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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TORONTO – A coalition of some of Canada’s biggest TV service providers have teamed up on a campaign to tell their side of the story on the contentious issue of fee for carriage.
Bell, Bell Aliant, Cogeco, EastLink, Rogers and Telus have joined forces on ‘Stop the TV Tax’ which they say is designed to ensure “that Canadians hear the whole story”.
"Cable and satellite subscribers have united to stop the broadcasters’ costly proposal because it amounts to a tax, pure and simple”, said Rogers vice chair Phil Lind, in a statement. “This tax will hit viewers for stations that have always…
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CTAM CANANDA has scheduled its annual CTAM Summit dinner at The Cable Center in Denver on October 26, 2009.
The Cable Center chronicles the story of where cable has been, and provides the tools and knowledge to support where it’s going. The dinner will include a tour of the Cable Center’s Hall of Fame where the late Ted Rogers was inducted as an honouree in 2002. Such an honour is bestowed annually to those who have contributed significantly to the growth and development of one or more components of cable’s diverse industry and to the people, communities, organizations, and institutions it…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications is helping customers to stay connected with friends and family in Asia-Pacific, while assisting with contributions towards relief efforts in the area.
Rogers Wireless and Fido customers are being encouraged to help those in the affected regions by donating $5.00 to the Canadian Red Cross International Disaster Relief Fund by sending the text message ‘HELP’ to short code 733. The company will match up to $20,000 on behalf of customers who donate.
In addition, digital cable customers in Ontario can now access Filipino channels GMA Pinoy TV (channel 870) and Filipino TV (channel 869) for free until further…
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MONTREAL – Astral Media Radio is offering mobile downloads of ringtones, wallpaper, and exclusive content produced by its hosts through a dedicated Internet site.
Called 61215 The Mobile Superstore, or La boutique mobile 61215 in the Quebec markets where AMR operates, the downloads are compatible with Bell, Rogers and Telus devices.
The site will also offer unique opportunities for advertisers looking for a new local media, the company said in a press release.
www.61215.ca
www.astralmedia.com
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TORONTO and HALIFAX – Neatly coinciding with national small business month, both Rogers and Bell Aliant have launched new services aimed squarely at small and medium-sized businesses.
Rogers unveiled its Business Phone, which offers features like line hunting, to ensure that calls are routed to open lines when the first line is busy, as well as business on-line manager, which allows business owners to manage their phone features from a single website.
The Rocket Hub connects to the mobile Internet over Rogers 7.2 Mpbs HSPA network via Wi-Fi or Ethernet to allow multiple devices to share one Internet connection and its UMTS network for voice. It…
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GATINEAU – The fact that Globalive Wireless has altered its governance structure to mitigate CRTC concerns is just distracting everyone from the fact that its purse strings are tightly held outside of Canada.
And that means it can’t be a Canadian telecom operator, the three Canadian wireless incumbents told the Commission this morning.
During the final day into a hearing that began last week over the proposed structure of Globalive Wireless (which intends to come to market before year-end under the Wind brand name), representatives from Bell Canada, Telus and Rogers each played different verses of the same tune: Globalive…
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EDMONTON – Perhaps recognizing that calling for a boycott of an important supplier is not the best thing for its pay channels, Super Channel has distanced itself from a group calling for consumers to dump Rogers Cable.
In its own press release sent out late Wednesday, Super Channel tried to smooth over some of the relationship issues it has with Rogers Cable that were surely exacerbated Tuesday when a release from “The Friends of Super Channel”, signed former employee Nic Wry, went out calling for the boycott while also calling the big cableco a weasel.
“Although much of the content…
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