MONTREAL – We have a real soft spot in our hearts for those regular citizens, the ones with no industry background, with nothing to gain financially, who are concerned enough about a broadcasting or telecom, issue before the CRTC that they choose to appear publicly to make their case officially.
A few years ago, it was Ottawa’s Marjorie Lemieux at the fee-for-carriage kerfuffle. Thursday in Montreal it was Rahul Majumdar, just a regular Montrealer who doesn’t want to see TSN Radio 690 (formerly 990) turn into RDS Radio. The Montreal sports fan bears the French sports…
Continue Reading
WINNIPEG – Just a day after resigning from Power 97 after a three-year run, Winnipeg radio personalities Dave Wheeler, Phil Aubrey and Rena Jae have found a new home at Rogers Radio station 92 CITI FM.
"Unfortunately we couldn't come to contractual terms with Corus Entertainment and Rena, Philly and I are no longer employed with Corus," Wheeler told the Winnipeg Free Press.
The timing for Rogers however could not be better as the BBM Canada’s fall radio survey is now underway.
“As Winnipeg’s highest rated rock morning show, securing the on-air team of team of Dave Wheeler, Phil Aubrey and…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – There’s little doubt of who’s the biggest fish in the Quebec media pond. Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau is a rock star here, drawing reporters, photographers and others like kids to free candy floss.
We’re hard pressed to think of an executive in English Canadian media whose mere arrival at a CRTC hearing would be akin to a red carpet walk, as the assemblage of shooters blasted away when Péladeau walked in with Group TVA president Pierre Dion and Vidéotron president Robert Dépatie. After their appearance a the hearing, more than a dozen microphones and numerous still and…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – After marking 35 years with CTV News, veteran news anchor Christine Bentley is stepping down this coming Friday, September 14. Bentley made the surprise announcement on air Wednesday during the early evening local CTV Toronto nightly newscast.
CTV Toronto will air special tributes to Bentley for the remainder of the week, leading up to her final broadcast on Friday. The station said it will announce her replacement in the coming days.
"I am so grateful to our viewers who have welcomed me so openly into their lives and living rooms over these years. I am so proud to be…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL ? With a three-hour break mid-day (we were told someone had to go to a funeral, so quit complaining&), yesterday?s long hearing day featured a ton of back and forth between Bell executives and the panel of CRTC commissioners.
Long lovely narratives explaining each exchange would be nice but time restraints mean we?re going for the bullets only of some of the highlights. We think we?ve hit some of the main points with our bulleted rundown here.
* In his first public appearance as chair of the CRTC, Jean-Pierre Blais acquitted himself well, nailing a few biting comments throughout the…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Sensing the opposition to its proposed benefits package was pretty strong, the first thing Bell Canada did Monday morning when it faced the CRTC was to boost that package – making it bigger and, in the opinion of its executives, better.
As many companies which have faced the CRTC over the years are wont to do, Bell looked at the opposition to its benefits package filed with written comments to the CRTC prior to the hearing and boosted what it originally proposed by $41 million dollars, increasing the overall value of the package to $241.3 million, to be…
Continue Reading
FREMONT, CALIF – Cellphone-Mate, a provider of cell phone boosters/amplifiers and accessories, is launching a cellular signal booster designed for the Canadian market just ahead of this week’s Canadian Wireless Trade Show (CWTS).
The SureCall Tri-Flex LTE, which retails for $899, is a self-contained booster that is the first tri-band consumer cellular amplifier to cover LTE on the AWS band and 2G/3G on the Cellular 850 MHz and PCS 1900 Mhz band says Cellphone-Mate. The manufacturer claims it provides the highest integrated cellular amplifier ever introduced claims the manufacturer. The booster covers all bands and technologies in Canada for…
Continue Reading
TORONTO– Citytv is honouring award-winning veteran Toronto news anchor Gord Martineau for 35 years of dedication and service. Currently the anchor of Citytv’s flagship newscast, CityNews at Six, Martineau joined Citytv in September 1977 and has grown to become an iconic brand of the station, and one of Toronto’s most recognized news anchors.
At CityNews Martineau has covered events ranging from the Toronto blackout to the Toronto Blue Jays World Series wins. He has reported overseas on the ground from earthquake-ravaged Haiti and was with Canada’s troops on the front lines in Afghanistan. In April 2007, Martineau received a lifetime…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – The SayNoToBell.ca campaigners claim that nearly 50,000 Canadians, both consumers and industry leaders, have signed their petition urging the CRTC and government to deny the Bell/Astral merger. CRTC hearings into the proposed deal are poised to begin next week.
SayNoToBell.ca says 42 of the 60 interveners to be heard have already publicly opposed the deal or questioned the transaction. Notable industry presentations include:
• Québécor – Monday, September 10
• Eastlink – Tuesday, September 11
• Cogeco Cable – Wednesday, September 12
• Rogers Communications – Wednesday, September 12
• Telus – Wednesday, September 12
• Canadian Cable Systems Alliance – Friday, September 14
Notable…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Jaye Albright and Stephanie Winans will join forces to discuss how to exploit social media and more importantly how to get results at this fall’s OAB conference during their session called Integration in a Digital Age.
One of radio's most-honored consultants, Albright will lead a talk entitled Broadcasting Has ALWAYS Been Social where she will speak to how radio has evolved over the past five decades. She will examine how yesterday’s rules no longer apply in today's media, values and culture. The group participation session will analyze some of the best content being created right now, by some…
Continue Reading