MONTREAL- Cogeco Cable reports it has completed the acquisition of Atlantic Broadband from ABRY Partners which was announced on July 18, 2012. Formed in 2003, Atlantic Broadband operates cable systems in Western Pennsylvania, Southern Florida, Maryland, Delaware and South Carolina.
Serving about 251,000 television service customers, Atlantic Broadband is currently the 12th largest cable operator in the United States and provides analog and digital television, as well as high speed Internet (HSI) and telephony services.
"This is a very important day for Cogeco Cable as this acquisition marks our entry into the United States market….
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TORONTO – Sixteen Candles, one of the most popular teen movies from famed 1980s movie director the late John Hughes, will be the first movie shown on Rewind, Channel Zero’s latest specialty channel brand, when it launches Saturday.
Replacing Movieola in channel lineups (the short film channel moves to its new online home) Rewind will feature flicks such as The Godfather, Blues Brothers, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Moonstruck, Edward Scissorhands and many others – all targeted towards Generation Xers who came of age in the 70s, 80s and 1990s. In fact, the whole first weekend is being dubbed “High School…
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MONTRÉAL – Cogeco Diffusion’s senior management has apologized for comments and actions that 98.5 FM on-air host Jacques Fabi made when a woman phoned in to his show “Fabi la nuit” and called the Holocaust a beautiful thing. Fabi never attempted to interrupt the woman and even sympathized with her statements.
Cogeco Diffusion also confirmed it has suspended Fabi without pay for a period of one month, effective on the date of the incident which occurred on November 21. B'nai Brith Canada is still demanding an on-air apology from Fabi.
"Cogeco Diffusion and 98.5 FM…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is threatening to withhold subsidies to four Quebec small ILECs for delays in opening up their networks to local telephone competition. Cogeco Cable claims the delays have prevented it from offering competing triple-play bundles (telephone, Internet, television) to those regions.
The regulator denied Cogeco the settlement it sought, but instead issued a Notice of Consultation regarding the potential withholding of subsidy payments to CoopTel, Téléphone Guèvremont Inc., Téléphone Milot Inc., and Sogetel Inc.
The decision stems from the failure of the ILECs to complete an interconnection arrangement based on leased…
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MONTREAL – Henri Audet, the elder statesman of the Canadian cable and broadcast pioneers who built Cogeco from a single broadcast TV station, died November 3. He was 94.
With an electrical engineering degree from MIT, Audet joined the CBC in 1949 when it was just a radio broadcaster beginning to explore television. He and a few others led the public broadcaster’s push into the new medium, which saw the first station go live in Toronto in 1952 – and two years later the first French-language CBC TV station in Montreal.
However, the CBC’s television coverage was very limited then and…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable is adding 66 new HD channels bringing its HDTV programming line-up to 150 channels in the majority of its Ontario market.
New channels include youth programming (Disney XD HD, Cartoon Network HD, Teletoon HD, ABC Spark HD), sports programming (Sportsnet World HD), movie programming (TMN Fest HD, TMN Encore 2 HD), lifestyle programming (Travel&Escape HD, food Network HD), and more (Space HD, Discovery HD, Comedy Network HD). Cogeco’s HD channels are free with the subscription of the equivalent standard definition channel.
“Cogeco HD TV service offers an exceptional quality and viewing…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable Inc’s net income fell to $44.9 million in the last quarter from $70.1 million a year earlier. Revenue increased by 7.7% to $356.7 million in the quarter up from $331 million, and for the year 11% to reach $1.41 billion. Cogeco blamed the lower profit on an increase in corporate taxes in Ontario and faster depreciation periods.
It attributed the revenue increases to the cable segment, the recent acquisition of Metromedia and the full year impact of its acquisition of the Quebec radio stations held by Corus.
Cogeco added that…
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MONTREAL – Astral Media reports profits rose sharply in the fourth quarter, with net earnings of $54.3-million, up 14% from $47-million the previous year. Revenue growth grew at a slower pace of 2% to $251.8-million from $247.6-million.
Astral noted that with the CRTC’s rejection of its takeover by BCE, and the outcome of BCE’s appeal officially unknown, “there can be no assurance that the transaction will occur, or that it will occur on the terms and conditions currently contemplated," read the release. Company co-founder and CEO Ian Greenberg wouldn't say much…
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TORONTO – Launching today with a three-month free preview, Videotron subscribers in Quebec will get unlimited access to FX Canada. Programming includes American Horror Story: Asylum, Sons of Anarchy, Louie and The League, as well as late-night shows Brand X with Russell Brand and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell. FX Canada is available to Videotron subscribers in SD on channel 210 and in HD on channel 810.
“There is a high demand for FX’s premium content across Canada, and Rogers is excited to bring this award-winning programming to the Quebec market, “ said Scott…
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TORONTO – To give kids a competitive edge, more Ontario parents are investing in learning resources outside the classroom. In fact, one in three Ontario families has hired a tutor. Today TVO launches Smart Kids Now. Smart Adults Later, a fundraising-based campaign to motivate Ontarians to help TVO continue to deliver exceptional multi-platform educational resources that enhance classroom learning and get kids ready for success in school.
TVO's Smart Kids Now. Smart Adults Later campaign is built on the idea that all kids have dreams of what they'll be when they grow up. TVO offers innovative…
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