MONTREAL – Quebecor's Videotron is making its first step toward eliminating analog cable television service throughout its network.
Last Friday, the company issued a stop-sell order for new analog television subscriptions. The end goal is the transition of its approximately 412,000 remaining analog TV customers (many of which are hotel rooms or other business customers) to the company's illico digital service.
"We need more space in the network," said Videotron vice-president Isabelle Dessureault. In areas like western Montreal, where analog cable is still prevalent, Videotron devotes about 55 of its 135 6-MHz television channels to analog service. Ending analog service completely…
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WHILE WE HAVE NO inside information to give you, we have covered enough CRTC hearings featuring the current crop of Bell executives and regulatory folks to guess at what the thrust of their presentation will be when they face the panel of CRTC commissioners in Montreal come September 10th.
They are probably going to ask what all the fuss is about. The media industry has consolidated at a rapid pace with the likes of Bell, Rogers, Shaw, and Quebecor owning significant carrier as well as media assets. With one more company, Astral Media, assimilated into Bell…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC has green-lit the sale of sports channels owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) to a company co-owned by Rogers and BCE, effectively closing the $1.32 billion transaction that will see the two communication companies take a majority stake in the sports and entertainment giant.
While the transaction involved several sports-related properties including the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Raptors, the CRTC's review was limited to the five television services owned by MLSE – Leafs TV, Gol TV and NBA TV Canada, as well as un-launched services Mainstream Sports and Live Music Channel.
"When deciding…
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SO IT?S NOT JUST Quebecor, Cogeco and EastLink demanding the CRTC say no to Bell Canada'?s $3.38 billion purchase of Astral Media after all. Telus, Rogers, MTS Allstream, the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and others want this latest edition of the ongoing vertical integration story erased.
(An earlier version of this story said Friends of Canadian Broadcasting were also opposed to the merger. That us not the case and Cartt.ca regrets the error.)
Still, other groups such as ACTRA, the Writers Guild, the CMPA and Directors Guild, while not ultimately opposing the…
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TORONTO – With less than two weeks to go until its Canadian debut, Shaw Media has kicked off a national advertising campaign to introduce Lifetime to Canadian women.
Targeting women 25-54, the off-air campaign highlights series Dance Moms and The Client List, plus layers in a third image piece featuring A-list talent including Jennifer Love Hewitt, Queen Latifah, Lindsay Lohan and Heidi Klum. Together, the campaign aims to promote the brand’s breadth of programming including scripted drama, unscripted series and movies.
Out-of-home executions include a “subway domination” at Toronto’s St. George station, plus large-scale billboards in the high-traffic Toronto Eaton Centre…
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TORONTO – CBC has finalized a sub-licensing agreement with Sportsnet for upcoming international soccer events including the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.
The deal, which will see Sportsnet carry matches of the competitions for which CBC holds Canadian broadcast rights under its agreement with FIFA, also makes Sportsnet a licensed broadcaster of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.
The events include the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Japan 2012, the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Azerbaijan 2012, the FIFA Futsal World Cup Thailand 2012, the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013, the FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013, the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup…
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TORONTO – Toronto-focussed news station CityNews Channel said Monday that it is extending its late night newscast to one hour in order to offer viewers more news, weather and entertainment.
Available on Citytv, CityNews Channel, and online at CityNews.ca, the expanded CityNews Tonight broadcast is anchored by Roger Petersen and includes weather reports from Adam Stiles and sports from Kathryn Humphreys.
“With breaking news occurring throughout the day, there is a demand from viewers for more information from a trusted news team,” said John Hinnen, Rogers Media’s VP of television and radio news, in the announcement. “By extending our newscast by…
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TORONTO – Popular Bollywood entertainment channel, ZEE Cinema, launched on Rogers Digital Cable and Telus Optik TV in Canada this month.
Zee Americas has entered into a long-term distribution agreement with Toronto’s Ethnic Channels Group for ZEE Cinema in Canada. The deal provides Ethnic Channels Group the rights to distribute the service on cable and satellite platforms here.
“This is exciting for us in that for the first time ever we are able to focus our marketing and unlock the strength of…
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WHILE LISTENING, PERPLEXED, to Tuesday’s “Say No To Bell” press conference led by Quebecor Inc. Cogeco Inc. and Bragg Communications, I tweeted “Horse is out of the barn, is lost in the woods and the barn is on fire.”
Many of us are fond of using the “horse is out of the barn” cliché when it comes to big media mergers, noting it’s far too late now to close the door on any of it. That is undeniable, and the proposed Bell Media purchase of Astral Media is just about the last of them. The Canadian barn…
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TORONTO – The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union used a certain tennis tournament as a backdrop to remind folks that some of its members who are contract technicians that do install and maintenance work for Rogers Communications are still walking the picket line.
“Tennis season is in full swing at the Rogers Cup, but one of the most unreported matches is taking place between the telecommunication giant and the technicians that deliver its services. Some of Rogers' technician staff have been on strike for two months in a bid to secure a first work contract,” reads the release.
"While Rogers is…
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