecom regulation, further apart on OTT
Media | 10/05/2018 4:05 pm EDT
Streaming video platforms in the European Union will have to ensure 30 per...
Senators criticize makeup of comms acts review expert panel
Media | 10/04/2018 12:55 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Two senators on the Senate transport and communications...
‘Narrow window’ to make new comms laws with USMCA: Nordicity
Media | 10/02/2018 3:28 pm EDT
OTTAWA -- There is an “urgent need” for Canadian lawmakers to set out a new communications framework now that Canada has hammered out a new trilateral agreement on trade to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) so that Canadian industry isn’t put at a disadvantage, according to a Canadian telecom consultant. Nordicity’s Stuart Jack told a Senate committee reviewing Canada’s communications industry laws that Canada is three decades “out of date” with other OECD countries in adopting a “unified” communications act. He said there’s a “narrow window”...
Netflix expects to ‘exceed’ planned investment in Canadian content
Media | 09/28/2018 3:24 pm EDT
Netflix Inc. says it’s “on track to exceed” its $500 million pledge...
Competition Bureau warns streaming services to review marketing practices
Media | 09/25/2018 5:35 pm EDT
The Competition Bureau is calling for online video streaming services to review their marketing practices, terms and conditions after it found they’re sometimes unclear and hard to understand....
Broadcast, telecom acts review panel kicks off consultation
telecom | 09/25/2018 5:31 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The expert panel in charge of reviewing Canada’s...
Amazon introduces Fire TV DVR for over-the-air-channels
telecom | 09/21/2018 2:12 pm EDT
Amazon.com Inc. is launching a DVR that will work with a digital antenna to...
New party, fresh faces on Heritage could shake up Parliament
Media | 09/14/2018 5:16 pm EDT
As politicians file back into Parliament Hill’s Centre Block for the...
Canadians spent $8B on digital products last year: StatCan
Media | 08/29/2018 6:00 pm EDT
According to the latest numbers from Statistics Canada, 67 per cent of adult Canadians purchased a digital product, such as a subscription to a streaming service, ebooks or online newspapers, between...
CBC appoints new OTT content director
Media | 08/24/2018 4:08 pm EDT
CBC/Radio-Canada has appointed Gave Lindo to lead the public broadcaster’s over-the-top (OTT) content...
Viceland shows back to TV after deal with Bell
Media | 08/16/2018 1:35 pm EDT
BCE Inc. and Vice Media Inc. have reached a deal that will see new and previously produced content from...
Netflix has 75% of Canadian OTT market: report
Media | 08/01/2018 4:15 pm EDT
Just under half of Canadians, or 47.2 per cent, use subscription over-the-top (OTT) services, according to new data from eMarketer.
More than 75 per cent of those subscription OTT users watch Netflix Inc.’s service, eMarketer said in a Wednesday press release,...
CMPA to tour country ahead of broadcast, telecom acts review
Media | 07/30/2018 1:40 pm EDT
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) has launched a Canada-wide...
Roku brings AVOD service to Canada
telecom | 07/24/2018 5:30 pm EDT
Roku Inc. is launching its no-cost ad-supported video-on-demand service (AVOD) The Roku Channel in Canada, according to a blog post Monday. People who own Roku TVs or the Roku streaming box will have immediate access to...
Numeris’ new digital measurement a ‘necessary step’: expert
Media | 07/16/2018 5:07 pm EDT
Broadcasters with multiplatform properties are expected to benefit from a...
Broadcast, telecom act review panel plans ‘outreach’ in Sept.
Media | 06/28/2018 5:32 pm EDT
The panel appointed to lead the review of the Broadcasting Act and Telecommunications Act has met for the first time this week, and will continue to meet regularly over the summer, the federal...
OTT co-productions trending up: study
Media | 06/26/2018 12:41 pm EDT
Domestic and international content producers and over-the-top (OTT) services are continuing to partner on original programming at an increasing pace, according to new data from Ampere Analysis released last Thursday.
The Ampere study showed these original co-productions...
Crackle ending operations following Bell partnership
Media | 06/22/2018 4:15 pm EDT
Sony Corp.’s ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) service Crackle will cease existence in Canada next...
12.5% Canadians watched pirated content in past month: MTM
Media | 06/21/2018 4:21 pm EDT
One in eight Canadians have watched pirated TV or movie content online in...
Rogers to launch more TV everywhere-style services
Media | 06/11/2018 4:55 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. is launching additional TV-subscription authenticated, ad-supported...
Bell launches TSN/RDS streaming service for $25/month
Media | 06/08/2018 4:12 pm EDT
BCE Inc. has made its TSN and RDS sports channels available without a TV subscription for $24.99 a month....
Experts to ‘find solutions’ in broadcast, telecom review: Joly
Media | 06/05/2018 8:10 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The expert panel appointed by the federal government to...
ISED won’t rule out using spectrum proceeds for CanCon: Bains
Media | 06/01/2018 4:47 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains and Heritage Minister Mélanie...
Growth of OTT doesn’t affect broadcast competition: Comp Bureau
Media | 06/01/2018 3:39 pm EDT
The growth of over-the-top (OTT) services did not change the mind of the Competition Bureau when it rejected a deal earlier this week involving two French-language channels. The bureau denied the...
Bell to sell ad space for online video company
Media | 05/31/2018 3:39 pm EDT
Online video production and syndication company WatchMojo Inc. has signed an advertising sales deal with...
CRTC calls for ISPs to pay for CanCon, ‘equitable’ OTT contributions
Media | 05/31/2018 11:18 am EDT
GATINEAU — The CRTC is recommending the government undertake a bevy of changes to the Canadian content system, including a new approach to funding content that would include...