MONTREAL – Quebecor ended 2015 back in the black, rebounding from a $30.1 million net loss attributable to shareholders last year, to $151.8 million in net income attributable to shareholders.
The Montreal-based communications and media giant said Wednesday that the favourable variance of $181.9 million was due in part to the $102.1 million favourable non‑cash impact of fluctuations in the fair value of convertible debentures and the $45.3 million favourable impact of the decreased loss related to discontinued operations.
Led by gains at Videotron, consolidated revenues grew 7.5% from $3.61 billion in 2014 to $3.88 billion, and adjusted operating income increased…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor Content has sold Vol 920 in Italy and Australia.
The deals follow the sale of Mensonges in France and Germany, and of the Un sur Deux format in Poland, a move that confirms the appetite for Québec television titles in international markets, the company said.
Vol 920 takes 20 adventure-seeking singles on a round-the-world backpacking trip in the hopes of finding their soul mate. Italian production company Magnolia TV has acquired the Vol 920 format and will produce its own version of the program that will begin airing in April. In Australia, the SBS production company will present…
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TORONTO – Quebecor, Rogers, the Globe and Mail, and Yahoo are among the digital media companies that have signed on to adhere to new standards developed by GroupM that measure viewability for digital advertising in Canada.
The media agency group said Tuesday that it is contracting viewability terms that far exceed Canadian industry standards into all trading deals for its clients. The agreements establish the duration and percentage of a display or video ad that must be visible before it will be counted as an impression and paid for by the clients of GroupM's agencies.
For display advertising, GroupM insists…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is asking for broadcast licence renewal applications from the country’s big English- and French-language ownership groups for their services that have licences set to expire in 2017.
The Commission said Monday that it has sent customized letters to Bell, Corus, Quebecor, Rogers, Shaw and Remstar, given that there is no licence renewal application form for television services owned by large ownership groups. Licensees are required to respond to questions set out in the letter, and the questions and responses provided will comprise the application.
The renewal applications must be submitted prior April 4 unless otherwise required or authorized. …
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MONTREAL – Following a Quebec Superior Court order, police acting for Bell Media and TVA Group yesterday seized computer equipment at homes in LaSalle, Laval and Chicoutimi which helped run “La Griffe Sportive” a site which illegally offered its subscribers access to several streamed specialty TV channels, including TVA Sports and RDS.
“Piracy of television signals… is a criminal act against the interests of the whole creative industry in Quebec, and can not be tolerated,” said a French language release issued by TVA’s owner Quebecor. “TVA Group and Bell Media will remain vigilant in this respect and will take the…
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GATINEAU – The industry needs increased levels of funding for access programming said executives from MTS, who appeared before the CRTC’s local and community TV hearing on Monday. The company has proposed that the more access programming BDUs carry on their community TV channels, the more money they should get.
In opening remarks, Paul Norris, VP of residential solutions at MTS, noted viewers want to see local programming that goes beyond news and that access programming is important for locally reflective expression.
“Access programming fulfills a unique role that is not available from conventional broadcasters or from social media…
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GATINEAU – CBC told the CRTC on Friday that if it decides there should be a fund dedicated to supporting local news production in the Canada, then it should only open it to broadcasters which commit to produce additional news programming.
The Commission has been exploring the concept of a Local News Incentive Fund (LNIF) during local and community TV hearing and the idea has been endorsed in various forms by many intervenors.
“The purpose of the LNIF would be to provide incentive funding for incremental expenditure on and exhibition of local news programming beyond a specified threshold,” Bev Kirshenblatt (pictured),…
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GATINEAU – Many parties to the CRTC’s local and community TV consultation have proposed funding approaches (each with their own acronyms we’re having trouble keep track of) which could financially support these struggling services. Rogers Communications Inc. has now joined them, unveiling its own approach to a local programming fund.
In its appearance before the Commission on Thursday, the media and communications giant argued while it still prefers its original proposal calling for greater flexibility to move local programming funds from larger to smaller markets, it offered up another model that it says is workable and would provide financial benefits…
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GATINEAU – Four and a half months after Vidéotron announced it would exempt certain music streaming services from its wireless data caps, prompting two complaints to the CRTC mere days later, telecom companies, consumer rights groups and others are still debating the interpretation of the Telecommunications Act, Internet traffic management policy and the wording of a recent CRTC decision.
The Unlimited Music offer applies to higher-end data plans offered by Vidéotron Mobile. It exempts a list of music streaming services, including Songza, Spotify, Google Play Music and Stingray Music, from…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor saw its third quarter profits jump by $40 million from the same quarter last year as a result of growth in all of its business segments.
For the period ended September 30, 2015, net income attributable to shareholders was $85.1 million, up from $45.1 million in the same period of 2014, due primarily to a $139.1 million non‑adjusted‑operating-income gain on litigation as a result of a Supreme Court decision ordering Bell ExpressVu to pay compensation to Quebecor’s Videotron and TVA Group.
Quebecor's revenues increased 9.5% year-over-year to $971.7 million, and adjusted operating income grew 8.2% to $391.4 million. On…
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