LINDSAY, Ont. – Cable Cable vice-president and general manager Michael Fiorini, his family and supporters are turning a tragedy into triumph.
In March of 2010, the Fiorini family lost their youngest daughter, Stefanie Fiorini-Kinley, when she died suddenly at the age of 36. Her family, led by her brother Michael, has decided to make sure her name and her ideals live on. “We all still think about her every day as soon as we wake up in the mornings,” he said.
So earlier this year, Michael, an avid cyclist, created Team Steffie – a team of cycling and fitness enthusiasts who…
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TORONTO – The Gemini Awards came under fire Thursday for failing to fully celebrate Canadian talent.
The Writers Guild of Canada issued a statement criticizing the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television’s decision to award Best Dramatic Series to The Borgias and best Dramatic Mini-Series award to Pillars of the Earth – both co-productions on which Canada was a minority partner.
“The WGC believes that the Gemini Awards, created to honour the best of the Canadian television industry, should celebrate productions showcasing the talents of Canadian producers, directors, performers, screenwriters and more”, said executive director Maureen Parker, in the statement. “Recognizing an…
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TORONTO – With the Toronto International Film Festival just days away, the film industry’s future both here and abroad looks bright, according to new data from PwC.
Global consumer spending on filmed entertainment will grow at a 5.9% compound annual rate over the next five years, reaching US$114.8 billion in 2015 from $86.2 billion in 2010, the company predicts. Producers from emerging markets like China, Vietnam, Romania, Russia and India will see high compound annual growth rates ranging from 10% – 26%, between now and 2015. At the same time, markets in North and South America, Europe and the Middle…
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A LATE WEDNESDAY evening blog report says that YouTube will announce it is bringing its movie rental service to Canada today.
Technology writer Peter Nowak wrote last night that he’s been told the official announcement from Google-owned YouTube will be on Thursday.
YouTube’s movie rental service offers thousands of titles to Americans but it’s unclear at this point what it will be able to offer in Canada, given the different copyright owners here – and Nowak says as much noting that the catalogue will be far smaller for surfers on this side of the 49th.
Now, we don’t buy Nowak’s additional industry…
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OTTAWA – A year after the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued final rules for the use of spectrum white spaces, Industry Canada has begun its own process to deal with the unassigned spectrum.
The department’s goal, in SMSE-012-11, is to develop a technical and policy framework to make additional spectrum in the TV white spaces spectrum below 698 MHz available for licence-exempt applications. White spaces are portion of the TV broadcast spectrum that are unassigned to prevent interference between stations or are in limited demand. Consumer and other products designed to operate in the white space spectrum are expected…
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CALGARY – While Shaw Communications’ decision to step back from spending what could have been a billion dollars on a traditional wireless build seems like a good idea to most, blanketing its cable footprint with Wi-Fi instead has left some perplexed.
Earlier this year, a combination of factors led executives at Shaw to drop anchor on its sail into the rough wireless waters. Buffeted by fast-blowing winds like the rapid development of LTE, the costs to build what was, at the start, an HSDPA net, and the trouble the other wireless newcomers like Wind, Videotron and Mobilicity were having…
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GATINEAU – As more Wind Mobile customers endure dropped calls when they get beyond the reaches of the company’s wireless network and roam onto the Rogers Wireless net, the wireless newcomer has told the CRTC it has had enough – again – and that the Commission must act and set aside its recent decision.
Wind Mobile has asked the CRTC to review and vary a decision rendered on June 3 (TD CRTC 2011-360) which dismissed the Wind’s undue preference complaint against Rogers over the hard handoffs from network to network when Wind customers roam, mid-call, onto the Rogers’…
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TORONTO – Veteran business journalist Craig Leddy and technology writer Leslie Ellis have been confirmed as the instructors for CTAM Canada’s next day-long course called ‘How Cable Goes to Market’.
Scheduled for October 18 at Rogers Cable at 333 Bloor Street East in downtown Toronto, the course is open to and applicable to cable and programming marketing professionals. It will provide participants with a better understanding of:
– The latest cable technologies and new products;
– Complex technologies and terms in a non-technical language;
– Emerging technologies’ effect on cable business and marketing;
– The opportunities and challenges of deploying new products;
– Requirements to meet…
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OUTSPOKEN CONSUMER GROUP OpenMedia.ca is miffed that it has yet to be invited to meet with new Industry Minister Christian Paradis.
After a report on Bloomberg noted that Minister Paradis held meetings earlier this month with 13 of Canada’s largest telcos – including Bell, Rogers, Telus, and Shaw – the organization issued a statement claiming that “positions the Industry Minister to create key digital policies in the Big Telecom lobby’s narrow commercial interests rather than those of Canadians”.
“Time and again the Big Telecom lobby has shown its neglect, and even disdain, for the Canadian public’s communications interests”, said OpenMedia.ca executive director Steve…
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TORONTO – Women in Film & Television – Toronto (WIFT-T) is partnering with the CBC for its annual reception during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) next month.
Designed to celebrate the spirit and creativity of Toronto’s screen-based media community, the by-invitation-only affair event is scheduled for September 14 at Pinewood Toronto Studios and is expecting close to 800 guests including WIFT-T members and partners, visiting filmmakers, and CBC personalities. Themed ‘The Art of Sound’, the event will honour the creative application of all aspects of sound in screen-based media works through live musical performances and interactive stations.
“WIFT-T is thrilled…
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