TORONTO – ISED Minister Navdeep Bains opened the 2017 Canadian Telecom Summit with a speech outlining a number of new government initiatives, but there was one overarching message that has to burn the ears of the incumbent network providers in attendance who were listening.
That is, your prices are far too high.
“The bigger barrier is prices, which are especially high for low-usage cellphone plans,” the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister said in his speech to delegates.
“I get letters regularly from Canadians who are concerned that they are being priced out of the market,” he added in the speech.
“Our government…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – TV viewers in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Montreal will soon have more local news options after Rogers Media announced plans to expand its CityNews brand to its City television stations in these markets starting this Fall.
Currently seen in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area, the one-hour newscasts will air seven days a week with CityNews at Six at 6 p.m., and CityNews Tonight at 11 p.m. local time. Newscasts in Edmonton and Winnipeg will debut September 4 at 6 p.m. local time, while CityNews will expand into the Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary markets in Winter 2018. …
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Rogers Media’s daytime lifestyle series Cityline has been picked up for syndication in the U.S. by the Hearst, Graham, Raycom, and Weigel media groups.
These initial deals will see Cityline made available to more than 10 million households in U.S. cities, including Chicago, Kansas City, Jacksonville, and Birmingham starting in September. The show will be available as a Monday to Friday strip, with 200 episodes available at launch.
Now in its 34th year, Cityline airs in Canada on City each weekday at 9 a.m. local time, and is billed as Canada’s top source for the latest in home décor,…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Bell, Cogeco, Rogers, Shaw, and Videotron were among the stakeholders present at last week’s inaugural meeting of the Steering Committee of the Canadian Energy Efficiency Voluntary Agreement for Set-Top Boxes (CEEVA).
The parties, which also included set-top box manufacturers ARRIS and EchoStar Technologies as well as Natural Resources Canada, met to further earlier discussions over a voluntary agreement announced in January to cut the total annual energy consumption of Canadian set-top boxes. Supporting organizations CableLabs and the Consumer Technology Association were also in attendance at the meeting.
CEEVA said Thursday that the implementation of commitments are expected to reduce…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – RTDNA Canada has unveiled the winners of its national and network awards which honour the best journalists, programs, stations and news gathering organizations in radio, television, and digital.
The awards were presented Saturday night at the 2017 National Conference and Awards gala in Toronto.
The winners for RTDNA 2017 National Awards are:
Digital
Adrienne Clarkson Award – Diversity
CBC Montreal: Real Talk on Race
Charlie Edwards Award – Spot News
Global Edmonton: Fort McMurray Wildfire
Data Storytelling Award
CBC Vancouver: Every Parking Ticket Issued in Vancouver Last Year
Digital Media Award (Small/Medium Market)
CBC Thunder Bay: Deep Water
Digital Media Award (Large Market)
Global Edmonton: Family Matters
Gord Sinclair Award – Live…
Continue Reading
THE CANADIAN CREATIVE community (by which I mean writers, actors, directors and other makers of television) is up in arms over the CRTC’s recent decision to harmonize a floor for spending by Canadian broadcasters on programming of national interest at 5%.
Historically speaking, the guilds, unions and associations have every right to fear any reduction in the Cancon spend mandated by the CRTC. Our broadcasters do not exactly have a stellar record of treating the production and airing of Canadian content (except for news and sports) as anything but a tax on their operations that they…
Continue Reading
DARTMOUTH – Vancouver listeners will soon have a new sports radio station after the CRTC approved the sale of Newcap-owned CISL 650 to Rogers Media.
As Cartt.ca reported in April, Rogers said that it plans to turn the AM station into an all-sports format, under the Sportsnet brand, as early as this fall.
The deal is expected to close within 90 days.
Continue Reading
LONDON – As expected, Rogers Communications brought its Connected for Success program to London Thursday, offering its inexpensive Internet service to approximately 3,200 subsidized London & Middlesex Housing Corporation (LMHC) tenants.
The service, available for $9.99 per month, includes speeds of up to 10 Mbps download and up to 1 Mbps upload and requires no contract or credit checks upon sign up.
Since launching the service in 2013, Rogers has partnered with 160 housing providers across Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. Its goal is to connect approximately 150,000 low income households located across its cable footprint.
“In this ever-evolving connected world, we…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Rogers Communications is not allowed to demand a fee from copyright owners who ask the giant ISP to help track down individual suspected movie and TV pirates, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled earlier this month – a decision which will directly impact all Canadian Internet service providers.
While the Copyright Act and the Copyright Modernization Act protects copyright owners from having their wares digitally taken and shared without compensation, everyone knows this is a common occurrence and so movie studios and others try to work with ISPs to limit…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Rogers Communications made some waves in the gamer community Wednesday with the announcement of a new content deal bringing exclusive esports to TV on Sportsnet Now and Sportsnet 360, while announcing on the network side new peering arrangements which will make game play faster and more seamless.
On the content side, Rogers Media has secured a new deal with ESL, the world’s largest esports league, by acquiring the exclusive rights to its esportsTV, the first global 24/7 esports television channel.
“Sportsnet prides itself on being on the cutting edge of industry trends so we can continue to deliver premier…
Continue Reading
