TORONTO – Toronto FC soccer team owner Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment said today that it will buy majority ownership of GolTV from Insight Sports.
The agreement to purchase, the price for which was not disclosed, was made by one of MLSE’s affiliate companies, which will see it acquire an 80.1% stake in the 24-hour soccer network. The transaction will require CRTC approval.
"Given Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment’s operation of Toronto FC, its on-going investment in soccer in Canada and its existing broadcast business we believe soccer fans will continue to be extremely well-served," said Mark Rubinstein, president of…
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TORONTO – The general consensus has long been that in times of economic distress, staying home to watch TV takes precedence over heading to the mall or a movie, so a recession isn’t quite as hard on cable companies and channels, for example, as it is on companies in other sectors.
While this is the first painful recession of the new media age (when home entertainment options are now far more diverse), that cocooning reflex we seem to exhibit when under financial duress seems so far to be holding true and helping according to High Fidelity HDTV co-founder Ken…
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TORONTO – There were a spasm of news stories just after the holidays that highlighted the need for better emergency 911 service for wireless phones in Canada.
There have been a few accidents, and in one case, a fatality, that might have been averted if emergency personnel had been better able to pinpoint where a wireless caller was at the time they called.
And there is no doubt that better 911 service for wireless phones is, of course, a necessity here in Canada.
However, the stories in the consumer press centred on how the wireless industry in Canada hasn’t…
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DARTMOUTH, N.S. – Newcap won’t bag Ontario’s Moose after all.
Newfoundland Capital Corp. and Haliburton Broadcasting announced today they will not be proceeding the previously announced sale of 12 FM radio stations owned by Haliburton (its mid and northern Ontario-based Moose FM franchise) to Newcap.
The $19 million acquisition announced in July 2008 was still subject to CRTC approval but “both parties have mutually agreed not to proceed with the application,” said a press release issued after the close of trading Monday afternoon.
"While we view these radio stations as very attractive and assets we would like to own…
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MONTREAL – Radio-Canada issued “a full apology” Wednesday “to anyone who felt offended” by its controversial New Year’s Eve special ‘Bye Bye 2008’.
The network issued the apology at the request of the Black Coalition of Quebec, the statement read.
As reported by Cartt.ca, Radio-Canada and the CRTC received a flood of complaints from viewers about the satirical variety show. The Globe and Mail also published a column critical of the program, saying the content “seems to have gone far over the line, even by Quebec’s forgiving standards” in skits “featuring gags on the assassination of U.S. president-elect Barack Obama,…
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TORONTO – Look Communication’s shareholders voted “overwhelmingly” in support of a plan to sell some or all of its key assets.
Approximately 94% of voters approved the sales process and arrangement resolutions, the press release said. The resolutions required the support of 66 2/3 per cent of Look’s shareholders. As reported by Cartt.ca, Look received Court approval last month to hold a “special meeting of shareholders” to seek approval of the sale.
"We believe our assets should be broken up to realize their maximum value. Through the sales process, it is possible that we could see a series of…
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I’LL CUT RIGHT TO the chase. When CanWest Global’s interim television division president Peter Viner was asked Wednesday afternoon, point-blank, by one of the financial analysts who cover the media industry in Canada if the money-losing E! network might be altogether shut down, he said:
“Maybe. That’s an option we have to think very hard about.”
To me, that’s a blockbuster comment. A “wow” moment. That shows that it is so bad in the conventional TV market right now – and inside CanWest in particular – that the broadcaster is thinking about shuttering a TV network serving millions in…
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OTTAWA – CBC/Radio-Canada has asked the CRTC to review regulations that apply to direct-to-home satellite BDUs “to ensure that official-language minority communities have access to the public broadcaster’s full program offering”.
The CRTC began hearings earlier this week to look at broadcasting services in English and French linguistic minority communities across Canada.
CBC/Radio-Canada filed a brief with the CRTC in November detailing “the concerns” of official-language minority communities, and proposing “enhanced distribution” of CBC/Radio-Canada programming to the areas in which they reside.
"In an environment where over 90% of Canadian homes now receive their television services via cable or…
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GATINEAU – Pay television network Super Channel appeared before the CRTC Wednesday to share their example of “inequity in minority language rights regulations”.
Citing his frustration that Super Channel is not carried by Quebec-based cable company Videotron “despite repeated attempts”, Super Channel president and COO Malcolm Knox said that the existing rules regarding Canadian television services in minority language markets don’t require Videotron to distribute even ‘must carry’ services.
“We are here today because the Commission gave us – Super Channel – a `must carry’ national premium television service licence a little over two years ago and we are…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has agreed to delay proceedings on a proposed regulatory framework for video-on-demand (VOD) undertakings and advertising in local availabilities, but only by a month.
As reported by Cartt.ca, the CBC and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) asked the Commission to delay proceedings on these issues for at least a year due to deadlines with other CRTC proceedings, and in light of the current tough economy.
But after considering the requests and comments, the Commission said that it “is not persuaded that a 12-month deferral of this proceeding is warranted”. Instead, the deadline for the filing…
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