By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri said more customers than expected used the company’s credit card to finance handsets in the fourth quarter, which saw lower net adds in the postpaid wireless segment.
The cableco added 69,000 net new postpaid customers, far less than the 184,000 it added in the same quarter the year prior. It added 561,000 postpaid gross subscribers, down from the 703,000 it posted in the fourth quarter of 2023. But the telecom was able to reduce its churn, or the rate of customer defections, to 1.53 per cent from 1.67 per cent in the year prior….
Continue Reading
By Mark Goldberg, a telecommunications consultant
The headlines were breathless – Canada’s telecom regulator is going to cut the cost of internet services for people living in the far north
What the CRTC didn’t say, and what was entirely missed in the coverage, is the regulator wants customers in the rest of Canada to pay for it.
This is the same regulator that continually chastises Canada’s internet and wireless providers for not doing enough to lower prices while pushing for more investments to connect remote areas. This, despite the federal government’s own data showing cellular and internet prices keep falling while the…
Continue Reading
By Howard Law, author of MediaPolicy.ca and Canada vs California: How Ottawa took on Netflix and the streaming giants (2024)
In the permanent state of chaos that Donald Trump’s presidency has unleashed on our trade relationship with the United States, Canadian political leaders are racing to put together a unified and coherent approach to defending Canada’s interests.
Trump’s “America First” tariff threats against Canada are a repudiation of both the letter and spirit of our bilateral CUSMA trade treaty and the multi-lateral General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, both of them products of 75 years of trade liberalization.
The situation is so…
Continue Reading
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) last week announced the 41 initiatives supported through its Sector Development Support program for the spring and fall 2024-2025 funding rounds, representing nearly $2.5 million in investments.
The program offers project-based funding to initiatives that demonstrate the potential to positively impact Canada’s audiovisual ecosystem by addressing industry gaps in distinct and identified areas, including Canada’s regions and indigenous and equity-seeking communities, the CMF says.
The spring round of program funding saw 11 out of 24 applications approved, with nearly $518,000 allocated to the selected initiatives, according to a CMF press…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC has contract work for a study on the “promotion, discoverability, and prominence of Canadian content across the broadcasting system.”
The research study, posted to the federal government’s procurement website Monday, will need to look into the “business strategies and practices across the spectrum of media and industry stakeholders and regulatory approaches regarding the discoverability and prominence of audio and audiovisual Canadian content across the Canadian broadcasting system,” the contract says.
The regulator wants to understand, among other things, tools used to promote content; how business models vary between online services, including ad- and subscription-supported content and video-on-demand;…
Continue Reading
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) announced Tuesday afternoon its membership has voted to ratify a new Independent Production Agreement (IPA) for a three-year term.
Ratification voting opened Jan. 14 and closed Jan. 21 at 12 p.m. ET.
The 2025-2027 IPA serves as the collective agreement between ACTRA performers and producers represented by the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) and the Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM). It outlines the terms, conditions and minimum rates for both on- and off-camera performers in English-language film, television and media productions across Canada, excluding British Columbia…
Continue Reading
Regulator forcing Northwestel to implement auto credits for outages
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC announced Thursday it is now collecting comments on how to implement a monthly internet subsidy for residents of Canada’s far north, the region with some of the most expensive high-speed internet services.
The regulator is contemplating providing the subsidy to internet service providers (ISPs) through the National Contribution Fund (NCF), which would then be delivered to eligible residents in all households of the region with sparse populations and difficult terrain. The NCF relies on ISP contributions and provides the funding for the CRTC’s flagship $750-million Broadband Fund.
The subsidy…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout and Linda Stuart
A watchdog that handles complaints for telecom and television services reported Wednesday that it received the highest number of complaints in its latest annual report, but its leadership stopped short of attributing the increase to more awareness of the organization.
Between August 1, 2023 and July 31, 2024, the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Servies (CCTS) said it accepted 20,147 complaints, a 38 per cent increase from the 14,617 complaints a year prior. Because each complaint can raise more than one issue, the 20,147 complaints translated to a total of 38,874 issues.
Despite the significant increase,…
Continue Reading
By Connie Thiessen
Numeris has named audience insights veteran Alicia Olson-Keating as its incoming president and CEO.
Olson-Keating has been working in the media industry for 37 years – 28 of those in Canada – where she’s held roles as VP Strategic Research at Canadian Broadcast Sales (CBS), market development and research manager at CHUM, and senior research director, Cross Media at Bell Media. From Bell, she joined Australian public broadcaster ABC in 2015 as head of audience insights. Most recently, she’s been serving as CEO and managing director of Nielsen TAM, Australia, where her team is responsible for collaborative development,…
Continue Reading
By Connie Thiessen
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) is mourning the death of Tracey Friesen, managing vice president of the BC Branch for the past five years. The production veteran passed away Monday after receiving a cancer diagnosis last fall.
After graduating from what was then called Ryerson University’s Bachelor of Applied Arts, Radio & Television program in 1990, and a Liberal Arts degree from Simon Fraser University, Friesen started her career with Vancouver-headquartered Rainmaker Digital Effects as a VFX producer and later director of sales and industry relations.
From there, she joined the National Film Board (NFB) as an executive…
Continue Reading
