THE ASTONISHED FEEDBACK came fast and furious late Thursday as people tried to give voice to their feelings on the Commission decision to deny Bell Canada’s $3.4 billon purchase of Astral Media.
******************** “Like most observers, we had expected conditional approval,” said analyst Dvai Ghose of Canaccord Genuity in a note to clients. “This could also have implications for other potential media transactions such as Shaw-Corus, although in that case both entities are already controlled by the Shaw family. We also believe that the speculation of a Corus bid for Astral could rise and could be more palatable for regulators.
“While…
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TORONTO – Edison Research's Sean Ross will address delegates at Connection 2012 says The Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB). As Vice President of Music and Programming for Edison Research, Ross will present findings of recent research, entitled Radio’s Progress in the Digital Ad Space. He will share the study conducted with principals, account managers, planners and buyers at digital and general agencies, which analyzed perceptions and attitudes about radio. The study reveals participants’ feelings about, and interactions with, the digital offerings of AM/FM Radio companies as well as those with pure-play Internet radio companies.
Ross a 30-year…
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TORONTO – In a battle of research consulting firms, Nordicity has fired back at Canadian Media Research Inc.'s Barry Kiefl for his recent blog that was critical of its ad research for CBC. The blog was written last month by Kiefl who was formerly research director at CBC for nearly 20 years until he left in 2001.
In November of 2011, international consulting firm Nordicity released an assessment on the impact of removing advertising from CBC/Radio-Canada. The report, entitled Why Advertising on CBC/Radio-Canada is Good Public Policy and commissioned by the CBC, concluded that “Removing ads from CBC/Radio-Canada’s services would…
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TORONTO – Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner says she, too, would like to see the Canadian wireless industry do far more for their customers on the security front.
Dr. Ann Cavoukian told Cartt.ca in a recent interview that she supports the CRTC’s renewed insistence on holding our wireless carriers’ collective feet to the fire when it comes to helping their customers protect the data on their mobile phones when they are lost or stolen. “Absolutely, they should be doing more,” said Dr. Cavoukian of the country’s wireless service providers.
“I mean, it's no longer just you lose your cell phone,” she…
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TORONTO – Score Media Inc. has announced that its shareholders have unanimously voted to approve Rogers Media’s $167 million takeover bid.
“We are delighted our shareholders share the view of the executive team and the board of directors that this agreement with Rogers Media is in the best interests of all parties. We now look forward to securing final approval from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and completing the Arrangement,” said John Levy, CEO of Score Media in a statement.
Under the deal, shareholders of Score Media will receive, for each share…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC said Thursday that Corus Entertainment's OWN and G4techTV (co-owned by Rogers Communications with minority owner Comcast Corporation) specialty channels are not complying with their licenses and must tell the CRTC why those licenses shouldn't be revoked or suspended. The hearing is set for December 11 in Gatineau, Quebec.
As analyzed by Cartt.ca in August, Corus had filed an application to change OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network which began life in 1999 as Canadian Learning Television) from a Category A service to a Category B service and to drop its educational…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has reversed its earlier requirement that all incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) that have transferred responsibility of their inside wire to their single-line residential and business customers ensure that a jack-ended demarcation device is installed free of charge.
This past February the CRTC announced its intent to require phone companies to install a “jack-ended demarcation device” on the first diagnostic service call to a home that was not so equipped. The Commission believed that following this process “would result in a consistent practice among ILECs and more equitable treatment of customers who…
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GATINEAU – They’re confused, angry and just won`t take it anymore. So, as first reported by Cartt.ca yesterday morning, the CRTC has taken the unprecedented action of calling on the public to help it create a comprehensive code of conduct for wireless service providers.
Input will be accepted until November 20, 2012 and the public consultation process will begin on January 28, 2013, in Gatineau, Quebec. The Commission will also be announcing shortly details regarding an online consultation to further promote discussion among Canadians on the issues and questions raised by its proceeding.
"Our…
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OTTAWA – Allarco Entertainment, owner of SuperChannel, has lost its bid to have Shaw Communications’ Movie Club and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central banned by the CRTC. At the heart of the complaint was a dispute over whether on-demand programming offered by Shaw Movie Club can be considered an on-demand extension of its linear service if it does not duplicate all of its linear programming.
The CRTC decision is a welcome one for Shaw which launched its Movie Club service last year in direct response to the increasing competition from…
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MY FIRST MEETING WITH SHAW Communications president Peter Bissonnette in the winter of 1998 seems like a lifetime ago. It was in Richmond Hill, then the home base of Shaw’s substantial Ontario cable operations. I think it was February.
This was before Bissonnette was even president of the company. Before Shaw and Rogers traded their Ontario and British Columbia cable systems to each other. Before Izzy Asper and JR Shaw split up WIC (Western International Communications). Before the Shaw family spun its media assets into Corus Entertainment. Before a Jean Monty-led BCE bought CTV the first time, claiming – a…
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