TORONTO – Astral Television Networks has named Gail Rivett as vice president of consumer marketing, effective immediately.
In the newly created position, Rivett will oversee the marketing, interactive, customer care and research departments for The Movie Network, HBO Canada, Mpix, Family Channel and Playhouse Disney brands, plus the Movie Entertainment magazine, a monthly publication sent to subscribers of The Movie Network and its multiplex channels.
“With the recent launches of HBO Canada and Playhouse Disney and a stronger focus on our Interactive strategy, Astral Television Networks is growing and evolving its business to reach more subscribers on more platforms,” said…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Praise was near universal for the brand new Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers Canadian Summit, which wrapped up Wednesday afternoon at the Toronto Congress Centre.
The final registration number for delegates has not yet been tallied as there were a large number who registered on site, but the show was very well attended with delegates from across Canada – from the Territories to Regina to Newfoundland – and all points in between.
If there were any complaints, it’s that the show wasn’t big enough (and that it snowed too much on Tuesday…). The 40 vendor tables sold…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – While we’d have liked to hit each of the 40 vendor tables at the SCTE Canadian Summit, from Alcatel-Lucent to White Radio, there just isn’t time.
Below are a few of the new products some of the companies were showing their clients this week at the Toronto Congress Centre – and if there were a trend we had to pick, it would be the emphasis oh how the suppliers are pushing solutions for the business market and not just the residential space. This, of course, corresponds to the cable companies’ push into that realm, too.
For example,…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – New low-cost wireless carrier Public Mobile officially launched today in Toronto with a demonstration that its phones will work on the G-Band spectrum it purchased.
The company, BMV Holdings, is helmed by former Bell Canada and Rogers Cable executive Alek Krstajic.
Public Mobile “feels wireless services are a right, not a luxury for Canadians and will offer an unlimited flat-rate talk and text package, with no term commitment, no credit checks, no fine print and no surprises to residents in both provinces when it launches later this year,” says today’s press release.
The goal of Public Mobile…
Continue Reading
WINNIPEG – Canwest Global said today it has launched a “strategic review” of its five E!-branded conventional television stations.
Officially, the company “is exploring strategic options for five of its conventional television stations, CJNT-TV in Montreal, CHCH-TV in Hamilton, CHCA-TV in Red Deer, CHBC-TV in Kelowna and CHEK-TV in Victoria,” reads the press release.
The sale of the stations is one of several options being considered by the company following an internal review. Another, worse option was recently mentioned by Canwest TV head Peter Viner in a recent story on Cartt.ca.
RBC Capital Markets has been retained to assist…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The cable telecommunications industry in Canada has a long and illustrious engineering history.
(This is an excerpt of a speech written and delivered by Cartt.ca editor and publisher Greg O’Brien and Aurora Networks CTO Oleh Sniezko in presenting the first ever Young Canadian Engineering Professional of the Year Award at the SCTE Canadian Summit held Tuesday and Wednesday at the Toronto Congress Centre. Aurora was the sponsor of the award and Cartt.ca the media partner.)
Over its 57 years, Canadian engineers, technologists and technicians built and directed many industry firsts, whether it was microwave relay, fibre optic…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – New innovations and approaches to audience measurement are needed to ensure advertisers are receiving a good return on their investment in today’s fragmented media world. That was the message voiced by several speakers during BBM Canada’s Staying Tuned 2009 conference held at the Toronto Marriott Eaton Centre Hotel on Tuesday.
The conference kicked off with a keynote address by Pamela Wallin, newly appointed Canadian senator, former broadcaster and senior advisor to the president of the Americas Society and the Council of Americas in New York City.
“As I stand here today, I know that the potential has…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – With all TV companies extending their businesses into other media, the need for cross-media audience measurement has never been greater than now, said Mike Bloxham, director of insight and research for Ball State University’s Center for Media Design.
Bloxham was speaking during a plenary session on understanding consumer behaviour at BBM Canada’s Staying Tuned 2009 conference held Tuesday in Toronto.
The current fragmented nature of media has created what Bloxham calls “the curse of the silos”. Audience measurement data has become "siloed", making it difficult for media owners and advertisers to develop effective cross-media strategies or to…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – A reduction in operating expenses helped Canada’s film, television and video post-production industry to post higher profit margins in 2007, said Stats Canada.
The industry reported total operating revenues of $820 million, virtually unchanged from 2006. However, firms reduced their total operating expenses by 2.2% to $752 million which helped push profit margins to 8.4% in 2007, up from 6.5% the previous year.
Ontario firms accounted for 47.8% of total operating revenues in 2007, followed by Quebec firms at 39.4%, and British Columbia firms at 11.1%. Firms in British Columbia posted an operating loss of 2.2%. The cost of…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – As anticipated, the CRTC has given Canadian wireless providers one year to upgrade their 911 services.
By February 1, 2010, emergency responders must be able to determine the location of a person using a cell phone to call 911 “with much greater precision”, Monday’s CRTC announcement read.
"With more than 20 million wireless subscribers in Canada, it is imperative that emergency responders can quickly and accurately locate those who use their cell phones to call 911," said CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein, in the statement. "I am pleased that the industry has come forward with a technical…
Continue Reading
