TORONTO – Rogers Communications plans to buy up 1.3 million of its outstanding Class B non-voting shares for cancellation in a private purchase.
The aggregate purchase price is expected to be approximately $35.21 million for approximately one quarter of the Class B shares outstanding at March 31, 2009.
The private agreement between Rogers and an arm’s-length third party seller was made under an issuer bid exemption order issued by the Ontario Securities Commission.
In the twelve months ended April 30, 2009, Rogers repurchased an aggregate 4 million Class B shares pursuant to issuer bid exemption orders issued by the Ontario…
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GATINEAU – Like CTV beforehand, Canwest – in its second appearance at the CRTC’s OTA licence renewal hearings – focused on obtaining relief from certain of its programming obligations Thursday afternoon in front of the Commission.
There was little tension in the Q&A session, but there were some requests for “changes” to Canwest’s licence obligations – repeated from the Tuesday appearance – and several specific requests for Global Ontario, Global Quebec and CJNT-TV in Montreal, a station focused on ethnic programming.
Again like CTV, Canwest asked for changes to its priority programming conditions. But where CTV asked that the…
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GATINEAU – Looking around the CRTC hearing room Tuesday in Gatineau many of the exact same faces were in the exact same places making the exact same cases as they were 12 months ago.
Last year it was the combined BDU and specialty policy review hearing while this year it’s the license renewals hearing for conventional broadcasters. Same concert hall. Same tune. Same singers. Sung with more urgency though, this time around.
Despite the passage of a year and the new name of the hearing, the central issue is the same: broadcasters want more money for their signals and…
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GATINEAU – Rogers Cable told the CRTC Tuesday morning that offering distant broadcast signals to its customers in a linear format is a poor use of spectrum and that time-shifted viewing of popular programming can be done much more efficiently and in a more consumer-friendly way via its on demand platform.
During questioning on distant signals by commissioners during the “broad sectoral issues” portion of the conventional stations’ license renewal hearing in Gatineau, Rogers Cable’s vice-president of video product management David Purdy told the panel that given its druthers, the cable giant would rather not offer Vancouver’s broadcast stations…
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TORONTO – While Rogers Communications reported its first quarter consolidated revenue grew 5% to reach $2.7 billion, it also saw a 10% drop in its net earnings.
For the quarter ended March 31, 2009, the telecom giant said its wireless, cable and media operations generated a profit of $309 million, down from $344 million for the same period in 2008. Despite a modest growth in sales, Rogers said in a news release that the cost of adding new smart phone customers, combined with weak advertising revenues in its media divisions, contributed to the decline in net income.
Digital cable subscribers grew by 35,000 in…
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The Canadian Broadcast Distribution Association will host a half day seminar called ‘Media Applications for Advanced Wireless’ on May 13 at the Rogers Communication Theatre in Toronto.
The seminar will kick off with a keynote address from Dr. Pierre C. Belanger from the department of communications at the University of Ottawa, an expert in new media and emerging technologies. He will be followed by Anthony Caruso, the director of new broadcast technologies at CBC Technology, who will provide an overview of mobile TV standards and systems.
A panel discussion with select device manufacturers and wireless service providers will follow…
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CALGARY – Shaw is bulking up its video-on-demand (VOD) lineup and offering “value-based rental programs” for its digital boxes “as consumers nest at home during the economic slow-down”.
Shaw says that its VOD business is booming, and accordingly is extending its partnerships with the major film studios to offer VOD releases on the same day they arrive on DVD rental shelves. In fact it added the Mickey Rourke title The Wrestler to its lineup on Tuesday, the same date it was released on DVD and Blu Ray in Canada.
"We are experiencing an increased demand for VOD services, up 74% compared to…
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TORONTO – Canada’s television industry is not in crisis, Rogers told Parliament’s Heritage Committee in Ottawa on Monday.
Encouraging the Committee to evaluate CTV and Canwest’s broadcast assets “as the sum of their parts, not as though each segment were a standalone business”, the cable giant argued strongly against the notion of fee-for-carriage which has been advocated by conventional broadcasters CTV and Canwest.
"Fee for carriage would set up the worst of all public policy solutions, a two tier taxation system,” said Phil Lind, vice chairman of Rogers Communications, in an announcement. “Those who subscribe to cable or…
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TORONTO – Rogers Cable has designed a new web tool to give customers online access in order to manage their Rogers home phone service.
Called the ‘Home and Away Online-Manager’, customers can manage their calling features, such as call forwarding and ring settings, as well as receive voicemail messages by logging in to the designated portal.
"Home and Away Online-Manager brings together our Rogers Home Phone and Rogers Hi-Speed Internet services in a powerful way that allows our customers to simplify their lives," said Phil Hartling, vice president of consumer services, in the announcement. "This is yet another example of our…
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MORALE BUILDING FOR soldiers fighting wars has long been a staple of western armies.
Bob Hope was one of the most famous of such giving entertainers, gathering his friends for tours of American Army bases in various hotspots around the world.
Canada’s version of the USO involves, of course, something a little more Canadian: hockey.
Each year Canada has been in Afghanistan, military brass arranges a trip by some famous hockey players for a quick ball hockey tournament in the primary NATO forces base. Normally, they bring along a broadcaster or two to help call the games – adding…
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