MONTREAL – When Cogeco Diffusion purchased three regional music radio stations from Corus Quebec in 2011, they were "moribund," vice-president Richard Lachance told journalists on Wednesday.
In one case, with a two per cent market share, "the photocopier reached more people," he joked.
So the broadcaster is reinventing those three stations (which were part of a larger, $80 million 10-station purchase announced in spring 2010), changing their format from music/talk to news/talk and hoping to replicate the huge ratings success the company has seen with talk radio in Montreal.
The three stations – CKOY-FM…
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TORONTO – Cogeco Data Services celebrated the opening of its new state-of-the-art data centre in the heart of Toronto's business district.
The new centre will serve local customers as well as organizations requiring easy access and low latency connections to Canada's largest business and financial institutions. The company said that the move comes as more organizations move from on-site environments to cloud computing and hybrid service models.
"The trend has been to move data centres outside the downtown core because real estate is at a premium in major economic hubs like Toronto," said president Tony Ciciretto, in the announcement. "But Canada's largest business…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable has rolled out its new Internet packages in Cornwall and Leamington, ON.
The new Turbo 20 package offers a download speed of up to 20 Mbps, upload speeds of up to 1.5 Mbps and a monthly data transfer capacity of 80 GB. For this package, bandwidth usage that exceeds the specified monthly data transfer capacity limit will be billed at $1.50 per additional GB, with a maximum of $50 per month.
The package is currently available for a promotional price of $44.95 per month for 12 months for customers who also subscribe to Cogeco's television and/or home…
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MONTREAL – Natural resource channel IDNR-TV has signed its first major affiliation deal with Cogeco Cable in Quebec.
IDNR-TV is devoted to the coverage of natural resources including industry related and social issues programming. As Cartt.ca has reported, the eight-year old independent channel was banking on a recent groundswell of community support to help it nail a major carriage deal. Cogeco will include IDNR-TV in its basic cable package starting this Fall.
"Cogeco Cable's affiliate relations managers were very responsive and professional and a pleasure to deal with”, said IDNR-TV CEO Ivor Barr. “They are clearly committed to serving their customers…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco has added Wild TV to the majority of its markets in Quebec.
Wild TV offers programming devoted to hunting, fishing and the environment. It is available now on channel 153, and on demand on channel 600, on a three month free preview.
MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable has increased its Internet speeds in Ontario after upgrading its current ‘Ultimate 50’ package to ‘Ultimate 55’.
Effective immediately, most of Cogeco’s Ontario customers can access the new package that offers top download speeds of up to 55 Mpbs, upload speeds of 2 Mbps, and a monthly data transfer capacity of 250 GB. It also includes the company’s full line of security services and modem rental at no extra charge.
‘Ultimate 55’ is priced at $109.95 per month for customers subscribing only to Cogeco’s Internet service, and $99.95 per month to customers who also subscribe to its…
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MONTREAL – Profits more than doubled while revenue shot up by more than 12% during the second quarter at Cogeco Inc.
The Montreal-based company said Thursday that profits for the quarter ended February 29, 2012 reached $81.5 million, up from $22.4 million in the same period last year, which it attributed to gain on the sale of Portuguese subsidiary Cabovisao, which was partly offset by the increase of depreciation and amortization expense due to the reduction of depreciation period for certain property, plant and equipment.
Consolidated revenue increased by 12.4% to $345.6 million primarily due to gains in its cable sector. Cable revenue…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco has boosted its Internet speeds in Peterborough, ON with the launch of three new packages.
The new 'Turbo 20' package offers a download speed of up to 20 Mbps, upload speeds of up to 1.5 Mbps and a monthly data transfer capacity of 80 GB. For this package, bandwidth usage that exceeds the specified monthly data transfer capacity limit will be billed at $1.50 per additional GB, with a maximum of $50 per month.
Available for the promotional price of $44.95 per month for 12 months for customers who also subscribe to Cogeco's television and/or home phone services,…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable has officially sold off its flagging Portuguese subsidiary Cabovisao – Televisao por Cabo, S.A. to the European Group ALTICE for EUR45 million (approximately $59.3 million).
Cogeco, which announced both the sale and the closing of the transaction on Wednesday, said that the sale price may be subject to adjustments for “certain contingent claims”.
The deal puts to rest speculation that Cogeco was seeking to unload Cabovisao after completely writing off its investment in the company in the third quarter of 2011, amid a net loss of more than $56 million.
Cogeco originally bought Cabovisao for $658…
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MONTRÉAL – Cogeco Cable has announced new international long distance plans for its Home Phone customers in Ontario and Quebec.
The new international long distance plans allow customers to further personalize their phone service based on their needs while offering reduced rates says Cogeco.
The Europe Plan, available to both Ontario and Quebec customers, includes calls to 15 countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom), at rates of $5.00 per month for 100 minutes, or $20.00 per month for 500 minutes.
The Discounted Rate Plan, available in Ontario and Quebec, applies to…
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