OTTAWA – A Senate committee turned to a former broadcast regulator for insight on how to address the challenges facing CBC/Radio-Canada in light of its loss of Hockey Night in Canada to Rogers Communications last year.
Appearing via video conference from Florida, former chair of the CRTC Konrad von Finckenstein told the Standing Senate Committee on Transportation and Communications what he believes could be done to improve the chances for success of Canada’s public broadcaster. He pointed to unloading the corporation’s vast over-the-air broadcast network, refocusing of the public broadcaster’s content as well as changing the governance structure and oversight…
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GATINEAU – Without domestic roaming rate caps Wind Mobile can’t compete in the Canadian marketplace and despite what the incumbent wireless companies have to say, the high wholesale rates they charge the newcomers prevent some Canadians from choosing Wind as their provider.
So, the CRTC must step in, the company told the CRTC in the reply phase of the Regulator’s dive into wholesale wireless domestic roaming rates, the initial comments for which we summarized here last week.
In its reply, Wind noted several consumer groups told the CRTC that the fact Wind offers “home” rates for when…
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TORONTO – The Canadian CommTech Show has released its schedule of seminars and workshops for its upcoming spring shows, which this year includes the premier of a new Eastern Canada show consisting of more than 25 sessions.
The show in Calgary, known as CommTech West, will be held May 28 and 29, 2014 at Calgary’s Coast Plaza Hotel and Conference Centre, while the new CommTech East show will be held April 15 and 16, 2014 at the Mississauga Convention Centre.
The multi-industry show attracts buyers, safety experts, operations management, planners, strategists, engineers, designers, inside and outside plant technicians, construction staff, system…
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TORONTO – CBC has upped the ante on its Olympics coverage, announcing today that its “every hour” coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics will now also be accessible virtually “everywhere,” thanks to new licensing agreements with Bell, Rogers, Telus, Videotron, and YouTube.
The public broadcaster said that live and on-demand English- and French-language Olympic Winter Games content from CBC/Radio-Canada will be “top of menu” for the telcos, and will also be prominently featured on popular digital portals including MSN.ca and YouTube.
CBC says the agreement with YouTube represents one component of an expanded alliance that will see a renewal of CBC/Radio-Canada’s presence on the…
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OTTAWA – Canadians will have more say on new cell towers in their communities after the government revised its antenna tower siting policy Wednesday.
The changes to the policy mean wireless companies must now consult with communities on all commercial tower installations, regardless of height; build the tower within three years of consulting with communities; and ensure that residents are well-informed of upcoming consultations through clearly-marked communications. Municipalities are also encouraged to get involved early in the tower siting process.
Previously, companies only needed to consult when they were planning to build a tower higher than 15 metres, and there was…
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TORONTO – Attention budding fashionistas: GameTV is bringing fashion-forward reality competition The Fashion Fund to Canada next week, complete with celebrity judges Anna Wintour and Diane Von Furstenberg.
Starting February 13 at 8:00 PM ET/PT, The Fashion Fund follows ten aspiring fashion designers vying for the chance to be named the 2013 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winner. The series takes audiences behind the catwalk and showroom floor, sits in on studio visits and a Vogue fashion photo shoot, and culminates with a presentation at NYC Fashion Week and the announcement of the winner.
The designers are judged and given feedback by the…
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VANCOUVER and TORONTO – Rogers has unveiled a new machine-to-machine (M2M) solution that is says will “breathe new life into the Canadian retail experience”.
According to the company's presentation Tuesday at Wavefront Wireless Summits in Vancouver, the Mobile Shopper will allow customers to engage with brands in-store through mobile offers, applications and mobile payments technology all with their smartphone. The platform works by combining a wireless network connection with mobile applications to deliver relevant content – such as daily offers and promotions – to customers that choose to opt in to the service on their mobile device. Retailers gain insights with…
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TORONTO – Look for up to seven nationally televised Hockey Night In Canada games on Saturdays next hockey season, expanded content across multiple platforms, other exclusive windows for national broadcasts, and “Hometown Hockey” every Sunday night, adding up to more than 500 NHL games on TV next season.
And that’s before the playoffs begin.
Scott Moore, president of Sportsnet and NHL at Rogers Media, made the announcement Tuesday afternoon at an upfront presentation to media, ad agencies and buyers as the Mattamy Athletic Centre in downtown Toronto (which is housed in what used to be Maple Leaf Gardens). Readers will recall…
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MONTREAL – While it’s all-hands-on-deck time for the CBC’s 16 days of broadcast and new media coverage of the Sochi Winter Olympics, CEO Hubert Lacroix sent out a note of caution to employees last week, warning hard decisions are coming once the sliding, riding, skiing, skating and sledding comes to an end.
“I couldn’t imagine a better start to the year than the Sochi Games!” Lacroix enthused in the staff memo. “Whenever I walk down the hall, wherever I happen to be, the energy is palpable. And the most exciting thing is, in just a few short days, that energy…
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GATINEAU – Submissions to the CRTC on its wholesale domestic roaming rates proceeding break down just where most would expect.
In December, the CRTC launched a review of the rates Rogers, Bell and Telus charge smaller wireless service providers when customers of those smaller companies use their phones to roam outside of their own provider’s home network. The primary accusation of the Commission is that the big three are charging the likes of Wind and Eastlink more than they charge American operators whose customers roam on networks here when they travel.
In the summer of 2013, the…
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