TORONTO – Both Rogers Communications and Bell Media have trimmed some personnel this month, Cartt.ca has learned – but the number of people leaving both companies is not near the rumoured figures we have seen land in the Cartt.ca email inbox.
We heard from a handful of people over a week ago that 200 people were let go from Rogers one day and then today that 200 were let go from Bell Media.
While we do know some definitely lost their jobs, the companies would not comment on how many positions were eliminated, but spokespeople insisted to us the rumoured number…
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SN Now+ offers exclusive content, including more NHL games
TORONTO – Rogers is offering new and exclusive content to its sports streaming service subscribers via a new premium tier called SN Now+.
Available for $27.99/month, SN Now+ promises everything already available in the original SN Now package plus over 500 “blackout-free” (a.k.a. out-of-market) NHL games and a number of Premier League matches, additional Bundesliga games, FA Cup matches and Premiership Rugby and Super League Rugby coverage.
The basic SN Now tier, now offered at the reduced price of $19.99/month, continues to provide a direct feed of content available on Sportsnet’s television channels – including regional channels Sportsnet…
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TORONTO – Scott Moore, president of Sportsnet and NHL Properties at Rogers Media, is leaving the company at the end of October.
The search for Moore’s successor is underway and Rogers Media president Rick Brace will oversee Sportsnet in addition to his current role in the interim, the company said Tuesday. Moore did not disclose his future plans other than saying that he would take some time off in the short term.
During his eight-year tenure, Moore was behind the company’s acquisitions of The Score and Grand Slam of Curling; brokered the deal that brought the FX brand to Canada; launched North…
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OTTAWA – The Copyright Act review resumed in Ottawa on Monday, where representatives from Telus had the opportunity to discuss the company’s stance. The company’s appearance before the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology followed last week’s presentations by Bell, Rogers, TekSavvy and Shaw.
Like TekSavvy, Telus is in the somewhat unique position of not being vertically integrated, something that Ann Mainville-Neeson, the company’s VP of Broadcasting Policy and Regulatory Affairs highlighted at the outset of the presentation.
“We are purely an aggregator and distributor of the best content there is to offer,” she explained.
As such, Mainville-Neeson…
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Better to leave it to various Acts review
GATINEAU – The CRTC announced this morning it has dismissed a proposed website-blocking regime which would address copyright piracy, dubbed FairPlay Canada by its backers.
The Commission ruled it does not have the jurisdiction under the Telecommunications Act and so it did not consider the merits of the proposal, saying in a release this is best considered under the Copyright Act, over which it has no jurisdiction.
The Copyright Act, is under review, on which Cartt.ca has been reporting on Continue Reading
Sportsnet #IceSurfing debuts October 9
TORONTO – With the puck set to drop on the 2018-2019 NHL season on Wednesday, Sportsnet’s opening week of NHL broadcasts will feature 11 national matchups with all seven Canadian teams in action.
Returning for another season starting this week are Hockey Night in Canada on Saturdays, Rogers Hometown Hockey on Sundays and Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey on Wednesdays.
To complement its national and regional televised NHL coverage, Sportsnet is also launching the inaugural season of Sportsnet #IceSurfing on Twitter. Hosted by Sportsnet personality Jeff Marek alongside analyst Jason York and Steve Dangle, #IceSurfing follows the…
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GATINEAU – If Iristel wants to make sure hospitals can reach patients who are also its customers on the phone in order to call them in for surgery, then the company should stop illegally boosting network traffic so those calls make it through, Telus told the CRTC in a letter today (September 28).
This week, the CBC posted a story detailing how a hospital could not reach a cancer patient in Behchoko, NWT (about 100 kms northwest of Yellowknife) in order to call her in for surgery. She is an Ice Wireless customer – which is a…
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AS THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE of Canada’s fastest-growing telecommunications company, I understand corporations operate to make a profit. Profits build shareholder value and create jobs.
And in competitive environments, corporations will battle. I get that. My company is currently entangled in a heated dispute with Telus Corp. in Canada’s North. Of course, we think we’re right and Telus thinks something else. Lawyers are involved. The regulator is involved. Even politicians are beginning to take notice.
The problem is that innocent Canadians are involved, too.
And this week, I received a phone call from a CBC reporter that underlined that…
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TORONTO – Sportscaster Bob Cole is set to kick off his 50th – and final – season calling games for Hockey Night In Canada.
Sportsnet said that Cole, 85, is scheduled to do play-by-play for 10 NHL games, all of which will come in the first half of the 2018-19 season.
His first game of the year will be on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday, October 6 for the game between Montreal and Pittsburgh. Further details of a tribute in his honour will be announced at a later date.
“There are so few broadcasters and voices in sport that transcend the…
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OTTAWA – Three of Canada’s largest wired and wireless operators, and one independent, assembled on Parliament Hill Wednesday afternoon to discuss revisions to the Copyright Act.
Independent ISP Teksavvy had the stage first and vice-president of regulatory and carrier affairs, Andy Kaplan-Myrth, reiterated his company’s commitment to network neutrality and the privacy rights of their customers, including when it comes to copyright. He reminded the politicians on the committee TekSavvy’s appearance at the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, was as a far different operator than the likes of Bell, Rogers and Shaw. Teksavvy is just an ISP and…
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