God knows Canada needs a new Broadcasting Act. The first clue: they’re still calling it the Broadcasting Act. Network heads and studio executives have been lobbying hard for years to have the Canadian government step in and, as they see it, level the playing field by mandating that streaming services operating in Canada contribute to
Sometimes, it is funny what seems to matter most in Canada — at least politically. On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) strayed beyond the scope of its authority under the Broadcasting Act when it took action to ensure the U.S. Super Bowls ads could be
This week, NATPE, the annual gathering of the National Association of Television Programming Executives, is taking place in Miami, Florida (Jan. 22-24). Hey, three days away from snow and ice in January; those TV programming executives aren’t so dumb. One of the trades that gets plenty of play this time of year is VideoAge International.
BANFF, Alta. — Outgoing Canadian Radio television and Telecommunications Commission chair Jean-Pierre Blais ripped into his industry audience Tuesday at the Banff World Media Festival. The speech –which at times sounded more like a scolding despite an even delivery — was vintage Blais. The long-serving civil servant, involved in many capacities in the culture sector, ends his five-year
A Canadian industry executive emailed me during the big game last Sunday suggesting the CRTC made the right call — watching the Super Bowl with the US ads is definitely a big part of the overall programming experience. Canadians have been missing half the story for decades. Outlets such as The New York Times offer play-by-play
It’s really happening: a legal, American feed of a Super Bowl game on Canadian TV screens. The CRTC mandated an exception to the simultaneous substitution rule and not even lawyers or lobbyists could stop it — this time. The hiccup will cost CTV millions and, really, that’s not fair. Nonetheless, go ad crazy, Canada. Things
OTTAWA — The 22nd annual Prime Time in Ottawa industry conference — a good place to take Canada’s TV temperature — kicked off Thursday. Bell Media’s least favourite CRTC chair, Jean-Pierre Blais, managed to duck in and out without a single question about those Super Bowl ads. Blais, whose term as chair ends in June
This week, Scott Thompson at Hamilton’s CHML wanted my take on a thorny issue stirring up plenty of controversy in Canadian TV circles: changes to the CRTC regulations regarding funding. The rule change that rankles many in the Canadian writing, directing, acting and production communities: shows now only need to achieve a 6 out of