MONTREAL – There’s little doubt of who’s the biggest fish in the Quebec media pond. Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau is a rock star here, drawing reporters, photographers and others like kids to free candy floss.
We’re hard pressed to think of an executive in English Canadian media whose mere arrival at a CRTC hearing would be akin to a red carpet walk, as the assemblage of shooters blasted away when Péladeau walked in with Group TVA president Pierre Dion and Vidéotron president Robert Dépatie. After their appearance a the hearing, more than a dozen microphones and numerous still and…
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TORONTO – After marking 35 years with CTV News, veteran news anchor Christine Bentley is stepping down this coming Friday, September 14. Bentley made the surprise announcement on air Wednesday during the early evening local CTV Toronto nightly newscast.
CTV Toronto will air special tributes to Bentley for the remainder of the week, leading up to her final broadcast on Friday. The station said it will announce her replacement in the coming days.
"I am so grateful to our viewers who have welcomed me so openly into their lives and living rooms over these years. I am so proud to be…
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MONTREAL ? With a three-hour break mid-day (we were told someone had to go to a funeral, so quit complaining&), yesterday?s long hearing day featured a ton of back and forth between Bell executives and the panel of CRTC commissioners.
Long lovely narratives explaining each exchange would be nice but time restraints mean we?re going for the bullets only of some of the highlights. We think we?ve hit some of the main points with our bulleted rundown here.
* In his first public appearance as chair of the CRTC, Jean-Pierre Blais acquitted himself well, nailing a few biting comments throughout the…
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MONTREAL – Sensing the opposition to its proposed benefits package was pretty strong, the first thing Bell Canada did Monday morning when it faced the CRTC was to boost that package – making it bigger and, in the opinion of its executives, better.
As many companies which have faced the CRTC over the years are wont to do, Bell looked at the opposition to its benefits package filed with written comments to the CRTC prior to the hearing and boosted what it originally proposed by $41 million dollars, increasing the overall value of the package to $241.3 million, to be…
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MONTREAL – The CRTC, which is currently reviewing the level of competition in Canada’s wireless industry, should leave be a nearly 20-year-old policy not requiring formal regulation if Canada is to remain competitive.
This according to Yves Rabeau, associate professor at UQAM, who argues that contrary to other reports, Canada’s wireless industry pricing, technology and speeds are competitive with the rest of the world. His paper entitled “Is the Canadian Wireless Sector Competitive?” was published today by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI).
"To evaluate the wireless industry properly, there are many variables that need to be taken into account…
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MARKHAM – The CRTC has approved Bhupinder Bola’s application to air a commercial FM radio station in Markham with an Adult Album Alternative/Adult Contemporary musical format. The commission denied an application for a broadcasting licence to operate an ethnic commercial AM radio station in Markham by Canada Inc.
The station will operate on frequency 105.9 MHz with an average effective radiated power (ERP) of 618 watts. Bola currently owns and operates Bolson Consulting Inc., a company offering technical and business development services to the broadcasting industry.
“ to operate a predominantly English-language commercial FM radio station best meets the…
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TORONTO – Radio and TV personality Marc Saltzman will host Canada's biggest B2B tech, telecom, and wireless networking event, the 2012 Canadian Wireless Trade Show. The international event is at the Direct Energy Centre, Hall D, from September 12th – 13th between 9am – 5pm in Toronto.
Saltzman has gained widespread notoriety within the tech industry for his syndicated tech columns with Gannett ContentOne, USAToday.com, CNN.com, Yahoo!, Toronto Star, URmagazine, and even Playboy.
Tickets are free and all attendees can network face-to-face with…
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TORONTO – As Bell officials argue that a bigger Bell will be better for all Canadians at CRTC hearings this week in Montreal, Bell Media announced it will sponsor the Canadian Film Centre’s (CFC) flagship TV program that supports emerging writers for the next three years.
Now called The Bell Media Prime Time TV Program, it’s designed to help train writers and develop new projects for the television marketplace.
"Simulating the story room experience, the Bell Media Prime Time TV Program offers new talent the ultimate mentorship, the chance to learn from the best in the business," said Corrie Coe,…
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MONTREAL – The SayNoToBell.ca campaigners claim that nearly 50,000 Canadians, both consumers and industry leaders, have signed their petition urging the CRTC and government to deny the Bell/Astral merger. CRTC hearings into the proposed deal are poised to begin next week.
SayNoToBell.ca says 42 of the 60 interveners to be heard have already publicly opposed the deal or questioned the transaction. Notable industry presentations include:
• Québécor – Monday, September 10
• Eastlink – Tuesday, September 11
• Cogeco Cable – Wednesday, September 12
• Rogers Communications – Wednesday, September 12
• Telus – Wednesday, September 12
• Canadian Cable Systems Alliance – Friday, September 14
Notable…
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“OH, PEOPLE CAN COME UP with statistics to prove anything… 14% of people know that.” – Homer J. Simpson
Released this week, the 240-page mound of data known as the CRTC Communications Monitoring Report was reduced to a pair of press releases this week, one which purported that Bell buying Astral was a very bad and scary thing, and the other that Bell buying Astral was a very good and normal thing.
According to the Say No To Bell forces – the public relations effort put together by Quebecor, Cogeco and EastLink and co-ordinated by National Public…
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