By Connie Thiessen
Buck Martinez has announced his retirement after calling more than 4,000 Toronto Blue Jays games.
In a statement released by Sportsnet on Friday morning, Martinez said following the Jays’ World Series run at the end of last season, he and his wife Arlene made the decision it was time for him to step out of the booth after more than four decades in broadcasting.
“It’s hard to believe I came to Toronto in a trade in May of 1981, thinking that would be the end of a very good career,” said Martinez, who retired from Major League Baseball in 1986 following a 17-year career as a catcher for…
Continue Reading
Rogers says claim is “baseless”
By Ahmad Hathout
Ztar Mobile is claiming Rogers is making it difficult for the reseller to port the numbers of some 40,000 customers to a new provider after the cable giant terminated its wholesale agreement.
Rogers ended a roughly 20-year agreement with Ztar last year, leaving the small mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), which provides low-cost pre-paid phone services to convenience stores, scrambling to assist with the transition because it claims it no longer has access to the cable giant’s system, according to the complaint dated last week.
The MVNO, which found an alternative to Rogers, is asking…
Continue Reading
CBC/Radio-Canada on Monday announced Claude Galipeau, the national public broadcaster’s executive vice president of corporate development, has been elected as the new president of the Public Media Alliance (PMA), a global association of public service media organizations.
Galipeau is taking over as PMA president from Paul Thompson, CEO and editor-in-chief of Radio New Zealand, who did not stand for re-election but will remain on the PMA board. Thompson had served as president since 2016.
“At a time of great instability and uncertainty, international collaboration among public service media organisations is more…
Continue Reading
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – As the CRTC brings foreign streamers under regulation via the Online Streaming Act, Bell’s Heated Rivalry is being viewed as an example of exportable Canadian programming that can thrive with enough investment in the Canadian broadcasting system.
The producers and two cast members of Bell Media’s Crave series along with Mark Carney – a first-ever appearance by a prime minister at a Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) Prime Time event – were the highlight Friday that shone a bright light on the six-episode TV series that has become a red-hot global phenomenon.
After walking a special red…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
Bell is claiming that it has not been able to fully launch fibre internet service in British Columbia and Alberta because Telus has allegedly refused to provide adequate systems for the setup.
Bell CEO Mirko Bibic announced in November that the telco had been running a trial for internet service in Kelowna, British Columbia using Telus’s network, with the expectation that it would fully launch internet services – with plans to bundle content and mobile – this month.
But that has not happened yet, Bell claims, because Telus has failed to provide the requisite systems to…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers reported Thursday that the success of the Blue Jays and majority ownership of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) have propelled the media division to revenue that surpassed the initial expectations of executives.
At $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter, Rogers Media more than doubled its revenue compared to the same quarter last year ($547 million). Rogers closed its purchase of Bell’s 37.5 per cent stake in the MLSE last summer, making it a 75 per cent owner in a sports empire it values at over $15 billion. That was before the Blue Jays…
Continue Reading
Rogers announced Wednesday all of its customers in Atlantic Canada on all 5G+ plans now have Rogers Satellite service included at no extra cost for up to 24 months.
“We’re focused on bringing customers plans that deliver the best value,” said Anne Martin-Vachon, president of wireless at Rogers, in a press release. “By including Rogers Satellite in all our 5G+ plans in Atlantic Canada, we’re ensuring customers stay connected in more places.”
Traditional wireless networks cover only 28 per cent of Atlantic Canada, according to Rogers’s press release. Commercially Continue Reading
By Linda Stuart
Pension fund La Caisse (formerly CDPQ) announced after markets closed on Monday it intends to sell a block of shares of Cogeco Communications — representing nearly 11 per cent of the telecom company’s issued and outstanding subordinate shares — at a gross price of $67.45 per share.
La Caisse said in a press release the transaction is part of its periodic portfolio rebalancing and is expected to generate gross proceeds of approximately $229 million. Given the $67.45 share price, this seems to suggest La Caisse is selling nearly 3.4 million shares.
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
Bell has “drastically degraded” wholesale last-mile fibre service to Telus in Ontario and Quebec, a move that increased its market power and harmed customers of the third-party service provider, the Vancouver-based telco alleges in a heavily-redacted application to the CRTC dated Tuesday.
Telus claims in the unjust discrimination and undue preference complaint that the issue started on the evening of January 14, 2026. “With only a few hours’ notice, Bell drastically degraded the mandated wholesale FTTP service … that it provides to TELUS,” it said in the complaint, which asks the CRTC to act urgently. The CRTC on…
Continue Reading
With spring training set to start a month from now, Rogers Blue Jays Baseball Partnership has filed trademark applications for new logo designs commemorating the Blue Jays’ 50th season.
Revealed by the Blue Jays organization on Tuesday, the new logo will be used on a commemorative retro patch worn on team uniforms.
The 50th season logo contains the club’s original split font and birdhead, including the vintage maple leaf, that were part of the original Blue Jays primary logo. In a Facebook post, the club said…
Continue Reading