By Jim Henshaw We’re in an age of media decline. Last week, I posted my thoughts about what’s gone wrong with Canadian newspapers. But local TV in Canada is also losing viewers at an alarming rate. This week the CRTC was told that fully half of our local stations could be gone within the next […]
CBC’s diminished news world
By Frank Moher The CBC cut some more jobs last month. Where’s the news in that, you say? It was just 140 jobs, you say? Just a droplet in the bloodletting of 1500 jobs projected to be lost by 2020? Well sure, but besides the fact that another swack of people are out of work, […]
Dear CRTC: More Margaret Atwood won’t save Canadian TV
By Jim Henshaw A decade of boneheaded moves by Canada’s broadcast regulator, the CRTC, were the original inspiration for my blog. And over its life I’ve repeatedly weighed in on just how dim-witted or out of touch our CRTC Commissioners have been with their decisions. The last was a couple of months ago with the first […]
Radio Caroline, all over again
By Jim Henshaw By now, virtually every Canadian is aware of the stare-down going on between Netflix and our broadcast regulators, the CRTC. But there’s a similar confrontation concurrently flying under most of our media’s radar between the self-same CRTC and a group of radio stations in Vancouver. These stations, unlike Netflix, have their offices, […]
Gambling on CanCon
By Jim Henshaw Now and then, I wander into a casino. Since I mostly live in Canada, where wagering is government run, I don’t stay long. That’s partly because our politically correct casinos seriously dial back the fun factor, designating where you can drink and how noisy you’re allowed to be. In addition, there are […]
Who will tell the CRTC a good story?
By Jim Henshaw Last week, it appeared that CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais had found himself in a socially awkward position. The Writers Guild of Canada had presented their clear and cogent argument on the quality and appeal of Canadian made television. It wasn’t anything Blais hadn’t heard before. And maybe he was tired or maybe […]
Online, and off the radar
By Rachelle Stein-Wotten Watch much Canadian TV? Watch many web series? For most Canadians the answer to both of those questions is most likely, “Not a lot.” So naturally the best way to increase the viewership for both is to fuse them together into one super, unstoppable, non-watched force, right? Wait . . . that […]
Net fatality
A BoB Short A recent U.S. Federal Communication Commission (FCC) proposal that could have a significant impact on net neutrality in Canada as well as the United States has both users and big business up in arms. The proposal, slated for voting later this month, would bolster access to any website willing to pay the […]
Sun News might just get its way
By David@sixthestate.net I don’t think there’s really any need for a detailed analysis of the following: Sun News Network, the right-wing, free-market, anti-government “news” channel set up by Quebecor and some former Harper staffers is losing money and wants the government to mandate a special tax on cable consumers to guarantee it a revenue source. […]
CRTC reaches for volume control
A BoB short: The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission has announced that all broadcasters, cable and satellite providers, and video-on-demand services must silence erratically loud ads by Sept. 1, 2012. The federal regulator had previously told the TV industry that it had one year to turn down the volume. Rogers Communication, Quebecor, and Shaw Communications […]
