VANCOUVER – Sportsman Channel Canada has replaced World Fishing Network on TV lineups in Canada.
Sportsman Channel Canada, like its U.S. cousins Outdoor Channel, Sportsman Channel and World Fishing Network, will feature “the most trustworthy and reputable Canadian experts in the outdoor industry” through programming that includes entertaining and educational hunting, fishing and shooting programs, according to the news release.
The channel is a partnership with Canada's Outdoor Group Media and Outdoor Sportsman Group Networks.
“The launch of Sportsman Channel Canada will undoubtedly prove to be a viewer favorite throughout Canada,” said Outdoor Group Media president Mark Yelic, in the release. “We…
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WE DON’T YET KNOW what public process the expert panel reviewing Canada’s Broadcasting, Telecom and Radiocommunication Acts, headed by Janet Yale, will follow as this year unfolds.
So, when the deadline for written submissions to the Broadcast and Telecom Legislative Review (BTLR) panel came on Friday, January 11, we asked various companies and groups for their submissions. Most gladly sent them. Some sent excerpts. Others decided to keep them private for now, since the panel itself has not yet told us, or anyone, definitively, what the plan is for making them public.
Because of the volume, we have decided to begin…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Communications credited its purchase of U.S. cableco MetroCast for a 15.1% increase in revenues for its first quarter of fiscal 2019 ended November 30, 2018.
Profit for the period dipped 3.1% to $79.1 million, of which $26.2 million was attributable to owners of the Corporation, resulting mainly from increases in depreciation and amortization, financial expense and integration, and restructuring and acquisition costs, that were partly offset by the improvement of adjusted EBITDA and a decrease in income taxes.
Revenue reached $674.0 million, up from $585.7 million in the same period last year, driven by growth of 16.3% in its…
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MONTREAL — Cogeco says its customer service problems are finally over.
After a customer management system upgrade went awry in 2018, causing frustration for its Canadian cable and broadband clients, the company says the problems have been resolved, and up to 600 additional short-term staff have completed their work and left the company, at a cost of about $11 million. Its 22 customer management systems have been successfully replaced by one.
"It's behind us," president and CEO Philippe Jetté told journalists on Friday before Cogeco's annual shareholders' meeting in Montreal, his first since taking over from longtime CEO Louis Audet (at…
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TORONTO – The season three premiere of HBO drama True Detective will debut during Crave’s first-ever free preview this weekend, parent Bell Media said Tuesday.
Three of Crave’s linear channels – Crave 1, HBO 1, HBO 2 – are being unlocked from Friday, January 11 (11 AM ET/MT) to Monday, January 14 (11 AM ET/MT), allowing audiences to sample over 15 Hollywood hit movies uncut and commercial-free, top HBO content, and a selection of Showtime hits.
The free preview is available via participating television providers across Canada including Bell, Bell Aliant, BellMTS, Cogeco, Eastlink, Rogers, Shaw, Shaw Direct, and Telus, among…
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TWO YEARS AGO, on December 21, 2016, the CRTC acknowledged the increasing importance of Internet services to Canadians in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2016-496, in which the Commission defined fixed and mobile wireless broadband Internet access services as basic telecommunications services.
The Commission also established several new expectations for ISPs to address consumer complaints related to bill shock and contract clarity.
As a result, all ISPs that provide retail fixed broadband Internet services to individual and small business customers now must ensure their contracts and related documents clearly explain, in plain language (i) the services included in the contract (ii) any limits…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – The CRTC has set new standards for text-based message relay services to help improve the service for hearing or speech impaired Canadians.
Message relay services (MRS) enable Canadians with a hearing or a speech disability to make and receive telephone calls via text with the assistance of a relay operator. The CRTC has long required that home phone providers offer MRS to customers 24 hours per day, seven days per week, first through teletypewriter (TTY) relay service and then through IP relay services, too.
The Commission said Friday that mobile wireless service providers (WSPs) must begin offering…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has sided with Frontier Networks in its dispute with Eastlink over reselling its high-speed access (HSA) services.
In April, Frontier requested expedited interim relief and final relief regarding the refusal of Bragg Communications Inc. (carrying on business as Eastlink), to allow it to continue to resell HSA service to its two reseller customers. Interim relief was granted by the CRTC in May.
On Tuesday, the Commission made Frontier’s interim relief final after finding that its interpretation of Eastlink’s Third-Party Internet Access General Tariff is correct. It also directed Eastlink to file revised Tariff pages within 30 …
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All applications due last week
MONTREAL – Cogeco Communications said that it will not participate in next year’s 600 MHz spectrum auction but will still “explore opportunities” in the wireless market.
In a surprising announcement late Thursday, the company said that basing the structure of the auction on large geographic areas makes it “uneconomical” for the company.
“We continue to actively and strategically pursue opportunities to enter the wireless market in order to offer a complementary service to our customers and expand our business,” said Cogeco’s SVP strategy and CTO Luc Noiseux, in the statement. “Following the acquisition of spectrum licenses…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Media’s network of radio stations officially expanded to 22 on Monday after parent Cogeco Inc. wrapped up its purchase of 10 French-language regional radio stations in Quebec and Ontario from RNC Media.
The $19.2 million transactio received CRTC approval on October 11.
The new stations are located in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean (Planète 104.5 in Alma, Planète 93.5 in Chibougamau, Planète 99.5 in Roberval, Planète 100.3 in Dolbeau-Mistassini, and Radio X 95.7 in Saguenay), in Abitibi-Témiscamingue (Capitale Rock 104.3 in Val-d’Or, Capitale Rock 102.1 in La Sarre, and WOW 96.5, in Val-d’Or), in Lachute (Pop 104.9) and in Hawkesbury (Pop…
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