CRTC Hearings on New Media LIVEBLOG

• 2:33 PM Jonathan Keebler - CTV is going to step up to the mic at 3pm.
• 2:34 PM Jonathan Keebler - Shaw Communications is being quizzed right now. CRTC wants proof that a levee on their internet service would drive their customers to lower-cost internet plans like they maintain.
• 2:35 PM Jonathan Keebler - 10 minute break before the next group goes up to speak
• 2:39 PM inkcanada - I’m with the Globe, *that* was more melodramatic than the afternoon soaps #crtc
• 2:41 PM bmattb - Jim Shaw thinks that ALL content on Youtube is made with no money, “for free”. NOT TRUE! I spent $20 bucks on those tights and the cape.
• 2:41 PM bmattb - Konrad Von Fickenstein sounds like a really bad Bond character. http://tinyurl.com/dm7qae #CRTC
• 2:42 PM Jonathan Keebler - CTV is stepping up to the microphones. I can see Richard Kanee, Stephan Argent at the table.
• 2:50 PM Jonathan Keebler - CTVglobemedia is represented by Rick Brace, President of Rev, Business Planning and New Media. Joined by Stephan Argent (VP Digital Media), Bill Keenen (Dir. of Tech), Richard Kanee (Dir of Business Dev), Kevin Goldstein (VP Regulatory Affairs)
• 2:52 PM Jonathan Keebler - Brace: 10 yrs since CRTC looked at new media. High speed access pervasive. Infinite # of websites “compete with us directly”. Internet broadcasting perposes: promotion, additional “window” for viewers on another platform. Core focus: traditional broadcasting. CTVgm recognizes importance of new media platforms. CTV #1 Canadian-owned online video destination. TSN.ca served 700k streams on trade deadline day. CTV.ca 10M video streams per month.
• 2:55 PM Jonathan Keebler - Brace: Proprietary video destinations served more streams than all other broadcasters combined. Praised technical implementation by Apple. 12k hours of video online on their video platforms at this time. Geo-gating US content. Ventured into usergen with “Upload Yours” on Comedy to find new talent. Launching new radio sites with on-demand library
• 2:57 PM Jonathan Keebler - Brace: Financial revenue has been “modest”. Regulation will reduce ability to be nimble. Want modernization of copyright laws. New media in Canada must continue to develop without any oversight as it has thus far.
• 3:00 PM Jonathan Keebler - Von Finckenstein (CRTC): You say our findings from 1999 are equally relavant today?
• 3:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - Rick Brace: New media: great promotional impact, and “catch-up”. Our core business is traditional broadcasting and continues to be. “None of us has a crystal ball” but conventional/specialty TV will continue to be relevant in the future.
• 3:03 PM Jonathan Keebler - Brace: Issue they face: How do we measure it effectively to monetize it effectively? Brought Mr. Keenan to answer technical questions about inability to measure accurately.
• 3:04 PM Jonathan Keebler - Bill Keenan: “would echo their sentiments”. Go to great effects to maintain metrics for video they serve: it’s challenging. To scale out to all audio/video in Canadian, “it’s a more than daunting task”. Given traffic shaping technologies available right now, ISPs probably could measure how much traffic is audio/video.
• 3:05 PM Jonathan Keebler - Keenan: Challenge “lies in dispersion of ISPs” across the country.
• 3:06 PM Jonathan Keebler - CRTC: We have 5 ISPs with 90% of country. Wouldn’t that just be measuring in 5 points?
• 3:06 PM Jonathan Keebler - Keenan: It would be 5 organizations doing the measuring, not 5 points.
• 3:07 PM Jonathan Keebler - CRTC: If Rogers rolls out their portal, would you participate in it?
• 3:07 PM Jonathan Keebler - Brace: We’ve had a couple of meetings with Rogers about that. For us, what do we do to make sure subscriber revenue is protected is most important (traditional TV). We need it to be universally accepted (couldn’t just be them, not Shaw). “I wouldn’t rule it out of hand”
• 3:09 PM Jonathan Keebler - CRTC: Does it really make a difference if ppl watch your shows on Rogers or your website?
• 3:09 PM Jonathan Keebler - Brace: We couldn’t shut off CTV.ca so would we do it in both? Difficult questions. Not at a point at this time to say that would work
• 3:11 PM Jonathan Keebler - Goldstein (CTV) talking about wireless undue preference provision. Zzzzzz
• 3:12 PM Jonathan Keebler - Brace: “Our experience with wireless has been very modest”. Still in its infancy
• 3:12 PM pollyprissypant - Is it just me or are Konrad’s questions all over the place?
• 3:12 PM Jonathan Keebler -
  
• 3:13 PM Jonathan Keebler - Brace: Wireless not giving us tools to let us monetize it
• 3:13 PM Jonathan Keebler - Kanee: Wireless has failed to evolve. Market incredibly small
• 3:14 PM Jonathan Keebler -
  
• 3:14 PM tyffanie - : Interesting point. Wireless providers aren’t neutral in their choice of New Media content viewable by consumers. #CRTC Just look at Bell!
• 3:15 PM Jonathan Keebler - CRTC: If wireless broadcasting takes off, there should be an exemption for undue preference.
• 3:15 PM Jonathan Keebler - Brace: “So not an issue at this point”
• 3:16 PM Jonathan Keebler - Leonard Katz (CRTC): Heard from Sports industry that it has been successfully monetized in new media. Why is it readily possible for Sports genre but not for other ones?
• 3:16 PM Jonathan Keebler - Brace: Sports = wildly popular niche (“consumed very aggressively”). Our highlights: Sports, CTV, MTV and BNN. “it’s a very low margin business”. “you’re a victim of your own popularity”. “smallest portion of revenue from video at this point”. “We’re really in the infancy stage….really has a way to go”
• 3:18 PM Jonathan Keebler - Katz (CRTC): Is there something unique about “scripted” industry that prevents it from being economic?
• 3:19 PM Jonathan Keebler - Brace: Not unpopular, but more costly because of rights. Less monetizable.
• 3:19 PM pollyprissypant - Leonard Katz – trying to draw conclusions about non-scripted material being more easily monetized. That’s just not true…
• 3:19 PM Jonathan Keebler - Argent: Difference between short-form and long-form content. Proprietary video player they developed: that technology “has to be fed” with new features to increase enjoyment.
• 3:20 PM Jonathan Keebler -
  
• 3:21 PM Jonathan Keebler - Timothy Denton (CRTC): What’s a port number? (let’s get this on the record)
• 3:22 PM Jonathan Keebler - Keenan: secondary to IP number, their is a port number. Whereas IP is the house, port is the door (good way of explaining it)
• 3:22 PM Jonathan Keebler - Denton: Would you say modern applications spoof a port? Called out Skype!
• 3:22 PM pollyprissypant - Did that guy just call Skype an annoying protocol?
• 3:23 PM Jonathan Keebler - He did!
• 3:23 PM Jonathan Keebler - Keenan: Deep-packet inspection: opening all the packets would be prohibitively expensive.
• 3:24 PM Jonathan Keebler - Rita Cugini (CRTC): Talking about “Upload Yours” on Comedy Network. What is the business case for this?
• 3:24 PM Jonathan Keebler - Brace: The business case: promote this as an opportunity. “Bit of a talent search”
• 3:25 PM Jonathan Keebler - Argent: Promotion component, yes. But also “experiment responsibly”. 500 uploads since Jan 19th; indication that there is some interest there. Key piece: internet by nature is interactive. Users: want that 2-way dialogue.
• 3:26 PM Jonathan Keebler - Kanee: Comedy responding to audience demand in the market (from Canadian comics) (e.g. sites like Funnyordie.com). Attempt to find content that could make it to air.
• 3:28 PM Jonathan Keebler - Cugini (CRTC): Web poll on CTV.ca: Why didn’t you ask people how much time they spent watching online video?
• 3:28 PM Jonathan Keebler - Brace: didn’t think about it.
• 3:29 PM pollyprissypant - HA! That was awesome. CTV forgot about video…
• 3:29 PM Jonathan Keebler - Michel Arpin (CRTC): Since early Jan, haven’t you gotten greater interest from advertisers on your various sites? (based on earlier comments today)
• 3:30 PM Jonathan Keebler - Brace: It’s welcome news that talent rights are cleared on that front. 2 issues: availably inventory, measurement.
• 3:30 PM Jonathan Keebler - Arpin: heard a lot of people saying “follow the money”
• 3:31 PM Jonathan Keebler - Brace: The rest of the group are actively involved with the industry to improve measurement system. Working with Comscore but a lot of work to do in that area.
• 3:32 PM Jonathan Keebler - Argent: Re: measurement question: Wild discrepancies between their internal metrics, and Comscore metrics. Very challenging business to reflect back to advertisers, who watched what. Very anxious to find accurate measurment system.
• 3:34 PM Jonathan Keebler - Arpin: Will CHUM consider iPhone application for their radio stations?
• 3:34 PM Jonathan Keebler - Argent: Hard to ignore iPhone. When CTV acquired CHUM, the radio platform online was not very developed. Launching new online radio platform in few weeks. Have not opened discussions with Apple about iPhone product.
• 3:35 PM Jonathan Keebler - Arpin: Will new media radio offerings meet Canadian content requirements?
• 3:36 PM Jonathan Keebler - Brace and Argent trying not to answer question.
• 3:36 PM Jonathan Keebler - Kanee: Intent to compliment what they are doing on broadcast. Not attempting to build new business online. Really to service local loyal audience members, extend experience.
• 3:38 PM Jonathan Keebler - Stephen B. Simpson (CRTC): When radio became portable, big change to radio industry. Given that you have younger age-group properties that use mobile, are you attempting to reach them but not through telephony e.g. wifi.
• 3:38 PM Jonathan Keebler - Kanee: “Our core business is not developing delivery technologies”
• 3:39 PM Jonathan Keebler - End of CTV segment with the CRTC.
• 3:40 PM Jonathan Keebler - That’s it for my liveblog of the CRTC festivities this afternoon. If you would like to continue the party, you can always create your own liveblog for free at ScribbleLive.com. Thanks for watching!
• 10:37 PM Jonathan Keebler - hi

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