MONTREAL – Good third quarter results from Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Cable were helped along thanks to six months of operating results of new acquisition Atlantic Broadband and four months operating results from an even newer buy, Peer 1 Network Enterprises, the company reported Wednesday evening.
Third quarter revenue increased by 40.9% to reach $504.4 million and by 26.7% for the first nine months to reach $1.3 billion when compared to the same periods of the prior year.
Operating income before depreciation and amortization increased by 39.2% to $220.6 million when compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2012, and by…
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TORONTO – Blue Ant Media’s AUX TV announced Tuesday that Eastlink and Cogeco Cable have signed as the first distribution partners to carry AUX HD.
Eastlink subscribers will automatically receive AUX HD on channel 759 (HD) and can still receive AUX TV on channel 294 in SD. Cogeco subscribers, meanwhile, will automatically receive AUX HD on channel 834 (HD), and will still be able to receive AUX TV in SD on channel 415.
“We’re pleased to have Eastlink and Cogeco Cable as our first distribution partner,” said Andrew Irwin, Blue Ant Media's VP of content distribution and partnerships, in a release. “Canada now has…
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TORONTO – Canadians who bundle their television, Internet and telephone services with the same provider are generally happier customers and are likely to recommend their provider to family and friends, according to a J.D. Power report released Thursday.
According to the Television Provider Customer Satisfaction Study, 83% of customers bundle their TV and Internet service with the same provider, while 17% subscribe to just TV service with their telecom provider. Among customers who bundle, 59% also have telephone service with their provider—commonly referred to as a triple-play package.
(The Television Provider Customer Satisfaction Study measures overall satisfaction with television providers based…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco announced Tuesday it has launched its home phone service in Ste-Rosalie and Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil with a special promotional offer of $4.99 a month.
Two different packages are available to residents of these communities: the Basic Line package, which includes unlimited local calling and the Freedom Package, which includes unlimited local calling, the five most popular calling features and unlimited long distance calling in Canada and the U.S.
www.cogeco.ca
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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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