TORONTO – With millions of customers between them, you'd expect that customer service would be shining stars for Canada's biggest cablecos.
However, at a communications conference executives from Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications admitted they aren't there yet.
“I think we have a lot of work to do," Jim Pitt, vice-president enterprise, wholesale and tracking," said at a panel on leadership at the annual Capacity North America conference in Toronto. "I don’t think incumbents in general are well known for providing great customer service. We work very hard at it but we have work to do." Company surveys show that after…
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TORONTO and MONTREAL – Bell Media cut approximately 40 people from its payroll this week, primarily from the director and senior director levels, and mostly in Toronto and Montreal.
The cuts are part of a planned reorganization of the company, which division president Mary Ann Turcke began in the summer, and which Cartt.ca has reported on here, here, here and here.
While the company would not confirm the exact number of departures, we have learned from sources that the number is correct. Approximately two-thirds of…
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WINNIPEG – It’s only been 15 months, but CBC/Radio-Canada said its new strategy ‘A Space For Us All’ is beginning to pay off.
At its annual public meeting Tuesday in Winnipeg, president and CEO Hubert Lacroix told employees that the public broadcaster was able to reinvest $23 million from savings into Canadian programs this year, the first time that it has been able to reinvest in its schedules since 2009.
“We’ve continued to improve our financial stability despite the industry-wide weakening of television advertising”, Lacroix said in his remarks. “We’ve done this by reducing our expenses by $105 million dollars,…
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TORONTO – Shaw Media revealed a number of new organizational changes to its original content team Wednesday, a combination of promotions and new hires.
Led by SVP and chief creative officer Christine Shipton, the division is responsible for the development of original series and co-productions, the creation of multiplatform content, and domestic and international strategic partnerships.
According to an internal memo, the changes are as follows:
Lisa Godfrey, Head of Original Content
Godfrey (pictured) has over 25 years experience in the television industry both in production and broadcasting. As head of original content at Shaw Media, she oversees all Canadian programming for Global…
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TORONTO – Radio broadcasting veteran J. Robert Wood is the 2016 recipient of the Allan Waters Broadcast Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his outstanding success in broadcasting. He will be inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame on May 6, 2016 as part of Canadian Music Week.
Wood (pictured) is a radio broadcast management consultant with more than 40 years of experience in programming, operations, management, large-scale project development, network expansion, government lobbying and fund-raising.
Kicking off his career as an on-air deejay at CKSA in Lloydminster, Wood moved to CKOM Saskatoon, CKY in Winnipeg and CHLO in St….
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TORONTO — Clearly seeing over-the-top as the biggest opportunity currently in the market, several former specialty channel executives have banded together to form a new digital media company that plans to launch a number of niche subscription-based OTT channels in 2016.
TableRock Media was founded in Toronto in 2014 but only recently went public with its plans to launch a collection of hyper-niche Internet-based channels, initially targeted at guitar, motorcycle and aviation enthusiasts. TableRock Media’s trio of co-founders are: chief executive officer Jeffrey Elliott (third from left in the photo), former founder and CEO of GlassBOX Television; chief operating officer…
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TORONTO – The best of the live music business sector will take centre stage at the first annual Live Music Industry Awards during Canadian Music Week 2016.
Scheduled for May 7, 2016 at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel as part of CMW’s Live Music Summit, the event will honour outstanding individuals and achievements in the live music business sector. Nominees will be posted on the Live Music Industry Awards website to be voted on by the general public and industry.
“We know the live music sector is driving revenue for the music industry, with festivals and concerts…
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PARIS – The plethora of viewing options has created a legion of “content bulimics”, escalating content discovery and promotion to “a global challenge”, says CRTC broadcasting vice chair Tom Pentefountas.
Speaking Monday at the Culture et médias au défi de l'attention conference in Paris, Pentefountas invited the world to take part in the Commission’s upcoming Discoverability Summit, an event designed to examine and understand the new consumption habits of listeners, viewers and Internet users.
“The Summit, as well as the preliminary discussions, will be opportunities to bring together key creators and thinkers in the industry, and government and university representatives from Canada…
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TORONTO – CBC's new factual series is promising viewers an insider's view of Canada's health care system, as seen through the eyes of patients and caregivers.
Narrated by Emmy Award-winning Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland, Keeping Canada Alive will air Sundays at 9:00 PM/9:30 NT starting October 4. Over a 24-hour period on May 6, 2015, 60 camera crews descended on more than 40 health and home care locations in 24 Canadian cities to capture a six-part, one-hour television series highlighting 36 emotionally charged and highly intimate stories – from a three-month-old baby having a hole in his heart patched to…
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TORONTO — Encouraging its wireless customers to use ever more data is at the core of Rogers’s new strategic partnership with music streamer Spotify which provides its Share Everything customers with access to the latter’s Premium music streaming service as part of their wireless plan.
As previously reported by Cartt.ca, Rogers’s new Share Everything+ plans allow customers to sign up or upgrade their wireless plans to include access to either Spotify Premium, shomi or Next Issue, starting at $70 per month for a 24-month period. Customers who sign up for Spotify Premium will be provided with up…
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