TORONTO – TV programmers and BDUs should consider their TV Everywhere offerings as a way to retain paid TV subscribers, in the face of increasing consumer use of OTT services and the continuing trend toward channel-trimming and cable-cutting.
That was the consensus among broadcasting industry experts who spoke at CTAM Canada’s 2014 Broadcaster Forum, held on Wednesday at the Sony Centre in downtown Toronto. More than 250 were in attendance.
Gord Hendren, president and CEO of Charlton Strategic Research in Toronto, presented research done earlier this year which indicates the vast majority of paid TV subscribers are very likely…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Cable have announced Patrice Ouimet as senior vice president and CFO, effective immediately.
Ouimet, pictured, has substantial operations and finance experience in global public and private corporations, notably in corporate strategy, treasury, risk management, internal audit and investor relations, reads Monday’s announcement. Prior to joining Cogeco, he was SVP and CFO at Enerkem Inc., VP of corporate development and enterprise risk management at Gildan Activewear Inc., and has ten years of experience in the investment banking sector in various roles at Lazard Limited and CIBC World Markets Inc.
"I am pleased to announce Patrice's appointment….
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TORONTO – Canada needs an autonomous Internet infrastructure that keeps local web traffic routed within the country’s borders as much as possible, said Jacques Latour, chief technology officer for the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), during a presentation at the Canadian ISP Summit in Toronto on Monday afternoon.
Latour said too much of Canadian Internet traffic flows south of the border through major U.S. cities, such as New York, Chicago and Seattle.
“If for some reason there’s an attack against the U.S., like a cyber-attack, and they decide to shut down the borders, in Canada we’re screwed,” Latour said….
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Inc. fourth-quarter revenue increased by 3.9%, to reach $524.5 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 (ended August 31st) mainly driven by growth in the cable and enterprise data services segment through the organic growth from all of our operating segments, the company announced Friday.
Fiscal 2014 revenue reached $2.1 billion, an increase of 14.3%, “mainly attributable to the full year impact of the acquisitions, in the cable and enterprise data services segment, of Atlantic Broadband and Peer 1 Hosting which both occurred during fiscal 2013 combined with the organic growth from…
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BURLINGTON – After sinking considerable resources into building something of its own to connect TV to the web, Cogeco says in the end, it listened to its customers when deciding on the next generation of set top boxes.
“We surveyed our customers in Ontario and Quebec, and they told us they wanted this,’ said Louise St-Pierre, president and CEO, Cogeco Cable, at the company’s press launch of TiVo. “They wanted something that was easy, that connected them to their content, their show, their sport. They don’t care what channel it is on. They wanted that choice.”
Cogeco tried to give viewers…
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BURLINGTON, ON – Cogeco Cable is launching a Canadianized version of TiVo to its Ontario-based cable customers on Monday, with a French-language version slated to arrive in Quebec by spring.
The Cogeco TiVo service’s fully integrated search function will mine through live TV, recorded, on-demand and over-the-top content, including Netflix, to show users what programs are available to watch, reads Thursday’s announcement. TiVo will also help users discover new content by providing personalized recommendations, and automatically recording content that it predicts might be of interest to the user.
"Cogeco TiVo Service will be a game-changer in the cable market in Canada," said…
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OTTAWA and WOODSTOCK, NB – After receiving "thoughtful feedback" on Industry Canada's consultation on policy changes in the 3500 MHz band, Industry Minister James Moore was quick to reassure stakeholders that rural Canadians will not lose their broadband services as a result.
“Under no circumstances will our government take spectrum licences away from any local Internet service provider that is providing Internet service to rural Canadians”, Minister Moore said in a statement. "The decisions resulting from this consultation will ensure that the 3500 MHz spectrum band is deployed in the best interests of Canadian consumers, especially those living in rural…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Inc. has named Diane Nyisztor as vice president, corporate human resources, effective immediately.
With extensive experience in global human resources and expatriate tax for major multinational corporations, Nyisztor served as partner, international executive services at KPMG Canada prior to joining Cogeco. She has also held several executive positions with SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.
"Following our recent acquisitions and continued growth, we now need to adapt our corporate structure to the evolving needs of our organization and of our employees. This new vice presidency is key in supporting and enabling the expansion of Cogeco moving forward as well as providing…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable could add wireless service to its mix as the country’s newest Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), a move that it said will help foster wireless competition in a market dominated by incumbent providers.
In advance of its appearance Monday at the CRTC’s review of wholesale mobile wireless services, Cogeco said in a statement that it will seek “the implementation of appropriate regulatory measures to allow it to enter the wireless market as an MVNO to offer customers more choice, better value and differentiated wireless services”. MVNOs are mobile wireless service providers that lease capacity from facilities-based wireless…
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GATINEAU – The non-vertically integrated cablecos, Cogeco and members of the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) entered the Let’s Talk TV policy hearing discussion fray on Thursday with both arguing the Commission must ensure they can acquire programming rights at reasonable costs without onerous terms.
Keith Stevens, chair of the board at CCSA member Execulink Telecom, noted during the CCSA’s opening remarks that the recent affiliation agreement with Bell Media is a prime example of the harm small cable TV providers face when dealing with VI providers. Under this deal, Execulink was required to maintain packaging requirements as they were…
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