TORONTO – The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) has named Marcia Douglas as director, business affairs and digital initiatives.
For the past five years, Douglas (pictured) has “lived at the crossroads of broadcast and digital media” as program manager for the Bell Fund, plus was also an analyst for both the Cogeco Fund and the Independent Production Fund. Prior to that, she was a producer, an assistant director, a production manager, and worked in original programming at Corus Entertainment.
Based in the organization’s Toronto office, Douglas will report to General Counsel and Legal & Business Affairs VP Marla Boltman, and Marguerite Pigott,…
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OTTAWA – While Canadians complained less about their wireless services last year, the number of Internet-related grievances jumped by 52%, the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) said Wednesday in its annual report.
The report, Making The Tough Calls, showed that the CCTS received 9,988 customer complaints in 2014-15, down 12% from 11,340 in 2013-14, and maintained an 87% resolution rate. Wireless services complaints once again topped the list with 52.9% of all complaints, followed by 26.1% for Internet, 18.2% for local telephone service and 2.8% for long distance.
“For the second year in a row, complaints declined somewhat”,…
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TORONTO – Disney Junior and Disney XD will arrive in over eight million households this week through distribution partners across English Canada.
Corus Entertainment said Tuesday that the channels are available now through Bell Fibe TV, Bell Satellite TV, Bell FibreOp TV, MTS, Rogers, Shaw, Shaw Direct, Telus and various CCSA members. Cogeco Cable Canada and Eastlink will offer the channels starting Wednesday, and SaskTel customers will have access to the new services in the coming weeks.
Disney Junior, which is aimed at kids aged 2-7, launches with the network premiere of The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar (pictured) on…
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TORONTO – Hollywood Suite tis gearing up for a national free preview of its four HDTV movie channels, from December 8 through to January 12.
The independent broadcaster said that the freeview is an opportunity for Canadian TV viewers to enjoy uncut and commercial-free movies on its newly rebranded channels devoted to the movies that shaped the 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s.
“We’re excited to share Hollywood Suite with all Canadians this holiday season,” said president David Kines, in the news release. “We know this is one gift everyone will love."
The freeview includes access to Hollywood Suite On Demand, where available. Participating…
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TORONTO — Canadians still love their TV, love their cable packages, but they’re hungry for change, for flexibility, for a lower price, delegates of CTAM Canada’s packed Broadcaster Forum held last week in Toronto were told.
The TV industry folks in attendance were no doubt relieved to hear TV subscription value packs will continue to be relevant in a pick-and-pay world, especially as everyone gears up for the mandated introduction of skinny basic and pick-and-pay in 2016.
In fact, according to a recent study conducted by Charlton Strategic Research for CTAM, the majority of Canadian TV subscribers (57%) still…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC will issue its first report on the performance of Internet services provided by the country's major Internet service providers (ISPs) next spring.
Data is currently being gathered from ‘Whiteboxes’ installed in the homes of the 4,500 participants who signed up to measure the performance of their broadband Internet services when the Commission unveiled the Measuring Broadband Canada program last May.
The Commission said Wednesday that the data will provide useful insight into network performance, including actual connection speeds, and provide a better understanding of whether certain Internet services from participating ISPs are delivering speeds as advertised….
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TORONTO – New Canadian business and financial news television channel Bloomberg TV Canada launched Tuesday in more than six million Canadian households.
An exclusive partnership between independent Canadian media company Channel Zero and Bloomberg Media, the new channel combines Canadian content and original programming with Bloomberg’s international news gathering to deliver high quality business, markets and economic coverage in Canada and around the world.
In addition to original shows such as The Daily Brief, hosted by Pamela Ritchie, and Bloomberg North, scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2016 featuring Amanda Lang, Bloomberg TV Canada will also deliver content…
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THERE CAN BE LITTLE DOUBT that local TV is in a difficult spot. Declining ad revenue, audience fragmentation and erosion, the challenges of digital platforms, a lack of a dual revenue stream and the list goes on. But what to do about it? Some argue for a complete revamp of the local TV funding approach, while others are saying the CRTC only need to give local broadcasters more flexibility to work within existing rules.
The state of local TV is black and white, at least when looking at the revenue picture. As Bell Canada notes in its intervention into the…
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OTTAWA – Canada’s publicly traded television service providers combined lost almost seven times more TV subscribers in the nine-month period ended August 31/September 30,2015 compared to the same period in 2014, according to new research released Monday.
Ottawa-based research and consulting firm Boon Dog Professional Services also found that BCE, Rogers, Shaw/Shaw Direct, Vidéotron, Cogeco, Telus, and MTS (IPTV subscribers only) combined lost a record 153,000 TV subscribers in their respective three fiscal 2015 quarters, up significantly from 22,000 lost in the same quarters in 2014.
In the three month period ended August 31/September 30 alone, which is traditionally a…
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TORONTO – Hollywood Suite’s four HD movie channels are officially now known as Hollywood Suite 70s Movies, Hollywood Suite 80s Movies, Hollywood Suite 90s Movies and Hollywood Suite 2000s Movies, after being relaunched on Monday.
The independent broadcaster announced in September that the rebrand would include a streamlined look that brings a single Hollywood Suite identity to the four on-air HD channels, On Demand, the Hollywood Suite Go app, and its web and social media properties.
Subscribers can still find the big pre-1970 films with programming blocks dedicated to the essential classics from the golden age of Hollywood. All movies will remain uncut…
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