GATINEAU – Independent broadcasters are telling the CRTC that they will lose their spots on the broadcast dial if the Commission decides to eliminate genre protection rules and access rights for certain types of programming because the big Vertically Integrated (VI) media and carriage companies have the incentive to muscle their way in with copycat channels, causing “significant harm to the system.”
Genre protection has been a staple of the Canadian broadcasting system for many years, giving niche services the opportunity a protected space in which to build audience share along with a stable source of subscriber revenue, but also…
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TORONTO – Primus Telecommunications Canada unveiled its new leadership team under CEO Michael Nowlan, as the alternative telecommunications service provider undergoes a self-described “transformation”.
Nowlan, who joined Primus in January after 12 years as president and CEO of Marketwired, said that new team “will fundamentally change the way Primus goes to market and does business”.
That team includes:
– Walter Andri, senior vice-president, Sales: Andri is an experienced senior sales leader and business transformation specialist with a proven track record of leading global B2C and B2B businesses in the technology, telecommunications, retail and food and drug sectors. Prior to joining Primus,…
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GATINEAU – The quest of both the CRTC and the federal government to ensure consumers have more choice in their TV packages is running into some difficult headwinds. Vertically integrated broadcast distributors as well as content developers acknowledge that Canadians do say they want more channel flexibility, but they don’t want a so-called “skinny basic” tier of TV channels.
In the official TV Policy Review Notice of Consultation (2014-190), the Commission has proposed a basic cable package that only includes local Canadian TV stations, the 9(1)(h) must-carry channels, provincial educational services if they exist, and in some cases, the community…
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GATINEAU – Canadian prices for wireline, wireless and Internet services are generally competitive when compared to other G7 countries and Australia, with the exception of entry level mobile wireless service and high-speed Internet, according to an annual report commissioned by Industry Canada and the CRTC.
Prepared by Ottawa’s Wall Communications, the 2014 update Price Comparisons of Wireline, Wireless and Internet Services in Canada and with Foreign Jurisdictions is an annual telecom services price comparison study that combines and averages wireline, mobile wireless, broadband Internet, and mobile Internet service rates, as well as bundles of these services along with basic digital TV…
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HAMILTON – Hamilton, Ontario residents who are former Shaw customers are saying that the switchover to Rogers has left them with spotty Internet and cable service.
According to a report in the Hamilton Spectator, Rogers is undertaking a node-by-node switchover of the network after purchasing Shaw Communication's Mountain Cablevision for $400 million last year.
A Rogers spokesperson quoted in the report acknowledged that some customers had experienced technical issues, but the company has brought more staff into the call centre to handle complaints and now have extra technicians on the road.
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GATINEAU – The place, and prominence, of American specialty networks in Canadian television programming packages may soon be changing as the CRTC grapples with the part that U.S. discretionary services play in our rapidly changing broadcast environment.
When the Commission launched the third phase of Let’s Talk TV: A Conversation with Canadians last April, it also proposed a potential new approach to licensing foreign services for carriage in Canada. That proposal suggested a simple test: a non-Canadian service would be authorized for carriage and distribution unless it would have “an undue negative impact” on the Canadian TV system. Services that…
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MONTREAL – Viewers Choice, the 23-year-old pay-per-view service owned by Bell and Rogers and carried on cable providers in eastern Canada, is winding up operations and will shut down on September 30, Cartt.ca has learned.
Sources at two distributors said that Bell Media, which holds a majority stake in Viewers Choice, recently sent out notifications of the closure to those offering the service. Those companies include Rogers, Videotron, Cogeco, Eastlink, Bell Aliant, Source Cable and select other smaller providers.
Viewers Choice was set up in 1991 as a partnership between Astral Bellevue Communications Inc. (50.1 per cent), Rogers Pay Per…
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TORONTO and MONTREAL – The Canadian Premium Audience Exchange (CPAX) is re-launching and is adding three new partners.
Quebecor Media, Channel Zero and Reader's Digest have joined existing partners CBC/Radio-Canada, Rogers Media, Shaw Communications, Corus Entertainment, Cineplex, V and Télé-Québec. The bilingual real-time bidding exchange service allows each media company to maintain their unique, direct sales operations with a portion of their inventory flowing directly into CPAX for bidding by private access buyers. Inventory is pooled amongst the companies' digital assets, enabling buyers to bid specifically on inventory targeted to their demographic, and agency partners have first access to bid on the inventory.
According…
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MONTREAL – Entrepreneur and seasoned telecommunications professional Shawne MacDonald has joined Incospec Communications as account executive, sales and business development.
MacDonald (pictured) has over 25 years of hands-on and management experience in technical services. In 2009 he founded and launched SMD Technical Solutions Inc., a company focused on providing technical services to the telecommunications industry, including Rogers Communications, Northwestel and VANOC/2010 Olympic Games. Previous to that, he held management positions with Shaw Communications in Whistler and Whistler Cable, and was a senior technician with UMG Telecommunications in Brockville, and Kincardine Cable TV.
In his new role, MacDonald will be responsible for…
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GATINEAU – Among the 2,704 official filings to the CRTC for its Let’s Talk TV formal policy review coming in September is an 11-page warning from over-the-top video behemoth Netflix which said, essentially: Don’t slap any new regs on us, thanks.
While the CBC, Canadian Media Producers Association and others want the CRTC to tap Netflix’s Canadian revenue for contributions to Canadian content, the U.S.-based online video provider says the Commission has no right, and besides, it already has a ton of Canadian content, produces some things here and is merely complementary to the regulated system.
The CBC, however, says it’s…
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