TORONTO – Bell Media’s Discovery is gearing up for its first-ever nationwide free preview this fall which will include the debut of Frontier, its first original Canadian scripted drama.
Set against the raw backdrop of 1700s Canada, Frontier (pictured) stars Jason Momoa in a thrilling action-adventure series that revolves around warring factions vying for control of the fur trade in a ruthless game of wealth and power. The series will debut on November 6. Other programming highlights include the return of Canada’s Worst Driver and the premier of new original Canadian series Tougher Than It Looks? on October 24.
Discovery’s free preview…
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Smithard to be promoted
MONTREAL- Cogeco Communications announced Friday Louise St-Pierre (right) has decided to retire as president and CEO of Cogeco Connexion.
Effective September 1, 2016, Ken Smithard, vice-president, performance, organizational efficiency and information technology, will become president of Cogeco Connexion. St-Pierre will remain in an advisory role until November 30, 2016, to ensure a smooth leadership transition, says the press release.
Since joining Cogeco in 1999 as vice president and chief information officer, St-Pierre has held subsequent roles of increasing responsibility within Cogeco Connexion's senior management team, eventually being named president and CEO in 2013.
"On behalf of the…
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MONTREAL — Cogeco Connexion is getting a refreshed look with a new brand identity being unveiled today in an advertising campaign launched in Quebec and Ontario. The new tagline “Switch on Amazing” will feature in Cogeco Connexion’s branding going forward.
“Switch on Amazing is a tagline that embodies our commitment to offering our clients an unmatched experience at every level of interaction with Cogeco,” Daniel Boisvert, vice-president of marketing and innovation for Cogeco Connexion, said in a news release.
The “Switch on Amazing” branding was developed to showcase the company’s distinctive strengthens in providing the best customer service in its…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) said today it has received a letter from the CRTC indicating the Commission is deferring consideration of almost 60 complaints filed against community TV channels until their cable licence renewals this fall.
The complaints were filed by CACTUS in partnership with community groups earlier this year, and were concerned with cable community TV channels operated by Eastlink, Cogeco, Shaw and Rogers. According to CACTUS, the channels either fail to air adequate local content (generally 60% of the program schedule) or adequate citizen-generated content (generally 50% of the schedule)…
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MONTREAL – Five years ago, during a surprisingly competitive CRTC process to award new commercial AM radio stations in Montreal, one independent group burst onto the scene with grand promises to revolutionize the industry. Within two years, the three investors had acquired three licences for AM talk stations and the industry was filled with hope of new jobs and new alternatives to incumbent stations owned by major corporations.
But five years later, the group has nothing to show for it. It has already lost one of its three licence authorizations, and in November will lose the other two if it…
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MONTREAL – A $450 million writedown of its Business ICT services segment contributed to third quarter losses at Cogeco Inc., the company announced Thursday.
For the period ended May 31, 2016, losses amounted to $381.9 million of which $117.7 millionwas attributable to owners of the corporation, compared to a $66.3 million profit in the same period last year of which $22.6 million was attributable to the owners of the corporation. According to the news release, the decrease is mainly due to the non- cash pre-tax impairment of goodwill and intangible assets of $450.0 million and from $10.5 million related to…
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Growing in small market Quebec
MONTREAL – It only started in 2012, but Quebec’s Attraction Radio has already grown, entirely through acquisitions, to become one of the top radio broadcast owners in Quebec, based on a business model of small-market stations each maintaining their own identity and local management.
On Tuesday, the CRTC published the latest acquisition by this group, of CIPC-FM Port-Cartier (Radioactive 99.1) and CKCN-FM (PUR FM 94.1) in nearby Sept-Îles, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, 500 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.
Both stations were owned by four shareholders, Yvan Beaulieu, Jean Laverdière, Luc Hovington and…
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TORONTO – Bell Media’s The Comedy Network is readying new series and epsiodes as it preps for a free preview from June 30 – August 4.
The new content includes the linear TV premiere of the CraveTV original hit Letterkenny and the new series Wrecked (pictured), a half-hour single camera comedy that follows a group of plane crash survivors trying to make a new life for themselves on a deserted island. It also includes a marathon of The Detour, the return of Angie Tribeca, and new episodes of Just For Laughs: All Access.
The Comedy Freeview is available on TV service…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC has extended the deadline for submission of interventions into its highly anticipated review into differential pricing practices related to Internet and wireless data plans.
The Commission said Friday that initial interventions are now due by June 28, rather than the original deadline of June 17, 2016.
The revision comes at the behest of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) which noted in a letter to the CRTC that parties had less than a month to prepare their interventions, while a significant number of other Commission proceedings that they need to prepare for are also ongoing. …
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TORONTO – TV service providers offering cost and channel choices through skinny basic TV programming packages receive higher marks in customer satisfaction, according to new data from J.D. Power.
The Canadian Television Provider Customer Satisfaction Study measures overall satisfaction with television service providers based on six factors (in order of importance): performance and reliability; cost of service; programming; communication; billing; and customer service. The Canadian Internet Service Provider Customer Satisfaction Study is based on five factors (in order of importance): performance and reliability; cost of service; communication; billing; and customer service. Both studies were released Thursday.
Videotron ranked highest in…
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