DENVER – In May, Rogers Communications vice-chairman Phil Lind, will become just the third Canadian inducted into the Cable Center’s prestigious Cable Hall of Fame. (Ted Rogers and JR Shaw are the other two.)
Lind, long recognized as Ted Rogers’ right-hand-man, is a 42-year veteran of the Canadian cable, broadcasting and telecommunications company. When he first came on board, Rogers owned just two small radio stations and about 15,000 cable subscribers.
Lind (pictured) was Ted’s point man as the company gobbled up other Canadian cable companies and was legendary, Stateside, as Rogers became a major cable player there as well in…
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ST. JOHN’S – Rogers Communications said Monday that its LTE network is now live in St. John's, making the company the first to switch on its next-gen network in Newfoundland.
"We are proud to be the first carrier to bring our LTE network to St. John's," said John Boynton, Rogers executive vice president and chief marketing officer, in a press release. LTE brings data speeds over wireless similar to some broadband connections, over LTE enabled smartphones or Internet sticks.
www.rogers.com/lte
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TORONTO – Rogers customers in Ontario may now watch live and recorded TV programs from any room in their homes thanks to the company’s newest offer dubbed NextBox 2.0.
Unveiled Friday morning, the system uses the Cisco Videoscape TV architecture to provide whole home PVR services, and allow tablet users to stream over 20 channels of live TV to their tablets using their Wi-Fi connection. It also includes a sleeker, more intuitive interactive program guide and a new on-demand portal.
"Canadians are increasingly looking for seamless, easy-to-use and flexible ways to fit all their favourite entertainment into their busy schedules -…
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TORONTO – Wind Mobile made a final appeal to Industry Canada and the federal government to set aside a portion of the 700 MHz spectrum for exclusive bidding by new wireless entrants. The rules for the pending auction are expected to be announced shortly.
In a statement on Friday, CEO Anthony Lacavera said that the idea of spectrum caps, which was proposed by Telus, will not only shut investors out of the pending spectrum auction, buts it puts the ‘Big Three’ incumbents interests ahead of consumer interests.
“If Minister Paradis makes a decision to announce ‘caps’ over ‘set aside’…
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TORONTO – Citytv has launched an app for tablets around its Canada’s Got Talent series in an effort to help build buzz around the show prior to its March 4 debut.
Available now at BlackBerry App World, the Apple App Store and iTunes, the free Canada’s Got Talent app promises show content such as photo galleries, a live chat during every episode, and an interactive ‘At-Home Judge’ component where users may pull up a seat at the judges’ desk. Users can also track the success of each performance in real time as Canadians across the country chime in with their own…
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GATINEAU – Independent distributors Cogeco Cable, Telus, EastLink, MTS and the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance still hate the terms of carriage offered to them by Bell Media for its specialty channels and so the parties will soon face mandatory mediation in front of a CRTC commissioner as the carriers continue to allege undue preference against Bell.
The carriers, together they are calling themselves the Canadian Independent Distributors Group (CIDG), all object to the carriage agreement put before them by Bell Media for all of the company’s specialty channels, as we have previously reported. Bell Media insists…
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TORONTO – While 78% of all of us are consuming video entertainment over the Internet, 91% of those aged 18-34 report doing the same according to CTAM Canada’s latest research on the Multi-Screen Viewing Experience in Canada.
While broadcast TV is still the dominant player, the use of alternative platforms for viewing video content is substantial as those with no television service providers (85%) and males (82%) drive online viewing.
While watching video content on a portable device currently falls far below computers, reaching 24% nationally, this category grew sharply from 10% in 2010. Highest uptake was among males (29%, up…
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TORONTO – Rogers saw fourth quarter profits grow by 8%, helped in part by the sale of a “record” number of new smart phones, causing it to boost its dividend by 11%.
The company said Wednesday that net income for the period ended December 31, 2011 was $327 million, up from $302 million last year, while operating revenue increased to $3.18 billion from $3.14 billion.
For its 2011 financial year, Rogers’ net profit rose by 4% to $1.56 billion from $1.5 billion in 2010, while total operating revenue increased 2% to $12.43 billion.
Growth at the company’s wireless division was up 2% to $1.82 million…
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MONTREAL – Videotron is launching Rogers Sportsnet One on Thursday.
The company said that the national sports channel will be available in free preview to its digital cable customers until March 31, 2012. Available in SD on channel 177 and in HD on channel 777, it will then be available via several programming pacakges.
www.videotron.com
www.sportsnet.ca
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TORONTO – CTAM Canada is reminding members they have only one week remaining to submit their applications for the prestigious Executive Management Program (CTAM-U) at the Harvard Business School.
Registration is easy and any CTAM Canada Chapter member may apply. You must:
• Complete the registration form
• Write a 400 word essay on the following topic: "How can BDUs and programmers work together to utilize social media to enhance customer engagement and the value proposition of a video subscription?
• Provide a letter…
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