TORONTO—ISED Minister Navdeep Bains' clarion call Monday for the Canadian telecom industry to slash its wireless and broadband prices re-ignited a heated debate within the industry about the sector's direction.
That debate was on full display on the stage of the Canadian Telecom Summit here Tuesday evening. In a contentious 90-minute session moderated by Cartt.ca editor and publisher Greg O'Brien, senior officials from Bell Canada, Rogers Communications, Telus, TekSavvy Solutions and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre tangled over the industry's current pricing policies and the response needed to the Liberal Government's populist push for lower consumer…
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TORONTO – Canadian communications providers have to become leaders in the debate about the importance of privacy and cyber security to educate consumers, an expert has told a telecom conference.
“They have to be much more vocal,” Ann Cavoukian (pictured), executive director of Ryerson University’s Privacy and Big Data Institute, said Monday at the annual Canadian Telecom Summit in Toronto. “We’ve had a lot of conversations but we need much more to explain to the public: ‘This is your data. Telcos may have custody and control, but they don’t own your data. They don’t have right do what they want…
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Modernized OMNI on the way, too
TORONTO – Watch this (digital) space.
That's the word from Colette Watson, senior vice president of television and broadcast operations at Rogers Media, who told Cartt.ca on Tuesday the media player isn't done with the online TV space after it and Shaw’s failed bet on former streamer Shomi.
"We know we have to deliver content where viewers are. How that's packaged, how that's priced, how that's delivered, is still part of the plan, but we should have something to announce in the next few months," she said.
Watson gave no details on its latest over-the-top live TV…
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TORONTO – Headlined by three new Canadian titles, Rogers-owned City announced its fall and winter programming slate Tuesday, which also includes five new comedies and four new dramas.
New Canadian content includes the six-part series Bad Blood (pictured), a true crime story inspired by reputed Montreal mobster Vito Rizzuto; comedy series Fubar: The Age of the Computer, based on the beloved film franchise; and Louis XIV historical drama series Versailles.
Joining the fall lineup are sci-fi adventure comedy The Orville; Ghosted, which sees a skeptic and a paranormal believer team up to save the human race from aliens; Will Ferrell-produced commuter comedy LA…
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TORONTO – Rogers Media Sales unveiled two new deals for advertisers Tuesday that it says will expand reach and deliver “brand-safe premium-content environments”.
Rogers Media and The Weather Company are teaming up to provide weather information and content customized specifically for the Canadian market. With this agreement, The Weather Company will provide in-depth weather data and forecasts, as well as curated content, across Rogers Media properties. In turn, Rogers Media will provide locally relevant articles, photos, and video content across the Canadian versions of The Weather Channel app and weather.com.
The Weather Company and Rogers Media Sales will also work together to…
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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…
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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. …
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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