MONTREAL – Cogeco Inc. may be trying to unload its flagging Portuguese subsidiary Cabovisao.
According to a report by telecommunications market research and consulting firm TeleGeography, Cogeco is shopping the cableco to various Portuguese and international telecom operators and private equity funds.
A Cogeco spokesperson at the company’s Montreal headquarters declined to confirm the report, noting in an email to Cartt.ca that it is the company’s policy not to comment on rumours.
But a second report by TeleGeography quoted officials at Portugal Telecom and Optimus during the Congress of the Portuguese Association for the Development of Communications, who declined interest in buying…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Diffusion Inc. (CDI) has agreed to comply with CRTC requirements around the use of musical montages in the programming of its French-language radio stations and take part in discussions about French-language vocal music requirements.
The Commission said Thursday that CDI-owned CKOI-FM and Astral’s CKTF-FM were found to be airing up to 18% of long montages composed almost exclusively of popular English-language and non-Canadian music, contrary to regulations, and imposed conditions of licence.
While pledging to adhere to the CRTC’s new requirement, CDI pointed out that CKOI-FM was still owned by Corus during the period in question, and…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC is restricting the use of musical montages by two Francophone commercial radio stations, and has kicked off a learning exercise on the French-language private radio industry and the Francophone music industry “in order to more fully understand the problem”.
The Commission said Thursday that it has imposed a condition of licence on Astral’s station CKTF-FM and Cogeco’s station CKOI-FM limiting their broadcasting of montages to no more than 10% of total programming per week after the two stations were found to be airing up to 18% of long montages composed almost exclusively of popular…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Bell Media won its desired 690 kHz spot on the dial in the Montreal radio market, while Cogeco Diffusion was shut out by a newcomer for the 940 kHz location.
The CRTC issued its decision Monday, granting Bell Media’s request for a frequency change for its TSN radio station from 990 kHz to 690 kHz. As Cartt.ca reported, Cogeco had applied for an English-language all-traffic station on AM 940 to accompany its French-language service Radio Circulation 730 that launched this fall.
The Commission also awarded two new AM radio licences for the market, which is currently served by 34 stations, 21…
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THE REACTION TO THE CRTC’s decision to quash usage-based Internet billing in favour of a couple of other options (complete with set rates) has been all over the map, with several hailing it as a win for consumers while others predict broadband rates will only rise because of it. Then again, there are also some in the middle taking a wait and see approach.
Dennis Beland, senior director regulatory affairs, Quebecor:
“The decision is a victory for artificial competition. We’ve always been defenders of facilities-based competition and if you take a step back and look at the…
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LAST YEAR AT THIS time, Kevin Crull was into week three of his transition from long-time telecom executive to the leader of the largest Canadian broadcasting company.
Now president of Bell Media, the company which owns the CTV and CTV2 conventional TV networks, 29 specialty channels including market leader TSN, 33 radio stations and the Sympatico.ca portal, Crull came over from Bell Canada’s telco side, having run Bell Residential Services for five years. For a decade prior to that he was a senior executive with AT&T and US West.
One of his final projects at Bell Canada was writing the business…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Inc. has completed a private placement issue senior unsecured notes for a total of $35 million.
The company said Monday that net proceeds will be used to reduceCogeco’s bank debt.
Interest on these Notes, which mature November 7, 2021, is payable semi-annually in arrears on November 7 and May 7 of each year starting May 7, 2012.
www.cogeco.ca
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable is adding Sun News to its lineup in Ontario starting Tuesday.
For the past six months, Cogeco Ontario customers have been able to watch the channel via the old over-the-air Sun TV signal that is scheduled to cease operation at midnight on October 31. The channel, a joint venture between Quebecor’s TVA Group and Sun Media Corporation, will be available on channel 195 (SD) and 705 (HD), plus be added to Cogeco’s ‘Digital Select’ theme package.
“We always strive to provide the most interesting and relevant offering on the market”, said Ron Perrotta, Cogeco’s VP of marketing…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable CEO Louis Audet said yesterday that the existing subscription TV model of providing large multi-channel programming packages to customers will soon be a thing of the past as companies evolve towards a model of more choice and flexibility.
Speaking to financial analysts after the company’s release of its strong fourth quarter results, Audet said irrespective of the CRTC’s demand for a report on providing more choice to the consumer (as the Commission has demanded as part of its Vertical Integration Policy), the overall video market will push cable in that direction.
“It’s…
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MONTREAL – Surging fourth quarter profits helped drive Cogeco’s “strong” year-end results, the cable and media company said Thursday.
For the fiscal year ended August 31, Cogeco Inc. reported a 9.2% increase in consolidated revenue to reach $1.44 billion, while fourth-quarter consolidated revenue grew 12.5% year-over-year to $375.4 million.
Quarterly net income was $21.1 million, up almost 72% from $12.3 million in the same period last year, though the company recorded a $9 million net loss for the year due in large part to an $225.9 million impairment loss of recorded on its investment in its Cabovisao subsidiary in Portugal.
"Cogeco posted…
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