LOS GATOS, Calif. — Netflix generated almost C$1.1 billion (US$828 million) in annual revenue for the 2018 fiscal year in Canada, with average paid subscriptions coming in at 6.2 million.
In its most recent filing of financial results to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Netflix shed light on the revenues generated by the streaming service in different regions of the world, including Canada. Although its financial numbers for revenue and subscriptions for the Canadian and U.S. markets are lumped together in the SEC filing, Netflix has said previously in a letter to shareholders in October 2019 that…
Continue Reading
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA-The federal Liberals campaigned on reducing cellphone and wireless service bills by 25% and reiterated that commitment in the government’s throne speech.
The man to ensure that happens is Innovation, Science and Industry Minister Navdeep Bains, whose ministerial mandate letter, publicly released last Friday, instructs him to “use all available instruments, including the advancement of the 2019 Telecom Policy Directive” issued to the CRTC to advance that price-reduction objective, working with telcos and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in the marketplace.
If the cost target is not achieved within two years, the minister “can expand…
Continue Reading
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – In leaving behind environmental activism to enter federal politics, new Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault will now be responsible for combating online hate speech; helping to develop a new set of online rights; expanding the CBC’s news coverage; and ensuring that web giants contribute to making, and carry Canadian content.
In the ministerial mandate letter he received from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which was released on Dec. 13 Guilbeault is tasked with creating “new regulations for social media platforms, starting with a requirement that all platforms remove illegal content, including hate speech, within 24 hours or…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – When Cartt.ca wrote about CBC/SRC CRTC licence renewal last month, one of the questions which remained was: How much money will the Corporation be able to draw upon to meet its obligations, and how can the CRTC impose obligations in the absence of budgetary certainty?
It’s not the first time the CRTC and the CBC/SRC found themselves at this junction, but this time there was some guidance from the 2016 Federal Budget.
However, the 2016 Budget used language which created more confusion. “The Minister of Canadian Heritage will work with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada to develop a five-year accountability…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — SiriusXM is adding new team members in Western Canada, including two district managers, and has restructured its entire field team to include regional managers across Canada to better connect with dealers, the company announced Wednesday.
“We are pleased to welcome two new District Managers, Amanda Booth and Melissa Sousa, to our team in Western Canada,” said Michael Mazgay, vice-president, Automotive Remarketing, Dealer Operations, SiriusXM Canada, in the news release. “By strengthening our team in the Northern and Southern prairies, and by establishing Regional Managers across Canada, we have all the right people in place to fully support our dealers with a more hands-on approach.”
The company’s…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The NDP’s industry critic says the federal government should have provided more detail about the promised rollout of a Digital Charter ) in Thursday’s Speech from the Throne.
Instead, it only referenced a plan to “review the rules currently in place…to ensure fairness for all in the new digital space.”
Windsor West Member of Parliament Brian Masse, the New Democratic critic for digital government; innovation, science and industry; and telecommunications, said the charter deserved a mention since it provides a “broad framework” of expectations and rules for industry, consumers and government regarding online rights that address such…
Continue Reading
CEO hopes Ottawa is watching, listening, and will act
CORUS ENTERTAINMENT PRESIDENT and CEO Doug Murphy may have the toughest job in Canadian media. Or maybe just the least-appreciated.
Go ahead and ask anyone in the TV business (and we’ve asked a lot of them recently). They all say variations of the same thing: “I think he’s doing all he can… but I’d never want his job…”
Not only does Murphy run the biggest independent media company and broadcaster in the country (yes, it’s controlled by the Shaw family – who unloaded their equity interest in May after…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Amid new portfolio names and no major change to Navdeep Bains’ duties, one big surprise in the unveiling of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new post-election cabinet on Wednesday was the appointment of well-known Quebec environmentalist, anti-pipeline activist and month-old Member of Parliament Steven Guilbeault (right), as – the new minister of Canadian Heritage.
However, OUTtv CEO Brad Danks told Cartt.ca he is “cautiously optimistic” that Guilbeault’s background as a human-rights activist and reputation of being forward-thinking will help the government undertake a “complete overhaul of the broadcasting system” following the release of recommendations early next year by…
Continue Reading
"We need new tools to deal with the new environment"
IAN SCOTT IS already two years through his five-year mandate as chair of the CRTC. He hasn’t been as active calling hearings as his predecessor, who kept thinking up ways of making sure regulatory departments and the journalists who cover them were always hopping, but the CRTC under Scott has still been very busy.
While the Commission is an arm’s length agency, the federal government has been quite keen on pushing a few big issues which, despite what many critics might have to say, are awfully complex…
Continue Reading
Will a new ISED minister mean a 3500 MHz auction delay?
OTTAWA – Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Heritage Canada could new ministers when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveils his new cabinet on November 20.
The rumour mill has Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna replacing Navdeep Bains, whose deft handling of complicated telecom and technology files earned him respect from within those industries.
“I think she can do it. She managed to skate through environment without getting her head lopped off, so she must know what she’s doing,” said John Lawford, executive director and general counsel of the…
Continue Reading
