RIMOUSKI – Last Tuesday, the RCMP put an end to the unlawful activities of two Rivière-du-Loup residents specializing in satellite television signal piracy.
RCMP investigators searched residences of the two suspects and seized various types of equipment used to steal Bell ExpressVu satellite television signals. The two suspects were arrested and could face charges under the Criminal Code of Canada and Radiocommunication Act.
The two searches were carried out in partnership with Industry Canada, Bell Canada Security and the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association – Investigation Division, and resulted in the seizure of decoders, various software, Bell ExpressVu access…
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BANFF and TORONTO – Watch for coverage of the Banff World Television Festival 2006 in Banff, Alberta and The Canadian Telecom Summit in Toronto next week as Cartt.ca provides in-person coverage from both important events.
In Banff, Cartt.ca will plug into the television industry for a look at global content developments. We will attend the lauded after-sessions, follow key announcements and trends; and interview “the personalities” within the industry.
This year’s Banff World Television Festival, June 11-14, 2006 is being held at the Fairmount Banff Springs in Banff, Alberta. It opens with a day-long session led by Kit Readman…
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TORONTO-BORN BRAD SCHWARTZ’s task looks to be a programmers dream.
To establish a new, analog channel with 4.5 million pre-existing paying customers using one of the world’s best-known media brands among the highly coveted young set: MTV.
The man knows his television. His first job in the industry was as assistant to Saturday Night Live founder and executive producer Lorne Michaels. From there, Schwartz hung around the music and media industries, working his way onto MTV and up the ladder there to director of global marketing in New York, before returning to Toronto as senior vice-president and general manager…
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TORONTO – It’s time for wireless companies to look harder at broadening their revenue base beyond subscriber dollars and towards ad revenue and other sponsorship programs, according to an international survey conducted by research and professional services firm KPMG.
The survey of 3,576 cellular phone owners worldwide revealed that consumers see absolutely no limits in terms of what can be offered via their mobile handsets. It also found that 96% of North American respondents are in possession of a cellular phone, and 24% spend an hour or more each day on their mobile handheld devices.
The report finds that…
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TORONTO – This is not your grandma’s upfront market.
Looking back at the good-ol’-days of the fall season’s upfront market – you know, 2003-’04 or so (when it was still a relatively straightforward thing to sell ad time on linear television based on shows to be launched on TV in September or October) – seems kinda quaint now.
While CTV will take the wrapper off their fall season this afternoon for media buyers and ad agencies and others, the louder buzz will probably come from two entirely different deals, its new mobile news package for Bell Mobility customers ( Continue Reading
OTTAWA – With re-comments re-due today on the CRTC’s reconsideration of its 2005 decision on voice over IP telephony regulation, three of the four largest Canadian MSOs came down on the side of the Commission in a joint submission filed this afternoon.
Last month, the Federal Cabinet told the CRTC it had to re-think the decision it made on VOIP telephony and have a decision – again – within 120 days of the May 7th announcement. The cabinet edict was in response to appeals filed by all but one of Canada’s incumbent telephone companies.
Cogeco Cable, Quebecor Media’s…
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MONTREAL – Canada’s Telecommunications Hall of Fame announced this week it will hold the 2006 Telecom Laureate Awards on October 16, 2006 at The Carlu in Toronto.
The inaugural induction ceremony in October 2005 honoured nine important individuals who have contributed to the development of telecommunications in Canada, including Alexander Graham Bell, Reginald Fessenden, Terry Matthews and David Colville. The Laureate selection process is a transparent one, beginning with candidate nominations from the public at large and from professionals in the telecom industry.
Nominations are screened for eligibility by a Nominations Committee, this year chaired by Professor Hudson Janisch,…
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REGINA – The province of Saskatchewan – owners of provincial telco SaskTel – added its voice to the other incumbent telephone companies demanding the Federal Cabinet tell the CRTC to reconsider its recent decision on local telephony forbearance.
"It is important that all Saskatchewan residents have access to new telecommunications technologies and services, regardless of whether they live in urban or rural areas," said the minister responsible for information technology Andrew Thomson "It is our belief that SaskTel should be able to compete on a level playing field and provide these new technologies and services at prices competitive with…
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ONE OF THE FIRST EVENTS I attended in this industry was a Christmas-timed "convergence party" at a company called Digital Renaissance in the fall of 1997.
This company and other like-thinking enterprises were about to change television as we know it. The revolution was afoot. I remember a bunch of high-ranking Bell Canada people were there, so we mostly took it seriously. There were many breathless chats about how TV as we knew it was over.
Well, as we all now know, that talk wasn’t technically wrong. It was just waaay too soon.
However, Digital Renaissance weathered the explosion…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor Media’s popular portal company, Canoe, named former Sympatico executive Patrick Lauzon its executive vice-president.
Lauzon "will steer Canoe’s national growth and development strategy and oversee all business units, including the Canoe.qc.ca and Canoe.ca portals, the commercial sites Jobboom, Micasa.ca, Autonet.ca, ClassifiedExtra/ ClasséesExtra, Flirt.ca/Réseau Contact, and several new products currently under development," says the press release.
Lauzon (pictured below) has more than 13 years of experience with media and Internet companies. He was responsible for media sales and business development at Sympatico/MSN and occupied a number of key positions at Bell Canada and its subsidiaries. He is…
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