QUEBEC CITY – Infamous radio talk show host Jeff Fillion, who made his reputation with insult and ridicule on the airwaves of top-rated CHOI-FM, has signed an enriching five-year deal to do his weekday morning show on XM Satellite Radio.
The contract, for a reported $1 million-plus, is not quite in the same stratosphere as the $500 million, five-year deal bestowed on the controversial Howard Stern by competitor Sirius Satellite Radio. Nonetheless, for the much smaller French-language market, the agreement is considered lucrative.
The deal allows Fillion to keep broadcasting on his own Internet pay-radio site, www.radiopirate.com, launched March…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Saying it would be "revenue neutral", Bell Aliant and Bell Canada have asked the CRTC for permission to take its $55 service connection charge and have all their customers pay 80-cents a month more instead.
On Friday, the CRTC called for comments in a public proceeding on the matter.
"The companies submitted that this would align their pricing practices with those of their competitors, and thus to better position their residential services in the competitive marketplace," says the Commission’s release.
"The companies argued that they were the only provider of residential local telephone services in their respective…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – After looking quickly at an appeal filed with the governor-in-council, the Federal Government backed the CRTC’s decision to grant a pay-TV license to Allarco Entertainment.
A disabled advocate by the name of Joe Clark (not the former PM) had appealed the decision, saying it was illegal because the license did not require 100% closed captioning.
"It is a matter of settled legal fact that a failure to proved accessible programming is a violation of the Canadian Human Rights Act," reads Clark’s appeal, which was filed on July 2.
The CRTC granted a new pay television license to the western-based…
Continue Reading
DARTMOUTH, N.S. – Thanks to its growing operations (acquisitions and new license launches), Newfoundland Capital Corporation reported a very strong second quarter of 2006.
Revenue growth was 17% in the second quarter, ended June 30th, climbing to $24.5 million in the quarter and 18% to $43.1 million year-to-date; a result of the incremental growth from acquisitions and new station launches, said the company.
Assets acquired in 2005 that are now contributing to the bottom line in 2006 include the company’s acquisition of three radio stations and two TV outlets in Lloydminster, Alberta, an FM radio licence in Thunder Bay,…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CRTC approved 12 new ethnic channel licenses for Toronto’s Ethnic Channels Group Ltd. today.
The licenses are for: Portuguese/Brazil TV, Sri Lanka TV, Russian TV 4, Russian TV 3, Chinese Movie Channel, Chinese News Channel, Hindi/Urdu/Punjabi Movie Channel, Hindi TV, Chinese/Taiwanese TV, Greek TV 1, Greek TV 2, and Chinese/Cantonese Home TV Channel
Click here to see the releases.
www.ethnicchannels.com
Continue Reading
CALGARY and KENORA – Shaw Communications has signed a deal to purchase Norcom Telecommunications Limited it was announced today.
Kenora Ont.-based Norcom operates cable systems located in Northwestern Ontario including Kenora, Red Lake, Sioux Lookout, Ear Falls and Ignace, and owns the local television station, CJBN-TV Kenora. It is owned by LeBlanc & Royal, the former broadcast tower manufacturer, which has been selling off most of its assets for a few years.
The station, which is available on ExpressVu and Star Choice, is sort of a small superstation which is branded as a CTV station (it carries the CTV…
Continue Reading
Ted spins things cable’s way During his conference call this week with financial analysts to present the company’s very strong second quarter results, Rogers Communications founder and CEO Ted Rogers lit into Bell (again) for daring to complain about regulation. During the call Rogers grumbled that the distribution rules between cable and satellite are still different – and more favorable to DTH companies when compared to cable.
While a case can be made for that, one can’t be made for what he said next when he insisted that Canadian satellite companies have used those rules to take cable customers…
Continue Reading
DELTA, B.C. – One of the original British Columbia cable systems, Delta Cable, is changing hands.
Persona Communications agreed to purchase the 38,500-customer cable company based in Delta, B.C. (including its Coast Cable operation) late Wednesday. President and CEO of Delta, John Thomas, the son of late company founder Stan Thomas, is said to be retiring.
Financial terms were not released and the deal is pending CRTC approval.
Stan Thomas, one of the industry’s true pioneers, founded the cable company in 1954 and was one of the creators of the Canadian Cable Television Association, which first met in 1957….
Continue Reading
WINNIPEG – Missed deadlines, low levels of Cancon and what appears to be an avoidance of some of its license conditions has landed Winnipeg’s CJWV-FM in regulatory hot water.
The Commission will have a single item on its hearing agenda at the Winnipeg Radisson on September 29th – CJWV and its failure to comply with several Commission demands – not to mention the demands of its own license.
For example, the station, owned by a company called Harmony Broadcasting, is licensed as an instructional campus radio station. However, from the look, feel and sound of its web site,…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Rawlco Radio, Harvard Broadcasting, Newcap Inc. and CHUM Limited will soon all launch new radio stations in Calgary.
The CRTC approved four new stations for Calgary and three other new stations serving: Calgary bedroom communities Airdrie and Cochrane (Tiessen Media Inc); Lethbridge (a numbered company partly backed by Island Radio’s Paul Larsen); and High River/Okotoks (Golden West). Also approved was Golden West’s purchase of CJTS-FM Lethbridge from Spirit Broadcasting.
(There are more stations to come in the resource-rich province as the CRTC just went through a hearing in June, as attended by Cartt.ca, studying 19 applications…
Continue Reading
