OTTAWA – It’s common these days to see Internet speeds still advertised with “up to” speeds that rarely ever approach the average speeds that subscribers will actually experience in practice. The problem is that most consumers believe they are getting, at least some of the time, the advertised speeds says the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) because they are not being properly informed. It’s calling on the Competition Bureau and CRTC to play a more active role in monitoring the compliance of ISP speed and performance claims in advertising and to develop rules for broadband labelling.
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HALIFAX – Newcap Inc. is exploring the possible sale of its western broadcasting assets which are located primarily in Alberta. The assets consist of 32 radio stations, six repeater licences and two TV stations. The sale of the stations would free up Newcap to consider purchasing some of Astral's assets that Bell will likely have to let go if it receives CRTC approval for its takeover.
In Newcap’s last third quarter financials it recorded an impairment charge of $7.5 million related to its television operations in Lloydminster, Alberta. It said the charge resulted…
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OTTAWA – More than 85 pay and specialty services will be up for license renewals when the CRTC begins it hearing for license renewal of independent conventional, pay and specialty television services beginning April 23 in Gatineau, Quebec.
The license renewal includes applications of independent pay and specialty programming services as well as the applications of the independent conventional television stations whose licences expire on August 31, 2013. As part of its examination of these applications, the Commission will consider the licensees’ various requests with respect to their regulatory requirements (e.g. conditions of license, local…
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OTTAWA – The latest statistics from the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) indicates the number of complaints regarding telemarketing firms continues to fall.
In the past month of December the DNCL received about 8,000 complaints, compared to more than 10,000 in November and about 11,000 in September. There have been over 645,000 complaints since the launch of the DNCL in 2009.
The number of people registering to be on the list has also dropped from about 62,000 in September down to about 25,000 in December as there are now more than 11.2 million phone…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC received a total of 75 complaints in 2012 from consumers claiming that Internet service providers (ISPs) were slowing down certain types of traffic. But more than half of the complaints regarding Internet traffic management practices came during the first three months of 2012 when 39 complaints were submitted to the Commission. Complaints have since fallen to a total of 26 for the past six months, with 13 recorded during the final three months of 2012.
Upon the receipt of a complaint regarding a traffic management practice, CRTC staff forward the complaint…
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WHITEHORSE – Northwestel has submitted to the CRTC its plan to invest $233 million in its telecommunications network that will provide 99% of northerners with access to next-generation wireless and wireless broadband services within the next five years. Northwestel says its communications expansion plans are the most ambitious ever undertaken in Northern Canada and submitted its plan to the Commission on January 16, 2012.
"We have developed a modernization plan that delivers for our communities," said Paul Flaherty, President and Chief Executive Officer at Northwestel. "In addition to supplying more northern communities with enhanced services,…
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TORONTO – Rogers Media Inc. has asked the CRTC to amend two conditions of license for The Score to enable it to slightly increase (from 10% to 15% of its schedule) the amount of analysis, interpretation and documentary programming it can provide in order to compete with online services offered by TSN, CBS Sports and ESPN. It also wants to push back mandatory news updates every 15-minutes when its airing live sports events to just once an hour.
Rogers purchased Score Media Inc. this past summer for $171 million and its specialty station The Score currently…
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TORONTO – Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., parent of SiriusXM Canada, reports the satellite radio provider posted a $3.3-million profit in the quarter ended November 30, 2012, reversing a $3.4-million loss it recorded for the same period last year.
Canada’s only satellite radio provider attributed the 9.2% jump in revenue to $68.9 million on its growing self-paying subscriber base which increased 14.3% to 1.6 million from 1.4 million the year before. SiriusXM Canada broadcasts more than 120 satellite radio channels featuring premier sports, news, talk, entertainment and commercial-free music.
"Fiscal 2013 is off to…
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OTTAWA – Find out how independent producers “down under” are meeting the challenges of the global marketplace. Matthew Deaner with the Screen Producers Association of Australia will be at the Prime Time in Ottawa conference from March 6-8, 2013.
Keep on top of the latest consumer trends. Don’t miss presentations from digital guru Robert Tercek, Hollywood’s Senator Chris Dodd, and the CRTC’s Jean-Pierre Blais. But time is running out. Only two days left to register for the Early Bird. Hotel rooms are 50% sold…
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MONTRÉAL – Astral Media which is supporting a $3.38-billion takeover proposal from BCE Inc. reported that its first-quarter profit was $59.6 million, up from $55.8 million for the same period last year. Diluted earnings per share increased by 5% to $1.05 from $1.00 last year. EBITDA grew 4% to $93.7 million from $90.4 million last year, while consolidated revenues totalled $274.5 million, an increase of 1% over the $271.1 million recorded last year. Cash flow from operations at $69.2 million is slightly above last year’s figure of $69.0 million.
"I am very pleased with our company’s…
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