Casters battle in Ontario

Triggered by Torstar’s application to the CRTC to operate television stations in Southern Ontario, and in response to the CRTC’s call in early May, most of Canada’s biggest broadcasters are making a play to launch television stations in Toronto, Hamilton and Kitchener.

Nine companies in total have filed letters of intent to the CRTC following Torstar’s application in the spring including Rogers Media, Alliance Atlantis, Global Television Network, Bell Globe Media, Corus Entertainment, Craig Broadcast Systems, Infinity Broadcasting, WLX Technologies and Ryerson Polytechnic University’s Interactive Broadcast Development Group.

Although the commission has not guaranteed it will issue new licences for the regions, it will start looking at applications Aug. 8.

‘We’ll have to determine whether there’s room for over-the-air services in those regions,’ says CRTC spokesman Denis Carmel.

In addition to Chum Television’s Citytv in Toronto, the broadcaster operates The New PL in London, The New NX in Wingham and The New WI in Windsor, which together cover off the bulk of southwestern Ontario.

CTV applies to control CF

The CRTC is asking for comments (PN 2001-77) by Aug. 10 on CTV’s application for control of all issued and outstanding shares of CF Television, licensee of CFCF-TV, Montreal’s top-rated English-language TV station. The shares are held in trust by L.R. Sherman on behalf of Global Communications (70%) and Capital Communications CDPQ (30%), a subsidiary of pension fund manager Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec.

In its notice, the commission says CTV has determined the value of the transaction to be $121.5 million, plus long-term debt. The CRTC says it ‘may determine that the value of the transaction should include the long term debt, thus impacting the proposed tangible benefits put forward by the applicant. The tangible benefits package is currently estimated at $12.1 million.’

The Caisse de Depot recently announced it intends to sell its shares in CF Television.

Rogers gets Sportsnet

Rogers Broadcasting has finally won the tug-of-war battle for CTV’s 40% interest in Sportsnet, paying a premium $123.4 million and increasing its stake to 80%.

CTV was mandated by the CRTC to divest of the three-year-old asset when its purchase of NetStar, which owns leading sports channel TSN, was approved early last year. And despite attempts by CTV to keep Sportsnet out of Rogers’ reach (as Rogers is BCE’s main cable competitor and is also in the business of developing a massive sports franchise), trustee Scott Colbran was appointed by the commission months ago to sell the sports specialty asset as soon as possible.

The offer was put out to shareholders Rogers, Molson and Fox Sports on June 26, just weeks after the CRTC lifted restrictions on cable ownership of discretionary services.

Fox Sports holds the remaining 20% of Sportsnet, since Rogers had acquired Molson’s 20% earlier on.

Rogers’ acquisition of CTV’s interest is conditional on approval by the CRTC and the Competition Bureau.

Mercer departs This Hour

Following the news that actor-comedian Rick Mercer is leaving This Hour Has 22 Minutes after a solid eight years of cracking up Canadian audiences, the award-winning news satire is searching for a replacement.

The show enters its ninth season this fall as it kicks off CBC’s new Friday night comedy lineup. And while Mercer will be noticeably absent among costars Cathy Jones, Greg Thomey and Mary Walsh, he will continue to write and star in Made In Canada, the television-industry satire he cocreated with executive producers Michael Donovan and Gerald Lunz.

‘No one appreciates Rick Mercer’s dedication to Made in Canada more than we do,’ says Slawko Klymkiw, executive director of CBC network programming. ‘We are very happy to be in both the 22 Minutes business and the Rick Mercer business. And we intend to stay in both businesses for many years to come.’

Sony buys The 51st State

Sony Pictures’ mid-level releasing subsidiary Screen Gems has bought the U.S. rights to Alliance Atlantis Communications’ action-comedy The 51st State, which it will release next year.

Produced by AAC expatriate Andras Hamori, AA Motion Picture Productions president Seaton McLean and Jonathan Debin, the $25-million film, starring Samuel L. Jackson, tells the story of an American chemist who moves to England to launch a new designer drug but ends up entangled in a web of double-dealing in the underground rave scene.

The film was directed by Ronny Yu and penned by first-time screenwriter Stel Pavlov.

AAC will release the film in Canada and in the U.K. through its wholly owned subsidiary Momentum Pictures.

IFC launches

The Independent Film Channel Canada, one of the new Cat 1 digi-channels to launch in September, has kick-started a contest for first-time filmmakers in which three winning feature-length scripts will be selected to have their trailers produced compliments of Trailervision. The trailers will be broadcast on IFC this fall, as well as on www.ifctv.ca and www.trailervision.com.

IFC’s website is being launched with the Trailers First contest as the site’s first featured event.

The contest is sponsored by Panasonic Canada and is being run in conjunction with Web entertainment portal Trailervision.com.

Trailervision created the online phenomenon of imaginary movie trailers, which are now being hailed as a new form of entertainment.

‘IFC’s Trailers First contest, with the involvement of the creative producers behind Trailervision, is an entertaining way to introduce IFC to the large community of budding filmmakers in Canada,’ says Deborah Carver, general manager and VP marketing of IFC. ‘With the support of our contest sponsor Panasonic, we will be giving three winners a trailer that will help them pitch their film project.’

The CRTC has yet to approve Alliance Atlantis’ takeover of IFC through the media giant’s acquisition of Salter Street Films, the original licensee of the digital channel.

Call for Passport to

Market applications

British Columbia Film’s Passport to Market program is accepting applications from B.C.-based producers wanting assistance to attend four upcoming business-building conferences:

* Docs Without Frontiers (Sept. 6-9), a four-day workshop at the European Film College in Denmark

* Strategic Partners (Sept. 15-17), an international feature film coproduction conference in Halifax focusing on Canada, Spain and Latin America

* North Meets South: The Canada-Australia-New Zealand Co-production Mission (Nov. 5-17), a two-week exchange in Australia and New Zealand for drama producers

* Mannheim Co-production Meetings (Nov. 11-14), a meeting of international feature film producers presented by the Mannheim-Heidelberg Film Festival.

B.C. Film helps offset registration, travel and accommodation costs. For more info: www.bcfilm.bc.ca/programs/market/passport.html.

Euro newsletter Vision-in-Motion

THE inaugural issue of Vision-in-Motion, a weekly e-mail newsletter reporting on the European film and TV industry, reports on industry discontent in Germany following the introduction of new tax legislation prohibiting a German producer from claiming tax relief for any expenses linked to an international coproduction shot abroad. The same rule applies to a foreign coproducer shooting in Germany.

The newsletter, edited by Paris correspondent Julie Bergeron, previously with Telefilm Canada’s European office, quotes an interview with German Culture Minister Julian Nida-Ruemelin, who readily admits the new legislation will have a negative impact on coproduction. The newsletter goes on say some German producers, with the support of the Canadian Embassy in Berlin, recently organized a press conference denouncing the tax measures. A lobby is being organized to pressure the German government into modifying the legislation.