GRAVENHURST, Ont. – Canada’s two cable system organizations are getting together to hold their annual gatherings at the same time and place next month.
The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance annual general meeting will be held on September 28th and 29th at the Taboo Resort, Golf & Conference Centre in Gravenhurst, Ontario, about 90 minutes north of Toronto’s Pearson airport.
The Canadian Cable Television Association’s business day and Galaxi Awards presentation will be at the same venue on Tuesday September 27th for the convenience of the joint attendees.
Here’s an outline of the week’s events.
Tuesday, Sept. 27th – CCTA business…
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TORONTO – The four new pay television applications before the CRTC offer questionable customer value, will increase churn and hammer the bottom lines and the share prices of the two incumbent license-holders, says a research report published this week by investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston.
The report, entitled “A Luxury No One Can Afford,” says the four new pay services misinterpret the state of the Canadian pay system (which it characterized as “gold plated”) versus the American system and that any new applicant would find it very tough to stimulate high penetration levels.
The pay TV space in…
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THE CABLE INDUSTRY MIGHT not like reading this, heading into the local forbearance hearings next week, but residential phone choice seems pretty real to me.
If there was any doubt about it, my local newspaper, The Hamilton Spectator, delivered ample evidence last Wednesday. In the mess of inserts I curse about that usually flutter out of the thing, three glossy direct marketing pieces caught my eye: One from Primus; another from Rogers; and the third from Direct Energy.
Primus was a pure low-cost sell. “Get TalkBroadband and save big on your home phone service,” it said, beside a garish…
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GATINEAU – After a wave of complaints, the CRTC has decided to extend the deadline to respond to a Bell Canada request.
Bell Canada recently applied to the CRTC for permission to price its VOIP voice services differently in Ontario and Quebec. Current regs say that if Bell offers a low price in one of its regions, it must make that price available in all regions.
It made the application on September 2nd, and the Commission gazetted it September 9th, asking for comments from interested parties within five days.
As reported by www.cartt.ca, the Canadian Cable Television Association complained –…
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QUEBEC CITY – Thirteen months after the CRTC ruled that the controversial, market-leading CHOI-FM did not deserve to have its licence renewed and three weeks after the Federal Court of Appeal agreed, the station has hooked itself back up to the “judicial respirator”.
The station’s owners, GENEX Communications, Wednesday received the consent of the Court of Appeal to an agreement reached with the federal Attorney-General on an extension of its licence.
This allows GENEX to file an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, thus “reconnecting the judicial respirator” as Court of Appeal Justice Gilles…
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TORONTO – A nation-wide radio and television campaign to promote cultural diversity in the news media was launched today by the Radio-Television News Directors Association.
A series of announcements will begin airing on radio and television in the coming weeks, promoting awareness and support of diverse news operations.
“We hope this campaign will make people aware of the fact that a diverse culture is what Canada is all about, and that the news media is keen to properly reflect that diversity,” said Terry Scott, president of RTNDA Canada, in the press release.
According to Statistics Canada, our foreign-born population…
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THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS are the most valuable, most talked about, most loved sports team in English Canada.
Launching a TV channel that’s all Leafs, all the time, was a no-brainer for team brass back in 2001. But without any games, LeafsTV left a little something to be desired, say viewers, and says executive producer and vice-president programming John Shannon (right).
That changes this season (and was supposed to last year, but for the NHL lockout) as LeafsTV will have a total of 21 Toronto Maple Leaf games – eight pre-season matchups and 13 regular season tilts – to…
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MONTREAL and TORONTO – Quebecor-owned MSO Videotron will join the quadruple play club in 2006 by adding wireless service on the Rogers Wireless network.
The two companies today announced the signing of a strategic relationship agreement that will enable the Quebec cable company to offer consumers television, broadband Internet, cable telephony and Videotron branded mobile wireless services.
Videotron will operate as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator, or MVNO, utilizing wireless voice and data services provided by Rogers Wireless across its GSM/GPRS network. This is the same arrangement Virgin Mobile Canada has with Bell Mobility.
The company plans to launch…
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TORONTO – CTV president Rick Brace (right) will be one of seven distinguished Ryerson University graduates honored this Saturday for their career achievements.
“The seven are examples of the career success and community involvement that are hallmarks of Ryerson University graduates. Five have been named as recipients of the Alumni Award of Distinction; two are being presented the Isadore Sharp Outstanding Recent Graduate Award.
"These awards recognize more than the personal success of our graduates; they honour their outstanding contributions as citizens, as innovators, and as outstanding Canadians," said Adam…
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ATLANTA – Turner Network Sales announced today the promotion of Laura Sconyers to account manager, Canadian sales and marketing.
TNS is the domestic distribution, sales and marketing arm of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (operators of CNN, Headline News and TBS in the Canadian marketplace).
“Laura is utilizing her industry experience and client service skills to develop strategies and implement successful tactics to meet the growing business needs of our affiliate partners in Canada,” said Matt Tolleson, vice-president, Canadian sales and marketing, in making the announcement. Sconyers is based in Atlanta and reports directly to Tolleson. Continue Reading
