TORONTO — A new original two-hour documentary celebrating the unique and vibrant Canadian Black community and its role in Canada’s modern identity will premiere this Friday on Citytv.
Cool Black North is a special two-hour presentation that will feature the personal and professional success stories of 15 Black Canadians with a wide spectrum of life experiences in the arts, entertainment, law, business, science and social activism.
Among the interview subjects featured in the film are Bay Street power broker Wes Hall, Justice Donald McLeod, singer and radio host Jully Black, social scientist Yabome Gilpin-Jackson, scientist and entrepreneur Eugenia Duodu, and Cityline…
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TORONTO – One in four Canadians tuned-in to Saturday’s 12 ½ hour marathon broadcast of Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada on Sportsnet, Citytv and CBC.
The broadcast, live from Swift Current, SK, reached a total of 9.6 million Canadians, up 5% from last year’s broadcast, and marked the fourth consecutive year of audience growth for the annual event.
Quoting Numeris data, Sportsnet added that the average minute audience for the Celebrating the Game pre-show was up 32% year-over-year, and that the game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens was the most-watched program in Canada on Saturday with an average minute…
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TORONTO – Two guys who helped Wind Mobile get off the ground and then build its follower Freedom Mobile are the latest in a line of Canadian companies hoping to shake up the wireless market here.
Algis Akstinas (left, formerly the director of marketing and commercial strategy at Freedom) and Alex Bauman (right, formerly manager, customer base management) launched dot mobile Thursday with the goal of bringing a product and the company to market in 2020.
Dot stands for “Data On Tap” and the company aims to be just that for Canadians – a spigot of cheap,…
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LONDON, UK – With the 5G era on the horizon, all three of Canada's national mobile operators averaged impressive download speeds across their mobile broadband networks, but Telus has taken the lead for 4G availability, says OpenSignal in its most recent Mobile Networks Experience: Canada report.
The wireless mapping coverage company examined close to 1.16 billion measurements collected from 161,672 total devices between October 1 and December 29, 2018 in its update on Canada, released Thursday.
According to the report, Bell and Telus were tied in 4G availability rankings throughout 2018, not surprising given their long-standing infrastructure sharing deal that effectively…
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TORONTO – Rogers said Tuesday that it has upgraded its wireless service in parts of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Alberta as part of its multi-year network plan to bring gigabit LTE and 5G to its customers.
The upgrades will impact Rogers and Fido customers in Moncton and outside of Fredericton; in Halifax, Bedford and on Hwy 101 near Bridgetown; in the Quebec cities of Gatineau, Boischatel, Québec City, Montréal, St-Eustache, Blainville and Terrebonne; and in four locations in Alberta including Belgravia in Edmonton, Strathcona Athletic Park, as well as several areas in Lethbridge including Willowbrook and Fleetwood.
The enhancements…
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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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GATINEAU – CRTC submissions are sometimes entertaining when issues are significant, potentially polarizing and wildly debated.
However, and as we indicated previously, this new proceeding into the establishment of an Internet Code of Conduct is mostly incremental in its scope, since a lot of issues have been dealt with in prior proceedings (and in other codes).
Maybe that’s why Bell, the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services, provincial governments, unions and consumer groups have not bothered at this stage.
No reply phase is complete without an incumbent taking a swipe at the Competition Bureau, though. In this case…
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TORONTO – CTAM Canada unveiled its new board and committee members last week at its annual President’s Reception in Toronto.
A volunteer driven chapter of CTAM, the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, CTAM Canada has over 500 members across Canada and abroad, representing content providers, cable and telecommunications distributors as well as technology and service companies.
CTAM Canada's new and returning members for 2019 are:
President– Julie Kumaria (Hollywood Suite)
Vice President– Michelle Vaters (Corus Entertainment)
Treasurer– Don McDonald (Super Channel)
Secretary– Kayleigh Hennessey (Rogers Communications)
Sponsorship Co-Chair– Norm Lem…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has waded in to an ongoing dispute between the city of Calgary and a group of big telco carriers over a municipal rights-of-way bylaw and a proposed municipal consent and access agreement (MCAA).
The Commission said Friday that it was turning down an application by the city seeking a declaration and determination that certain telecommunications carriers may rely upon Calgary’s rights-of-way bylaw for the performance of their obligations under section 43 of the Telecommunications Act, which deals with access to infrastructure.
The decision also approved certain terms and conditions of an MCAA between Calgary and…
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CEO Natale says 2018 yielded “terrific results”
TORONTO – Rogers credited growth in its wireless division – including 112,000 net additions – for gains in revenue and profits for the fourth quarter of 2018.
On Thursday, Rogers posted profit of $502 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2018, a 1% lift from the same period last year, while adjusted net income jumped 11% to $585 million as a result of higher adjusted EBITDA, partially offset by higher depreciation and amortization.
Total revenue increased 6% to $3.94 billion, largely driven by Wireless service revenue growth of 5%, which Rogers said came as…
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