GATINEAU – The CRTC today approved the $3.2 billion purchase of Astral Media by BCE Inc., but Bell’s regulatory people have MUCH paperwork to file before July 29th in order to satisfy the various conditions of the approval. That said, there doesn’t appear to be anything surprising in the decision which could scuttle the transaction.
As most are well aware, this is the second time Bell attempted to purchase Astral, as the Commission said no to the original 2012 deal last October.
Bell executives pronounced themselves pleased Friday morning, and so they are obviously okay with all the conditions, all of…
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WINDSOR, ON – CBC announced today that its CBC News: Windsor at 6 newscast will be expanding to 90 minutes in September 2013, however it is cancelling the station’s nightly 10-minute news format at 11 p.m. in order to support the expanded news show.
“We’re pleased to offer an expanded news format as part of our commitment to CBC’s 2015 strategic plan,” said Shawna Kelly, managing editor of CBC Windsor, in a release. “CBC Windsor is looking forward to providing more local services aimed at deepening our community connections.”
CBC says the expanded newscast, in addition…
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TORONTO – The realities of the wireless market in Canada and globally continue to tell most people that no matter what the federal government tries or what anyone says, chances are slim that a fourth viable wireless player in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario will find success.
Add BMO Capital Markets telecom, cable and media analyst Tim Casey to the chorus of those who believe the federal government has muddled and mishandled the wireless file and that there doesn’t seem to be a way forward to its stated political goals. Noting that Industry Minister Christian Paradis has been on record several…
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EDMONTON and BEVERLY HILLS – Super Channel announced today it has expanded its exclusive licensing and programming distribution deal with Starz Worldwide Distribution.
The agreement makes Super Channel the exclusive English pay television home in Canada for several Starz original series including David S. Goyer’s Da Vinci’s Demons, and the second season of Magic City, starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Olga Kurylenko, and James Caan. Each program will have a Canadian premiere on June 14, 2013 during a special two-hour programming block at 9pm ET.
Other TV series as part of the agreement include the widely…
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TORONTO – Astral’s The Movie Network announced a partnership Tuesday with three integration service providers to provide television distributors easier access to provide its The Movie Network GO, TMN’s video-streaming, service to subscribers.
Astral is offering the centralized TV everywhere integration option in conjunction with Great Lakes Data Systems (GLDS), watchTVeverywhere (WTVE) and Synacor, which allows television distributors to partner with an intermediary service that handles the back-office integration, including billing systems assimilation, authentication and entitlement services. The company says the service is aimed at smaller, independent distributors who may not have the ability to invest…
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MONTREAL – Atlantic Broadband, a subsidiary of Cogeco, announced today that it has amended its existing credit agreement.
As part of the amendment, the Massachusetts-based cable company has lowered the pricing for its Term A facility, Term B facility and revolving credit facility, and increased the size of its revolving credit facility by converting $50 million of the Term A loans into revolving credit commitments.
The amount of Atlantic Broadband’s debts remains essentially unchanged. The applicable margin for the Term A facility and the revolving credit facility will be decreased to 2.375% with step downs…
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NETWORK EXPANSION NEWS
Launches this week:
Shaw to provide public WiFi service for Edmonton
EDMONTON – Shaw Communications announced Thursday that Edmonton city council has given the go ahead to expand Shaw’s Go WiFi network to public areas across the city.
The planned WiFi network will grant wireless in pedestrian-friendly areas of the city, such as LRT stations, facilities and libraries.
The project is expected to take place over the next two years, with new access points being installed continually throughout this period.
www.shaw.ca
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable has announced a public debt offering of $300 million in ten-year-term senior secured debentures, Series “4.”
The interest rate of the debentures was set at 4.175% and will be payable semi-annually on May 26 and Nov. 26, with the first interest payment on Nov. 26, 2013. The debentures will mature on May 26, 2023.
The company said the net proceeds from the offering will be used to repay a portion of the amount outstanding under Cogeco’s term revolving credit facilities. The unused amount under these revolving credit facilities will then be…
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GATINEAU – Bell Canada and Astral Media say the list of new regulatory safeguards it has agreed to should allay any fears the CRTC has of a combined company – and that the deal should be approved.
In its final written submission to the CRTC filed late Tuesday, the companies say they have agreed to “an unprecedented package of regulatory safeguards relating to terms of trade with all independent producers, the negotiation of affiliation agreements (including tied selling, packaging flexibility, and other terms), the no head start rule, the availability of non-linear content, the timing of the Commission’s dispute resolution…
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GATINEAU – In their final written submissions to the CRTC on the proposed purchase of Astral Media by Bell Canada, various interveners say there are no words, no new rules the Commission can write which will sufficiently protect the Canadian TV system from the market power of a combined Bell/Astral.
That, tied to the fact Bell has told the Commission in no uncertain terms it will not proceed with the merger should it be required to divest any other assets, means the whole deal should be denied, just like the first one was rejected last fall. ( Continue Reading
