OTTAWA – The change of a single word, which the CRTC insists is a correction of a mistake, has many people in the regulatory side of the TV business wondering aloud if, in fact, the Commission caved a little to the wishes of Bell Canada.
Last Friday, October 14, the CRTC tweaked its regulatory framework relating to vertical integration, where the much ballyhooed code of conduct for vertically integrated companies was softened, with the words “shall” or “shall not” replaced with “should” or “should not” (or, in French, from “doit” or “ne doit pas” to “devrait”…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC holds dear four key principles: transparency, predictability, fairness and timeliness. As a public institution, the CRTC has a right to provide the public with the clearest possible picture of how it operates and how they can interact with the commission, said chairman Konrad von Finckenstein today.
In his opening remarks during an appearance in front of the House of Commons Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics Committee, the chair acknowledged the committee is interested in how the CRTC deals with access to information and the broadcasters, von Finckenstein said the commission takes this very seriously.
“Our…
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TORONTO – The Ontario Association of Broadcaster’s annual fall conference will take place this Thursday at On the Park Events and Conference Centre in Toronto.
This year's line-up includes sales training seminar by Sean Luce, a luncheon keynote by Cumulus Media president Lew Dickey, and the President's Panel which will include Charles Benoit from Astral Radio, Richard Costley White from Blackburn Radio, Christopher Grossman from Haliburton Broadcasting Group, and Paul Ski from Rogers Radio. It will be moderated by John Parikhal.
In addition, Target Broadcast Sales’ Richard Sienko will receive the OAB Lifetime Achievement Award at the gala awards dinner.
Conference tickets,…
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TORONTO – Rogers Media offered a glimpse at the programming that its new specialty channel FX Canada will offer when it launches on October 31st.
The psycho-sexual thriller American Horror Story headlines the lineup, which also includes the Canadian debuts for comedies The League, Wilfred and Louie; Lights Out; Terriers; and the first two seasons of the Golden Globe-winning drama Sons of Anarchy.
Rogers-owned Citytv will broadcast a special sneak preview of American Horror Story, Wilfred and The League on October 24 beginning at 9pm ET/PT.
“Showcasing world-class content, FX Canada is an example of our continued commitment to bringing Canadians the best…
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TORONTO – Rogers is adding live streaming of select Toronto Maple Leafs regular season games to its on-line portal Rogers On Demand On-line.
Starting Monday, RODO will stream Leafs games that air on Sportsnet and Leafs TV, plus additional content such as Game In Six Minutes or Game In One Hour free to its digital TV customers in Ontario to view on their computers or tablets.
Rogers On Demand Online has already experimented with live streaming of Toronto Blue Jays games, Rogers Cup matches this year, as well as FIFA 2010 content which combined, resulted in over half a million live…
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EXTON, PA – Rogers Communications will join Arris, Bright House Networks, Comcast, D-Link, and Time Warner Cable as inaugural members of a working group that will help plan for the roll out of IPv6 across cable networks.
Formed by the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE), the IPv6 Deployment Working Group will bring together cable engineers, engineering managers and other thought leaders from the cable system operator, hardware and software communities to share information and best practices on device management and service enablement in an IPv6 environment.
The group will address the impact of IPv6 on management of…
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SUMMERSIDE, PE – Prince Edward Island basketball fans scored big after Rogers Communications signed a two-year, premier title sponsorship agreement with the Summerside Storm of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL).
Rogers’ first move was to hand out 4,000 complimentary tickets to Rogers Slam Dunk Day scheduled for October 26 as the Storm take on the Saint John Mill Rats in the first game at Credit Union Place. The sponsorship agreement also allows Rogers to support the Storm's community involvement at schools, basketball camps and store locations, in addition to in-game contests and the establishment of the ‘Rogers Zone’…
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MONTREAL – Rogers Communications’ new agreement with Trellia Networks will allow it to offer its business customers consolidated billing for Trellia’s mobile device management and wireless cost control solutions, in addition to Rogers’ products and services.
Montreal-based Trellia assists organizations to support consumer smart phones and tablets, such as iPhone, iPad and Android devices, alongside their existing fleet of BlackBerry devices. Capabilities like remote configuration management, policy enforcement, international roaming control and application management are all part of the new joint offering that Rogers will provide its business, government and municipal customers through its enterprise sales channels.
“We have worked closely…
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TORONTO – Moody’s Investors Service said Monday that it has upgraded Rogers Communications’ senior unsecured debt rating to Baa1 from Baa2 on expectations that the company will continue to record strong financial performance while maintaining a conservative financial profile.
Continuity of the Rogers’ “strong business profile” and a generally positive business and regulatory environment means its outlook will remain stable, reads Moody’s note.
“Rogers’ Baa1 senior unsecured rating reflects the company’s strong and stable market positions and resulting ability to consistently generate cash flow well in excess of that needed to maintain management’s chosen moderate leverage level, with perceived event risk…
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TORONTO – Rogers Sportsnet will roll out a new look on Monday that includes an overhauled logo, tagline, broadcast package and theme music for its flagship show Sportsnet Connected.
The brand campaign’s new tagline, ‘Fuelled By Fans’, will extend across the company’s TV, radio, print, digital and mobile platforms. The new look will debuts on Sportsnet Connected on Monday evening as it opens on a restructured set with fresh animation and graphics. At that time, the network will be renamed Sportsnet (abbreviation SN).
The Sportsnet digital platform is also re-launching with enhanced, fan-focused interactive features such as a companion viewing experience that…
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