TORONTO — Canadians still love their TV, love their cable packages, but they’re hungry for change, for flexibility, for a lower price, delegates of CTAM Canada’s packed Broadcaster Forum held last week in Toronto were told.
The TV industry folks in attendance were no doubt relieved to hear TV subscription value packs will continue to be relevant in a pick-and-pay world, especially as everyone gears up for the mandated introduction of skinny basic and pick-and-pay in 2016.
In fact, according to a recent study conducted by Charlton Strategic Research for CTAM, the majority of Canadian TV subscribers (57%) still…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC will issue its first report on the performance of Internet services provided by the country's major Internet service providers (ISPs) next spring.
Data is currently being gathered from ‘Whiteboxes’ installed in the homes of the 4,500 participants who signed up to measure the performance of their broadband Internet services when the Commission unveiled the Measuring Broadband Canada program last May.
The Commission said Wednesday that the data will provide useful insight into network performance, including actual connection speeds, and provide a better understanding of whether certain Internet services from participating ISPs are delivering speeds as advertised….
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MONTREAL – Cogceo Cable has overhauled and renamed some of its high speed Internet packages for residential and business customers in Ontario and Quebec, the company said this week.
The new speeds will automatically and progressively be rolled out to current subscribers, at no additional cost, while new customers may now subscribe to these enhanced packages, reads the company’s press release.
In Ontario and Quebec, the Turbo 30 package is now Turbo 40 after the download speed was increased to 40 Mbps. The Ultimate 55 and Ultimate 55 Unlimited packages saw their download speeds boosted to 60 Mbps, and are now…
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TORONTO – New Canadian business and financial news television channel Bloomberg TV Canada launched Tuesday in more than six million Canadian households.
An exclusive partnership between independent Canadian media company Channel Zero and Bloomberg Media, the new channel combines Canadian content and original programming with Bloomberg’s international news gathering to deliver high quality business, markets and economic coverage in Canada and around the world.
In addition to original shows such as The Daily Brief, hosted by Pamela Ritchie, and Bloomberg North, scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2016 featuring Amanda Lang, Bloomberg TV Canada will also deliver content…
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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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