TORONTO – Saying that the hearings and subsequent licensing of a new pay TV player boosted its expenses, Corus Entertainment eliminated 83 positions on Tuesday as part of an overhaul of its content and television division.
The restructuring will see producer Nelvana folded into the television division and a new lifestyle, drama and movies group created.
Most of the job cuts are in Edmonton, as Move Central’s base is moving to Toronto. Corus’ Calgary offices will remain.
Having come out of a strategic planning session in May with the theme "Core and Explore," the company has decided to…
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TORONTO – According to CanWest Global CEO Leonard Asper, things are looking up for Global Television.
"Looking at the fall (ad) bookings, it’s looking good," Asper told the BMO Capital Markets Media and Telecom conference on Tuesday in Toronto. "It looks like the trough is over and we’re on our way up. How far up? I don’t know."
Once a ratings leader, Global Television began to slide over two years ago, ceding much the overall ratings lead – across the board – to CTV. But, with popular U.S. shows such as Prison Break, 24, House, Deal or No Deal,…
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OTTAWA – The number of Canadians who are abandoning their plain old telephone service for new-fangled cable delivery – or moving to wireless alone – continues to grow, a report from Statistics Canada says today.
There were 16.8 million wireless subscribers at the end of the first quarter, up 11.9% compared to the first quarter of 2005, a rate of year-over-year growth that is comparable to those observed over the past three years.
While the wireless market grows, losses among the traditional wireline players accelerate. The year-over-year drop of 5.3% was the largest observed since the erosion of this…
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HOLLYWOOD and TORONTO – Bet on this being a topic at the CRTC’s TV policy review come November.
CBS Paramount International Television and Rogers Cable announced today the two have "reached an unprecedented agreement" to offer Survivor: Cook Islands through Rogers’ video on demand platform.
This is the first time Canadian audiences will be able to access Survivor on VOD. Episodes will be available to Rogers Personal TV customers with a digital box beginning Friday, September 15, 2006. Each episode will be available after the broadcast on Thursday nights on Global Television in Canada. Survivor: Cook Islands premieres tomorrow.
This…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC today approved Bayshore Broadcasting’s application for a new radio station for Wasaga Beach, Ont.
The station will serve listeners aged 35 to 64 with a classic adult contemporary musical format that would feature a variety of pop, soft rock and oldies musical selections with a focus on songs from the 1960s to the 1980s, says the decision.
At 97.7 FM, the new station will be the Owen Sound-based company’s fifth.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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OTTAWA – The stream of licenses for category two digital specialty services geared at ethnic markets seems to know no end.
Today, the CRTC approved 10 more channels which say they will serve the Greek, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, South Asian and other communities.
Click here for the list.
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QUISPAMSIS, N.B. – The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance announced this week that Nancy Friedman, founder and president of Telephone Doctor, will be the keynote speaker during its awards luncheon on Monday, September 18th.
Her company is a St. Louis-based international customer service and communication skills training firm and Friedman has appeared on shows like Oprah, The Today Show, CNN and Fox News and is one of the world’s leading experts on customer service. Friedman will share her famous Five Forbidden Phrases that customers never want to hear. "During her motivational, laugh out loud presentation, ‘Hell Hath No Fury Like…
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TORONTO – All that’s left are the regulators now.
The deadline for CHUM Limited shareholders to deposit their shares to Bell Globemedia under the terms of the purchase offer made in July came and went today and the two companies said BGM now owns approximately 6.71 million common shares, representing more than 99% of that class of shares, and approximately 21 million class B shares, representing more than 98%.
BCE/Torstar/Woodbridge/Teachers Pension plan-owned BGM made an offer to purchase radio and TV broadcaster CHUM, controlled by the Waters family, for $1.7 billion, paying $52.50 cash per common share and any…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC is considering requests from Videotron and Rogers Cable to add more foreign channels to the list of eligible satellite non-Canadian services that can be carried here on digital.
The commission is calling for comments on the proposed addition of seven services, described below from the cablecos’ proposals.
From Videotron:
* XXL, a service from France, entirely in the French language and offering adult content, mainly erotic films, series, and magazine programs programmed in a four-hour block that is repeated throughout the broadcast day, seven days a week.
From Rogers:
* De Pelicula Channel, a niche…
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OTTAWA – Seven out of 10 Canadians don’t want the incumbent telephone companies to set their own prices for local phone service, according to a new survey conducted by a consumer watchdog group opposing telephone deregulation.
The survey asked 1,200 Canadians if they agreed with the statement, “My local telephone company should be able to charge what it wants for monthly local telephone rates without having them approved as reasonable by the CRTC.” Four percent strongly agreed, and 16% agreed. But 36% disagreed and another 36% strongly disagreed. (Seven percent had no opinion, and 2% either didn’t know or…
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