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Search Results for: rogers

Cable / Telecom News October 2, 2024 2 years ago

CRTC asks about impact of 3G decommissioning

The CRTC is asking the country’s largest telecoms to answer questions as to how the decommissioning of their 3G networks will impact those still on the legacy wireless technology. In a letter Tuesday, the commission is asking Rogers, Bell, Telus, Quebecor, SaskTel, Iristel, and TBayTel to answer a few questions by November 1. Those questions include whether the telecoms and their flankers still operate a 3G network and whether they have 3G-only plans available in the market; whether they plan to decommission the 3G network in the next three years and, if so, when that will happen, what will happen to… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News September 26, 2024 2 years ago

Rogers CTIO Ron McKenzie retires

The chief technology and information officer (CTIO) for Rogers has retired from the company late this summer, Rogers confirmed. Ron McKenzie was brought on in July 2022 as the cable giant’s CTO to replace Jorge Fernandes in the wake of the Rogers network outage that knocked out services for millions of Canadians, which prompted a regulatory study and the company announcing billions of dollars in network resiliency initiatives. “Being the CTIO of Rogers has been an incredible honour with such a long history of innovation,” McKenzie said in a LinkedIn post. “Leading the best Technology team in the… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News September 25, 2024 2 years ago

Anthem Sports & Entertainment to acquire Hollywood Suite

By Connie Thiessen Anthem Sports & Entertainment has reached an agreement to acquire Hollywood Suite, the owner and operator of four linear TV channels and accompanying digital on-demand service, pending CRTC approval. Launched in 2011, Hollywood Suite is the largest pure-play movie service in Canada, with its film-focused 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s channels available in over 10 million homes via Rogers, Bell, Telus, Amazon Prime Video, Cogeco, Eastlink, and Freedom Mobile, among other cable providers. Anthem – which has offices and studios in Toronto, Los Angeles, Denver, Nashville, New York, and Cleveland – says Hollywood Suite’s ability to satisfy both traditional linear viewers and on-demand focused digital… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News September 18, 2024 2 years ago

Conservative MP sponsoring petition to recover tax dollars spent on ‘Russians at War’ doc

By Ahmad Hathout A Conservative member of Parliament is expected to carry a petition, opened for signatures Tuesday, that asks the federal government to recover all taxpayer money that went into the production of the documentary “Russians at War.” The petition, sponsored by Manitoba MP James Bezan and opening to 331 signatures so far, additionally asks that the government request that Canadian law enforcement agencies, including the RCMP and CSIS, investigate “potentially violations of Canadian, Ukrainian, or international law” by the lead filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova, who is Russian-Canadian; to work with the RCMP to “seize all materials collected and filmed as… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News September 18, 2024 2 years ago

Corus unveils new lifestyle channel branding

By Connie Thiessen Corus Entertainment has unveiled the branding for its two new lifestyle networks set to launch in Canada at the end of the year. Flavour Network and Home Network will both launch Dec. 30, with more than 460 hours of lifestyle content. Corus says the channels will feature a mix of Canadian original programming, as well as international acquisitions through new and expanded license deals. The channel unveilings come following Corus’ loss of the Canadian broadcast rights to Food Network Canada and HGTV Canada, among other Warner Bros. Discovery content, in a coup by Rogers Sports & Media to scoop brand and content licensing rights from both Corus and Bell. Flavour Network… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News September 18, 2024 2 years ago

Rogers to buy out Bell’s ownership stake in MLSE

Bell secures access to Raptors and regional Leafs games By Connie Thiessen and Ahmad Hathout Rogers Communications has signed an agreement to buy Bell’s 37.5 per cent ownership stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) for $4.7 billion, making it a majority owner in the Toronto sports empire. MLSE owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC, Toronto Argonauts, Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, the NBA G League Raptors 905, MLS Next Pro team TFC II, and the Raptors Uprising Gaming Club, which is the Toronto Raptors esports franchise in the NBA 2K League. MLSE also owns and… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News September 16, 2024 2 years ago

Rogers says Corus’s Disney-themed channels not comparable to Disney+

By Ahmad Hathout Corus has failed to show that any of its Disney-themed channels are comparable to Disney+ programming, making its undue preference complaint against Rogers unfounded, the cable giant said in response to the media company’s Part 1 application. Corus filed the complaint last month alleging Rogers is giving itself an undue preference by trying to lure people to its Disney+ offerings – which Rogers provides in subscription and ad-supported formats – by manipulating how it positions those services to Corus’s Disney-theme specialty channels on the Ignite TV service, an aggregation platform. That manipulation allegedly includes the… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News September 13, 2024 2 years ago

SaskTel alleges CRTC made wholesale decision based on contradictory cabinet direction

By Ahmad Hathout Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. has fired Thursday the first challenge to the CRTC’s decision to force it to open its last-mile fibre facilities to its major competitors, alleging the regulator relied in its decision on a cabinet direction that was already beyond the jurisdiction of the Governor in Council. “The CRTC, by adhering to the cabinet direction, conducted a lengthy consultative exercise, with input from a broad spectrum of industry participants and interested parties, including SaskTel, in service of making a determination that was, in effect, already made,” the Crown corporation says in its memorandum to the Federal… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News September 12, 2024 2 years ago

DOC condemns TVO’s withdrawal of support for ‘Russians at War’

By Connie Thiessen The Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC) says it is profoundly alarmed by a decision by TVO’s Board of Directors to withdraw support for the documentary “Russians at War.” Currently set to make its North America debut at TIFF, following its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, the Canadian-French co-production, was developed through a multi-year collaborative effort involving the filmmakers, led by Russian-Canadian Anastasia Trofimova, TVO’s Documentary team, and B.C.’s Knowledge Network. The film also received $340,000 from the Canada Media Fund (CMF) and funding from the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Fund and Rogers Documentary Fund.
Working alongside award-winning editor Roland Schlimme, Trofimova’s first-person doc sees her join Russian soldiers in Ukraine as… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News September 10, 2024 2 years ago

News groups urge CRTC not to redirect pledged Google money into public participation fund

By Ahmad Hathout Organizations representing news media and their workers are warning the CRTC not to redirect any of the $100 million they were earmarked by Google toward public interest participation in CRTC proceedings related to news linking matters. The Broadcasting Participation Fund (BPF), which bankrolls public interest participation in CRTC proceedings, filed a Part 1 application this summer requesting that the commission expand its mandate to include matters pertaining to large technology platforms that must pay to link to Canadian news content under the Online News Act. Google has already agreed to put an annual inflation-indexed $100… Continue Reading
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