Search Results for: industry canada

Radio / Television News

XM Canada still on track to hit a million by 2010

TORONTO – Second quarter subscriber numbers released by Canadian Satellite Radio says XM Canada had 237,500 subscribers at the end of February. And, "in an effort to align our definitions more closely with industry norms, our subscriber numbers now include vehicles factory-activated with the XM service whereby automakers have agreed to pay for a portion or all of the trial period service," says the XM release. The results trail competitor Sirius Canada’s results, which said a month ago it passed the 300,000 customer mark. "We have experienced exceptional growth in our subscriber levels this quarter," said Stephen Tapp, president… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Wireless industry ARPU continues climb

OTTAWA – The wireless industry realized operating profits exceeding $1 billion for the first time in its history in the third quarter of 2006, says Statistics Canada. Operating profits reached $1.2 billion in the third quarter of 2006, ended September 30th, up 34.4% from the corresponding period in 2005. This jump in operating profits resulted from the combined effect of a 16.4% increase in operating revenues and a much smaller increase of 8.8% in operating costs, says this week’s release. Wireless operating revenues were $3.4 billion and operating costs were $2.2 billion in the third quarter of 2006. The… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

COMMENTARY: Wireless upheaval

CANADA’S BIG THREE wireless carriers have been repeatedly quick to say that they expect a minimal impact on their businesses when wireless number portability takes effect on March 14th. The Bell-to-Bell free calling deal announced last week by Bell Canada is meant to mitigate the negative effects, as are the myriad contracts that Telus, Rogers and Bell force customers to sign for terms of up to three years. So while they are all expecting some increased churn, on the surface Canadian wireless executives seem pretty calm about the removal of the most significant barrier preventing customers from switching providers… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Rogers’ Mohamed sees little room for fourth wireless player

PALM BEACH, Fla. – Unless the federal government deploys some "artificial measures" there appears to be little opportunity for a fourth national wireless carrier to spring forth when Industry Canada performs its next spectrum auction, expected sometime in the first half of 2008, said Rogers Communications president and COO Nadir Mohamed on Tuesday. Responding to a question posed during his appearance at the Bear Stearns 20th annual media conference (which was webcast) about the spectrum auction and the potential for another wireless company to start-up and compete with Rogers Wireless, Bell Mobility and Telus, Mohamed dug into the recent… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

The TUESDAY INTERVIEW: Executives from the BDU session at Prime Time, the CFTPA’s annual conference

ENTITLED "BDU CONTENT Strategies: Can Cable and Phone Companies Do Their Own Thing?", the session on what TV distributors think of content and its changing place in their business plans was a popular session at the Canadian Film and TV Producers Association annual Prime Time conference in Ottawa two weeks ago. The elephant not in the room, however? A cable company. But one former cable guy spoke for the industry anyway. Moderated by Peter Lyman, senior partner, Nordicity Group, the panelists included Chris Frank, vice-president, programming and pay-per-view, Bell ExpressVu, Michael Hennessy, vice-president, broadband and video policy, Telus; Tom… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

CTAM U: Get Yourself Schooled at Harvard

ONE SCHOLARSHIP WILL BE AWARDED to a CTAM Canada member who will attend The Executive Management Program at Harvard Business School. WHERE: Harvard Business School, Boston, MA WHEN: June 10-15, 2007 WHO: The Program is designed for senior executives who are looking to improve their strategic and leadership skills. HOW: Any CTAM Canada Chapter member may apply. Applicants must: 1. Complete the registration form at www.ctam.ca 2. Write a brief essay on why they deserve to be selected 3. Provide a letter of support of you from your company Application Deadline – Monday, March 19th, 2007 Candidate Selection… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

CWC gala draws hundreds

OTTAWA – Canadian Women in Communications held its annual awards gala evening on Tuesday in Ottawa. The CWC Annual Awards recognizes the accomplishments of four outstanding women in the communications industry and one communications organization that has nurtured the aspirations of its female employees. The event is attended by over 600 VIPs to publicly recognize the achievements of communications industry role models. The following CWC Annual Award Winners were honoured at this year’s event (pictures are below): * Karen Radford, executive vice-president and president, Telus Quebec and partner solutions, Telus – CWC Woman of the Year Award Recipient * CanWest MediaWorks Inc…. Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Telecom, broadcast decisions set out new emergency alert regime

OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Providing emergency alerts to TV viewers will continue to be a voluntary thing for the industry, the CRTC said today. In a public notice, the Commission set out its approach for the establishment of emergency alert services in Canada, and in another decision also issued today, the Regulator allowed public authorities to use 911 databases in order to improve the effectiveness of telephony-based emergency public alerts. "According to the Broadcasting Act, the Canadian broadcasting system should serve the needs of Canadians," said Michel Arpin, vice-chairman, broadcasting, of the CRTC, in a press release. "It is vitally… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

CFTPA Prime Time: Digging deeper into positive top line results shows system’s cracks

OTTAWA – With two major crises reaching public climaxes just before Canadian film, TV and new media producers gathered here for their annual Prime Time conference last week, the event could easily have become two long days’ journey into denouement. Instead, although frequent quips proved tensions still simmer following the ACTRA strike and the uncertain future for the Canadian Television Fund, PT’s agenda (which included a speech from new CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein) focused on improving industry performance amid some encouraging 2005-’06 news. Volume up The Canadian Film and Television Production Association’s annual Profile report says… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

RTNDA names 2007 lifetime achievement award winners

TORONTO – The Association of Electronic Journalists said Monday that nine people will be honoured with the 2007 RTNDA Canada Lifetime Achievement Awards. The awards will be presented at the RTNDA Regional Pro Dev Seminars in Toronto on April 28; Regina on May 12; Halifax on June 2; and at the BC Regional Awards Banquet on June 21, during the RTNDA National Conference being held in Vancouver. The 2007 RTNDA Canada Lifetime Achievement Award recipients are: Gord Martineau of CityTV Toronto. Gord Martineau has been the face of CityTV for 30 years. But he got his start in radio… Continue Reading