TORONTO – Given how Canadians now consume video, and from where, measuring the level of industry consolidation here based on share of linear TV viewing is wrong, Corus Entertainment CEO Doug Murphy told an investors conference in Toronto Wednesday morning.
Appearing at the Scotiabank Telecom, Media and Technology conference, Murphy would not comment on yesterday’s Globe and Mail report which said Shaw Communications and the Shaw family is looking to sell the company. “I’m not prepared to comment on articles, rumours, or speculation,” he said.
What he was prepared to talk about was the bright future he…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has extended the deadline for comments on a proposal that would require all Canadian telecommunications service providers to implement technology to block calls with blatantly illegitimate caller identification.
The Commission initially called for comments on this matter last November. It extended the deadline date on Wednesday after denying a request made by Bell Canada in January for, among other things, changes to the scope of the current proceeding and direction concerning confidentiality claims made by certain parties to the proceeding.
The CRTC directed that parties to this proceeding refile their interventions, where necessary, on the public…
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BANFF – Kevin MacLellan, chairman, global distribution and international for NBCU, today sat in conversation with Barbara Williams, EVP and COO of Corus Entertainment, and gave a tour de force account of where he sees the business going and where Canada fits in.
NBCUniversal was honoured as the company of distinction this year.
MacLellan, 51, started as a producer and grew up in Brooklyn when that ‘hood wasn’t yet cool. He was the youngest of eight children in an Irish Catholic family where his dad made ends meet by installing AT&T phones. Probably his biggest break came with the harsh and…
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Richard Lachance named special advisor at Cogeco Inc.
MONTREAL – Michel Lorrain will succeed Richard Lachance as president of Cogeco Media effective September 1st, the company said Tuesday.
On the same date, Lachance will become special advisor at Cogeco Inc. where he will oversee the integration of the 10 RNC Média regional radio stations that the company acquired in April, though that deal is still awaiting CRTC approval.
Lorrain (pictured) has been with the Cogeco for 11 years, most recently as EVP of Cogeco Media, a role he has held since last July.
“The appointment of Michel Lorrain as President of Cogeco…
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SO, WE’VE NOW HEARD a bit of what Heritage Minster Mélanie Joly thinks about the review of the Broadcasting, Telecom and Radiocommunication Acts, thanks to her Sunday Banff keynote, ably reported on by Cartt.ca’s Bill Roberts.
With another year of discussion and debate on the horizon, however, the best course of action to solve the tricky and complex policy challenges ahead is to ask (and answer) the right questions in the right order – and right now. I’ve thought of five extremely important questions which should be answered first, ahead of anything else.
I would argue much…
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MARKHAM, ON – Ice Wireless and Sugar Mobile parent Iristel has filed a lawsuit against Rogers valued at over $147 million alleging breaches of contract on two occasions.
In a statement of claim dated May 23, 2108, Iristel accuses Rogers of breaking an oral Peering Agreement reached between the two in May 2013 that allowed for a direct connection to exchange traffic in Toronto. Iristel says Rogers broke that agreement in May 2016, while it was in the final stages of the testing process and after it had already racked up approximately $600,000 in costs.
Iristel also alleges that Rogers…
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BANFF – Federal Heritage Minister Melanie Joly, as she has done for each of the last three years, delivered the opening keynote address at this year’s Banff World Media Festival and while in large part it was political self-congratulation for having reversed 10 years of cuts by the previous Conservative government, it was also an ample response to those in the industry who persist with the query, “what exactly has Joly done?”
Turns out she’s done a fair bit… not so much on substantive policy but quite a bit on the expenditure side.
Joly reminded delegates that last year at Banff…
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TORONTO – The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) has promoted Dave Forget to its national executive director effective July 1st, replacing Brian Baker who will take on the role of senior advisor at the Guild’s Montreal office.
Forget (pictured) first joined the Guild in 2015, following a 14-year career with Telefilm. Prior to that, he held various management positions in film distribution, including at Red Sky Entertainment, 20th Century Fox and Alliance Atlantis Releasing.
“We are thrilled that Dave Forget has agreed to lead our staff at the Guild,” said DGC president Tim Southam, in the announcement. “In his three years…
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WITH THE REVIEW OF the Broadcasting Act (Telecom and Radiocom, too) now under way, as was announced Tuesday, we’re all very anxious to hear what Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly will have to say about it this weekend when she addresses the Banff International Media Fest (Cartt.ca will have a reporter in the room, of course).
Now, since we’re looking at at least another year of discussion and debate, the best course of action to solve such tricky and complex policy challenges is to ask (and answer) the right questions in the right order – and right now….
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TORONTO – Rather than looking at next generation 9-1-1 like a plumbing project that is necessary and uninspiring, “we should be inspired by disruptors and ought to consider how to use the 9-1-1 brand to propagate safety and security,” Don Ferguson told the Canadian Telecom Summit audience on Tuesday.
Ferguson, the chief executive officer of tech provider NGA911, was part of panel convened to discuss the evolution of emergency communications. Moderated by telecommunications consultant Ed Antecol, the panel also included Paul Temple, senior vice-president of regulatory and strategic affairs at Pelmorex (which runs Canada’s emergency alerting service), and Peter White,…
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