OTTAWA – The Federal Government has ordered a public inquiry into the alleged high-pressure sales tactics used by the country’s biggest telecommunication companies.
Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, said Thursday that the Feds have directed the CRTC to conduct the inquiry and ensure that “Canadians have an opportunity to be heard and these issues are carefully considered”. The Commission will have until February 28, 2019 to complete the inquiry and file a report that must contain potential solutions to ensure Canadian consumers are treated fairly.
The Minister Bains also asked the Competition Bureau to assist the…
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TORONTO – Given how Canadians now consume video, and from where, measuring the level of industry consolidation here based on share of linear TV viewing is wrong, Corus Entertainment CEO Doug Murphy told an investors conference in Toronto Wednesday morning.
Appearing at the Scotiabank Telecom, Media and Technology conference, Murphy would not comment on yesterday’s Globe and Mail report which said Shaw Communications and the Shaw family is looking to sell the company. “I’m not prepared to comment on articles, rumours, or speculation,” he said.
What he was prepared to talk about was the bright future he…
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TORONTO – According to a report this evening in the Globe and Mail, Shaw Communications is trying to sell all of its interest in Corus Entertainment.
The report (subscription) says the company recently hired TD Securities to find a buyer for its 38% stake in the broadcaster, valued at $540 million. The story says Shaw needs the money to further build its Freedom Mobile wireless network.
The Globe story also says the company and the Shaw family, who owns control of both entities, are also trying to sell its controlling voting shares as well, which would mean…
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MARKHAM, ON – Ice Wireless and Sugar Mobile parent Iristel has filed a lawsuit against Rogers valued at over $147 million alleging breaches of contract on two occasions.
In a statement of claim dated May 23, 2108, Iristel accuses Rogers of breaking an oral Peering Agreement reached between the two in May 2013 that allowed for a direct connection to exchange traffic in Toronto. Iristel says Rogers broke that agreement in May 2016, while it was in the final stages of the testing process and after it had already racked up approximately $600,000 in costs.
Iristel also alleges that Rogers…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications confirmed today it has hired former Apple Canada senior managing director Brent Johnston to be president, Rogers Wireless.
He stepped down from his position at Apple last week and starts at Rogers on Monday. Johnston is rather familiar with Rogers CEO Joe Natale, having worked under Natale (when Natale was Telus' second in command and then CEO) for 11 years as VP channel marketing, VP mobility solutions and SVP consumer marketing. Johnston left for Apple in February of 2016.
Bringing Johnston in is the headline of a bit of an executive shift where Phil Hartling, who had…
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TORONTO – Randy Lennox says he promised when first joining Bell Media from Universal Music Canada not to "do change for change's sake."
But scale for scale's sake?
Bulking up by bringing top U.S. premium brands like HBO, Starz, Showtime, Bloomberg and iHeartRadio into Bell Media's Canadian content tent has made size a strategy at the Toronto-based media titan. "We are committed to becoming the Canadian custodian of scalable world brands,” Bell Media CEO Lennox told Cartt.ca on Thursday ahead of his Upfront presentation in Toronto.
But the focus at Bell Media isn't on bulkiness, or even synergies, but on leveraging new…
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TORONTO – Bell Media and Rogers Media-owned Dome Productions said that it will produce broadcast footage from this week’s G7 Summit in Charlevoix, Quebec in 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) 2160p60 resolution.
For some of the principle areas of coverage, Dome will be producing and capturing in UHD High Dynamic Range (HDR) format.
The company said that this will mark the first time that the leaders of the G7 member countries are captured in UHD HDR based on Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) HDR format, promising the best possible picture quality for live broadcast.
Dome began providing G7 host broadcast services in…
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WEDNESDAY, THE BUSY AND informative Canadian Telecom Summit was wrapped up by a keynote speech from ISED Minister Navdeep Bains, where he announced a $10/month broadband program for low income Canadians and three key spectrum announcements which will help drive the future – 5G technology.
Just as I dashed off to talk to the minister in a media scrum, one of our more prescient readers grabbed me by the arm and said “Sprint and T-Mobile want to merge in order to get together and roll out 5G rather than do it on…
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TORONTO – Corus Entertainment's Maria Hale says she didn't sweat the small stuff at the recent Los Angeles Screenings by having to bid aggressively for digital rights to new U.S. shows against Netflix and Amazon, in addition CTV and Rogers Media.
However, cord-cutting in Canada inspired by Netflix as an increasing programming powerhouse did reshape Corus' upcoming 2018-19 primetime slate which was unveiled to local advertisers today in Toronto. "At the LA Screenings, we didn't feel their (Netflix) pressure, but we definitely feel their heat throughout the year," Hale, senior vice president of global entertainment and acquisitions at Corus, told…
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TORONTO—As might be expected, Canadian telecom executives are already choosing up sides for the forthcoming battle over the CTRC's proposals for reshaping how the feds regulate and tax traditional and new media across the country.
That much was evident at the Canadian Telecom Summit here late Tuesday. Speaking during the annual "Regulatory Blockbuster" panel moderated by Cartt.ca editor and publisher Greg O'Brien, execs representing industry incumbents and upstarts battled it out over the Commission's new recommendations to "develop better regulatory approaches that engage all audio and video services and for each to participate," producing plenty of verbal fireworks.
Generally backing the…
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