DARTMOUTH – Radio broadcaster Newfoundland Capital Corp. posted a profit of $6.4 million in the second quarter, a rise of five per cent over the $5.8 million generated last year.
Sales came in at $27.4 million, up from $26.2 million last year, with broadcasting revenue in the quarter coming in at $26.5 million, an increase of $1.3 million over the year before.
"We are making significant efforts to improve results in Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta. We were extremely pleased to see in the July ratings that our overall market share in these two cities has increased. This is a very important…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CAB is urging Industry Canada to take the lead in establishing a government/industry working group to oversee the implementation and transition to digital television. It wants a consumer-focused working group that will contain representatives from private and public broadcasters, broadcasting distribution undertakings, Canadian and U.S. electronic industry representatives and the responsible government departments and agencies.
At stake it says are the estimated 3 million Canadian viewers who operate analog television sets that are not compatible with digital signals and not currently connected to cable or satellite, as well as licensees of more than 750 over-the-air analog…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The Fight Network has undergone a number of changes behind the scenes this summer, including the departure of founder Mike Garrow, Cartt.ca has learned.
The channel terminated the employment of approximately 12 staffers two weeks ago – about a third of its workers – and this week, Garrow was let go, according to sources.
Garrow and some partners launched the channel in 2005 just as the whole mixed martial arts wave began to take off. The channel is widely carried in Canada by most distributors but has yet to reach 500,000 paid subscribers. CRTC figures show that…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Bell Canada’s sassy buck-toothed duo, Frank and Gordon the beavers, may have been euthanized this week, but they sure worked hard the last quarter.
Bell Canada Enterprises (which is still a public company for a bit longer) reported its second quarter results today and had its best wireless quarter in two and a half years. And, it is dumping its beavers in favor of a new marketing campaign which is set to take flight during the Olympics, which begin this weekend.
Bell Mobility’s net adds were up 32%, its best postpaid gain since Q4 2005. Total additions in…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – While revenues for Canada’s private broadcasters increased slightly in 2007, they cut their spending on Canadian programming slightly too, pointed out ACTRA, the actors union, in a press release.
The CRTC released its omnibus communications industry report last week which showed revenues for private conventional broadcasters rose 1.3% to $2.2 billion in the 2007 broadcast year (ended August 31, 2007) while spending on Canadian television dropped 1.2% to $616 million. Spending on American programming rose 5% to $722 million.
“The CRTC’s industry report confirms that Canada’s private broadcasters are overspending on U.S. programming while failing to produce…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Quebecor Media’s broadcasting, publishing and movie unit, TVA Group, reported net income of $12.8 million for the second quarter of 2008, 23% lower than the corresponding quarter of 2007.
TVA saw a drop of $1.5 million in the television sector’s operating income against the same quarter of 2007, “resulting essentially from the negative impact of an accrual of $5.7 million related to disputed regulatory fees,” says the release. Those are the Part II fees that had been collected by the CRTC for years, but that broadcasters fought in the courts as an illegal tax. In late 2006,…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – The new list of people who can’t just ignore a ringing phone during dinner, or who have never heard of call display goes live on September 30th.
Actually, it’s called the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) and the CRTC will launch it in two months, the Regulator said Wednesday.
Consumers will be able to register on the National DNCL for free to reduce the number of telemarketing calls they receive.
“For many Canadian consumers, the National DNCL will come as a relief to the nuisance of telemarketing calls,” says the CRTC release.
The DNCL will, however,…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – In an attempt to reflect the converging industries it regulates, the CRTC today issued its first ever monitoring report that covers the entire telecom, cable and broadcast industry.
The first Communications Monitoring Report shows that the Canadian communications industry posted revenues of $51.1 billion in 2007, an increase of 5.7% over the $48.3 billion reported in 2006.
"The convergence of technologies and industries has dramatically reshaped the communications landscape in recent years," said Konrad von Finckenstein, Q.C., chairman of the CRTC. "This year’s monitoring report gives us our first comprehensive look at the state of the overall…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Rogers Communications share price dipped somewhat today as the company missed analysts expectations, but overall, the wireless, telecom, cable and media company turned in a solid second quarter of 2008, ended June 30, 2008.
Highlights of the second quarter of 2008 (taken right from the RCI press release) include the following:
* Generated continued double-digit growth in quarterly revenue and adjusted operating profit of 11% and 17%, respectively, while net income increased to $301 million (or to $364 million on an adjusted basis), and adjusted operating profit less interest expense and PP&E additions rose 20% to $475…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), based at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, has asked the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to open an investigation into targeted web advertising.
Using certain technologies, including deep packet inspection, Canadian ISPs can identify tendencies of its users in order to better target the web ads sent to their computer screens as they search. The idea is to deliver better, more relevant ads to consumers and deliver better, more relevant customers to advertisers.
The practice, known as behavioral targeting, is used in many jurisdictions, such as…
Continue Reading
