IT AIN’T EASY BEING an independent broadcaster in the unlimited channel universe.
There are so many channels (traditional and otherwise) which serve the same niches of Stornoway’s three channels – news and current affairs service ichannel; dance station bpm:tv; and The Pet Network – that injecting them into the collective conscious psyche of viewers is difficult.
It means a lot of grassroots marketing work. A lot of pavement-pounding, because the budget to be able to afford a mass-marketing campaign just isn’t there.
Then there are the rumors of the company’s imminent sale, or demise, to deal with. By the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Personalized media will take centre stage at next month’s Canadian Association of Broadcasters annual convention in Winnipeg, November 6 to 8.
This year’s plenary sessions examine the industry’s “big picture” issues, including the prospects for regulation in a broadband universe, and the future of advertising in a digital environment.
The concurrent sessions tackle such hot-button issues as the impact of new personal media devices; the prospects for Canadian HDTV; the new marketing imperative for broadcasters; the upcoming CRTC review of the Canadian radio industry; and the future of news.
On Tuesday November 8th, the ever-popular closing plenary…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Cogeco Digital Phone launches in Kingston, Ont. today.
“Like Burlington, Oakville and Windsor residents, Ontario, and with those in Trois-Rivières, Drummondville and Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, this appealing offer is available to the majority of Kingston residents starting today, whether or not they already subscribe to a Cogeco Cable service,” says the press release.
Service will be extended gradually to the rest of Kingston city homes and will continue to be rolled out to most cities in Cogeco Cable’s territories by the end of 2006 (look for the service to be available in Hamilton, the company’s biggest single market,…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CRTC Wednesday extended the commentary process on the cable industry’s request to kill the mandatory carriage requirement of local FM radio stations.
As first reported by www.cartt.ca, the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association has asked the CRTC to repeal section 22 of the Broadcast Distribution Regulations which say that Class 1 and 2 cable systems must carry all local FM stations in their market on their cable plant.
The CCTA told the Commission that about 4% of cable subscribers listen to the radio over cable and that its members could better use the plant capacity to…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Twenty-seven of the 71 nationally televised NHL regular season games this year on TSN will be shown in high definition on TSN HD.
TSN’s NHL HD coverage gets underway on opening night (October 5) with a doubleheader, as two of the network’s four scheduled games are available in high-def: Ottawa @ Toronto at 8 p.m. ET in the battle of Ontario, followed by Phoenix @ Vancouver at 10:30 p.m. ET as Wayne Gretzky makes his coaching debut and Todd Bertuzzi returns to the NHL.
This year, TSN is in the midst of a broadcast schedule featuring 900…
Continue Reading
GRAVENHURST, Ont. – The Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association drew a crowd while handing out its annual Galaxi Awards this afternoon at the Taboo Resort in Gravenhurst, Ont.
The presentation kicks off Cable Week at the golf resort which continues for the next two days.
The awards sponsors were law firm Fasken Martineau, the CBC’s Newsworld, Country Canada, RDI, Galaxie and RDI, Telefilm Canada and Deutsche Welle.
The winners are:
Outstanding Achievement Frederick T. Metcalf Award for Marketing Habillage 2004: ARTV
William Stanley Thomas Community Involvement Award * Comsep a rebatir: TV COGECO * We All Can: Shaw Cablesystems Continue Reading
QUEBEC CITY – Cogeco Inc. CEO Louis Audet said Thursday that the time has come for the company’s cable division to revisit offering wireless service to its customers.
With EastLink and Access Communications selling Rogers Wireless service and with Videotron announcing this week that it will brand and sell its own service on the Rogers network, Audet was asked at the CIBC World Markets annual investors conference in Quebec City whether Cogeco was actively considering the service addition.
“We’ve looked at it twice already,” said Audet. “We had concluded this time that we would launch our voice over IP…
Continue Reading
THE CABLE INDUSTRY MIGHT not like reading this, heading into the local forbearance hearings next week, but residential phone choice seems pretty real to me.
If there was any doubt about it, my local newspaper, The Hamilton Spectator, delivered ample evidence last Wednesday. In the mess of inserts I curse about that usually flutter out of the thing, three glossy direct marketing pieces caught my eye: One from Primus; another from Rogers; and the third from Direct Energy.
Primus was a pure low-cost sell. “Get TalkBroadband and save big on your home phone service,” it said, beside a garish…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – After a wave of complaints, the CRTC has decided to extend the deadline to respond to a Bell Canada request.
Bell Canada recently applied to the CRTC for permission to price its VOIP voice services differently in Ontario and Quebec. Current regs say that if Bell offers a low price in one of its regions, it must make that price available in all regions.
It made the application on September 2nd, and the Commission gazetted it September 9th, asking for comments from interested parties within five days.
As reported by www.cartt.ca, the Canadian Cable Television Association complained –…
Continue Reading
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Cogeco Cable and Videotron have signed a new multiyear distribution agreement with Speed Channel, the companies announced today. With Videotron reaching 1.4 million subscribers in Quebec and Cogeco Cable Canada Inc. 830,000 in both Ontario and Quebec, “Speed’s programming reaches as many fans in those areas as possible,” says today’s press release.
The U.S. channel also recently renewed with Rogers Cable, which included some video on demand. The Cogeco-Videotron release didn’t mention VOD content.
“The extension of these distribution deals with Videotron and Cogeco Cable firmly cements…
Continue Reading
