OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC will release its hotly anticipated decision on wholesale mobile wireless services late Tuesday.
The Commission will stage a media “lock-up” from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM ET on May 5 to provide a technical briefing to explain the different elements of the decision. The decision itself will be released at 4:00 PM, followed by a short statement by chairman Jean-Pierre Blais.
With the CRTC's sharp consumer focus, most are expecting the decision will see the allowable rates come down, which will bode well for Wind Mobile (and less so for the big three of Telus, Rogers and…
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OTTAWA – The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is once again asking the CRTC to prevent streaming service shomi from being offered only to Rogers or Shaw internet customers.
The consumer group filed a new application with the Commission on Monday, after having its previous complaint returned by the Regulator last month in the wake of BRP 2015-86 that proposed establishing a new service category for hybrid VoD services. While PIAC said that it will file comments on that matter, it added that it “had to address lingering problems with the shomi service that likely would not be addressed in the…
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TORONTO – Former Astral and CHUM radio exec Rob Farina is joining Rogers Radio as VP content & programming beginning May 4, the company said Tuesday.
Farina, pictured, will oversee the programming and content on all Rogers radio brands, and will report to SVP Julie Adam.
Most recently co-founder and COO of Los Angeles-based music consultancy Black Box, Farina also served as EVP content & platforms at Astral Media, where he was responsible for programming, digital operations, marketing, and promotions for all 84 stations and brands, including Virgin Radio and Boom. Prior to that, he oversaw the operations of Orbyt Media,…
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GATINEAU – Earlier this month, a group of 14 broadcasters met for the first time to begin figuring out how to develop a subscription television set top box data measurement system.
In its TV Policy Review decision, the CRTC said building such a system would be a very good thing and set a deadline of April 13th for an industry-wide working group to start moving. Representatives from Bell Canada, Blue Ant Media, CBC, Cogeco, Corus, Eastlink, the Independent Broadcasters Group, MTS, Pelmorex, Quebecor, Rogers, SaskTel, Shaw and Telus met on April 8th saying in its first…
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NEW YORK and TORONTO – BBC Worldwide North America has named Sandra Mackechnie as vice-president, digital ad sales for BBC.com, Canada.
Mackechnie, pictured, joins the company from Postmedia Network where, as VP digital advertising and strategy and head of digital strategy, she led the corporate digital advertising initiatives, structure and process for all web and mobile platforms. Prior to that, Mackechnie was the director of digital sales at Rogers Digital.
Based in Toronto, Mackechnie will be responsible for generating new business and expanding the existing business across a number of digital platforms and custom creative solution opportunities. She will manage the…
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OTTAWA – The country’s free cell phone recycling program Recycle My Cell is calling on Canadians to join in the Earth Day celebrations Wednesday by making sure that all those old cell phones in their junk drawers are recycled responsibly.
Earth Day also marks the launches of Recycle My Cell's "What in Your Drawers?" community challenges in Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador. Non-profit and community organizations in those provinces are challenged to collect as many old cell phones as possible between April 22 and May 22, 2015, and the group in each…
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TORONTO – With just over a month remaining until the start of the 2015 Canadian Telecom Summit, Telus president and CEO Joe Natale, Xplornet Communications president and CEO Allison Lenehan, Rogers enterprise president Nitin Kawale and Wind Mobile CEO Alek Krstajic are among the industry heavyweights confirmed as keynote speakers.
Scheduled for June 1 – 3 at the Toronto Congress Centre in Toronto, the Canadian Telecom Summit attracts leaders from the telecom, broadcast and IT industries to discuss the key issues and trends that will impact this critical sector of the economy. Join more than 500 suppliers, policy makers, regulators,…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications saw overall revenue improve in the first quarter by 5% to $3.175 billion while cable, wireless and media expenditures drove down profits.
"We continued to see steady revenue growth this quarter along with strong growth in Wireless ARPA," said Guy Laurence, president and CEI, in the press release. "We made planned strategic investments to retain high-value customers ahead of the conclusion of the industry-wide shift to two-year contracts this summer – our underlying adjusted operating profit growth was otherwise solid. At the same time, we moved full steam ahead with our Rogers 3.0 program…
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TORONTO – Rogers is rolling out a new monitoring service for small businesses, allowing owners to easily connect, protect and manage what's happening at their business from anywhere, at any time, using their mobile, tablet or computer.
With Rogers Smart Business Monitoring, businesses located in the company’s cable footprint in Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland can choose from three different packages based on their business’s needs and budget. The system can connect to night vision cameras, lighting, door and window sensors, and monitor for intruders, motion detection, water leaks, carbon monoxide, smoke and fire. All features can be customized…
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TORONTO – Rogers Media president Keith Pelley is leaving the media giant this summer to become the new Commissioner and CEO of The European Tour, a global golf tour featuring 48 events in 26 countries.
During his five year tenure, Pelley (pictured) is credited with reorganizing the company’s media division; leading the push to digital across its publishing brands; launching shomi and Next Issue in Canada; launching Sportsnet magazine; and expanding the reach of the company's TV assets.
A search for Pelley's successor will begin and details on his exact departure date will be announced later. He will remain president of…
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