TORONTO – Bell Media’s Discovery will be on a month-long free preview from October 10 to November 7.
Along with the free preview release, Discovery announced new seasons of two of its marquee Canadian series. Season nine of Highway Thru Hell will begin production this fall and Mighty Trains is already in production on season four, with filming taking place in Peru, Japan, Serbia, and other regions.
The free preview is available via participating television service providers including Bell, Cogeco, Eastlink, Rogers, Telus, Shaw, SaskTel, and others.
www.discovery.ca
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MONTREAL — A trio of Montreal-based businessmen who promised to revolutionize talk radio in the city are looking for foreign financing to help get their AM radio stations off the ground, almost eight years after their first licence was awarded by the CRTC.
In a video posted to LinkedIn this month, partner Nicolas Tétrault (pictured in a screen cap from that video), a real estate agent who recently went through a personal bankruptcy, complained that there is "no financing available for radio stations" in Quebec. “The banks, they don’t lend to media, private funds don’t lend,…
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KELOWNA – Another successful CCSA Connect conference is in the books as about 200 folks from member companies, tech vendors and programmers made their way to Kelowna for a few days of learning, celebrating and fun.
Marketing maven Scott Stratten got Tuesday off to an entertaining, and relevant, start reminding delegates that everything (everything) they or their employees, or contractors do affects their brand and in these days of social media, doing good, or bad, by customers can spread quickly, “but bad travels farther, faster,” he explained.
Stratten also noted the paradox of the complaint call –…
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OTTAWA – Saying the CRTC has erred in law and jurisdiction five different ways, Canada’s incumbent cable operators have filed for leave to appeal the recent CRTC decision on aggregated wholesale internet rates. The companies have also filed for a stay of that Commission decision (Telecom Order 2019-288), as well, until a decision on the appeal is set.
Having spent billions of dollars over the years on their networks, Rogers, Shaw, Vidéotron, Cogeco and Eastlink say the rates the Commission has set are below their costs – and the retroactive amount to be paid back…
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Rogers Infinte customers surpass 750,000
TORONTO – A handful of Canadian telecom executives didn’t hold back on their thoughts about the CRTC’s ruling on wholesale internet, MVNOs and more during BMO’s 20th Annual Media and Telecom Conference, held Tuesday.
“The footprint as a…
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TORONTO – Expect network investment to plummet, the growth of the digital economy in Canada to stall and an invasion of well-heeled foreign broadband resellers if the recent CRTC decision on third party internet access wholesale rates is not overturned, says a report published this week by TD Securities.
While saying he expects the decision to be challenged and overturned or at least revised, TD telecom and media analyst Vince Valentini pulls no punches in his analysis, saying the Commission-set wholesale rates and retroactive rebates are bad for the incumbent carriers, their customers and Canada as…
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LONDON – Non-profit regional broadband project SWIFT has issued its first round of RFPs for the design and construction of high-speed broadband networks within the 20 municipalities it covers.
Prequalified Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been invited to submit network proposals aimed at connecting business facilities, public buildings and residences within the counties underserviced areas, says the company.
Actual construction dates and network designs will be provided by the ISPs in their proposals and SWIFT says it anticipates releasing implementation plans later this Fall, including detailed construction timelines.
SWIFT also announced 13 new additions to its Vendor of Record (VOR) list…
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TORONTO – Broadcaster Asian Television Network says it is continuing to feel the sting of piracy as its revenue continues to decline, but that it is hopeful the Broadcast and Telecom Legislative Review Panel might have a lifeline for it come January.
For the second quarter, ended June 30, operating revenue came in at $2.9 million, down from $3.9 million in the second quarter of 2018. Net loss for the period came in at $941,000, more than double Q2 2018’s $426,000.
“Declining revenues are predominantly as a result of increased internet piracy and consumers shifting towards illegal digital IPTV set-top…
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CEO Pruneau wants it to be the in-home hub for Quebecers
MONTREAL — Vidéotron has officially joined the IPTV family, announcing Tuesday its Helix platform is available to the general public as of now.
Using Comcast's X1 technology, which is also deployed by Rogers (Ignite) and Shaw (BlueSky), it includes features like cloud-based DVR, restart of missed live TV programs, voice-controlled remote, intelligent Wi-Fi and combined search of live TV, video-on-demand and three streaming apps: YouTube, Netflix and Videotron's own Club Illico.
But those three apps are it for now. No Amazon Prime Video, or Bell's Crave, or DAZN, or Radio-Canada's Tou.tv,…
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TORONTO – Managed hosting and cloud services provider Cogeco Peer 1, today announced it has changed its name to Aptum Technologies. The move follows the $720 million acquisition of the company from Cogeco Communications by Digital Colony.
“Aptum means ‘adaptability’ and reflects our heritage and vision for the future,” said Susan Bowen, Aptum CEO, in the press release earlier this week. Bowen was president of Cogeco Peer 1 prior to the sale of the company. “As businesses face exponentially increasing volumes of information, and data becomes an integral part of their infrastructure, technology platforms must adapt…
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