MONTREAL – “Strong numbers” at Videotron helped to push up fourth quarter revenues and profits at Quebecor, the company said Wednesday.
Consolidated revenues for the quarter ended December 31, 2018 grew 2.6% ($27.6 million) to $1.09 billion year-over-year. Revenues increased in Telecommunications ($24.4 million or 2.9% of segment revenues) and in Sports and Entertainment ($3.2 million or 6.4%), though dropped in Media ($1.5 million or ‑0.8%).
Net income attributable to shareholders was $116.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared with $70.4 million in the same period of 2017, a favourable variance of $46.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased 7.7% ($32 million) to $450.0 million.
Quebecor’s Videotron telecom segment significantly increased its revenues from mobile…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor’s broadcaster/TV producer/publisher TVA Group posted $9 million in net income attributable to shareholders in the fourth quarter, down from $9.2 million in the same period in 2017.
Revenues, however, dropped to $150.5 million for the period ended December 31, 2018, down from $155.3 million year-over-year.
President and CEO France Lauzière said that the company is “satisfied” with its results for the last quarter of its financial year.
“Our operating expense reduction initiatives of recent quarters made up for the decline in operating revenues in the Broadcasting & Production and Magazines segments, which have both been hit by the decrease…
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OTTAWA – In something of a surprising move, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Navdeep Bains announced Tuesday during Question Period he planned to issue a Policy direction to the CRTC requiring it to improve the affordability of Internet and cellphone services for Canadians.
If this is truly a shift away from market forces and facilities based competition (hard to tell for sure with the legalese), then this could be the most significant shift in the federal government's thinking on telecom in decades.
Even though the CRTC is independent, the government can, according to the Telecommunications Act “issue directions…
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MONTREAL — Quebecor Media’s TVA Group is acquiring Incendo, a Montreal-based television production and distribution company, in a deal valued at $19.5 million, TVA Group announced Friday.
“TVA Group is happy to add Incendo, a local company with an international profile known for its excellent content, to its operations,” France Lauzière, president and CEO of TVA Group Inc. and chief content officer of Quebecor Content, said in a news release announcing the acquisition.
“The transaction is in keeping with our push to increase our revenues from other markets, step up our international development and expand our footprint, especially in English-language…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor Media’s TVA Group has closed its deal to buy French-language specialty channels Évasion and Zeste as part of its acquisition of parent company Serdy Media.
Évasion launched in 2000 with a schedule of travel, tourism, adventure and food discovery programs, while Zeste, which debuted in 2010, caters to viewers who love cooking, fine food and entertaining in style.
TVA Group said Wednesday that Évasion and Zeste complement its existing line-up of specialty channels which includes LCN, TVA Sports, AddikTV, CASA, MOI ET CIE, Prise 2 and Yoopa.
"Évasion and Zeste are two prestigious brands for consumers who are passionate…
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OTTAWA – Stakeholders wishing to weigh in on the new production report set to replace the programs of national interest (PNI) report completed by the large English- and French-language ownership groups now have an extra month to prepare their comments.
The CRTC said Monday that comments will now due by March 6, 2019, and not February 6 as it said last month.
The move comes in response to a joint procedural request from the Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada, the Quebec English-Language Production Council, the English-Language Arts Network and On Screen Manitoba, as well as a joint procedural request from…
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MONTREAL – Season 7 of singing competition La Voix will debut next month with Marc Dupré, Lara Fabian, Éric Lapointe and Alex Nevsky in the famous red coaches' chairs, and TD among the main sponsors.
The Quebec version of The Voice is the most watched show in the province and the edition with the highest market share of the entire franchise worldwide, said Quebecor in a news release. The show will return February 10 on TVA.
"Quebecor is pleased that TD is partnering with La Voix”, said Quebecor's Advertising Network EVP Donald Lizotte, in the release. “With its phenomenal ratings, this flagship…
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MONTREAL – TVA has promoted Denis Rozon to VP of productions, operations & technology of TVA, and Anick Dubois to finance VP of TVA Group.
Rozon (pictured right) joined TVA Group in 2006 as VP and CFO, and added COO of MELS to his duties in 2018. Effective immediately, he is also responsible for the production, operations and technology sectors at TVA as Daniel Boudreau leaves the company.
Dubois (pictured below), most recently senior director, finance, joined TVA Group in 2007 after several years with Ernst & Young and Astral Radio.
"The major changes of recent years in our industry demand far-sighted strategic thinking, the…
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OTTAWA and MONTREAL – The CRTC has given the go-ahead to Quebecor Media’s TVA Group to buy French-language specialty channels Évasion and Zeste as part of its acquisition of parent company Serdy Media.
The proposed $24 million deal, announced in May, also includes the Serdy Video group of companies. CRTC approval was required for the change in the ownership and effective control of the two discretionary television services.
The Commission said Monday that it has determined that the deal is in the public interest, noting that Zeste and Évasion stand to benefit from Quebecor and TVA’s multiplatform exposure and reach, and that…
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WE DON’T YET KNOW what public process the expert panel reviewing Canada’s Broadcasting, Telecom and Radiocommunication Acts, headed by Janet Yale, will follow as this year unfolds.
So, when the deadline for written submissions to the Broadcast and Telecom Legislative Review (BTLR) panel came on Friday, January 11, we asked various companies and groups for their submissions. Most gladly sent them. Some sent excerpts. Others decided to keep them private for now, since the panel itself has not yet told us, or anyone, definitively, what the plan is for making them public.
Because of the volume, we have decided to begin…
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