Canada’s private broadcasters have made a stunning “revelation” to the CRTC – even the government regulator was surprised – and, truth be told, it is bit hard to believe: When the Canadian networks bid on U.S. shows, they rarely know exactly how much they are spending, due to the way the U.S. studios structure the bidding process. If CTV and Global want to buy a highly touted new show, they are often forced to also buy several other programs along with it, including some that have a lower chance of drawing big audiences. Regardless of whether they air those shows......
Friday's proposal by the CRTC, to force Canadian broadcasters to spend equal amounts on imports and Canadian shows, must be applauded. In a move that would reshape prime time television, the federal broadcast regulator is considering placing a cap on how much the country's biggest TV networks can spend to acquire hit U.S. shows, such as Grey's Anatomy, The Office and House.The proposal, which came as a shock to network executives yesterday, would require CTV, Global, CITY-TV and others to spend the same amount on Canadian programming as they do on U.S. shows. For every $1 spent on programs from......
It appears, from recent reports, that Canwest is on the verge of filing for bankruptcy protection. Debt-laden Canwest Global Communications Corp, Canada's biggest media company, may face bankruptcy as the weak economy wreaks havoc on its stable of television stations and newspapers, and buyers for its assets fail to materialize. Canwest, publisher of the National Post daily newspaper, has said it will try to exit non-core businesses and is considering the sale of five conventional TV stations. But analysts say there may not be any prospective purchasers waiting in the wings. Canwest is trying to unload its E! Canada channels,......
Back in Toronto in the early days, one station I used to watch quite frequently was CHCH out of Hamilton, Ontario. Independently owned at the time, that is, not part of any of the major broadcast conglomerates, it stood out as a superstation with relatively reasonable alternative viewing to the major broadcast networks CTV and Global TV. One of the programs I enjoyed was a daily phone-in show around lunchtime dealing with the political and social issues of the day. (Yours truly was a frequent caller.) The little station that could was bought by Canwest in 2000, and this marks......
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by Werner Patels In 2008, the Canadian TV networks went before the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to demand more money. To be exact, this money was to come from TV consumers like you and me. Just like specialty cable channels, which get a share of the subscription fees paid to the cable companies, the broadcast networks wanted to partake of that "generous" deal as well. As things stand right now, the CRTC has rejected their demand, and rightly so: as off-air broadcast networks, they are supposed to fund their operations from commercials only. It is also a fact......
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OttawaWatch has gone on Canwest deathwatch, it seems. THURSDAY UPDATE: Canwest was at $2.35 this morning, another new low. A month ago, it traded at $3.60, which was a 52-week low. Indeed, the company has seen better days (such as when Lord Conrad Black was still in charge of the National Post and not unfairly detained in a prison). The drop in share price is caused by several factors. Canwest's TV operations are not among the most popular in Canada. Global TV has one of the most unreliable and most viewer-unfriendly schedules of all broadcast networks, and its secondary...
Global Television is cutting 200 jobs across Canada as it develops new "state of the art" broadcast centres in four cities, CanWest announced on Thursday.
The company said the centres, to be located in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto, will use the latest in broadcast technology. It will also mean local news programs can immediately begin the transition to high definition, CanWest MediaWorks Inc. said. (from: CBC.ca)Of all the television networks, Global TV is probably the worst run. TV schedules are all over the place and never reliable, and the programming seen on Global TV has been second to third rate most of the time (with the good shows running on CTV or on cable, such as BBC Canada). The recent conversion of CH to E! Canada is not going to win them many...
Global TV & E! (formerly: CH) have announced their lineup for the 2007 fall season. Well, actually, they have only announced the US shows they have just bought in Hollywood (much easier than producing your own Canadian content, eh?).
In previous articles, I have already commented on the new US shows premiering on American networks in the fall and concluded that most of them are rubbish, except, one would hope, the US remake of the British hit Blackpool known as Viva Laughlin (note to American readers: in the American press, Blackpool is always referred to as Viva Blackpool, but that's not right; that was merely the name given to it in the US, but there's no "viva" in the original British title of the show).
Global has acquired the rights to Viva Laughlin as well as the new version of...