WHISTLER, B.C. – While Rogers, Shaw and Telus say they are supportive of an a-la-carte channel environment, executives from each company offered up some cautionary advice during CIBC’s annual Whistler Institutional Investors conference last week.
Speaking at the event January 23, Steve Wilson, Shaw’s executive vice-president of corporate development and CFO, acknowledged the industry realizes that consumers want more choice, and from his company’s point of view, it’s about giving them the ability to access content in a variety of ways. There also needs to be consideration given to the impact that has on the Canadian broadcasting system and the…
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WHILE THE CANADIAN SUBSCRIPTION television market is at the beginning of a decade-long decay, growth is still in the cards for cable and telecom companies in Canada thanks to the world’s shift to broadband, says a new report from Scotiabank.
The report, entitled “Embrace the Evolution” (whose cover photo is pictured) says thanks to broadband internet “the growth outlook is bright” for telcos and cablecos (1%-1.5% revenue growth and 2.5%-3.5% in EBITDA growth), due partially to more predictability on the capital expenditure front – and the concentration on more profitable broadband products and services.
However, it won’t be pretty on the…
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GATINEAU – The simultaneous substitution of American broadcast signals for Canadian ones, when the programming is identical, has been going on since the 1970s.
Back then, cable operators were often described by broadcasters and others as pirates who brought in American TV channels and charged customers for the privilege of seeing them, even though they paid nothing for the signal and Canadian broadcasters had often purchased the copyrights of much of that U.S. programming for our country. Faced with the threat of a federal government crackdown on its business (yes, the Commission of the day was pondering forcing all American…
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TORONTO – Change is afoot in the upper echelons of Rogers Media.
In the first of two announcements Thursday, Scott Moore (pictured) was named president of Sportsnet and NHL, effective immediately. In this new role, Moore will lead the two “priority sports portfolios” and serve on the Rogers Media Senior Leadership Team.
Previously, Moore was president of broadcast at Rogers Media, overseeing programming, production, regulatory, engineering and distribution of the company’s TV and radio assets. Prior to joining Rogers Media in 2010, he was executive director of CBC Sports and general manager of CBC’s media sales and marketing department.
Moore was quick to…
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TORONTO – A coalition of Canadian academics and consumer groups are asking the country’s biggest telecommunications service providers to divulge the extent to which they pass on their customers’ private information to government agencies when asked.
Spearheaded by Toronto-based researcher Dr. Christopher Parsons, the organization sent letters to 16 different companies this week, including Bell, Rogers, Cogeco, Shaw, Telus and Videotron, asking them to respond to questions on their data retention and sharing policies. The telcos were asked to respond or commit to responding by March 3, 2014.
“Specifically, we are asking how, when, and why your company discloses information to…
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TORONTO – Verizon Wireless' strong wireless growth in fiscal year 2013 may bode well for Canadian incumbent wireless carriers, says an industry analyst.
In a note to clients on Tuesday, Dvai Ghose, Managing Director/Head of Research for Canaccord Genuity, said that incumbent wireless subscriber growth in North America still looks to be “robust despite maturation”, and predicted postpaid subscriber base increases at all three Canadian incumbents when they post their financial results for 2013 within the next few weeks. He estimates a 5.7% year-over-year increase at Bell Mobility, a 4.7% uptick at Telus Mobility and a 3.2% rise at Rogers Wireless.
Despite maturation, slowing…
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A UNIQUE 30-SECOND spot began airing across most Canadian TV channels last week trumpeting how much Canadians love television, while promoting a new iOS and Google app which, it appears, will let some individual Canadians get on TV on February 6th.
While the whole industry has so far been pretty tight-lipped about the initiative, the ad and the app have been put together by the Television Bureau of Canada and its member companies. The raison d’etre of TVB (whose members count most of the channels available to Canadians, except for Corus Entertainment’s, Quebecor’s TVA and its…
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MONTREAL – With eight days until Bell Let's Talk Day on January 28, Bell officially thanked the Canadian companies and associations that are helping spread the word about Canadian mental health.
Encompassing media companies, major-league sports teams and associations, which include Bell’s partners and competitors alike, the organizations are providing various platforms for the Bell Let's Talk message, including TV, cinema, radio, newspaper, out-of-home and online advertising, rink boards at major sports arenas, promotional events, and media coverage dedicated to enhancing Canadian mental health. They include:
– Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
– Banff World Media Festival
– Basketball Canada
– Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada
-…
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PASADENA, CA – Rogers Media is bringing specialty channel FXX to Canada on April 1st.
Targeting the adults 18-34 demo, FXX will mirror its U.S. counterpart with irreverent, witty, and subversive comedies including It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League, Wilfred, Legit, and Ali G: Rezurection, from Sacha Baron Cohen, featuring new content and previously unseen episodes of Da Ali G Show.
Among the original series debuting on the channel are Chozen, an animated comedy from the creators of Eastbound & Down, which follows a white rapper looking for redemption following a prison sentence; and Canadian-filmed Fargo, based on the Coen…
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TORONTO – For those hoping Wind Mobile would continue to build from struggling start-up into a strong, fourth national wireless competitor, those hopes were dealt a major blow Monday when Globalive Wireless, Wind’s parent in Canada, officially pulled out of the 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction beginning Tuesday.
In a statement released Monday afternoon, the Canadian wireless upstart said "Wind Mobile’s shareholder VimpelCom decided not to fund Wind Mobile’s participation in this auction, but confirmed that it remains in discussions with the federal government and Wind Mobile’s other shareholder AAL Holding to craft a path forward that will continue to…
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