OAKVILLE – After steering Cogeco’s Ontario operations through a period of unprecedented growth over the past five years, Gaston Germain will move on to new challenges as president and COO at Pelmorex, beginning next month.
Staff at the parent company of The Weather Network and Météomédia were informed of the changes at the top last week which will also see company founder Pierre Morrissette retain his CEO title but begin to concentrate more on overall direction and strategy than the day-to-day running of the company.
Germain has a long history in the Canadian cable and television industry. Prior to…
Continue Reading
IF THERE HAS BEEN a Canadian television channel that has struggled more with its programming, carriage, ownership and identity than OUTtv, which began its life in September 2001 as Pridevision, we don’t know of it.
The original category one digital specialty service license went to a surprising place to begin with. The CRTC, preoccupied at the time with trying to uplift smaller broadcasters, gave the must-carry digital license to what then was Headline Media, the owners of what has become The Score, a straight-male all-sports station where no one had experience in the gay community.
Granted, Headline did partner…
Continue Reading
KELOWNA – The CommTech Show will return for its third year to the beautiful Okanagan Valley next spring on May 14 and 15 providing two days of back-to-back seminars hosted by Industry experts as well as an expected sold-out exhibitor forum with over 50 exhibitors representing thousands of products.
An earlier version of this story had the wrong dates. Cartt.ca regrets the error.
Over 50 companies attended the 2007 trade show and seminars and attendees included buyers, corporate safety experts, operations management, sub-contractors, inside & outside plant technicians, planning engineers and educators from the cable, telco, wireless, college, municipal and…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable said today its public offering of three million subordinate voting shares announced on July 19, 2007 has closed, for gross proceeds of $153.45 million,
"The subordinate voting shares are being distributed to the public pursuant to a short form prospectus filed with securities regulatory authorities in each province and territory of Canada through an underwriting syndicate led by BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. and including CIBC World Markets Inc., GMP Securities L.P., Scotia Capital Inc., Desjardins Securities Inc. and National Bank Financial Inc.," says the press release.
The offering will result in net proceeds to Cogeco…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable Inc. has entered into an agreement with underwriters to raise $153 million through a share issue.
A syndicate of underwriters led by BMO Capital Markets, including CIBC World Markets Inc., GMP Securities L.P., Scotia Capital Inc., Desjardins Securities Inc., and National Bank Financial Inc., have agreed to buy on a bought deal basis 3 million subordinate voting shares by way of a short form prospectus.
Each voting share will cost $51.15, for gross proceeds of $153.45 million.
The net proceeds will be used to reduce debt and for “general corporate purposes,” Cogeco says.
The offering…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Canada’s telecommunications companies have launched an agency to hear complaints from consumers that can’t be resolved by the telcos or the CRTC.
The office of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) opened its doors in Ottawa on Monday. It was created in response to a request from Industry Minister Maxime Bernier that telephone service providers work together to create an independent, industry-funded agency to handle complaints that fall outside the CRTC’s jurisdiction and that consumers and small businesses have been unable to resolve directly with their service provider. The request was tied with the federal…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable has launched WGN HD, a U.S. digital specialty channel from Chicago, the company announced today.
"As we continue to invest in our state-of-the-art cable network, we will continue to launch new HD channels as they become available," said Ron Perrotta, vice-president, marketing of Cogeco Cable.
WGN HD (channel 293) will be available for free to the majority of Cogeco digital cable subscribers who are paying the $6 HD access fee and who also subscribe to its movies package.
"Our digital cable service has been gaining popularity with more than 43,000 new subscribers in the three…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Over the third quarter of fiscal 2007, ended May 31st, revenue at Cogeco Inc. increased by 46.2% reaching $277.4 million and operating income before amortization improved by 44.4%, to stand at $95.5 million.
While Cogeco operates a number of radio stations and has majority control of Quebec conventional broadcaster TQS, it’s the cable side – in Quebec, Ontario and Portugal, that’s really driving the company.
“The cable subsidiary continued to exceed the last financial projections. Revenue generating units (RGUs) are up as well as overall financial results. The media sector improved its revenue mainly due to the performance of…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Business continues to boom for private radio in terms of national ad sales, which rose 6.1% in the third quarter of this fiscal compared with the same time last year, according to figures from Canadian Broadcast Sales.
CBS says that bookings for the fourth quarter of the broadcast year are on track to climb 9.9% from Q4 last year, with even bigger gains predicted for the first quarter next year. “In the near term, radio will continue to enjoy the positive momentum of the past several years. The early revenue pacing for the first quarter of 2008…
Continue Reading
BURLINGTON – Gaston Germain announced today he is stepping down from his position as vice-president, Ontario.
On October 15 he will start as president and COO of a Canadian programming service, which was not named in the press release. Until then he will remain at the head of Cogeco Cable’s Ontario operating unit.
"I wish to express my gratitude to Cogeco’s management for giving me the leeway to contribute to the evolution of a great company and establish, for all Cogeco employees in Ontario, a solid ground to perform," said Germain in the press release.
Company president and CEO…
Continue Reading
