TORONTO – To help raise awareness of Israel’s 65th Independence Day, Ethnic Channels Group is offering a free preview of The Israeli Network from April 15 to May 14.
ECG says the channel is the only Israeli broadcast entity which reaches out to the English speaking Jewish demographics while adding English subtitles to the Hebrew speaking programs. The channel maintains a diverse spectrum of programming from Israel’s most popular channels.
The Israeli Network broadcasts in Canada on Rogers Channel 899 and Bell Fibe Channel 897.
www.ethnicchannels.com
Continue Reading
DURING A SHORT, Monday morning interview with reporters during a visit to Asia to extoll the virtues of the Canadian ICT sector (and others), Industry Minister Christian Paradis noted he wasn’t exactly pleased with Rogers Communications pending purchase of Shaw Communications’ AWS spectrum.
Shaw bought the spectrum in 2008 during that auction but decided not to build a traditional wireless network after all. As spectrum which was set aside for new wireless entrants, the auction rules said it is not allowed to be purchased by one of the incumbent providers until next year. However, Shaw has already Continue Reading
CALGARY – Shaw Communications Inc. reported today that consolidated revenue for its second quarter and for the year to date was $1.25 billion and $2.57 billion, respectively, each up 2% over the comparable periods last year.
Net income was $182 million for Q2 FY2013 and $417 million for the six months ended February 28, 2013, compared to $178 million and $380 million respectively for the same periods last year. Total operating income before amortization increased 9% to $538 million over the comparable quarterly period, and the year-to-date amount of $1.14 billion was up 8%.
Free…
Continue Reading
Ron Osborne, the longtime Canadian media and telecom executive who began his career as a chartered accountant, died suddenly on Monday in Florida. The 66-year-old Osborne was described in an announcement put out by Postmedia (where he was chairman of the board) as a “rare breed of executive” whose business expertise was sought after by several Canadian private and public companies as a member of their boards of directors.
Osborne, who emigrated from the United Kingdom in 1968, joined Maclean Hunter in 1981. He worked there for 13 years, the last eight as the…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – In a move that is sure to make the politicos in Ottawa take notice, Wind Mobile, Public Mobile and Mobilicity today jointly announced their withdrawal from the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), saying the association is biased in favour of its rivals and does not represent their interests.
The group claims the CWTA has become the “voice of big three telcos” – referring to Rogers, Bell and Telus – at the “expense of consumers and new entrant mobile service providers” and does not represent the Canadian mobile wireless sector.
“When we were first…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Competition in Canada’s wireless industry could be hampered by more stringent spectrum licence transfer regulation, new entrants and incumbents alike are telling Industry Canada.
Rogers Communications warns the department that its proposal will lead to an inefficient market where the existing secondary trading market for spectrum licences will become limited as some operators will see their options to sell spectrum holdings constrained. These new rules could “dampen new entry by increasing the risks associated with selling their business to the highest bidder if they fail to establish a viable wireless business” and “possibly result in lawsuits by aggrieved…
Continue Reading
WHILE THE CANADIAN launch date of Blackberry’s new Q10 smartphone is rumoured to be April 30, that hasn’t stopped several wireless carriers from announcing they are already taking pre-orders.
Rogers’ announcement was the first in Cartt.ca’s inbox this morning, in which the company says it is the first Canadian carrier to offer the new Q10 smartphone. The Q10 follows the release of Blackberry’s Z10 model on Feb. 5 and is their second smartphone to run on the company’s Blackberry 10 operating system.
While both the Z10 and Q10 smartphones run on the Blackberry 10…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – There's no Say No To Bell campaign this time around, but most of Bell's major competitors have again told the CRTC they are strongly against the takeover of Astral Media by BCE, even with the new promises to divest English-language TV assets.
Quebecor, Rogers and Telus all said they were against the deal in submissions sent to the Commission on Friday, the deadline for interventions in the new application for change of ownership.
Quebecor Media, which owns the Vidéotron cable provider and broadcaster TVA, "asks the Commission to categorically refuse the approval of the revised application," saying it would…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Walmart Canada and Rogers Media today unveiled a new custom publication for the retail giant’s customers called Walmart Live Better.
The free magazine features stories on food, home, beauty and fashion trends and tips targeted to Canada’s 24-45 female demographic. The print edition of the magazine, produced by Rogers’ custom content division, has a circulation of one million and will be published six times a year. It is also available online for mobile, iPad and tablet users.
Continue Reading
TUESDAY’S ARTICLE ON PACKAGING flexibility, the cost of sports, and the evolving demands of consumers unfortunately misinforms and misleads readers by providing a narrow view of a complex ecosystem. Several important facts are worth pointing out. (Note, for simplicity I’ll use “cable” to represent all cable, satellite, and IPTV distributors, except where specified).
FACT: Content costs are indeed increasing.
Creating and acquiring content is frustratingly immune to productivity and efficiency improvements demonstrated in industries like computers and technology. Creating content is entirely a people business. The cost goes up every year. And sports content costs are increasing the fastest. But…
Continue Reading
