OTTAWA – Cell phones have pulled ahead of tablets as Canadians’ technology of choice for staying connected, informed and entertained, according to two new reports from Media Technology Monitor (MTM).
Cell Phone Revolution: Analysis of the Anglophone Market examines the use of mobile phones with a focus on the increasing ownership of smartphones, exploring market trends, smartphone activities and the companies that provide wireless service.
Highlights from the report include:
– Cell phones have become a nearly indispensable device for Anglophone Canadians, with nine in ten Anglophones now report owning one;
– Over three-quarters of Anglophones have adopted the smartphone with close…
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YELLOWKNIFE, NT – Bell Mobility is offering a $1 million settlement in a class action lawsuit launched by two Yellowknife men who claimed that the mobile carrier charged for non-existent 911 services.
The lawsuit, filed in 2007, alleged that Bell charged a 75-cent monthly fee for 911 emergency phone service, a service that doesn't exist in Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon communities excluding Whitehorse.
Bell was found liable despite numerous appeals, and according to a CBC report, is offering to settle the lawsuit for $1,016,336.57 including interest and court costs. It also affects about 25,000 other customers in the North who signed a contract with Bell…
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TORONTO – Sirius XM Canada’s parent has agreed to recapitalize the company by way of a go-private transaction, the satellite radio service said Friday.
U.S. partner Sirius XM Holdings is offering $4.50 per share cash, Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (SIRI) shares or Canadian shares exchangeable into SIRI shares. The total transaction consideration is approximately $351 million, and represents a premium of 22.3% to SiriusXM Canada's unaffected closing share price on February 11, 2016.
SiriusXM Canada's largest Canadian shareholders, CBC, Slaight Communications, and Obelysk Media, are supportive of the recapitalization, says the news release. CBC is planning to sell its stake in…
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No easy answers
TORONTO – Yes, there were a ton of regulatory lawyers and policy wonks there and probably not as many newfangled content creators and distributors as organizers hoped, but the two-day Discoverability Summit, which wrapped up Wednesday in Toronto, seemed to us a worthwhile exercise even if the problem of discoverability remains unsolved and looks to be a challenge for some time.
The summit will definitely have helped flesh out ideas for the federal government’s just-started review of all things Canadian content.
1. What goes viral? No one really can predict. During the Youth Summit portion held last week in…
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TORONTO – Women in Film & Television – Toronto (WIFT-T) and the Foundation for WIFT-T have added four new directors to its boards for the 2016-2017 term.
Announced at the organization’s annual general meeting this week, the newly elected directors for WIFT-T are Sonia Brar, VP information technology at Bell Media, and Marilyn Orecchio, VP national sales at Corus Entertainment. The newly elected directors for the Foundation for WIFT-T are Dianna Klisanin, development consultant, and Linda Stregger, BA, CPA CMA, media industry tax specialist at Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLC.
“We are pleased to welcome Sonia Brar and Marilyn Orecchio to the WIFT-T…
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TORONTO – The issue of “content discoverability” may force Canada’s audiovisual production sector to reinvent itself, and change the dynamic between producers, broadcasters and distributors, says a new report from stakeholders on the eve of the CRTC’s Discoverability Summit.
Discoverability: Toward a Common Frame of Reference, published by the Canada Media Fund (CMF) with financing from the National Film Board of Canada, Telefilm Canada, and the support of CBC/Radio-Canada’s Media Technology Monitor, is intended as a means for the Canadian audiovisual industry’s community and its stakeholders to develop a common understanding of the discoverability concept. The report provides an in-depth look…
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TORONTO – CBC Docs has launched its first foray into the realm of short-form digital documentaries.
CBC Docs: Short Docs features docs that reveal unique perspectives through innovative storytelling and, at less than 30 minutes in length, are meant to be shareable in the online space. The Short Docs space is designed as an incubator for Canadian voices and a national platform that showcases their work across CBC’s digital verticals like CBC Arts, CBC Sports, and CBC Aboriginal. In addition to the docs themselves, the site also includes a blog featuring extra footage from the films that appear on the…
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TORONTO – The public broadcaster’s ongoing transformation in the way it serves Canadians hasn’t been easy, but “the need for a Canadian public space” is more important than ever, according to CBC/Radio-Canada president and CEO Hubert Lacroix.
In an address to the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto on Thursday, Lacroix talked up the Corp’s recent successes as a result of its strategic plan 2020: A Space For Us All, including the 15 million Canadians that use its digital sites for news and information, a number that has increased by 3 million in the last year, and its new podcast series…
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OTTAWA–GATINEAU – Despite a decrease in expenses, Canadian conventional television stations saw profits continue their downward slide in 2015, according to the CRTC’s latest statistical and financial report for this sector released Wednesday.
According to Conventional Television – Statistical and Financial Summaries 2011-2015, profits before interest and taxes (PBIT) for private local TV stations declined from -$138.7 million to -$140.9 million, and the PBIT margin decreased from -7.7% to -8%.
Revenues fell by 2.6% (or $46.6 million) from $1.8 billion in 2014 to $1.76 billion for the broadcast year ended August 31, 2015. While revenues from the sale of local advertising…
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TORONTO – With the Rio 2016 Olympic Games fast approaching, CBC/Radio-Canada revealed more details of its multiplatform programming which will include, for the first time in Canadian Olympic Games history, 100 hours of immersive virtual reality and 360 video programming.
In partnership with Visa and the IOC, CBC Virtual Reality will provide viewers with both a 360-degree motion-sensitive stream as well as an immersive virtual reality stream for use with compatible headset technology, allowing Canadians to get closer to the Games than ever before through more than 100 hours of event coverage, reads Wednesday’s news release.
Along with primary broadcast partner TSN, as…
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