Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Internet radio broadcasters dealt setback

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- Internet radio broadcasters were dealt a setback Monday when a panel of copyright judges threw out requests to reconsider a ruling that hiked the royalties they must pay to record companies and artists.

A broad group of public and private broadcasters, including radio stations, small startup companies, National Public Radio and major online sites like Yahoo Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, had objected to the new royalties set March 2, saying they would force a drastic cutback in services that are now enjoyed by some 50 million people. (Time Warner is also the parent company of CNN.)

In the latest ruling, the Copyright Royalty Board judges denied all motions for rehearing and also declined to postpone a May 15 deadline by which the new royalties will have to be collected.
However, they did grant leniency on one point, allowing the webcasters to calculate fees by average listening hours, as they had been, as opposed to the new system of charging a royalty each time every song is heard by an online listener. That exemption counts for last year and this year. After that, the new per-song, per-listener fee structure goes into effect.

Many webcasters say the sharply higher royalty fees will put them out of business. Talk of the ruling dominated a one-day meeting of Internet radio broadcasters being held in Las Vegas alongside the annual conference of the National Association of Broadcasters, a group representing local radio and TV stations.

N. Mark Lam, the CEO of Live365 Inc., a privately held company that aggregates audio streams from thousands of radio stations and other small webcasters, said that under the new royalty rules, "there is no industry."

Lam, who joined the venture capital-backed company about two years ago, said Live365 just barely broke even last year and had about 4.5 million unique listeners every month.

Also on Monday, several Internet radio broadcasters announced a campaign to raise awareness of the issue and encourage listeners to write to their representatives in Congress.

Small broadcasters have received relief from Congress in the past, benefiting from a law passed five years ago that gave them a break on royalty rates. The legislation allowed them to pay about 12 percent of their revenues instead of having to calculate per-song, per-hour rates like larger companies had to.

David Oxenford, a lawyer representing several webcasters, said the next step was likely an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but he noted that process could take at least a year. Meanwhile, he said, the prospects of successfully getting a court to block the decision of the royalty board judges is slim.

SoundExchange, a nonprofit group that collects the online royalties from webcasters and distributes them to record labels and artists, hailed the ruling in a statement and said it looked forward to working with Internet radio companies in order to ensure that the industry succeeds.
Jonathan Potter, the head of the Digital Media Association, which represents several large webcasters including Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN network, said his group was not currently in talks with SoundExchange but may be soon. He said his group and other webcasters would be turning to Congress, where he said he sees "a lot of legislative support."

The royalties in question only cover digital transmissions of music, and don't apply to terrestrial radio stations, as traditional radio play is seen as a benefit for record labels by promoting sales of recorded music. Both digital broadcasters and regular radio stations pay a separate royalty to the publishers and composers of music.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

ACTRA ratifies, Toronto gets a new studio and everything is back to normal...

Or is it?

What is the "status quo" these days anyway?
ACTRA members ratified the new IPA (this isn't really breaking news as it was expected when the strike was ended). Toronto may get a new studio for all those big blockbusters that are just itching to shoot here (although, the rumours of Toronto getting a huge "boost" to its production capabilities are getting as stale as they are old.)

At least actors can't be blamed for sagging production levels anymore.

Viva la revolucion!




Friday, April 13, 2007

Shaw Says Profit Gains 74 Percent


When you're posting profits of the size that Shaw is currently boasting, you can't help but wonder how much of it will actually benefit Canadians (shareholders and subscribers notwithstanding).




The question that occurs to me is this....what is the incentive for the big broadcasters to invest in Canadian programming when their increasing profits are coming from broadband subscribers? With the recent move in the telephone industry and the Canadian Television Fund being "re-evaluated", how much longer will we have to wait to find out that our airwaves have "officially" become taken over by cheap and profitable American programming?

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Phone companies flood CRTC with deregulation filings

note: while this isn't exactly a "broadcast" issue on the surface, it is a very important development considering the fact that telecom companies are also broadcasters. This tells us a) how the CRTC can be over-ruled by a sitting government and, b) just how powerful "market forces" can be in the decision-making process.

From CBC.ca

Canada's established phone companies have wasted no time in exercising their newly won freedom to apply for deregulation of local phone service across the country.

In the last 24 hours, Bell Canada, Telus, and Aliant have all filed applications with the CRTC for permission to relax the stringent rules that currently regulate how the big phone companies market local phone service and how much they must charge.
Bell Canada filed applications that would affect the markets in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau, London, Hamilton, and Quebec City. It said more filings for other markets are on the way. Telus filed similar applications for Vancouver and Edmonton, and also said additional applications for deregulation in other major markets would be coming. Aliant filed for deregulation of markets in the Halifax area.

The flood of applications followed the announcement April 4 by Industry Minister Maxime Bernier that he would open competition in local phone markets where there are at least three different carriers in operation, including cellphone providers.
Canada's established phone companies have wasted no time in exercising their newly won freedom to apply for deregulation of local phone service across the country.
In the last 24 hours, Bell Canada, Telus, and Aliant have all filed applications with the CRTC for permission to relax the stringent rules that currently regulate how the big phone companies market local phone service and how much they must charge.

Bell Canada filed applications that would affect the markets in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau, London, Hamilton, and Quebec City. It said more filings for other markets are on the way.

Telus filed similar applications for Vancouver and Edmonton, and also said additional applications for deregulation in other major markets would be coming.
Aliant filed for deregulation of markets in the Halifax area.
The flood of applications followed the announcement April 4 by Industry Minister Maxime Bernier that he would open competition in local phone markets where there are at least three different carriers in operation, including cellphone providers.

That overruled a CRTC policy that said the existing phone companies would continue to face restrictions in the local phone market unless their competitors had a 25 per cent share of the market.

Bernier said the new policy, which takes effect April 18, would lead to more choice for consumers and lower prices. That's certainly what the incumbent phone companies were saying Thursday.

"Local service deregulation in Vancouver and Edmonton will bring the full benefits of competition to these cities," said Telus executive vice-president Janet Yale in a statement.

Aliant said its customers "will experience the full benefits of competition, with greater value through increased choice and flexible offers that can be delivered in a more timely manner."

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Lee Iaccoca tears Dubya a new one...


note: this is a remarkable piece of writing considering Lee Iaccoca's experience with being an influential leader. This alone gives hope that *some* powerful people are willing to speak out and "call a spade a spade".


George W. Bush brags about never reading a newspaper. "I just scan the headlines," he says. Am I hearing this right?


Click here to read an excerpt from Lee Iaccoca's new book "Where Have All The Leaders Gone?"


Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Apple sells 100 million iPods

note: what's most newsworthy about this ariticle is that (as far as I know), this is the first time Apple has 'officially' acknowledged the number of units sold.

From CBC.ca

Apple Inc. says it has sold 100 million units of its iPod, with the Cupertino, Calif.-based company declaring the product is "the fastest-selling music player in history."
Since the first iPod was sold in November 2001, the device has become a defining icon in the portable music world.
The iPod has changed the way many music lovers acquire, store and listen to music, the company said. “Without the iPod, the digital music age would have been defined by files and folders instead of songs and albums,” musician John Mayer said in an Apple news release.
The iPod has become so popular that it has spawned spinoff industries that make everything from fashionable cases to speaker systems. More than 70 per cent of U.S. 2007 model vehicles have an iPod link, the company said.

The model and colour of number 100,000,000 are unknown, the website ilounge.com said, but "it appears to be in the company’s possession, rather than on a store’s shelves awaiting sale."
In January, 2005, Apple kept unit number 10,000,000 as a memento, ilounge said.
The iPod sales have been credited with boosting Apple's profits and stock price.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Under-reported stories # 2




Company says the substance will not endanger the environment


I'm not saying that this is under-reported right now. Let's hope this one stays in the news to see if they actually clean it up.


Wednesday, April 4, 2007

In Debt We Trust

Independent journalist released from U.S. prison

Independent journalist Josh Wolf has been released from prison after spending over 225 days behind bars. The 24-year-old Wolf spent more time in jail than any journalist in US history for protecting his sources.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Basic cable service basically on its way to oblivion

Countries in Europe already switching off analog connections

Peter Nowak, CanWest News Service
Published: Monday, April 02, 2007

TORONTO - Television subscribers who haven't upgraded to digital won't have a choice for much longer -- basic TV is going the way of the dinosaur.

Basic cable television, where the set receives its signal from a plug in the wall or over an antenna, is being turned off around the world in favour of digital, which offers interactive features plus higher-quality video and sound through a decoder box that connects to the TV.

In December, the Netherlands became the first country to turn off basic television, otherwise known as analog, with all subscribers now on digital.

At least five European countries are set to follow this year, including the United Kingdom, Sweden and Finland. The United States will shut off in February 2009. Even China is tuning out, in 2015.

The governments in these countries have mandated the switch-off for a number of reasons, all of which inevitably come down to revenue. Turning off analog will free up a good deal of airwaves, which the government can auction off for other uses. It will also free up space on cable providers' pipes, which they can use to sell more high-definition programming.

Television makers will also benefit through increased sales of digital sets.

The downside, observers say, is that the consumer will end up paying for it. "It's all to sell more televisions," says Thomas Astebro, associate professor of strategic management for the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. "The equipment producers have an interest in people upgrading. It's giving a boost to this whole industry."

Canada's approach is unique in that the government has not ordered a switch-off and will instead rely on market forces. It won't be a forced death like elsewhere, but analog will still die in Canada.

Toronto-based Rogers Communications Inc., Canada's largest television provider, has 2.27 million total subscribers, 1.13 million of whom are on digital. The company is adding new digital customers or converting basic subscribers at a rate of 220,000 to 250,000 a year. At that pace, Rogers says it will have a digital box in each of its households within three to four years.

Digital is more lucrative for a cable provider in that customers must rent a box -- $3.99 a month in the case of Rogers -- and can use on-demand services such as pay per-view movies for an extra fee. Increased digital uptake is thus translating into better monthly average revenue per user.

The nation's second-largest cable provider, Calgary-based Shaw Communications Inc., has about 31 per cent of its 2.21 million TV subscribers on digital, but the pace of conversion is ramping up as well. In the company's third quarter ended Nov. 31, digital subscriber additions grew twice as fast as basic.

Jim Shaw, the company's chief executive, has echoed Rogers' sentiments saying he would "never" shut off analog.

The choice may not be in the hands of the cable companies, however. Television makers are ending production of analog-capable sets for the U.S. That production will have a spillover effect into Canada.

© The Edmonton Journal 2007

Monday, April 2, 2007

A Red Herring?

This CBC.ca article says that the CTF will increase spending to "$265 million on production of Canadian programming over the next 12 months, a slight increase in its annual budget".

However, the Harper Government has provided no more money in its recent budget.

Does this mean that there will be a slight decrease in the CTF's annual budget next year?

Or, does this mean that the broadcasters are making more money and therefore their CTF contributions are slightly bigger?

Is American programming paying for Canadian production?

 
Add to Technorati Favorites