MONTREAL – He’s generally not the most outspoken CEO in land, but Cogeco’s Louis Audet made his most political statement yet in a speech to the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal on Thursday and to journalists at a press conference afterward.
Audet made use of the speech to publicize a plea to the Canadian government to take in more refugees. Though the new Liberal government has promised to bring in 25,000 by the end of the year — something experts and critics have said would be difficult logistically — Audet said 100,000 a year should be feasible.
“It’s not a…
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THERE CAN BE LITTLE DOUBT that local TV is in a difficult spot. Declining ad revenue, audience fragmentation and erosion, the challenges of digital platforms, a lack of a dual revenue stream and the list goes on. But what to do about it? Some argue for a complete revamp of the local TV funding approach, while others are saying the CRTC only need to give local broadcasters more flexibility to work within existing rules.
The state of local TV is black and white, at least when looking at the revenue picture. As Bell Canada notes in its intervention into the…
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OTTAWA – Canada’s publicly traded television service providers combined lost almost seven times more TV subscribers in the nine-month period ended August 31/September 30,2015 compared to the same period in 2014, according to new research released Monday.
Ottawa-based research and consulting firm Boon Dog Professional Services also found that BCE, Rogers, Shaw/Shaw Direct, Vidéotron, Cogeco, Telus, and MTS (IPTV subscribers only) combined lost a record 153,000 TV subscribers in their respective three fiscal 2015 quarters, up significantly from 22,000 lost in the same quarters in 2014.
In the three month period ended August 31/September 30 alone, which is traditionally a…
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TORONTO – Hollywood Suite’s four HD movie channels are officially now known as Hollywood Suite 70s Movies, Hollywood Suite 80s Movies, Hollywood Suite 90s Movies and Hollywood Suite 2000s Movies, after being relaunched on Monday.
The independent broadcaster announced in September that the rebrand would include a streamlined look that brings a single Hollywood Suite identity to the four on-air HD channels, On Demand, the Hollywood Suite Go app, and its web and social media properties.
Subscribers can still find the big pre-1970 films with programming blocks dedicated to the essential classics from the golden age of Hollywood. All movies will remain uncut…
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MONTREAL – Growth in Cogceo Inc.’s cable and enterprise data services segment helped to drive up fourth quarter revenues by 5.6% and boost profits by 32.6%.
The Montreal-based company said late Wednesday that revenue for the period ended August 31, 2015 was $554.1 million, up from $524.5 million in Q4 last year. Profits of $78.5 million, of which $25.4 million is attributable to owners of the corporation, is due primarily to the improvement of adjusted EBITDA and the $27.4 million settlement of a claim with a supplier in the cable and enterprise data services segment, partly offset by increases in…
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MONTREAL – Tony Ciciretto is stepping down as president and CEO of Cogeco Cable’s newly renamed business unit Cogeco Peer 1, the company said late Wednesday.
He will be replaced by Philippe Jetté (pictured), who is currently SVP, chief technology and strategy officer of Cogeco Inc. To ensure a smooth leadership transition, Ciciretto has agreed to serve in an advisory role at Cogeco Peer 1 until December 31, 2015.
"It is with regret that we are announcing Tony's decision to step down to pursue other opportunities," said Cogeco Inc. president and CEO Louis Audet, in the announcement. "On behalf of…
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MONTREAL – After merging its Cogeco Data Services and Peer 1 Hosting subsidiaries earlier this year, Cogeco Cable Inc. said Monday that the new entity will be called Cogeco Peer 1.
“The new name, Cogeco Peer 1, allows us to combine the strengths of two great companies and deliver uncompromising value and innovation, reinforcing our position as a market leader in the enterprise IT sector," said Cogeco Cable president and CEO Louis Audet, in the news release. “Adding Peer 1 to the Cogeco master brand name is part of the Corporation's natural evolution in this sector and a final…
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NEW ORLEANS – With the Gigabit Era clearly upon us, cable operators are now fervently searching for the best way to enter that era and the best next-gen technologies to make that entry successful.
This search was very much in evidence at last week's SCTE Cable-Tec Expo show in New Orleans. Over the course of three days, teams of MSO technologists marched from booth to booth on the exhibit floor, hoping to uncover the right mix of equipment and software that would enable them to introduce gigabit speeds sooner rather than later (here in Canada, Rogers and Eastlink – not…
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TORONTO – On Monday, Rogers Communications made a commitment to 4K, ultra-high definition TV that no one else on the globe has yet made.
Beginning in 2016, the company will broadcast over 100 live sporting events (300 hours at least) in 4K, including all Toronto Blue Jays home games and at least 20 NHL games. It is also bringing to market a brand new Cisco 4K set top box for its cable customers, upon which Netflix will ride as an app, the company announced Monday.
Speaking of the global OTT video leader, Rogers has also signed a…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable is launching a suite of cloud-based applications designed to meet the needs of its small and medium-sized business customers in Quebec and Ontario.
The company said Wednesday that it will offer services including the Google Apps for Work application and Microsoft Office 365, as well as security and backup functionality such as McAfee from Intel Security, F-Secure and Mozy. Available through an online portal, subscriptions are available on a monthly or annual basis.
"Studies show that the interest of SMBs in the use of cloud-based business services has grown steadily in recent years. These companies are…
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