TORONTO – The new board of the new Canadian Media Fund launching in April is new and much smaller – with a much more prominent voice from the companies which must funnel a piece of their revenue into it – but how, exactly, will the administration of this $300 million money pot change as compared to the old CTF?
The BDUs (Rogers, Shaw, Bell, et al), which have to contribute 5% of their revenues to this fund to create Canadian content challenged the way it was run almost three years ago and said they should have more…
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WHILE THE TV, CABLE and telecom industries are bogged down once again in regulatory minutiae, Mike Lee has many other things on his plate.
The chief strategy officer at Rogers Communications, both the biggest wireless and cable company in Canada, is not thinking much about wireless phones or cable these days. Instead, he’s up to his neck in the real time web as the CEO of Rogers-funded start-up Thoora.
“I’m spending 100% of my time on new growth,” said Lee in an interview with Cartt.ca. “I’m actually not that tied into cable or wireless.”
Being Canadian regulated industries, the growth yet…
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TORONTO – New wireless entrant DAVE Wireless has signed a multi-year roaming agreement with Rogers Wireless to provide its future customers with nationwide wireless voice and data services.
"As part of our promise to deliver value, simplicity and flexibility to our customers, we needed a high-quality partner to provide our customers voice and data roaming services when they travel outside our coverage areas”, said president Dave Dobbin in the announcement. “That is why, when securing a national roaming partner, we chose Rogers – their network is compatible with our 3G network and will allow us to offer the attractive services…
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TORONTO – The first-ever collaborative TV production between Canada and China will debut on OMNI Television this Saturday.
Called Once Upon a Time in Toronto, the 20-part Mandarin-language drama series follows the intertwining lives of a diverse group of people from various linguistic and cultural backgrounds as they are forced to deal with their emotions, and each other, following a tragic car accident.
In consideration of the series’ cross-cultural appeal, all Mandarin language dialogue is subtitled in Chinese and English.
The Rogers-owned, over-the-air multilingual/multicultural television system is available in 16.5 million households in Victoria and Vancouver, BC; Calgary and Edmonton, AB…
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TORONTO – Rogers Media will share content with the newly launched bilingual web destination MSN.ca.
The Microsoft owned and operated portal will feature content from Rogers’ publications Flare, Teen Flare, Maclean’s, Today’s Parent, Canadian Business, Hello Canada and LouLou.
"We are pleased to be partnering with one of Canada’s most prominent online destinations," said Claude Galipeau, Rogers’ SVP of digital media, in the announcement. "Our premium content is a natural addition to this dynamic portal and will serve new audiences with our popular brands."
www.rogers.com
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OTTAWA – There could be two more sports network hitting the airwaves in Canada.
The CRTC has received applications from Rogers Broadcasting and Quebecor-owned TVA Group for national, category two services tentatively entitled Rogers’ Mainstream Sports Specialty Service, and TVA Sports.
In an application dated September 16, 2009, Rogers said that its new network will air “programming dedicated to all aspects of sports with an emphasis on mainstream Canadian professional sports”.
“Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. will leverage our expertise in sports programming and our existing infrastructure to establish a premium service offering blue chip mainstream sports events with widespread viewer, subscriber and…
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TORONTO – Having another company selling the iPhone makes a great headline for Bell Canada, but according to Bell Mobility president Wade Oosterman, there are plenty more benefits to switching on the company’s new, shared, HSPA wireless network.
Bell announced earlier this week its next generation wireless network will be ready next month, earlier than planned and while most media have focused on the overhyped handheld, upgrading the net will bring more to Bell than the Apple mobile.
“There are four big benefits that accrue to us and our subscribers,” Oosterman told Cartt.ca. “The network is vastly larger than…
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TORONTO – Bruce Claassen didn’t want to be the bad guy. He wanted to be the white knight who saved CKX-TV Brandon and used it as a springboard to build another national TV network.
With the market for smaller TV stations set in the $1-range (and with Shaw Communications having backed down from its much-ballyhooed calling-of-CTV’s-“bluff”) Claassen announced in July that his investment vehicle, Bluepoint Investments, would purchase the beleaguered station from owner CTVglobemedia as the start of Bluepoint’s grander plan to become a major media player.
But, after “trying everything to make it work,” Claassen said he made…
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TORONTO – CBC Radio One maintained its top position in the lucrative markets of Toronto and Vancouver for the S3 period, but just barely.
According to BBM’s top-line results for July and August, CBLA FM achieved an 8.8% share of tuning in Toronto, which was down from its 10% share in the Spring, but still ahead of its closest competitor. Rogers-owned CHFI FM achieved an 8.4% rating for the period, which was also down from its Spring rating of 9.2%.
In Vancouver, CBU garnered an 11.6% share, a drop from its 12.4% share in S2, followed closely by Corus’ news talk CKNW which had a…
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TORONTO – Rogers Wireless has launched a mobile device with software designed for consumers who are blind or living with vision loss.
The Nokia E71 is pre-loaded with TALKS, Nuance’s assistive technology that converts displayed text into speech. The phones also offer features such as contact directories, caller ID, text messaging, and access to the Web browser.
The smart phone joins the Nokia 6682RVI, launched in 2007, in Rogers’ line-up of accessibility products.
www.rogers.com
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