TORONTO – Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment announced Wednesday it will add the Canadian Football League’s Grey Cup Champion Toronto Argonauts to its stable of Toronto sports teams.
The Argos are currently jointly owned by Bell Canada and the Kilmer Group (both of whom are co-owners of MLSE along with Rogers Communications). Financial terms of the MLSE acquisition, expected to close in January 2018 pending approval by the CFL Board of Governors, were not disclosed by the press release.
Joining MLSE brings numerous advantages to the Argonauts, including financial scale and promotional, ticketing and other operational synergies, says the company….
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CANADIAN CABLE SYSTEMS Alliance CEO Jay Thomson knows Canadian networks and media inside and out. How could he not? Before the CCSA, he worked for the Canadian Cable Television Association, the Canadian Association of Internet Providers, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the Canadian Media Producers Association (Telus and the CRTC, too).
The long-time Ottawa executive was hired as CEO of the CCSA in January 2017, replacing Alyson Townsend, who was let go in the summer of 2016. Thomson is steeped in the business and, as importantly, knows government – especially an Ottawa whose politicians and bureaucrats tend to be…
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LE PDG DE LA CANADIAN Cable Systems Alliance, Jay Thomson connaît les réseaux et les médias canadiens de fond en comble. Comment pourrait-il en être autrement ? Avant de travailler à la CCSA, il a travaillé à l’Association canadienne des télécommunications par câble (ACTC), Canadian Association of Internet Providers, l’Association canadienne des radiodiffuseurs et la Canadian Media Producers Association (également à Telus et au CRTC).
Ce dirigeant de longue date d’Ottawa a été embauché comme PDG de la CCSA en remplacement de Alyson Townsend qui a quitté son poste à l’été 2016. Thomson est à l’aise dans ce secteur et, de manière aussi…
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TORONTO – Radioplayer Canada, the radio streaming app that features more than 500 Canadian radio stations (most of the big and small chains, except Bell Media and Evanov, who joined iHeartRadio), announced this week its streaming service is available with Amazon Echo, powered by Alexa.
Amazon Echo users may now simply ask Alexa to play their favourite radio station on Radioplayer Canada, once the skill is enabled by the listener.
"This integration with Amazon Alexa is great for Canadian radio," said Julie Adam, senior vice president, Rogers Radio, and board chair of Radioplayer Canada. "The integration echoes the mission of…
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TORONTO – Bob McCown has signed a new multi-year deal with Sportsnet 590 The FAN to remain host of Prime Time Sports, Rogers Media announced today.
McCown is a Toronto institution as he was the original host of Prime Time Sports when the show first launched in 1989 and he remains the most listened-to sports radio personality in the country.
“Bob has helped shape the all-sports radio landscape in Canada and very few, if any, can make that claim,” said Scott Moore, president of Sportsnet and NHL Properties, in the press release. “Bob’s body of work is unparalleled in this…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications announced this afternoon that Alan Horn will step down as chair of the board of directors effective January 1, 2018.
Edward Rogers, son of late company founder Ted Rogers and currently deputy chair, will replace Horn. Melinda Rogers, one of Ted’s three daughters, will assume the role of deputy chair.
Horn (the long-time RCI CFO and the man who served as interim CEO in between Guy Laurence and current CEO Joe Natale) will remain president and CEO of Rogers Telecommunications Limited and certain private companies that control RCI, and will stay on the RCI board.
"The company…
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Whatever the future of TV may hold
GATINEAU – The rise of online TV distribution platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and others are upending the delicate balance of the Canadian broadcasting system and that means the federal government and the CRTC need to change the way they regulate the sector. In a nutshell, Canadian broadcasters, producers and distributors want these platforms treated the same way they are.
In comments to the CRTC’s consultation on new TV program distribution models (which was requested by the federal government ostensibly as the first step towards modernizing the Broadcasting Act and Telecom Act), many…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC said Tuesday it wants the opinions of Canadians about additional information provided by the large French- and English- language television groups as part of the reconsideration of decisions to renew their television licences.
The CRTC will gather comments until January 23, 2018.
On May 15, 2017, the CRTC issued a series of decisions to renew licences for the television services of large English- and French-language private ownership groups (Bell Media, Corus Entertainment, Rogers Media, Groupe V and Quebecor Media). On August 14, 2017, the Governor in Council referred back to the CRTC certain…
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LONDON and BARRIE – Logistics company Drexel Industries this week announced it will acquire mobile phone accessories and consumer electronics devices company Affinity Electronics of Canada.
The acquisition will combine Affinity’s assets and experience as an established mobile phone solutions company with Drexel’s strength in third party logistics, says the company’s press release. “Drexel’s retailer connected digital infrastructure is the catalyst for further growth and expansion into the mobility and connected home arena,” it adds.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Affinity and Drexel distribute products through Canadian partners, including: Amazon, Bell, Best Buy, Canadian Tire, Costco, Giant Tiger, Home Depot, Hudson…
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OTTAWA – The majority of Canada’s mobile wireless carriers have told the CRTC that redefining home network to include public Wi-Fi will have serious negative consequences on the mobile market while smaller providers Ice Wireless and Execulink argue Wi-Fi First providers are needed to inject much needed competition to an already highly concentrated market.
The final round of submissions on the CRTC’s Governor-in-Council demand that it reconsider its March wholesale wireless roaming decision were due December 1st. This is something ISED Minister Navdeep Bains announced during June’s Canadian Telecom Summit.
For Bell Canada, the only issue…
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