BANFF – One in four Canadians is a 4 screen consumer; and Canada per capita is the number one user of Facebook. Close to 40% of us readily watch TV online and Millennial YouTube and iTunes stars are popping up everywhere, exploding the old definition of TV.
So these are unsettling times for conventional Banff World Media Fest summer camp types that remember the good old days of The Banff Park Lodge (and tube-TVs…)
But that needn't be the case.
Jennifer Dettman, executive director, studio and unscripted content for the CBC, tells us that the Mother Corp is on the cusp of great…
Continue Reading
DENVER and TORONTO – World Fishing Network posted the highest single-month viewership in the history of the network during the month of April as part of its North American free preview.
Overall, WFN said that it experienced a 265% increase in average audience viewership in the U.S. during the preview period. Participating providers included Antietam Cable, Bright House Networks, Cablevision (Optimum), CenturyLink, Cox Communications, DISH, MetroNet and Verizon FiOS.
In Canada, Access, Bell, Cablevision du Nord du Quebec, Cogeco, Eastlink, MTS, Rogers, SaskTel, Shaw Cable, Shaw Direct, Source Cable, TBayTel, Telus, Videotron and Westman participated in the preview. While Canadian television…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Last week the three largest private English language broadcasters all laid down their cards and showed their hands for the upcoming fall TV season.
While some of what we heard and saw was predictable (Rogers is hockey mad, Shaw’s Global is drama-happy and Bell took a shot or two at the amount of money Rogers spent on hockey…), there were some surprises, as well. The biggest is that Rogers has compressed what it considers Citytv’s prime time from 8 to 10 p.m. only, leaving the 10-11 hour primarily to CTV and Global (and CHCH, too).
What’s the deal at…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Rogers received close to 175,000 requests for customer data from federal agencies in 2013, the company disclosed Thursday in its first ever Transparency Report.
As Cartt.ca reported, a coalition of Canadian academics and consumer groups asked the country’s biggest telecommunications service providers in January to reveal the extent to which they pass on their customers’ private information to government agencies when asked. Sixteen different telcos were asked to respond or commit to responding by March 3, 2014.
Rogers said in the report that it fully complies with Canadian privacy law and actively safeguards its customers’ information. At the…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Another year and another rebrand – two in fact. After making over TVTropolis in to DTOUR at this time last year, Shaw Media said Wednesday that it will launch new specialty channels FYI and Crime + Investigation later this year, rebrands of Twist TV and Mystery TV, respectively.
Geared towards a younger, upscale audience, FYI will offer contemporary lifestyle programs that spark inspiration, imagination, and innovation amongst viewers, reads the press release. From the fashionable-food-blogger to the adventure-seeking-bookworm, millenials are history's most progressive social innovators living hyphenated lives in digital domains. With an off-script format engaging this…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – With Rogers’ ‘upfront’ Tuesday seemingly dominated by its pending NHL coverage, City unveiled just four new series for its fall schedule – two new dramas, one new comedy series, and one reality program.
The new programming includes dramas Scorpion, about Homeland Security's new think tank who comprise the last line of defense against complex, high-tech threats, and the comic crime procedural Backstrom which will debut mid-season. Scripted comedy series Black-ish, (pictured) starring Anthony Anderson and Laurence Fishburne, is about a black family in the suburbs that attempts to establish a sense of cultural identity that honours their past…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Given the pile of money Rogers Communications paid for the rights to the National Hockey League games for the next 12 years, look for the wholesale fees paid for sports by BDUs – and their customers – to shoot up.
A research report recently published by Scotia Capital analyst Jeff Fan says that if you think sports makes up a big portion of BDUs’ programming costs now, just wait. When the sports genre was deregulated by the CRTC back in 2010, CTV/Bell Media served notice that rates for TSN (which had been the same for more than a…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Vodafone and Rogers jointly announced a new Partner Market agreement Tuesday that includes a commitment by the two companies to offer customers 4G roaming services and other products and services.
Under the non-equity agreement, Rogers becomes Vodafone's exclusive partner in Canada. According to the announcement, multinational customers of Vodafone Global Enterprise will benefit from the addition of Canada to their existing contracts for international managed services. In addition, Rogers will be able to draw on Vodafone's expertise in building and developing 4G mobile broadband networks, working with leading global equipment providers.
"We're focused on significantly improving our customers' experience…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Canadians with a Sportsnet subscription will soon be able to access all seven Sportsnet channels, online, on any device they own. Rogers customers can get access today in a free preview.
For no extra charge, customers can get 24/7 live streaming of all games, events, news and programming, available on all devices and computers through Sportsnet NOW (what, not “Go”?!)
All TV programming live will be available online – Blue Jays, NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB, curling, Tour de France and much more – from anywhere in Canada, on all seven Sportsnet channels: Sportsnet Ontario, East, West and Pacific, Sportsnet…
Continue Reading
ELLIOT LAKE, ON – The DiversityCanada Foundation wants the Governor in Council to quash a section of the Wireless Code of Conduct regarding prepaid wireless service cards, after the CRTC declined to do so.
The Foundation and the National Pensioners Federation submitted a joint petition Monday seeking to overturn a provision in the Code that they say “permits Bell, Rogers, Telus and other wireless providers to place expiry dates on cash held in the accounts of 3.7 million prepaid wireless consumers”.
The petition claims that the CRTC breached its duty of procedural fairness by ignoring evidence that prepaid wireless accounts hold…
Continue Reading
